Talk:Canute IV of Denmark

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is within the scope of the following WikiProjects:

Note to self and others: http://www2.evansville.edu/ecoleweb/glossary/canuteiv.html [[User:Neutrality|Neutrality (talk)]] 20:45, 26 Aug 2004 (UTC)

Contents

[edit] Canute?

Canute is probably the english spoken version of the germanic name "Knut". If this is true, shouldn't it be included in the article?

It is the English version of the Danish name Knud. His Danish name is included in the article. Valentinian (talk) / (contribs) 15:43, 8 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Cut

I cut this sentence for semi-incomprehensibility and speculation. I place it here in case anyone disagrees or wants to rewrite it.

It is likely that the men would have gone to help the English, if not for the dictation of their king and more for the Danegeld in a greater community feeling than a top-bottom infrastructure of cooperation.--qp10qp 23:52, 22 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Left Wing??

The interpretation that Canute was a bad king and that his canonization was mostly polytical is not an interpretation of "liberal historian" and "left-wing poets", but by far the most common point of view of Danish historian, and one should respect their point of view rather than that of the Catholic Encyclopedia, which, as one might infer, is not the most objective judge in matters of saints. Please remember that wikipedia is supposed to stand for history, not for proselitism.--Complainer 07:09, 5 February 2007 (UTC)

The entire section beginning with "From later Lutheran tradition, Canute, in spite of his official canonisation ..." sounds very poor to me so I'm moving it to the talk page. I'd very much like to see a Danish source saying that Canute was any worse or better than so many other Viking kings. Absolutism is a later invention, but despotism might perhaps be an adequate description. Canute IV is remembered in Danish history as the last (would-be) Viking king, but that is his main reason for fame. In every portrayal of him I've heard, the story went like this: In 1085, Canute called upon a large number of men to assemble on predesignated places where they would disembark and sail to England. The men turned up but the king never arrived since he was preoccupied with problems on the southern border. The result was that many peasant families had poor harvests since the husband had not been able to attend the field for most of the year or to help with the harvest. When the king issued the same order the following year, the peasants rebelled, remembering last year's poor harvest and the months they had wasted waiting for the king. Canute attempted to flee but the peasants caught up with him in Odense and killed him in St. Alban's Church (Sankt Albani Kirke, it was located between what is now St. Canute's Cathedral and "I. Wilhelm Werners Plads"). The Catholic Church named him a saint because he was killed in a church. I believe this is the legend like most Danish children have heard it. If anybody is interested, two skeletons identified with Canute and Benedict are still preserved and displayed in the church. Unfortunately, nobody seem to know which of them is the former king. Valentinian T / C 21:16, 8 February 2007 (UTC)
(paragraph moved from article space, quote.)
From later Lutheran tradition, Canute, in spite of his official canonisation, came to stand as a tyrant par excellence that exploited the peasantry and was killed by his freedom-loving people. This picture is only partly true, since the farmers (husbands) of early Medieval Denmark were “free men” of political influence and not an underclass. There is no doubt that his course was regarded an early form of absolutism along the Carolingian model, while the Danes were not yet accustomed to Continental feudalism. Considering the lengths to which the Danes resisted Mediterranean cultural influences in the time of Gudfred and the Danevirke, the style of Canute's government could have offended a great many in Denmark. (end quote)
Well guess what - all canonizations were political.
Also, shouldn't his name be Saint Canute and not Canute the Saint? Just like the Norwegian Olaf den Hellige who is commonly known in English as Olaf the Saint. --dllu 11:46, 17 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] == Devout or Devoted? ==

The first paragraph contains the phrase "and devoutedly supported the Roman Catholic Church," which I think should be either "devoutly" or "devotedly". Does anyone have a preference? Bedetech (talk) 03:57, 22 January 2008 (UTC)