Martin Antonenko
A Fixture
- Joined
- Jul 11, 2008
- Messages
- 8,997
Rustic change of rulers...!
Today it's about Knut "the holy".
"Who is that?" - will one or the other ask? "Never heard of him!"
Well, actually only the church calls him the "saint", because he was considered a great promoter of their affairs in his time and supposedly even planned to extend the Christmas season from four to 20 days - until January 13th.
He also had many new churches built in his kingdom.
The man's real name was Knut IV.
... and was King of Denmark. And if you look closely, there was nothing really "holy" about him and his actions!
Supported by the bishops bought in this way and their ecclesiastical apparatus, he was an autocrat of real dirt and grain who ruthlessly and bloodily asserted his interests in relation to his own population, and in doing so often flouted centuries-old "established" law.
When word got out that "Holy Knut" was planning a campaign of conquest towards England...
...and already begin to gather an army, a veritable popular uprising ensues because the Danes have meanwhile thoroughly had enough of their autocratic despots!
King Knut IV and his "right hand hand", his brother Benedict, are killed by angry Danes on Funen on July 10, 1086! Ironically, in a church that had previously been newly built on Knut's orders...:
However, the tale that the Danish chief was assassinated from behind while praying is probably a mere legend and was later spread by the priests!
It is true: Knut IV died on the steps of the altar, but the fact that he should have calmly continued to contemplate while his brother was fighting for his life next to him is probably too badly invented!
However, the corpse of "Saint Knut" was not yet cold, when the Danes already have a new king...:
Olaf I Hunger, Jarl of Jutland...
... a third (albeit illegitimate) brother of the murdered Knut and Benedikt, whom the two had previously held captive.
Knut is buried in Odense Cathedral; his skeleton can be seen there today in a glass coffin...:
And since the church never forgets any of its generous sponsors and he also breathed his last in a church, the assassinated Knut was first saved and then - as a Christian martyr - also canonized.
And of course the church named a special day after "Saint" Canute:
It's January 13th, the so-called "Saint Knut's Day" (you know, the day you throw the Christmas trees out of the window and then buy a new piece of furniture at "IKEA"!).
Today it's about Knut "the holy".
"Who is that?" - will one or the other ask? "Never heard of him!"
Well, actually only the church calls him the "saint", because he was considered a great promoter of their affairs in his time and supposedly even planned to extend the Christmas season from four to 20 days - until January 13th.
He also had many new churches built in his kingdom.
The man's real name was Knut IV.
... and was King of Denmark. And if you look closely, there was nothing really "holy" about him and his actions!
Supported by the bishops bought in this way and their ecclesiastical apparatus, he was an autocrat of real dirt and grain who ruthlessly and bloodily asserted his interests in relation to his own population, and in doing so often flouted centuries-old "established" law.
When word got out that "Holy Knut" was planning a campaign of conquest towards England...
...and already begin to gather an army, a veritable popular uprising ensues because the Danes have meanwhile thoroughly had enough of their autocratic despots!
King Knut IV and his "right hand hand", his brother Benedict, are killed by angry Danes on Funen on July 10, 1086! Ironically, in a church that had previously been newly built on Knut's orders...:
However, the tale that the Danish chief was assassinated from behind while praying is probably a mere legend and was later spread by the priests!
It is true: Knut IV died on the steps of the altar, but the fact that he should have calmly continued to contemplate while his brother was fighting for his life next to him is probably too badly invented!
However, the corpse of "Saint Knut" was not yet cold, when the Danes already have a new king...:
Olaf I Hunger, Jarl of Jutland...
... a third (albeit illegitimate) brother of the murdered Knut and Benedikt, whom the two had previously held captive.
Knut is buried in Odense Cathedral; his skeleton can be seen there today in a glass coffin...:
And since the church never forgets any of its generous sponsors and he also breathed his last in a church, the assassinated Knut was first saved and then - as a Christian martyr - also canonized.
And of course the church named a special day after "Saint" Canute:
It's January 13th, the so-called "Saint Knut's Day" (you know, the day you throw the Christmas trees out of the window and then buy a new piece of furniture at "IKEA"!).
