by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2025

Saint Knud’s Cathedral, also known as Odense Cathedral, in Odense, Denmark, is named for King Knud IV of Denmark, who reigned from 1080 until 1086, when rebels killed him. The Roman Catholic Church canonized Knud as a saint in 1101. Originally a Roman Catholic church, Saint Knud’s Cathedral has been a Lutheran church since the Danish Reformation.

Saint Knud

Note: There are variations of the name: Knut (Norwegian and Swedish), Knud (Danish), Knútur (Icelandic), Canute (Anglicized)

King Knud IV feared the Danish nobles’ support for his half-brother Olaf, the future King Olaf I of Denmark. Olaf had concerns about Knud IV’s ambitions and saw his two-year-old son Carl, Count of Flanders (1084 – 1127), as a future rival for power. Ironically, Carl was also killed in a church, Saint Donatian Church in Bruges, County of Flanders, now in Belgium, by a conspiracy of the rich whom he had offended. Carl was beatified, a step toward sainthood, in 1883, and is known as Blessed Carl the Good.

Knud IV blamed Olaf for stirring up trouble, and Olaf was imprisoned by their brother Eric, the future King Eric I of Denmark. Olaf was banished to Flanders, under the supervision of Robert I, Count of Flanders, Knud IV’s father-in-law.

However, Knud IV’s actions resulted in open rebellion. He had to flee from the royal estate in Børglum and continued to flee to Aggersborg, Viborg, and Schleswig, finally ending up in Odense. On July 10, 1086, Knud IV, his brother Benedikt Svendsen, and seventeen of their followers took refuge in the wooden, Viking Age Saint Alban’s Priory Church (link in Danish) at Saint Alban’s Priory in Odense. The rebels stormed into the church and killed Knud IV, his brother Benedikt, and their seventeen followers before the altar. The Benedictine monks of St. Alban’s Priory buried Knud IV and his brother Benedikt in front of the main altar of the St. Alban’s Priory Church.

Soon, there were reports of miracles occurring at Knud IV’s burial site. His canonization as a saint was already being sought during King Olaf I of Denmark’s reign (1086 – 1095). In 1101, persuaded by King Eric I of Denmark (reigned 1095 – 1103), brother of King Knud IV and successor of their brother King Olaf I of Denmark, Pope Paschal II canonized King Knud IV as a saint in the Roman Catholic Church.

The First Saint Knud’s Cathedral

Soon after King Knud IV’s murder, construction began on the first Saint Knud’s Cathedral, just southwest of St. Alban’s Priory Church in Odense, Denmark. In 1095, construction had progressed enough for Knud IV’s remains to be transferred from St. Alban’s Priory Church to the crypt at Saint Knud’s Cathedral. The new cathedral was completed in 1122 and consecrated in Saint Knud’s name.

The Second Saint Knud’s Cathedral

In 1247, a fire devastated Odense, and the cathedral was badly damaged. In 1280, construction began in Odense, Denmark, on the second and current Saint Knud’s Cathedral in the Brick Gothic style. By 1300, construction had progressed enough to allow the reburial of Knud IV, King of Denmark, and his brother Benedikt in the cathedral’s crypt. It took more than 200 years to complete the second cathedral, which was dedicated on April 30, 1499. In 1586, the single tower over the west entrance was completed in the Brick Gothic style.

Altarpiece by the sculptor Claus Berg; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1807, when St. Peter’s Abbey in Ghent, Belgium was demolished, its magnificent late Gothic altarpiece, carved between 1515 and 1525 by German sculptor Claus Berg, was moved to Saint Knud’s Cathedral.

The remains of King Knud IV and his brother Benedikt were walled up by the monks in an alcove in the cathedral to protect the remains from destruction during the Danish Reformation. During the 19th century, their long-forgotten coffins were discovered, and the remains of Knud and his brother Benedikt are now on display in the cathedral.

Burials at Saint Knud’s Cathedral

King Christian II, his wife Isabella of Austria, and their son Prince Hans were moved from their original burial site, St. Peter’s Abbey in Ghent, Belgium, and reinterred in Saint Knud’s Cathedral in 1883.

• (Saint) Knud, King IV of Denmark (circa 1042 – 1086)
• Benedikt Svendsen (circa 1046 – 1086), King Knud IV’s brother, murdered with him
• Eric III, King of Denmark (circa 1120 – 1146)
• Prince Frans of Denmark (1497 – 1511), son of King Hans
• Hans, King of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden (1455 – 1513)
• Christina of Saxony, Queen of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, wife of King Hans (1461 – 1521)
• Isabella of Austria, Queen of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, wife of King Christian II (1501 – 1526)
• Prince Hans of Denmark, son of King Christian II (1518 – 1532)
• ​Christian II, King of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden (1481 – 1559)
• Sophie Elisabeth, Countess of Schleswig-Holstein, daughter of King Christian IV and his morganatic wife Kirsten Munk (1619 – 1657)
• Kirsten Munk, Countess of Schleswig-Holstein, morganatic wife of King Christian IV (1598 – 1658)

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Works Cited

• Flantzer, Susan. (2025). (Saint) Knud IV, King of Denmark. Unofficial Royalty. https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/saint-cnut-iv-king-of-denmark/
• Odense Domkirke – Odense Domkirke. (2024). Odense Domkirke. https://odense-domkirke.dk/
• Wikipedia Contributors. (2025). St. Canute’s Cathedral. Wikipedia; Wikimedia Foundation.