by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2025

Cnut VI, King of Denmark reigned from 1170 to 1202. He was co-king with his father, Valdemar I the Great, King of Denmark, from 1170 until his father died in 1182. Born in 1163, Cnut VI was the second of the nine children and the elder of the two sons of Valdemar I the Great, King of Denmark and Sophia of Minsk. Cnut’s paternal grandparents were Saint Cnut Lavard, Duke of Schleswig, and Ingeborg of Kyiv. His maternal grandparents were Volodar Glebovich, Prince of Minsk and Richeza of Poland.

Cnut VI had eight siblings:

• Sophia of Denmark (1159 – 1208), married Siegfried III, Count of Weimar-Orlamünde, had two sons
• Maria of Denmark (circa 1165 – ?), became a nun at Roskilde
• Margaret of Denmark (circa 1167 – circa 1205), became a nun at Roskilde
• Valdemar II, King of Denmark (1170 – 1241), married (1) Dagmar of Bohemia, had one son who predeceased his father, Dagmar died giving birth to a stillborn son (2) Berengaria of Portugal, had three sons who were all King of Denmark (Eric IV, Abel, and Christopher I), and one daughter, Berengaria died giving birth to a stillborn child
• Ingeborg of Denmark (1174 – 1237), married King Philip II of France, no children. Philip asked the Pope several times for an annulment but was always denied.
• Helena of Denmark (circa 1176 – 1233), married Wilhelm, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, had one son
• Rikissa of Denmark (circa 1178 – 1220), married King Eric X of Sweden, had one son and four daughters
• Walburgis of Denmark (? – 1177), married Bogusław I, Duke of Pomerania, had two sons

Cnut VI’s father, Valdemar I, was successful in making the Danish monarchy hereditary, abolishing the elective monarchy. He was recognized as a hereditary king by Pope Alexander III in 1165. Valdemar I reinforced this by having his son, Cnut VI, proclaimed as co-king in 1166. When the still-unfinished Saint Bendt’s Church in Ringsted, Denmark was consecrated on June 25, 1170, Eskil, Archbishop of Lund crowned King Valdemar I’s seven-year-old son, King Cnut VI, as co-king and heir to the throne.

When Cnut VI was about four years old, a marriage was arranged for him to Richenza of Saxony and Bavaria, daughter of the powerful Heinrich the Lion, Duke of Saxony and Duke of Bavaria, and his first (divorced) wife, Clementia of Zähringen. Richenza, who was six years older than Cnut VI, died in 1167 before the marriage. However, a marriage was arranged for Cnut VI with her elder sister, Gertrud of Saxony and Bavaria, the widow of Friedrich IV, Duke of Swabia. In 1171, Gertrud, who was nine years older than Cnut VI, arrived in Denmark and seems to have stayed in Denmark until she married Cnut VI in 1177.

Cnut VI and Gertrud did not have any children. During her second marriage, Gertrud decided to live in chastity and celibacy with her husband Cnut VI. Arnold of Lübeck, a Benedictine abbot and a chronicler, wrote of their marriage that Gertrud’s husband was, “The most chaste one, living thus his days with his chaste spouse in eternal chastity.”

Valdemar I, King of Denmark, aged fifty-one, died on May 12, 1182, and his son, nineteen-year-old Cnut VI, became the sole King of Denmark. Cnut VI kept his father’s advisor, Absalon, Bishop of Roskilde and Archbishop of Lund, considered one of the most important figures in Danish history. During Cnut VI’s reign, Absalon was the chief policymaker and continued the policy of a hostile attitude to the Holy Roman Empire. He served as advisor to Cnut VI until he died in 1201, just a year before Cnut VI died. Cnut VI’s piety and good character were praised by a contemporary chronicler. However, he allowed himself to be led throughout his reign by more important men such as Absalon and his younger brother, the future Valdemar II, King of Denmark.

Cnut VI’s wife Gertrud died on July 1, 1197, aged about forty-three, and was buried in Væ Church in Skåne, Denmark. Cnut VI survived her by five years, dying suddenly on November 12, 1202, aged thirty-nine. He was buried at Saint Bendt’s Church in Ringsted, Denmark, where most Danish kings and queens from 1182 to 1341 were buried. Because he had no children, Cnut VI, King of Denmark, was succeeded by his brother Valdemar II, King of Denmark.

A 2015 study suggested that Cnut VI may have died of Brugada syndrome, a genetic disorder in which the electrical activity in the heart is abnormal. It increases the risk of abnormal heart rhythms and sudden cardiac death. The study showed that perhaps up to fourteen Danish kings who suddenly died at a relatively young age without being ill possibly died of Brugada Syndrome. See Copenhagen Post: Mystery of Danish king deaths fosters new theory.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty

Works Cited

• Autoren der Wikimedia-Projekte. (2011). König von Dänemark (1182–1202). Wikipedia.org; Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knut_VI.
• Autoren der Wikimedia-Projekte. (2011, June 15). Königin von Dänemark (1182–1197). Wikipedia.org; Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gertrud_(Bayern_und_Sachsen)
• Bidragsydere til Wikimedia-projekter. (2003). Konge af Danmark 1182–1202. Wikipedia.org; Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. https://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knud_6.
• Flantzer, Susan. (2025). Valdemar I, King of Denmark. Unofficial Royalty. https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/valdemar-i-the-great-king-of-denmark/
• Wikipedia Contributors. (2025). Canute VI of Denmark. Wikipedia; Wikimedia Foundation.
• Wikipedia Contributors. (2025, May 5). Gertrude of Bavaria. Wikipedia; Wikimedia Foundation.