Saint Canute's Cathedral

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Saint Canute's Cathedral (Danish: Odense Domkirke or Sct. Knuds Kirke) is named after the Danish king Canute the Saint (Danish: Knud den Hellige). Although King Canute the Saint was, historically, not much of a saint, there is an unusual reason for this nickname. Fleeing a rebellious force, the king took shelter in the Church of St. Alban's, a wooden church in Odense.

The rebels, however, were not about to let him flee, and killed him inside the church. The story tells that he died kneeling in front of the altar, praying, although his bones, which can still be viewed, tell a different story. King Canute was struck low in the abdomen by a spear while he was standing facing his attacker, and most likely killed by a blow to the head which fractured the skull.

Having been killed in a church by rebellious subjects, he was declared a saint in 1101, mostly for political reasons, and against the wishes of his successor and half-brother, Olaf I. Saint Canute's Cathedral was built in memory of this, although not in the same excact place as the original church. The oldest parts of the cathedral are from the early 1300s.