King of Denmark from 1080 to 1086. Illegitimate son of Danish King Svend Estridsen. Canute succeeded his elder brother Harald III. His reign was marked by vigorous attempts to increase royal power. This was a major change from the weak, ineffective reign of his brother. Canute was a champion of the Church, and issued laws to protect the weak, orphans, widows, and foreigners, and tried to enforce the collection of tithes. These policies led to discontent among his subjects, who were unaccustomed to a king who claimed such powers and who interfered in their daily lives. In 1085 he assembled a fleet at Limfjord with the intention of invading England. As he was the grandnephew of Canute the Great of Denmark and England, it was his assertion that the English throne was rightfully his. Before the fleet could be launched, he was slain by rebels along with his brother, Benedict and 17 others at the altar of Saint Alban's church in Odense, Denmark. Canute donated several properties to the church that enabled the building of the first cathedral in Lund. Canute was canonized by Pope Paschal II in 1101 at the urging of his brother and successor King Erik the Very Good. Canute is the patron saint of Denmark. Benedikt, Prince of Denmark, and his brother, King Knud den Hellige (Canute IV), were murdered in front of the altar of St. Albani Church. They were originally entombed in St. Albani's, which was a wooden church. Their remains were later moved to Saint Knud's Church, where they rest today. During the purge of holy relics at the time of the reformation in Denmark, Benedikt and Canute were walled up by some monks into an alcove in Saint Canute's Cathedral. This protected their relics from the reformationists. Sometime in the 19th century their long forgotten caskets were discovered.