Canute VI of Denmark

Canute VI (; c. 1163 – 12 November 1202) was King of Denmark (1182–1202). Contemporary sources describe Canute as an earnest, strongly religious man. Background Canute VI was the eldest son of King Valdemar I and Sophia of Polotsk. His younger brother Valdemar was born in 1170. On 25 June 1170, at age 7, Canute was proclaimed and crowned co-king of Denmark with his father. Canute was crowned in the first coronation in Danish history by Archbishop Eskil of Lund at Ringsted. Reign Following his father's death in 1182, Canute became sole ruler and King of Denmark in 1182. at the Urnehoved Assembly (Danish: landsting) and subsequently at the other assemblies throughout Denmark. He immediately faced a peasant uprising in Skåne. The peasants refused to pay Bishop Absalon's tithe. They met at the Skåne Assembly and chose Harald Skreng, one of Canute’s friends to represent them to the king to plead their case. The king refused to hear Skreng out and began to gather an army to teach the peasants their place. Before the king could muster his army, the nobles of Halland and Skåne cobbled together their own army and defeated the peasants in a bloody battle at Dösjebro (Dysjebro) in Skåne. Canute arrived with his army and proceeded to teach the peasants a lesson with fire and sword. Canute was so relentless that Bishop Absalon begged the king to desist.