Background
He was a son of King Eric the Saint and Queen Christina, who was a granddaughter of the Swedish king Inge the Elder.
He was a son of King Eric the Saint and Queen Christina, who was a granddaughter of the Swedish king Inge the Elder.
After killing Charles Sverkerson in 1167, Canute, who had just returned home after ten years in exile, started fighting for power against Sverker the Elder"s sons Kol and Boleslaw Sverkerson. Only in 1173 could he call himself king of the whole country. Canute"s able jarl (earl) from 1174 was Birger Brosa (died in 1202)
Canute built a castle on the island of Stockholm in 1187, one of many such fortifications made necessary by heathen incursions from the Baltic lands.
Skáldatal names two of Knut Eriksson"s skalds: Hallbjörn hali and Þorsteinn Þorbjarnarson.
Children:
Jon Knutsson (slain November 1205 at Battle of Älgarås)
Knut Knutsson (slain November 1205 at Battle of Älgarås)
Joar Knutsson (slain November 1205 at Battle of Älgarås)
Erik Knutsson, who would defeat Sverker the Younger and become King of Sweden in 1208. Existence of this daughter is based on unclear mentions in old saga and chronicle material, and is to an extent accepted in research literature, to explicate Knut Magnusson"s hereditary claim to the throne.
This daughter was by necessity born in the 1170s or 1180s. She is also proposed by old romantical-looking genealogies as mother of a Duke"s daughter Cecilia Knutsdotter (by necessity born near 1208 at earliest), whose parentage however is fully shrouded in mists of history.
