In the Viking Age and the early Middle Ages, Danish kings did not have a permanent residence, but were constantly travelling around the country. They often stayed at one of the many royal farms that existed at the time. These royal farms were part of the crown estate and served as administrative centres for the various regions or jurisdictions.
To manage the day-to-day operations and look after the king's interests, the king employed a number of ombudsmen or ‘bryder’, as they are called in contemporary written sources. When the king was not present, they were responsible for collecting the taxes, duties and fines due to the king. Naturally, these men were not always popular with the local population.
There used to be a royal residence at Børglum, a Kongsgård . The Kongsgård Børglum is mentioned in Ælnoth's chronicle of King Canute the Holy, which tells us that the king stayed at Børglum Kongsgård in 1086:
’... After the king in the southern regions beyond the stream called Lime [Limfjord] had performed the usual royal duties, he travelled to the coastal area called Vendle in Danish, which means ‘That which turns’, and there he decided to take up residence on the royal farm, which after a former female ruler of that place, Burlina, but now with a changed vowel is called Buhrlanis (Børglum)."
Recent research has shown that an incorrect translation has crept into the text about Burlina. Previously, it was thought that it said queen(regina), but it has turned out that it was actually a ruler or lady (Domina). Since Ælnoth is considered a reliable source, it can be assumed that at the time Ælnoth wrote his chronicle, there was a story about a former female ruler at Børglum.
Børglum Kongsgården is believed to have been located immediately north of the Abbey. More information about this will be revealed in an upcoming article soon to be published in ‘Find og Fortid’ and will delve into the history of Børglum Kongsgård and early Christianity in the area. The upcoming article is written by Gert Jensen, and the image here is processed by Carsten W. Jensen.
In 1066 William the conqueror crossed the Channel with an invasion fleet and succeeded in taking the English crown. Nineteen years later, while William was still king, a Danish king was assembling another great invasion force with England as its objective. That expedition failed before it could sail, and the political consequences helped set in motion the events that, the following year, reached the royal estate here at Børglum and ultimately ended with Canute's death.
In 1085, Canute ordered a major Danish fleet to assemble in the Limfjord with the intention of invading England and attempting to re-establish Danish rule there. He was working in alliance with his father-in-law, Robert I of Flanders. At that point William the Conqueror was still King of England.
King Canute's great ambition was to reconquer England. And restore Canute the Great's rule over England. An invasion fleet gathered in the Limfjord. Reportedly, no less than 1000 ships gathered. However, the invasion never took place. Canute was detained elsewhere in his kingdom by problems on Denmark's southern frontier, while the fleet waited in the Limfjord. As the summer passed and the harvest approached, many of the men eventually returned home. Canute subsequently imposed fines connected with the failed military levy, adding to existing opposition to his rule.
The following year, in 1086, that conflict reached Børglum.
King Canute was known as a harsh king and he was unpopular in his time.
There was already resentment towards the king at Børglum, as the royal ombudsmen (also called ‘brydere’) were, according to Ælnoth, very unpopular among the population. Ælnoth describes that through violence and abuse of their power, they had committed intolerable offences against ‘the noble as well as the common man’. When the king was not present, it was the task of the royal ombudsmen to collect taxes and duties. A role that did not endear them to the local population.
At that time Børglum was a royal estate, a kongsgård, rather than the abbey visitors see today. The medieval writer Ælnoth specifically describes King Canute taking up residence at the royal estate at Børglum. It was here in Vendsyssel that the rebellion against him broke out
‘After the king in the southern regions beyond the stream called Lime (Limfjord) had carried out the usual royal enlistments, he travelled to the coastal area called Vendle in Danish, which means “that which turns”, and there he decided to take up residence on the farm which, after a former ruler at that place Buhrlina, but now with a changed vowel is called Børglum.’
In early summer, King Canute had travelled around the kingdom to get approval to pass new laws.
This was also his purpose when Canute arrives at the royal court at Børglum with his half-brothers Benedikt and Erik and his warriors. Canute goes to the Thing at Børglum, which is estimated to have been located slightly north-east of the abbey today, in an area called ‘Sysseleng’.
The rebellion was already beginning at Børglum when news spread of The Kings upcoming attendance at Børglum Ting. Both night and day, nobles and commoners held secret political assemblies where they had ‘counselled against the king's power’ where it, among other solutions, was discussed whether or not to 'unalive' him.
Why the sudden rebellion?
It was at the Diet, that free men either passed or rejected laws. The king could only make proposals for laws he wanted passed and had no power over the decision. The lawgiving power rested at the Diet. It was the Diet that had the legislative power and they could reject a law if they found it unacceptable.
It seems that it was this power that King Canute was in the process of dismantling and instead centralising power with the crown.
This did not go down well with the free men at Børglum.
‘in an uproar by his coming, both nobles and commoners flocked to their ominous council meetings and incited each other to misdemeanors: they considered it a shame to do the king's bidding and to consider themselves inferior to the king’
"On an appointed day, the king and his men went with his men to attend their numerous assemblies, and realising the hostile defiance of those present, he went out to his men to consider the matter. However, due to the clamour of the furious mob, he must content himself with presenting a few provisions that he had wanted to get off his chest"
King Canute only manages to present some of his laws before the assembly rises against him.
The Diets decision? The king is banished from Vendsyssel, effective immediately.
After the Diet, King Canute first fled back to Børglum Kongsgård and then fled further down the country as the rebellion spread.
A number of the king's farms were taken and burned
‘Now that the king's retreat became widely known, the bands of robbers entered the royal farms in gangs, drove the king's servants out of the houses, let the greedy searching eyes find their way in everywhere; they snatched everything that was closest at hand, rummaged through everything like pigs, threw the rest of the services for the royal upkeep, what they had not put in them, out on the ground and trampled on it."
The king fled to Aggersborg to the fortification that existed there (not Ringborgen from Harald Bluetooth's time), but the rebellion followed and it ended with King Canute fleeing across the Limfjord to the south with a number of herdsmen. King Canute fled further down through Jutland, where the rebellion spread.
The king reached the royal court near Odense, but when the rebellion caught up with them, they entered the nearby St Albani Church.
This was to be the end of Knud.
The king was killed in St Albani Church. Knud's brother, Benedikt, is also killed in the church with 17 of Knud's warriors.
Only his half-brother Erik (later King Erik Ejegod) escapes the rebellion with his life.