St. Knut's Day

Tomorrow, I was just informed, is St. Knut's day. You can imagine my shock at this, I'm sure. Well, don't worry. It turns out St. Knut's day, celebrated on in Sweden, but not Denmark as you would expect, does not celebrate the life of Knut the Great, but of Knut IV (no apparent relation). Knut IV, come to find out, was a real nice guy, extending Christmas for 20 days, and giving presents to people. He lived from A.D. 1043-1086 and was canonized in 1101.

As I'm sure you know, the reason for my initial shock, and what you might even call distress and dismay, is that I thought St. Knut's Day was celebrating Knut the Great, who was only great in title, and in the same sense that one could call Napoleon "great" or Alexander "great" or Constantine "great" Yes, military geniuses one and all, but sainthood should be reserved for those who manage to avoid murdering their families, friends, and anyone else who happens to get in the way of their "greatness."

Knut the Great invaded England in A.D. 1015 (He was also the king of most of Scandanavia). He was known for his extreme brutality. In one famous instance, he took some diplomatic prisoners, and, as was the custom, he was planning to take them back home to Denmark where they would be treated with at least a modicum of dignity. But, at some point, he decided it would not be expedient to take them back to Denmark, so instead of releasing them, or just killing them swiftly, he had his ships find an abandoned beach and set them on shore after cutting off each of their legs, arms, and noses--quite creative, but not exactly a John Paul II or a Mother Teresa.

It is interesting that we call some of the most brutal men in history "Great" simply because they were successful conquerors/rulers. Of course, success is measured rather differently by God, I think, than by man.