St. Canute's Abbey, Odense
Saint Canute's Abbey, Odense (Danish: Skt Knuds Kloster) was a Benedictine monastery built to support the pilgrimage centre for the relics of the royal Danish martyr Saint Canute (died 1086), and was the successor to the priory of St. Mary and St. Alban, Denmark's earliest monastic house.The land was perhaps originally that of the royal farm at Odense where Canute, his brother Prince Benedict and their followers stayed until they sought sanctuary in the nearby Benedictine priory church of St. Alban's where they were killed.Twelve monks were brought by King Erik I Ejegod from Evesham Abbey in England to build and operate the new monastery in Denmark.Its form was unusual in that the shrine with the remains of Saint Canute and his brother, Prince Benedict, was placed beneath the high altar, so that pilgrims could visit it without interfering with the monks' services above them.Hans Tausen, a pupil of Martin Luther, and others returned to Denmark determined to free the country from the influence, beliefs, and institutions of its long Catholic past.