Canute I (Swedish: Knut Eriksson, Old Norse: Knútr Eiríksson; born before 1150 – died 1195/96) was king of Sweden from 1173 to 1195 (rival king since 1167). He was a son of King Eric the Saint and Queen Christina, who was a granddaughter of the Swedish king Inge the Elder. Youth and ascension Canute was born no later than the 1140s, thus before his father had yet gained power over parts of Sweden. As a young man he was betrothed to a lady, sister of another Canute. Her name is not revealed, but her equal could supposedly not be found in the land. When Eric IX was killed in Uppsala in 1160, Canute was defeated and forced to flee, while his fiancée hid in a monastery for reasons of safety. According to late medieval sources he lived in exile in Norway for three years, a piece of information that is highly unreliable. He later returned to reclaim the throne. The killer of his father, Magnus Henriksson, was slain in 1161 by another pretender, Charles VII, who took the throne and resided in Näs Castle at the southern point of Visingsö, an island in Lake Vättern. Canute came over and slew Charles on 12 April 1167. The sources do not allow us to tell if it was a regicide or if Charles was killed in battle. The deed did not immediately secure the throne for Canute, who started fighting for power against Sverker the Elder's sons or grandsons Kol and Burislev. As the chronicle states, "he fought many battles against Sweden and had the victory in them all, and had great effort before he gained Sweden with peace." According to later sources Kol fell in fighting at Bjälbo in 1169, while Burislev underwent the same fate in about 1172–73. Only from this time could Canute call himself king of the whole country. According to the short chronicle included in the Law of Västergötland, he ruled as a good king for 23 years after his victories. Rule After 1174, Canute was ably supported in his rule by the jarl (earl) Birger Brosa who died in 1202. In many ways, the long reign of Canute brought Sweden closer to a Catholic-European state model. The power of the king was consolidated, concomitantly with an emerging central bureaucracy where the written word was increasingly important. The issuing of royal written documents began at this time;