nine such are preserved, mostly dealing with the affairs of the monastery of Viby at Sigtuna. There had not been any coinage in Sweden from about 1030 to 1150, when minting once again started in Lödöse. King Canute supported the initiative and issued royal coins after c. 1180 with the inscription KANVTVS REX or KANVTVS. The coins are of German type, and minting may be connected to Canute's relationship with North Germany. Some time before 1180 he concluded a commercial treaty with Henry the Lion of Saxony. It is the first such treaty in Swedish history and may indicate the emergence of towns. He also sent three envoys to Henry II of England in c. 1185 and received pieces of armour in return. Relations with Scandinavian and Baltic neighbours Within Scandinavia, Canute and his jarl Birger Brosa entertained good relations with the Norwegian king Sverre, who married the sister of the king, Margareta. The pretender Erling Steinvegg, who was the enemy of Sverre, was arrested by Canute on behalf of his brother-in-law and imprisoned on Visingsö. On the other hand, relations with Denmark were rocky. Danish rebels found refuge in Sweden in 1176 and 1191, and in 1182 Canute and Birger Brosa supported the pretender Harald Skraeng who fomented a rising in Skåne but was defeated by the Danish royal troops. During his reign Canute was reportedly occupied fighting pagans for the sake of dissemination of the Christian faith. A fleet of pagan Karelians entered Lake Mälaren in 1187 and ravaged the coasts. The marauders burned Sigtuna and killed Archbishop Johannes at Almarestäket. It seems that Canute built a defensive tower on the island of Stockholm after this event, one of many such fortifications made necessary by heathen incursions from the Baltic lands. Other such towers were constructed in Skå, Stegeborg, Stenså, Kalmar, Strömsrum and Borgholm. Immediately after the attack, a sea-borne expedition to the east was organized. The chronicles of Novgorod report that Varyags and "Germans" from Gotland attacked its territory in 1188. The Nordic attackers won victories at Khoruzhka and Novotorzhek and stayed over winter. In the next spring they were defeated by the Novgorodians, however. Birger Brosa seems to have led another fleet of Germans and men from Gotland across the Baltic Sea in the 1190s - either before or after Canute's death. The expedition was aimed for Curland but was driven to the coast of eastern