Cecilia Knutsdotter

Lady Cecilia Knutsdotter was a medieval Swedish mighty and wealthy noblewoman of high nobility. She is known as hertigsdotter, Duke's daughter.

She is mentioned as daughter of the "Duke Canute", and historians differ who that exactly was. For hypotheses, see below. The somewhere in genealogies floating idea that Cecilia's mother were a daughter of king Canute I of Sweden lacks all historical support and must therefore be discarded as unattested romantics.

Cecilia married Geatish lord Filip, who became ancestor of the famed Aspenäs noble house whose Arms depicted lejonörn (= Griffin). Historians differ also over whose child Filip was, what was his correct patronymic and what was his seat manor. After Filip's death, Cecilia lived plenty of years as rich widow; a benefactor of monasteries and so forth. Ultimately she was buried beside her husband Filip.

Historians also differ over whether Filip had more than one wife. If he had an earlier wife, then it is not certain that Cecilia was the ancestress of the Aspenäs (lejonörn) nobles. But if she was the only wife, then it is only natural to presume that she is their ancestress (and future generations of the Lejonörn certainly used first names Knut and Cecilia), which makes her an important figure for future generations of that prominent family.

It is presumed that her husband belonged to those who opposed centralized power in Sweden. He seems to have been party in revolts against king Eric XI of Sweden and against the regent Birger jarl sometime in the 1240s and 1250s.

Cecilia had attestedly son Birger Filipsson, Lord of Idö, executed by beheading as rebel on 20 August 1280, and daughter Ingegerd Filipsdotter.

Concluded from, among other reasons, the occurrence of the names Knut and Cecilia among Jon's close descendants, her eldest son was Jon Filipsson who was executed as rebel in 1280.

Similarly, she presumably had at least two surviving daughters, of whom it is not known if one of them were the with name attested daughter of hers, Ingegerd: one of those daughters married lord Filip Törnesson, justiciar of Närke, and became great-great-grandmother of children of baron Jon Havtoreson, the Norwegian royal hopefuls; and the other married the rebel lord Karl Tjelveson of Fånö, and became foremother of for example the noble families of Eka and of Frössvik (whose daughters produced regents and kings of Sweden).