Battle of Stiklestad

July 29, 1030

Olaf Haraldsson of Norway, trying to reclaim his throne from Cnut's garrison, was killed in a field battle at Stiklestad north of Trondheim. Within months peasants were reporting miraculous cures at his grave. St. Olaf became Norway's eternal king, a patron saint whose silver shrine pilgrims kissed. His cult unified Norwegian identity and made Nidaros Cathedral one of the great pilgrimage sites of medieval Scandinavia.