Essay for the trip to Rome with the students of History, Helsinki University, March 1997.
St. BRIDGET IN ROME
by Eva Ahl
Contents:
1.Preface
2. Background: S:t Bridget in Sweden
3. The Situation in Italy
4. The Situation in Rome
5. St. Bridget's First Stay
in Rome
6. St. Bridget's Revelations
and her Opinion on the Society
7. St. Bridget and
the Swedish Politics
8. The Papal Politics 1342-1367
9. The Pope and the Emperor
Meet in Rome in 1368
10. Pilgrim in the Holy Land
11. The Second Time in Rome
12. Epilogue
Literature
St. Bridget (1303-1373) is the first known swedish woman in the history of Europe. She is associated with the european politics in the 14th century along with her contemporary, Catherine of Siena (who is a Mother of the Church, and the patron saint of Italy along with Franciscus of Assisi). St. Bridget has been called "lovesick widow", "greedy for power", "plotting noblewoman", "the Seeress from the North" and other nicknames, but she has also in a positive way been seen as a "visionary", "theologian" etc. S:t Bridget is a saint we know very much about, since she wrote down her revelations and had a vast correspondence. She also led a normal life in her early years; married and had children, before she started to preach.
In 1215 the Lateran Council had forbidden new Orders to be founded and women had to join the already excisting ones. The monks were often cold towards the nuns in the Orders and the excisting womenmonasteries were socially and economically weak. Women could though be visionaries. The "Seeress from the North" established herself as a visionary and as a politically active noblewoman during her life and she finally got her own Order of St. Bridget approved by the Pope.
2. Background; St. Bridget in Sweden
Birgitta Birgersdotter (St. Bridget) was probably born in 1303. She belonged to the nobility of Sweden; her father, Birger Persson, was a lagman in Uppland, and her mother was Ingeborg Bengtsdotter of the Folkkunga line or the Bjälbo line - very near to the thrown. The legend tells that already as a seven-year-old Birgitta had revelations, she was then "chosen". Her mother died in 1313 and Birgitta was raised in Östergötland by her aunt, Katarina Bengtsdotter, on the Aspenäs mannor. When Birgitta was 13 years old she was married to the eighteen-yaer-old knight Ulf Gudmursson on Ulvåsa mannor. He became also a lagman, in Närke, and a member of the king's council. They had eight children of which five reach maturity; Märta (who was married), Karl (who was Birgitta's favourite), Birger (whom she thought pious), Katarina (who followed her to Rome), Ingeborg and Cecilia.
All her life Birgitta was an actice pilgrim. In 1339 she made a pilgrimige to Nidaros with her husband Ulf, to visit the norvegian king St. Olof's grave. In 1341 they made the decision to make a pilgrimige to Santiago de Compostela. Probably on this journey Birgitta became interested in the Pope's situation as he was in Avignon, and the french politics. During the journey Ulf fell ill and he never recovered. He died back home in Sweden in 1344, in Alvastra. Birgitta turned more and more away from the world and left Ulvåsa mannor and spent more time in the court of king Magnus Eriksson, where she mended into his foreign policy. She also spent some time in the Cistercience monastery in Alvastra. At the same time she got Vadstena castle from king Magnus. In Alvastra she had the first revelations, which came to accompany many others in her book Revelationes Coelestes, or Holy Revelations. Her belief was founded on a mysticism of Christ, which stimulated her to take part in worldly thing, such as politics. She critizied the Western Christianity; begged for peace in the Hundred Years War between England and France and begged the Pope to return to Rome. The bishop of Åbo, Hemming, was her diplomat in Avignon in 1348. In the same year she had a vision of Christ, where He asked her to travel to Rome, to the center of the Western Christianity: "Go to Rome and stay there, until you see the pope and the emperor, and speak on my behalf to them the words that I will say to you", according to a revelation.
The year 1350 was Annus Mirabilis for the Christianity. Birgitta was one of many pilgrims, who travelled to Rome this year. She started her journey in 1349 and took with her a large amount of people close to her; Petrus Olavi (the prior of Alvastra monastery), master Petrus (her teacher), Gudmar Fredriksson (her priest on Ulvåsa mannor), Magnus Petri (of the line Tre Liljor), who have written many stories about her, and Ingeborg Dannäs (of the line Bielke), who was a friend and unfortunately died in Milano due to the heavy journey. A multitude of servants of course accompanied them. They first travelled by boat to the german coast and then trough (what is nowadays) Germany, by horse or carrige. They probably made many stops and visited several holy places along the way, as they crossed the Alps into Northern Italy, never again to return to Sweden.
Italy was by then divided into four princedoms; the Savoy, Milano, the Papal State and Naples. Sicily was an autonomous kingdom. Of the mighty cities was Florence a fake democracy and Venice was an oligarchy, where the rich ruled, as where many other cities at that time. In the beginning of the 14th century there was a struggle for the power between the Pope and the german emperor; who was to be mightier? The Ghibellins supported the emperor and the Guelfs were true to the Pope. The Italian states were tormented by war, unrest and crisis. Groups of nobles often took the power as selfrulers and would not accept a papal representation of power, so they supproted the emperor. Behind the german emperor stood England, Aragony, Northern Italy, Genua and time to time Constantinoples. France, the Mid-Italian cities, Anjou-Naples and venice supproted the Pope. The fransiscans also caused trouble for the Pope; they had been devided into a popefriendly and an opposite(the Spirituals) party. The Sprirituals fled to Northern Italy and Bavaria. (Look e. g. in Umberto Eco's The Name of the Rose!)
The popes were in the so called "Babylonian Imprisonment of the Popes", from the year 1309, when Clemence V (1305-1314) left Rome and went to Avignon. In Avignon the popes became dependent on the french politics. In 1349 Birgitta thus stepped out to speak for the Pope's return to Rome. She also wants to have her own Order approved by him. Birgitta was always loyal to the Papal authority and jurisdiction; she just critizied the pope as a private person, for his lack of moral. She made a difference between office and person. Italy had undergone a series of large economical crisis in 1320-1350. De Florentine banks and gone down and thus also the economical basis for the guelfian politics. The unfortune led to expensive times and lack of goods and chaos. A new gentry grew up; the gente nuova. Finally the Black Death reached Italy, starting from Genua in 1348. The Papal curia in Avignon also got infected and many died. A new accent started to spread in art; a new mysticism was born, more heavyminded and deathcentered. The Plague was seen upon as some sort of moral punishment. St. Sebastian became a wellknown saint. Birgitta was obsessed by sin and punishment in her revelations, especially after her arrival to Rome. According to Sven Stolpe the life in Rome must have affected her strongly. France and England were involved in the Hundered Years War and Naples was torn apart by political intrigues. In other words; Italy was a chaos when she arrived. She probably first went to the St. Peter's Cathedral. The church was then in a very bad condition. It still had mosaics from the 4th century, which she could admire. They are no longer there for us to see today.
The Anno santo, 1350, made many pilgrims travel to Rome. The city was quite a small town by then with a population of about 30 000 - 40 000. The inhabitants tore down the antique colons to build new houses or towers and citywalls. The seven hills of Rome lay in ruins, and the city was not big. On Forum Romanum sheep was held. Two families held the city; Colonna and Orsini. Members of both came to be Birgitta's friends very soon. There were no policeforce or similar to watch over the peace, so everyone had to look after themselves. In 1350 the Pope sent a represent, Annibaldo de Ceccano, to Rome. He was not popular and he had to flee to Naples, where he died. Birgitta was chocked of his living and the bad condition of the church; "Rome is like a plot, which has been overgrown by thistels", she let Mary speak in one revelation. Birgitta started write criticizing lettersand revelations to the nobles and the preists because of their sinful living. Rome was an oligarchy, where the nobles ruled. The large families had armies of their own, who fought eachother. The social unrest had broke out to definite due to the election of Clemens VI to Pope in 1342 in Avignon. The people sent their representative, Cola di Rienzo to Avignon in hope of help from tthe Pope to solve the unrest in Rome. No help was sent. Cola di Rienzo tried to seize power in Rome by himself instead in 1347, but he had to escape. He came back with a papal representative, cardinal Albornoz, in 1353, but Rienzo was murderedin 1354. Later the same year king Karl arrived to Rome to be crowned as emperor...
5. St. Bridget's First Stay in Rome
Birgitta made very important aquaintancies in Rome through her diplomats from Sweden and the Cistercience Order's members in Alvastra and due to her contact to the Swedish king and with the supprot of the Church, and she was thus not wholly unknown. She had won the Pope's sympathies due to her critique of the archbishop Giovanni Visconti in Milano because of his sinful lifestyle - he had been excomunicated since he had taken Bologna from the Pope. The pope's brother, cardinal Hugoes de Beaufort, thus let Birgitta live in his palace, since the cardinal himself was in Avignon. The palace was near the church San Lorenzo in Damaso. Birgitta made up a plan for herself and her staff with eight hours sleep, prayers, devotions, work and tree meals a day. They also started visiting many holy places in Rome. Birgitta wrote two hours a day; letters and revelations. From her window she could see the church, which well could have work as inspiration. Master petrus was also teaching her latin. She did her best to learn, but it seem to have been hard for her; "submission leads to glory". Her confessor warned her of to much ascetism and ordered her to eat properly.
Birgitta's daughter, Katarina, travelled to her in 1350. Katarina was newly wed against her will, and she was but eighteen years old but already following her mother's ascetic ideal (and was thus not very happily married). In 1352 she arrived to Rome with two of her firends and the marsk Sten Turesson (Bielke), who was a friend to the family. Katarina searched a week for her mother in Rome, since Birgitta had travelled to a monastery outside the city, until they met. Katarina was very young and soon became a widow, so she stayed on by her mother's side. According to the legends Katarina of course was very beautiful and, naturally, very courted by the local noblemen. She matured and she finally took over her mother's Order after St. Bridget's death. Birgitta's son, Karl, also travelled to them sometime in political terms. He probaly was Bigitta's favourite son. But he led a very "shameful" life. Birgitta worried higly of his soul and salvation.
The Romans were very critical towards Birgitta at first, as towards the Pope. She was even accused for witchery. Birgitta criticized the decadent Rome with its decadent priests, which made her unpopular, but she was also liked. She was thought to make wonders and she helped the poor. As she was a memebr of the nobility and known to the Chruch, she won many friends of the italian aristocracy. Because of her critique of the way the pope handled the spirituals, she was disfavored and had to leave the cardinal's palace. In 1354 she then moved in to her friend, Francesca Papazuri, to a house near the "Flowersquare" (Campo di Fiore, nowadays Piazza Farnese). The house was no palace, but very classy, with two floors and many rooms, a dining room, chapel and a garden. The "Flowersquare" lay immediately outside the town, among antique ruins and grazing flocks of sheep. She made friends with members of the two leading families, Colonna and Orsini, e. g. the knights Latino Orsini respected her highy because she saved both his and his son's lives, when they were ill, and he became her true friend.
Many Swedes visited Birgitta in Italy. She had many "visitors", i. e. rich and important swedish noblemen and -women, their servants, monks, priests etc. Sven Stolpe claims that her life must have been very busy in the house by Campo di Fiore. In their stories the visitors thought she was a very interesting and touching person; Sve Stolpe claims the stories are very "lively and interesting as short stories". Birgitta's friends donated jewellery etc to help economical the expensive household of hers in Rome. She had friends in every social class and many of them asked for her help, and often got it.
6. St. Bridget's Revelations and her Opinion on the Society
Birgitta's revelations are full of theological, moral and mere psychological education; they show Birgitta's ideal lifestyle and ideal monastery. She gives advice and consolation, but she is also highly philosophical. The visions also go into detail in describing torture and devils, which can, according to the scolars, be a sign of a very psychologically disturbed mind. But, the recent studies claim that she was in full health and very honest. The Virgin Mary was her most important ideal; "the untouched", pure person. Virgin Mary was at that time very popular at large and a cult was forming around Her in Europe. Mater misercordiae, Virgin Mary's painful motherly love, and the wrath of God; Ira Dei, were themes in her visions. Birgitta thought that she was chosen to preach to the people, since the Church seemed to lead them astray. Sven Stolpe also analyzes Birgitta's view on the classes; she spoke for humanity towards the lower classes and criticized the upper class for their hate of the poor. Nobles of Birgitta's kind were few at that time.
The hierarchy of the society was thought to be the order of the creation to medieval people, claims Birgit Klockars. Tyranny and hereditary lordship was preferred. The subjects had to follow the king's laws, but the king also had some sort of duty to follow the laws of the society. This was the reason for Birgitta's critique of Magnus Eriksson. The critique does not qustion the order of the society, but it emphazises that the liability of the upper class.
7. St. Bridget and the Swedish Politics
Birgitta attacked the politics of Magnus Eriksson by writing very angry letter to him. He tried to defend himself against the swedish aristocracy and his war against Moscow was a total fiasco, which led to more impopular taxraisings. Birgitta was kept à jour with the situation through her son Karl Ulfsson, who was her reliable corespondent to Sweden. Magnus Eriksson was involved in a war against Valdemar of Denmark, in an attempt to reconquer Skania in 1361, but the aristocracy then elected Magnus's son, Håkan, to king instead. The swedish nobility wanted to make an allians with the Hansa. Birgitta supported the reconquista of Scania and wanted to raise the moral in the country. Her son Karl probably was involved in the intrigue against Magnus. Birgitta wrote to Magnus and accused him for immorality (he was excommunicated by the pope in 1358). These accuses were though totally worthless, since Magnus made many good things to the country by resisting Valdemar of Denmark etc.
Birgitta's letter still had some effect; Håkan made a decision to raise money by a Vårfrupenning to Vadstena monastery in 1361 - BEFORE the Order of St. Bridget even was founded! The initiative probably came from the nobles, and therefore also Håkan was worth Birgitta's critique... She made propaganda for among the nobility and they respected her due to her papal contacts. As Magnus lost his crown, Birgitta also won the favor of the Pope in Avignon.
8. Papal Politics in 1342 - 1367
Clemens VI (1342-1352) was very powerful, but he could not negotiate peace between France and England. He had too much problems with the collapse of the Papal State and the scourge of the Black Death. The pope was an enthusiastic supporter of the Crusade-ideal and he had the ostentatious court in England. He squander his money on art and science. Birgitta criticized his use of money and all the taxes and bribes, which the papal court demanded. Inspite of that the court was short of money and needed to defend itself against french dominance. Clemens VI was followed by Innocentius VI (1352-1362), who was thought to be weak, but he improved the moral in Avignon and raised Birgitta's hope. Still he was harch against the Spirituals, whose ascetism Birgitta thought highly of, and therefore she criticized the pope. In 1357 France was in chaos; robbing armies roamed in provence and also Avignon had to defend itself with a wall etc. The Plague struck in 1361 and Innocentius died, old and tired.
Innocentius VI hired Gil alvarez Carillo Albornoz (a spanish nobleman) in an attempt to sort out the administrative chaos in the Papal State. Archbishop Visconti, who had taken Bologna, promised to give his support to this project. The prefect of Rome, Giovanni di Vico, started to fight them, but gave up along with other revolting cities. King Karl IV did not want peace with the pope and Karl marched in to Italy; in 1355 he was crowned with the famous ironcrown in Milano and then he continued to Rome, where cardinal de Colombiers crowned him to Roman Emperor. Karl then quickly returned over the Alps. Albornoz, although he had been victorious, was removed from his office by the pope, since Albornoz did not want to negotiate with the heirs of Visconti about Bologna. The pope made great losses, so in 1358 Albornoz again returned to his office of papal legat and Constable. Urbanus V (1362-1370) in his turn fired Albornoz once more, and Albornoz became a legat in Naples instead, in an attempt to fight the revolts there and managed to accomplich peace in the papal area in Italy! Albornoz died in 1367. His nephew, Gomez Albornoz, was a friend of Birgitta's in Rome.
9. The Pope and the Emperor meet in Rome in 1368
For a long time Birgitta had wanted to see the emperor and the pope meet in Rome. The medieval Emperor symbolized the highest worldly power. Birgitta did not want to meet him in 1355, when he was crowned, since the pope was abcent. Karl returned to Rome in 1368 with the pope Urbanus V. It is not sure, however, if Birgitta actually saw their march into the city, but her friend Magnus Petri, saw them. Birgitta wrote to the emperor in the wrods of a vision and demanded cooperation with the pope. She also wanted to have her own Order established. This time she did not criticize, since she had no reason for it; Karl was a very tolerant ruler. The emperor got a very positive picture of Birgitta and thus anticipated with interest in her canonization after her death.
Birgitta also wrote revelations to the pope. She criticized the high taxrates and the unmoral of the cardinals etc. She bade her firend Niccolo de Orsini for help and summoned her sons Karl and Birger to Rome, for support. Due to Orsini's recommendation her Order was established by the pope - on Augustian basis. Finally Birgitta got the opportunity to meet with the pope in his quarters in Montefiascone in 1370. Orsini was her translator, since the pope spoke Latin with a heavy french accent and Birgitta's Latin was rather bad. The pope had to leave Rome when its situation became too politically unstable again, and he wanted to plan a crusade. He issued a bull to the bishop of Uppsala, Sweden, for establishing two new monasteries, but it was not yet according to Birgitta's monastic rule, but based on the Augustian. The pope died in Avignon in 1371. He was followed by Gregorius XI, who also recieved angry letters from Birgitta. The Papal State was crumbling down and shaken by revolts. Birgitta comforted her firend, the senator Gomez Albornoz,who had the responcibility over Rome, in his grief. She wrote him lettes and gave him presents, e. g. a golden cross, which he was thought to wear around his neck. Birgitta never experienced the return of the pope to Rome. It happened in 1378, when Gregorius XI returned to the Eternal City. Her influence cannot be belittled.
Birgitta had a revelation, where she is demanded to travel to Jerusalem. In 1372 she set out on the journey with her children, Katarina, Karl and Birger. Karl died during the biginning of the voyage, in Naples, where he might have been involved in a loveaffair with queen Giovanna, but it is but rumours. The death of her son touched Birgitta very severely, but she was convinced of his soul's salvation, which was the most important for her when she greived her loved ones, who had departed. Birgitta coninued the voyage with katarina and Birger and she recieved many visions in the holy places. Birger became a knight of the Holy Grave. They returned to Rome in 1373.
In her last years Birgitta still made many new friends, e. g. her confessor, bishop Alfons. Birgitta was respected as a saint while she was still alive, e. g. a canic from Linköping (Sweden) tells us this. Under her last years Birgitta was ill; she probably had some sort of liver decease with periods with high fever, but she still tried to be active. She was very weak during her second time in Rome, as she came home from the pilgrimige to Jerusalem, and she died in July 1373. Five days before her death he had a last vision of Christ, where He promised her that her words would be herad and followed.
Birgitta's body was taken by Katarina to Vadstena. Later Katarina recieved the bulll that the Order of St. Bridget (Ordo Sanctissimi Salvatoris) was established and Katarina became the first abbess. The monastery in Vadstena was officially opened in 1384 and became a double monastery for both men and women according to Birgitta's will. Vadstena rapidly grew to the litterate center of medieval culture in the North. The pope Bonifacius IX canonized St. Bridget in the Peter's Church in Rome in 1391. In 1394 she was chosen to the patron saint of the Swedish kingdom.
In the end of the 14th century and the beginning of the 15th century many monasteries of the Order of St. Bridget were founded troughout Europe, e. g. in Genua, Tallin, Gdansk, Denmark etc. A pilgrim's hostel was founded in Rome. The monastery in Valladolid can be mentioned, since it is still in use today! The monastery in Vadstena and Naantali (in Finland) were emptied due to the Reformation in the 16th century, but has now reopened. In 1911 the monastery was reopened in Rome by mother Maria Elisabeth Hesselblad (1870-1957) and in 1931 it moved to a house known nowadays as "Casa di Santa Brigida", which stands in Piazza Farnese where the original house of St. Bridget was in the Middle Ages...
St. Bridget had a great impact on cultural life in the Swedish kingdom during the Late Middle Ages, dur to the founding of the monasteries. She was active in the politics and in the spreading of ideas by criticizing de degenerated Western Christianity, especially the sinful lives of the preists. She spent twenty years of her live in Rome, where she was active as a praying and helping person. She influenced the view of women in the Church, when she highly supported the Cult of Mary. She was an authoritharian lady, with an aura of strong will. Her lifework lies in her writing and corresponding. Her work was visionary, but also active and extrovert. In the continuing debate about who is to be chosen to be the patron saint of the European Union, I highly recommend St. Bridget; she was a true European, in its largest extent; anticipating in politics and travelling from Europe's westernest point to its esternest, spending her life in a culturally borderless Europe!
Feedback: Please mail me at: ahl@elo.helsinki.fi
Andersson, Aron (ed.) 1970: Den heliga Birgitta och Vadstena. Ett 600-års minne. Stockholm.
Kilström, Bengt Ingmar 1974: Birgitta Birgersdotter. In Birgitta Klostergrunderskan: verket och dess aktualitet. Kumla.
Klockars, Birgit 1971: Birgitta och hennes värld. Historiska serien 16, Kungliga Vitterhets Historie och Antikvitets akademien. Uppsala.
- 1974: Birgitta under sina sista levnadsår. In Birgitta Klostergrunderskan: verket och dess aktualitet. Kumla.
Setälä, Päivi 1996: Keskiajan nainen. Keuruu.
Stolpe, Sven 1988: Birgitta i Sverige och i Rom. WSOY Finland.