BRIDGET, BRIGITTA, BIIGITTA, OF SWEDEN, SAINT (c. 1302-1373)

This article appears in Volume V04, Page 557 of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: BOS-BRI

BRIDGET, BRIGITTA, BIIGITTA, OF SWEDEN, SAINT (c. 1302-1373) , the most celebrated saint of the northern kingdoms, was the daughter of Birger Persson,

governor

GOVERNOR (from the Fr. gouverneur, from gouverner, O. Fr. governer, Lat. gubernare, to steer a ship, to direct, guide)

and lagman (provincial judge) of Uppland, and one of the richest landowners of the country. In 1316 she was married to Ulf Gudmarson, lord of Nericia,' to whom she bore eight children, one of whom wasafterwards honoured as St Catherine of Sweden.

Bridget

's saintly and charitable life soon made her known far and wide; she gained, too,

great

GREAT

religious influence over her husband, with whom (13411343) she went on

pilgrimage

PILGRIMAGE (Fr. pelerinage, Lat. peregrinatio)

to St James of Compostella. In 1344, shortly after their return, Ulf died in the Cistercian monastery of Alvastra in

East

EAST
EAST, ALFRED (1849- )

Gothland, and

Bridget

now devoted herself wholly to religion. As a child she had already believed herself to have visions; these now became more frequent, and her records of these " revelations," which were tanslated into Latin by Matthias, canon of Linkoping; and by her confessor, Peter, prior of Alvastra, obtained a

great

GREAT

vogue during the middle ages. It was about this time that she founded the order of St Saviour, or Bridgittines (q.v.), of which the principal

house

HOUSE
HOUSE (O. Eng. hiss, a word common to Teutonic languages, cf. Dut. huis, Ger. Haus; in
Gothic
- GOTHIC
it is only found in gudhiss, a temple; it may be ultimately connected with the root of " hide," conceal)

, at Vadstena, was richly endowed by King Magnus II. and his queen. About 1350 she went to Rome; partly to obtain from the

pope

the authorization of the neW order, partly in pursuance of her self-imposed mission to elevate the moral tone of the age. It was not till 1370 that

Pope

Urban V. confirmed the

rule

RULE

of her order; but meanwhile Bridget had made herself universally beloved in Rome by her kindness and good works. Save for occasional pilgrimages, including one to Jerusalem in 1373, she remained in Rome till her death on the 23rd of July 1373. She was canonized in r391 by Pope

Boniface

BONIFACE (Bonifacius)
BONIFACE, SAINT (680-754)

IX., and her feast is celebrated on the 9th of October.

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