Bridget of Sweden

Life events

1. Born — 1304

   Born c. 1304 in Uppland, Sweden, daughter of Birger Persson, knight, governor, and lawspeaker of Uppland — one of the richest landowners in the country — and Ingeborg Bengtsdotter of the Lawspeaker branch of the Folkunga family, through whom Bridget was related to the Swedish kings of her era.

2. Other — 1316

   At age 13, married Ulf Gudmarsson of the family of Ulvåsa, a noble and lawspeaker of Östergötland; the couple had eight children, four daughters and four sons, of whom six survived infancy — including the future Catherine of Sweden.

3. Pilgrimage — 1341

   Traveled with her husband Ulf Gudmarsson on pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela.

4. Other — 1344

   Ulf Gudmarsson died at the Cistercian Alvastra Abbey in Östergötland; following his death, Bridget joined the Third Order of Saint Francis and devoted herself to prayer and care for the poor and sick, while also conceiving the idea of founding the religious order that became the Bridgettines.

5. Pilgrimage — 1350

   In the Jubilee Year of 1350, traveled through plague-stricken Europe to Rome, accompanied by her daughter Catherine and a small party of priests and disciples, to seek papal authorization for the Order of the Most Holy Saviour and to agitate for the papacy's return from Avignon.

6. Other — 1370

   Pope Urban V, during his brief attempt to re-establish the papacy in Rome, confirmed the Rule of the Order of the Most Holy Saviour (the Bridgettines), whose principal house at Vadstena had been richly endowed by King Magnus IV of Sweden and Queen Blanche of Namur.

7. Died — 1373

   Died 23 July 1373 in Rome, where she had lived continuously since 1350 except for pilgrimages; originally buried at San Lorenzo in Panisperna before her remains were returned to Vadstena, Sweden.

8. Other — 1391

   Canonized 1391 by Pope Boniface IX after efforts by Queen Margaret of Scandinavia; the Council of Constance confirmed the canonization in 1415, and the Council of Basel confirmed the orthodoxy of her revelations in 1436.

Relationships

Documented claims

• On 1 October 1999, Pope John Paul II named Bridget one of the six patron saints of Europe, alongside Benedict of Nursia, Cyril, Methodius, Catherine of Siena, and Teresa Benedicta of the Cross. (certain)
• Her vision of the Nativity — the infant Jesus lying on the ground emitting light, the Virgin kneeling in prayer before the spontaneous birth — shaped the Adoration of the Child pose, one of the most common Nativity depictions in the 15th and 16th centuries, and influenced Baroque chiaroscuro treatments of the scene. (likely)
• Her Revelationes coelestes, translated into Latin by Matthias, canon of Linköping, and confessor Peter Olafsson, prior of Alvastra, were issued in a modern critical edition in nine volumes (1956–2002) under the Royal Academy of Letters, History and Antiquities, Stockholm. (certain)
• Bridgettine houses were structured as double monasteries — men and women in separate cloisters forming a joint community — required to live in poverty and give surplus income to the poor, but permitted to keep as many books as they wished. (likely)
• On 8 October 1991, during the sexcentennial of her canonization, Pope John Paul II and two Lutheran bishops prayed together at the burial place of St Peter in Rome — described as the first joint prayer by members of the two communities at that site. (likely)