88 Ruth Rajamaa Foundation of the Pirita Convent, known to researchers of the Birgittine Order 1407–1436, in Swedish Sources but, together with other Swedish sources, it Ruth Rajamaa is possible to discover new aspects in the Summary relations between the Pirita and Vadstena convents. Abstract: This article is largely based on Vadstena was the mother abbey of the Order Swedish sources and examines the role of of the Holy Saviour, Ordo Sancti Salvatoris. the Vadstena abbey in the history of the The founder, Birgitta Birgersdotter (1303 Pirita convent, from the founding of its 1373), had a revelation in 1346: Christ gave daughter convent in 1407 until the conse- her the constitution of a new order. In 1349, cration of the independent convent in 1431. Birgitta left Sweden and settled in Rome in Various aspects of the Vadstena abbey’s order to personally ask permission from the patronage are pointed out, revealing both pope to found a new order. The Order of the a helpful attitude and interfering guid- Holy Saviour was confirmed in 1370 and ance. Vadstena paid more attention to again in 1378 under the Augustinian Rule, Pirita than to other Birgittine monasteries with the addition of the Rule of the Holy and had many brothers and sisters of its Saviour, Ordo sancti Augustini sancti Sal- monastery there. Such closeness to the vatoris nuncupatus. mother monastery is a totally new pheno- The main aim of the Birgittine Order was menon in the history of researching Pirita, to purify all Christians; it was established and still needs more thorough analysis. primarily for women. Each convent was com- Correspondence with Vadstena offers more prised of 60 nuns under the supervision of detailed data about the merchants consid- an abbess. They and visiting laymen were ered to be the founders of Pirita, whose served by 25 brothers, who were divided into origins have remained vague to this day. classes: 13 priests, four deacons and eight lay brothers. Their head was called a general Keywords: Middle Ages, Birgittine order, confessor, and not a prior or an abbot. They Pirita convent, relations to Vadstena abbey were not typical monks who, after joining the order, received instruction to become The current article examines the foundation deacons or priests. Only those men could of the Pirita convent, mainly on the basis of become priests or deacons in a Birgittine Vadstena abbey sources. Currently, I have Order who had had special ordination before. found about 20 documents in the Swedish They called themselves priest brothers, dea- State Archives in Stockholm and in the Upp- con brothers or lay brothers, according to sala University library that, to some extent, their status. Sisters and brothers lived in sepa- reflect the relations between the Vadstena rate quarters, although they shared the same abbey and Pirita convent during the found- church. The monastery and the church were ing and building of the latter. The other chief dedicated to the Virgin Mary. source is the diary of the Vadstena abbey, The Vadstena abbey was consecrated in Diarium Vadstenense, which contains ten 1384. The Birgittine Order began rapidly notes about the Pirita convent during the rel- developing after Birgitta was canonised (7 evant period. The diary is, of course, well October 1391). A further boost was provided Pirita kloostri asutamine ja ülesehitamine 14071436 Rootsi allikate valguses 89 by the first complete Latin publication of Huxer. The Swedish documents show that the Birgittas Heavenly revelations, commission- last two were priests, and that Gerlach Kruse ed by the Vadstena abbey and printed in Lü- came from Söderköping and was the brother beck in 1492. The Orders third convent was of Hans Hildebrandsson, who entered Vad- Pirita, near Tallinn, with the medieval name stena as a brother in 1415. The sources also Mariendael/Marienthal. The next nine Bir- mention Borchard Sawdel in 1412 as a priest gittine monasteries were all located in North- active in the founding of the convent. ern Europe. By the end of the Middle Ages, After the return of the brothers sent to Pirita there were a total of 27 Birgittine monaster- in 1408, nothing more seemed to be develop- ies, ten of which were closed due to the Ref- ing from Vadstenas point of view. Hence it ormation, although several monasteries were was decided to send a delegation to Tallinn in still established in the 16th18th centuries. 1410 for a thorough inspection. The delega- Special mention should be made of monas- tion managed to convince the Tallinn bishop, teries in Spain and Mexico, 11 of which still the Livonian Order master and the land mar- exist. Of the old monasteries in Europe, four shal to send a petition to the pope to confirm are still working. the foundation of the Pirita convent. On 29 May 1411, Pope Johannes XXIII Examining Swedish material, we see that the confirmed all plans of action and privileges. head of the Vadstena abbey kept a close watch The convent now officially belonged to Ordo on the building of the Pirita convent after the Sancti Salvatoris, the Order of the Holy Sav- first meeting on 5 May 1407, when people iour. The official name of the convent was arrived from Livonia and said they wished Vallis Mariae, Mariental/Marienthal. Medi- to found a convent near Tallinn that would eval Lower-German documents usually re- belong to the Order of the Holy Saviour. fer to it as sunte Birgitta Kloster. According to the Diarium, the founding in- Besides the usual privileges, the letter volved 34 persons, 16 of whom were virgins permitted the Vadstena abbey to send two and six of whom were priests. The men asked sisters and two brothers to Pirita to instruct for privileges, relics of St. Birgitta and a copy the new applicants. The invitation, however, of Cantus sororum, i.e. notes and text. The arrived from Pirita only the following year. Sisters Song was the distinctive feature of In September 1412, two brothers, one a priest the Birgittine order; the sisters had their own and the other a lay brother-stonemason, and officium and their own Virgin Mary mass, two sisters and two votive sisters travelled and the brothers followed the prayers fixed to Pirita. The list of sisters shows that there by the local bishopric. must have been a convent of sisters blessed After laying the cornerstone, which ac- by the bishop, separate from the building for cording to Balthasar Russow (Chronica der votive sisters, i.e. young girls who wished to Prouintz Lyfflandt, 1578) took place on 15 enter the convent. June 1407, Vadstena sent two brothers to The arrival of Vadstena representatives Pirita for a year to teach those who wished must have contributed to producing firmer to enter the convent. and better observance for the convents of Three Tallinn merchants are considered to brothers and sisters. Sister Kristina Tokes- be the founders of the Pirita convent: Hein- dotter, who descended from lower nobility, rich Swalbart, Gerlach Kruse and Heinrich was probably elected as Abbess or rather 90 Ruth Rajamaa as Deputy Abbess, as Pirita was not yet an Tallinn reveal that Swalbart, especially in his independent convent at that time. It could second visit to the Council, worked inde- also be presumed that the priest Karl Anders- pendently and purposefully, winning the con- son was appointed as the assistant to the gen- fidence of the Riga archbishop, the grand- eral confessor because, according to the Or- master and the procurator Wormditt. As a ders constitution Mare Magnum, the gen- result of his effort, the Livonian Order mas- eral confessor in non-consecrated convents ter Lander von Spanheim decided on 27 Au- was called the vice confessor et pater. Send- gust 1416 that the convent could stay where ing the stonemason Stefan Liongasson to it had been established. Pirita must have meant that a start was made Shortly before Order Master Landers de- in the planning of the convents and the church cision, the situation in Pirita seems to have according to the rules of St. Birgitta. become critical. Two votive sisters from Vad- stena, who had come to Pirita to instruct the However, the new convent soon found itself applicants, had returned to their home mon- in conflict with the Tallinn magistracy, as astery and been ordained, according to the revealed by documents in Tallinn. On 1 Au- Diarium. After their departure in July 1416, gust 1413 the magistracy sent a letter to the Pirita seems to have sent a message to the Grandmaster of the Teutonic Order, and in- sisters in Marienwohlde to come home be- structions to Merten Bradenborch, who had cause, in a document in Sweden, the Raze- to take the magistracy letters to the grand- burg bishop forbade them to do so. master and convince him to move the Pirita A year after Order Master Landers deci- convent inland. sion, Pirita acquired a permit for a quarry and Finding themselves in a problematic situ- was able to start building both the church and ation, the founders of Pirita began to work the convent houses. After four years in a in two directions. First, between July and fairly uncertain situation, the convents con- October 1413, and in collaboration with the struction proceeded according to plan. Razeburg bishop and Sachsen-Lauenburg Duke Erich V, Piritas daughter convent Marien- In July 1416, the votive sisters left the Pirita wohlde was established near Lübeck. The convent, but Deputy Abbess Kristina Tokes- purchase of the land was mediated by the dotter and Sister Kristina Johansdotter re- Pirita priest Borchard Sawdel. A group of mained. The stonemason-lay brother Stefan Pirita convent sisters arrived there later.