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JAN ZARLE, GUNVER SKYTTE KAREN ASCANI, STEEN BO FRANDSEN, ERIK THUNØ
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ItIWA'i&iIi ANALECTA ROMANA INSTITUTI DANICI XXVIII Accademia di Danimarca, 18, Via Omero, 1 - 00197, Rome Lay-out by the editors
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Intending contributors should get in touch with the editors, who will supply a set of guidelines and establish a deadline. A print of the article, accompanied by a disk containing the text in Dos: Word Perfect, Word or Mac Word format should be sent to the editors, Accademia di Danimarca, 18 Via Omero, I - 00197 Roma, tel. 0039-06 32 65 931 fax 32 22 717. E-mail: [email protected] Contents
TORBEN K. NIELSEN: Pope Innocent III and Denmark, Sweden, and Norway 7
FREDERIK MUNTER E LA SIcILIA, Papers from the seminar, November 26, 1999 33
T0BIAs FISCHER-HANSEN: La conoscenza dell'Italia meridionale e della Sicilia greca in Dani- marca nell'Ottocento: Frederik Munter e Saverio Landolina 35
GIovANNI SALMERI: La Sicilia nei libri di viaggio del Settecento tra letteratura e riscoperta della grecità 65
PEPPE PERSIANI: "Vedere biblioteche e vedere ii mondo": Frederik Munter ricercatore di ma- noscritti ed i suoi Fragmenta Patrum Graecorum 83
SCANDINAVIAN TRAVELLERS AND RESIDENTS IN ITALY IN THEIR LOCAL AND INTERNA- TIONAL MILIEU, Papers from the seminar, January 19, 2000 101
KAREN KLITGAARD POVLSEN: Friederike Brun around 1800. Episodes from travelling in Italy - the lake of Albano 103
MARGRETHE FL0RYAN: Garden and Memory. From Ariccia to Sophienhoim 109
MARIA GRAZIA MAI0RINI: I danesi a Napoli nel Settecento: il corpo diplomatico attraverso i documenti dell'Archivio di Stato di Napoli 125
STEFANO FERRARI: Libri, storia e Altertumswissenschaft. Amadeo Svaier e gli eruditi danesi a Venezia sul finire del Settecento 135
MARIA ADELAIDE ZoccHI: 28 Gennaio 1833: fondazione del Circolo di lettura per i danesi a Roma. Per una datazione della sottoscrizione allo statuto 153
J. RASMUS BRANDT: Hansen Lilienskjold. A Norwegian Traveller to Italy 1669-1670. A Portrait of a Man and his Time 163
ANNA SELBERG: La percezione dell'Italia nella pittura norvegese del XIX secolo 181
ANNE ERIKSEN: Ruins, Romans, and Reality 191
ANNE ERIKSEN: Creating an Image of Nature. Norwegians in the Alban Hills 199
GIANLUCA CHELUCCI: Visitatori scandinavi a Pistoia fra Otto- e Novecento 205
REVIEWS
MORTEN STEEN HANSEN: Cultura umanistica e religiosa: Committenze, teoria e pratica del- l'inventio nell'arte rinascimentale dell'Italia settentrionale. Giornata di studio. 12 July 2000. Bibliotheca Hertziana (Max-Planck-Institut), Rome 227
Authors' addresses 229 Pope Innocent III and Denmark, Sweden, and Norway
by ToaEIr K. NIELSEN
In September 1998 an international conference nocent III is mainly known for his political ac- Innocenzo III - Urbs et Orbis was held in Rome tivities concerning the crusades to the Middle - in celebration of the 800th anniversary of the East, concerning the kings of France, Germany accession of Pope Innocent III. More than 150 and England, he also made his mark on the scholars from all over Europe and the United fringe areas of Europe - apart from the already States took part. They discussed the historical mentioned Baltic crusades. In particular, the significance, efforts, and activities of the im- present paper will attempt to provide a short portant medieval pope, Innocent III, who was introduction to papal policy towards Denmark, the undisputed leader of the Christian church Sweden, and Norway during the pontificate of in the years from 1198 to 1216. Innocent III has Innocent 111.1 become both famous and disreputable in medi- These Nordic countries were all in a transi- eval history. During his pontificate many of the tional phase of developing a monarchically now traditional features of the European Mid- controlled state and an ecclesiastical organisa- dle Ages came into being. For example, he tion in the period from c. 1000-1250. They were holds a major position in the history of the cru- moving away from a traditional and often re- sades. It was under his leadership and by his gionally based kingship, whose rulers were command that the Fourth Crusade was laun- chosen locally, and towards a kingship of a ched. Whether or not the pope should be more "European" nature. This was a develop- blamed for the crusaders' attacks on Christian ment, which was to establish a completely re- cities and the sacking of Constantinople in formed system of monarchical government in a 1204 is still a major bone of contention in mod- Nordic context, and lay the foundations for a ern crusading historiography. Innocent III also form of Christian kingship based on new prin- launched crusades against both political oppo- ciples of dynasticism and primogeniture, and nents in the south of Italy and against the he- on a new interpretation of the king's rights and retical Albigensian Cathars in the south of privileges, but also obligations, towards society France. Furthermore, he actively supported and the church. Taxation, administration and crusades against the pagan peoples of the Bal- military organisation were important factors in tic. He played a very active part in the power this development. In the high medieval period, struggles in the German Empire between Otto in all three countries, the church for its part IV, Philip of Swabia and the later Frederick II. was well on the way to achieving its final pre- In modern scholarship the pope is renowned, Reformation structure and status as an impor- as he was in his own times, for modernising the tant social power. This involved among other papal chancery, for reforming the papal admin- features the establishing of bishoprics, the col- istration, for setting new standards in papal lecting of tithes, the building of churches. It letter-writing, and for further developing eccle- was a development that can justifiably be siastical canon law. These were just some of called a second wave of christianization, fol- the means he used in a successful campaign to lowing the initial christianizing of these coun- raise the papacy to one of the most powerful in- tries by mainly German missionaries in the pe- stitutions of medieval Europe. Even though In- riod from roughly 900-1100.2 During the
8 TORBEN K. NIELSEN central Middle Ages a further formal but also geniture. However, in spite of this alleged new- mental christianization of the Nordic peoples found harmony between church and monarchy took place. These processes are also documen- during the reigns of Canute VI and his brother ted in the correspondence between Innocent III Valdemar II the Victorious (Canute died child- and the North. Primarily based on the papal less), one serious political crisis threatened to correspondence, the present article proposes to destroy it. give some examples of the relationship With the support of King Valdemar I the between the papacy and the Nordic countries. Great, a certain Bishop Valdemar of Slesvig (1158-1236) had been installed in the vacant Innocent III and Denmark bishopric to the south of Jutland in 1179. 1 His In Denmark, two great prelates witnessed Inno- family background made him a potential threat cent's pontificate from 1198 to 1216. Absalon to the royal power. 9 As an infant bishop Valde- headed the archdiocese of Lund from 1177 to mar had been raised at the court of King Valde- 1201. Originally elected bishop of Roskilde in mar I the Great, who had taken steps to ensure 1158, he administered both sees in a strange that the fatherless child later become an eccle- double-episcopacy from 1177 to 119 1, 1 when his siastic. 10 During the reign of King Canute VI, younger relative, Peder Sunesen, took over the Bishop Valdemar furthermore gained the right see of Roskilde. When Absalon died in 1201 to govern the duchy of Slesvig, due to the mi- Peder's brother, Anders Sunesen, took over as nority of King Canute's brother, the later King new archbishop of Denmark, papal legate and Valdemar II the Victorious. When in 1187 King primate of the Swedish church. Anders Sunesen Canute finally transferred the duchy of Slesvig held his high position until 1223, when he was to his younger brother, Bishop Valdemar saw allowed to resign because of illness .4 He died in his position as both duke and bishop-elect de- 1228. The largest part of the correspondence stroyed. 11 Apparently, Bishop Valdemar felt de- between the papacy and the Nordic churches in graded and reacted accordingly. 12 In 1192, with the pontificate of Innocent III was between the both Swedish and Norwegian military backing, pope himself and Anders Sunesen. Given the he tried to invade the northern parts of Jutland, Danish archbishop's many papal privileges and where, in a blatant act of political misjudge- his dominant position in the Nordic church ment, he proclaimed himself king of Den- province, it will be appropriate to begin with the mark. 13 But he was speedily defeated by a Dan- relationship between Innocent and Denmark. ish royal army and thrown into prison in Contrary to the situation in Sweden and Nor- 1192.' way, the relationship between the royal and ec- This was the situation when Innocent be- clesiastical powers in Denmark is often charac- came pope in 1198, and of course the Apostolic terised as one of harmony. 5 This harmony is See could not tolerate the imprisonment of a often presented as taking the form of a rela- leading prelate. In 1192 Celestine III had writ- tionship of mutual dependence and support, ten to the Danish clergy and ordered the Dan- which had been in effect ever since 1170, when ish bishops to support the papal demand that the then archbishop of Denmark, Eskil King Canute VI, under threats of excommuni- (1100-1181), at a great festivity, beatified Can- cation and interdict, should release Bishop Val- ute Lavard, the grandfather of the later Danish demar.'5 However, doubtless much to the sur- Kings Canute VI (1182-1202) and Valdemar II prise of Celestine, the entire Danish episcopate the Victorious (1202-1241). The festivities in supported the king's action and protested in a 1170 marked inter a/ia the end of Danish in- letter to the pope in which they apparently volvement in the papal schism between Alexan- tried to justify their version of the story. 16 Celes- der III and Victor P1.1 On this occasion King tine III deferred a ruling on the case, and it was Valdemar I the Great (1147-1182) also had his only when Innocent III had become pope in oldest legitimate son, six-year-old Canute VT,7 1198, and Valdemar II had ascended the Dan- crowned as joint-ruler, thus securing new prin- ish throne in 1202, that the case was reopened. ciples of royal, dynastic succession and primo- In 1203 Innocent III wrote an interesting letter POPE INNOCENT III AND DENMARK, SWEDEN, AND NORWAY to the new Danish king, Valdemar II the Victo- king and sullied the king's reputation, by being rious. 17 Apparently, Innocent III had no diffi- held captive for so long" .21 Once again Innocent culty in understanding the Danish arguments gives proof of his mastery of linguistic techni- for keeping Bishop Valdemar imprisoned, but ques; here he uses additional biblical meta- reaffirmed, all the same, that this was a viola- phors drawn from Matthew 26:52 and Proverbs tion of one of the Lord's anointed. Further- 26:27. Bishop Valdemar was to be released, the more, the pope stated in his letter that other pope ended, and he was to spend the rest of his rulers in other countries had taken note of the days in Italy and allow his episcopal see to be imprisonment, and had in this case found governed by a permanent substitute. Finally, in "some kind of defence for their own mistakes 1206 Bishop Valdemar was released and escor- and evasions and excuses for their sins" when it ted to Italy. 12 came to the suppression of the clergy." In the The case of Bishop Valdemar was the only letter King Valdemar was urged to consider the serious political problem between the papacy salvation of his own soul, and earnestly reques- and the monarchy in Denmark during the pon- ted to release the bishop. In the papal letter tificate of Innocent III. However, another high- there are no hints, still less threats, of possible ly political issue involved Innocent III and lead- papal sanctions, if the Danish king failed to ing sections of the Danish royal house and comply with the papal suggestions. That Inno- clergy. In 1193 the sister of King Canute VI, In- cent felt very uneasy and ambivalent about this geborg, was married to the king of France, case is clearly attested by his remarks on Bish- Philippe Auguste. It was a marriage, which was op Valdemar in the same letter: "Lo, had he not to end in personal tragedy for the Danish prin- existed, this man, Valdemar, bishop of Slesvig, cess. On the wedding night Philippe Auguste he who, disregarding the honour of episcopacy repudiated Ingeborg. This was the start of a ju- when uniting kingship with sacerdotal office ridical and political process, which was to last and thereby becoming a monster with many for thirty years until the death of Philippe in heads, in temerity conspired against the king of 1223. The diplomatic manoeuvres involved in- the Danes, your brother K, to whom he was terdict on the kingdom of France 23 and, at bound by oath into a close-knit loyalty"." After times, vigorous papal support for Ingeborg and calling the bishop a deceiving hypocrite, Inno- for the Danish arguments. Several papal decre- cent continued: "Lo, had he only been trans- tals of great juristic importance were only one formed into a pillar of salt, as he turned and of the effects of the case. These were decretals looked back, when withdrawing his hands in which the pope reaffirmed his own pro- from the plough and once again letting himself nounced opinions on the indissolubility of become occupied in worldly affairs". Lot's wife marriage and the prerogatives of papal power.24 in the Old Testament (Gen 19:26) is here From yet another perspective the marriage pressed into service as a metaphor with which case is also significant, in that it produced sev- to castigate the bishop, in another display of eral interesting papal letters of consolation the rhetorical language of which Innocent III and, also from a literary point of view, remark- was a master. If only Bishop Valdemar had able letters from the queen herself, in which died by his reprobate actions, he himself would she poignantly described her desperate fate, have been the only one to mourn over his own imprisoned as she was by her own lawful hus- departure, and he would have caused no "tears band.25 on the cheeks of the church" ("lacrimas") nor In this climate of relative harmony, the papal "stains on the office of episcopacy" ("macu- concern for Denmark was expressed in other is- las").2° And later in the same letter the pope de- sues of a more clerical nature. In 1198 Absalon clares: "For it would be easier to bear, had he was instructed to further investigate a case died by his own weapon when he drew the from Sweden.26 Apparently, the former arch- worldly sword, and in this way had fallen into bishop of Uppsala, Peder, had presided over the grave he had prepared, and if he had not the investiture of two bishops in their respec- with his own capture defiled the hand of the tive sees, even though the bishops had both itS] TORBEN K. NIELSEN been born in unlawful wedlock. Absalon was of their benefices to repudiate their concu- ordered to depose the bishops and see to it that bines. He was also instructed to "enjoin, urge a new election was held. The pope, in his letter, and even force" the relatives of the concubines reports having been told that "although a great to receive these women again.32 many clerics in Sweden are not born in lawful From these papal letters we must conclude, wedlock, and, due to the shame connected with that Anders Sunesen must in fact have been se- their illegitimate conception, should in no way riously engaged in trying to impose a celibate dare to aspire to the highest ecclesiastical dig- life on his clergy. The exact nature of the ar- nity, contrary to the recently and maturely re- chiepiscopal efforts in this respect is unknown, newed constitutions of the Lateran Council, but several inferences can be drawn from the nevertheless they seek in exceeding shame to wording of the papal letter. Innocent III stated gain episcopal dignities"." Furthermore, we that the clergy had promised Anders Sunesen are told that Absalon had in fact on several oc- to "serve the Lord with a chaste body". This casions threatened offenders of this kind, but suggests to me that Anders Sunesen had actu- that the practice seemed to persist. Perhaps ally demanded written vows from his clergy. this was because the people of this land were Vows of chastity are known at an earlier date to still "beginners in the faith" .21 Given that tradi- have been an instrument in the ecclesiastical tionally a large proportion of these legal cases, struggle for sexual continence among the cler- involving persons of illegitimate birth seeking gy.33 Often, though, with meagre results. We ecclesiastical preferment, actually involved learn in a papal letter of October 1213 that priests' sons, this letter might give us some idea Anders Sunesen had asked the Holy See for ad- of the level of non-celibate clergy, at least in vice concerning bigamous priests, priests' sons parts of Sweden. It might also suggest that the and a claim from the Swedish clergy that they custom of priests actually marrying or living actually be allowed to marry. 14 To the first with women in concubinage seems to have question, Innocent III ruled that priests who been very common .21 These moral questions had more than one concubine, either at the were once again touched upon in another letter same time or one after another, did not become from Pope Innocent III to Archbishop Anders liable to the irregularity of bigamy, but were Sunesen dating to 12O3.° In this letter, Inno- only to be punished by being "branded for sim- cent III expressed his personal satisfaction that ple fornication": that is, if they made an effort the initiatives taken by the Danish archbishop to "live in chastity henceforth" The legal seemed successful, but also remarked that the problem these unchaste priests presented to task of making the clergy lead a "juridically and the Danish archbishop was whether he himself morally irreproachable" life seemed at the could dispense the clerics from their sins so same time to be experiencing some serious set- they could resume their ecclesiastical posi- backs: "You should know that it has come to tions, or whether they were obliged to go to our knowledge that although you persecute the Rome and ask for papal absolution. This would disgusting vice of fornication and impose puri- have been the case, if the priests were consid- ty on the servants of the altar, and even though ered juridically bigamous. Of course, the pope many, forced and encouraged by you, have ex- by answering in the way he did, at the same tricated themselves from filth and dirt and time underscored the church's position that re- have promised to serve the Lord with a chaste lationships between a cleric of the major orders body and a pure heart, there are still some who and a woman could in no way be considered a wallow in their filth and several who return to marriage. It followed that such clerics could their vomit, in that the canons at the cathedrals not be considered bigamous, because only law- keep concubines in public and so to say offer fully wed people could be termed bigamous - them marital affection"." Archbishop Anders in the canonical sense, that is. The second Sunesen was told by Innocent III to see to it question from Anders Sunesen was concerned that these canons, and other clerics like them, with the offspring of such unchaste, but "non- were forced by threats of suspension and loss bigamous" clerics. The question was whether
POPE INNOCENT III AND DENMARK, SWEDEN, AND NORWAY 11 priests' sons could be promoted to holy orders such investitures were held in 1122, 1134, without any further ado. Innocent III was on 1147, and 1152. Unfortunately, for this period safe grounds in his answer to this question. The we lack the source material to determine pope was able to point to older decretals, which whether or not it was the archbishop of Lund claimed that priests' sons were not to be pro- who also consecrated the other Nordic bishops moted to holy orders unless they lived a virtu- of Norway and Sweden. However, considering ous life in either a monastery or a regulated that we have ample evidence that even the most canonry.36 The last of the archiepiscopal ques- remotely situated bishoprics in the North were tions is at the same time the one which most di- invested from Lund '41 it seems reasonable to rectly points to the local, day-to-day problems assume that also the Norwegian and Swedish of the Nordic church: What to do with the bishoprics had their bishops invested and con- Swedish priests, who claimed that an old papal secrated by the Danish archbishop in Lund .41 dispensation gave them permission to marry? This situation of Danish ecclesiastical suprem- The only thing Innocent could answer in the acy in the North changed of course when the letter was that he could make no strict ruling other Nordic archdioceses were erected in on this matter before he had inspected the pa- 1152/3 and 1164 respectively. It must have pal privilege which the Swedes claimed to pos- been in connection with, or slightly earlier sess.37 than, the foundation of the Swedish church Other than show the keen interest that the province in 1164, that the Danish archbishop archbishop took in the intricacies of canon law, received the first papal privilege as primate the letter and the questions it addresses also re- over the Swedish realm. The privilege of prima- veal another important question. The letter cy over Sweden granted to the Danish arch- shows us how deeply the pope and the Danish bishops must have been renewed by every archbishop were aware of, and also troubled change of either pope or archbishop. However, by, the moral laxity of the clergy in the Nordic only two examples of this privilegium maius church province. It is obvious that the ques- have been preserved. The earliest of these, tions posed by the archbishop to the pope re- which might actually furnish the original text flected real problems facing Anders Sunesen in upon which all subsequent privileges of prima- his daily pastoral ministry. They imply that a cy to the Danish archbishops were based, was major problem afflicting the Nordic church issued by Pope Adrian IV to Archbishop Eskil province was that of non-celibate or unchaste in January 1157 . Papal privileges of primacy clergy. granted to Absalon have not been preserved '44 Another way of investigating the relationship but, as stated above, the privilege from Inno- between Innocent III and Denmark is by look- cent III to Anders Sunesen does survive. It pre- ing into the papal privileges granted to the scribes that the archbishop of Denmark shall Danish archbishop. When he was elected arch- forever be considered primate of Sweden 45 and bishop in 1201, Anders Sunesen also became shall personally invest every new Swedish arch- primate of the Swedish realm" and eventually bishop with the archiepiscopal dignities and he became papal legate in 1204. These digni- deliver the pallium to him. The new Swedish ties had also been held by Anders' predeces- archbishop shall swear fidelity and obedience sors, Eskil and Absalon. Even before the erec- to the church in Lund, salva fidelitate Romance tion of the Norwegian archdiocese at Nidaros! ecciesice. Upon consecration, the archbishop of Trondheim in 1152 or 1153 and the Swedish at Lund shall in perpetuum preside over the Swed- Uppsala in 1164, the Danish archdiocese in ish archbishop by virtue of his dignity as pri- Lund had proved its central position in the mate. For his part, the Swedish archbishop, in Nordic countries. Shortly after the foundation "humility", shall show his new superior "obedi- '40 of the Danish archdiocese of Lund in 1104 ence and reverence" •46 Though the privilege as the first archbishop, Asser, invested Icelandic primate over the Swedish realm has been con- prelates with their episcopal dignities in cere- sidered of great importance by several histor- monies held in Lund in 1106 and 1118. Further ians,47 the two papal bulls endorsing it (the first
12 TORBEN K. NIELSEN by Adrian IV, the second by Innocent III) reveal letter, "these serfs failed to go to the Apostolic next to nothing as to exactly what rights or ob- See, even though they must seek absolution, ligations, besides presenting the pallium, the since their masters argue that they cannot be Danish archbishops could or should exercise dispensed with. Under this excuse they mock towards their Swedish subordinates. Indeed, the ecclesiastical discipline." The letter also one must conclude, in agreement with Niels grants Anders Sunesen the right to decide for Skyum-Nielsen, that the "primatial privileges" himself whether the serfs were to be forced to granted to the Danish archbishops were not of go to Rome or nor. The archbishop is instruc- an impressive nature, given the history of the ted to examine whether the serfs had assaulted erection of Nordic archdioceses and given the the prelate "fraudulently in order to evade their general history of the title of primate .41 masters' commands", or whether the masters Like his predecessors, Archbishop Anders on the other hand incurred serious losses with- Sunesen was granted a title as papal legate - out being the ones to blame for the incident .52 It apostolice sedis legatus. The papal bull issued to seems as if Innocent were presupposing the ex- Anders Sunesen is dated 19 November 1204. In istence of Danish serfs well versed in the intri- the course of the same month Innocent III in cacies of canon law. The pope ends his letter fact issued several letters of differing content to with a pun. Innocent declared that if the crimes the Danish archbishop .49 were considered very serious, the serfs must go In early 1206 Anders Sunesen received an- to the "serfs of serfs for absolution"." By pun- other papal privilege when he was granted the ning on the common papal title Servant of right to hold visitations with the pope's author- God's servants, apparently Innocent wanted to ity. Of course the right to hold visitations was make clear, who was the real serf in this world, an integral part of both the episcopal and ar- when confronted with petty cases like this. chiepiscopal rights and duties. However, the Anders Sunesen in fact received several pa- extraordinary element in the privilege from In- pal privileges. Some of these were of a rather nocent III to Anders Sunesen was that the pope impressive nature, mainly because of their actually expanded Anders Sunesen's normal ar- character, but also because of the papal word- chiepiscopal privileges. Henceforth Sunesen ing and arguments used in the letters. 54 It is not was to hold visitations not only in his own clear exactly why the Danish archbishop was archdiocese, but in the whole of his church given these extraordinary papal privileges. It province, thereby in a sense encroaching upon seems that it was not in any way necessary for the rights of his own suffragan bishops. 5° Fur- Innocent to grant them, but he did. In fact, thermore, Anders Sunesen was permitted to fill Anders Sunesen was granted the exact same vacant offices, a privilege originally reserved privileges as the archbishop of Sens, Peter of for the Holy See .5' Besides these privileges, Corbeil, who had taught the pope during Inno- Anders Sunesen was allowed to give absolution cent's educational stays in Paris. 55 Part of the for sentences of excommunication which came reason why Anders Sunesen was granted these immediately into effect when a lay person as- privileges might be because the Dane had been saulted clerics, the so-called sententia promul- a fellow student or even teacher of Pope Inno- gata. Finally, Anders Sunesen received the right cent 111.56 to dismiss appeals to the Holy See, if these ap- In this article I shall not discuss the Danish peals were made after the expiry of a time limit crusades to the Baltic, even though these expe- which Anders Sunesen himself could fix. A few ditions can be termed a major issue in the rela- days earlier, in a papal letter dealing with a spe- tionship between Innocent III and Denmark.57 cific case, Anders Sunesen had already received Here I shall only point to the fact that Anders the privilege of absolving sinners for their sen- Sunesen himself seems to have been the main tentia prosnulgata for assaulting clerics. Alleg- instigator of a Danish expedition to the Eston- edly, some serfs in Lund had given an ecclesias- ian island of Osel in 1206, which was strongly tic a severe beating. This of course caused some supported by papal letters. On this occasion, problems because, as explained in the papal Anders Sunesen was granted the privilege of
POPE INNOCENT III AND DENMARK, SWEDEN, AND NORWAY 13
ordaining a bishop in a town he had been able ploited as a political weapon in the struggles to win for Christianity. 58 Furthermore, the Dan- for power in Sweden. In 1161 Karl Sverkers- ish archbishop was again granted the title of son, the son of King Sverker I, became king af- papal legate in 1212, but this time with the spe- ter defeating the Danish prince, Magnus Hen- cific objective of converting the neighbouring riksen, in a battle at Orebro. Karl Sverkersson pagans. In 1213 he was granted the privilege tried to strengthen his power in 1163 by marry- of establishing a bishopric in the Estonian re- ing Kristina, the daughter of the sister of the gions of Sakkala and Hugenhusen. 6° On more Danish King Valdemar I the Great, Margrethe. than one occasion the pope requested the Dan- Karl remained-in power until 1167 when he ish King Valdemar to go on crusade to the Bal- was defeated by the son of the former King Eric tic61 - and the king finally did so in 121 9•62 I, Knut Ericsson. The result was a fierce strug- gle for power during which the son of Karl Innocent III and Sweden Sverkersson, Sverker II, was taken to Denmark, As previously stated, several of the cases that where he was raised under Danish protection. Innocent III and the Danish archbishop, in his Meanwhile the sons of Karl Sverkersson's role as primate of both the Danish and the brother, Johan Sverkersson, continued their Swedish church, and especially in his capacity struggle against Knut Ericsson's seizure of the as papal legate, had to deal with actually in- throne. However, Knut Ericsson had both volved Swedish clergy. This testifies first of all these sons, Kol and Buleslev, killed in 1172 to a relatively insecure or unstable Swedish and, by elevating the bones of his father, Eric church. Bearing in mind that Sweden had only the Holy, and securing a local veneration of the been properly christianized in relatively recent "saint", succeeded in repulsing the rival claims times and had only established a scattered ec- of the Sverker family and holding his grip on clesiastical structure and organisation as late power until his death. 17 Knut reigned until as around 1100, this is quite understandable.,, 1196. Strangely (given the political circumstan- In 1164 Uppsala had been named the Swedish ces of the time) he died of natural causes. In a archiepiscopal see as a clearly political ma- sense Eric the Holy can be compared to the noeuvre during the papal schism between Alex- other "holy" kings in Scandinavia, Olav the ander III and Victor TV.64 Only a few years later, Holy in Norway (d. 1030) and Canute the Holy the Swedish church found itself deeply in- in Denmark (d. 1086).68 As one might have ex- volved in the royal struggles for power in Swe- pected, with Knut Ericsson's death the struggle den. for power reopened. This time the contestants When King Sverker I died in 1156, a struggle were King Sverker II Karisson, with support for royal power once again erupted between from Denmark, and Eric II Knutsson, backed the two leading families: the family of the late by King Sverre of Norway. Sverker II Karlsson king Sverker and the rival Eric family. The actually succeeded in seizing the throne in namebearer of this latter, Eric the Holy, was 1196 and retained a precarious grasp on power elected king in 1156. His vita tells us that he until 1210, when he was finally defeated by was a deeply religious man, a fervent ascetic, Eric Knutsson and died of his wounds. Eric an ardent supporter of the church, a founder of Knutsson then ascended the throne and man- several church buildings, and on the whole a aged to stay in power until 1216, to be followed model king.65 Unfortunately, other than the by his son King Eric III Ericsson. The Sverker hagiographic part, which is of questionable val- family immediately struck back and ruled from ue, we know virtually nothing about him. Early 1216 until 1222, when the family became ex- in 1160 Eric suffered a violent death, probably tinct, because King Johan Sverkersson died at the hands of a Danish prince Magnus Hen- without any male heirs. This was to bring the riksen, but it was not until 1198 that we first Eric family back into power once again - and hear of Eric's reputation as a holy man .66 Later, to bring an end to my interest in Swedish poli- in the thirteenth century, the cult of Eric the cy in this context. Holy gained supporters and was of course ex- What I wish to focus on in this part of my pa-
14 TORBEN K. NIELSEN per is the way in which the Swedish church be- in question and allow for his proper election.7' came involved in the ongoing power struggles. If we are to believe Innocent III on this point, it The papal correspondence with Sweden in this seems that Anders Sunesen has closely fol- period seems to have been very limited; at least lowed this procedure, designating Valerius uo- not much material has survived. What is more, catus as opposed to electus, and asking that Va- the limited papal correspondence that has sur- lerius be given a dispensation for his defectus vived does not explicitly touch on the political natalium. In this, the pope even complimented issues of the ongoing struggles for royal power. the Danish archbishop for his fine juridical Still, these issues clearly run just beneath the skills.72 However, the final papal dispensation surface of the papal letters, as we shall see. was not granted to Valerius. Instead, Anders In 1207 the Danish archbishop Anders Sune- Sunesen was allowed by papal authority - "vice sen asked the pope to dispense a certain Valer- nostra" - to decide for himself whether Valerius ius, a candidate for the archbishopric of Up- should be dispensed or not. 73 This leads, togeth- psala, from a defectus natalium.69 Innocent er with the contents of other privileges granted answered that because the priests in this par- to Anders Sunesen, to the assumption, that the ticular church province "by a depraved cus- Danish archbishop in fact enjoyed a rather tom" were not ashamed of actually marrying privileged relation with Pope Innocent 111•74 women, it would be both "very unsuitable and However, the main aspect of my interest here very unfair" to install an archbishop born in is more directly connected with the struggles unlawful wedlock .70 One of the things Innocent for royal power in Sweden. The papal letter is wanted to make clear was that the archbishop's completely free from biblical imagery and wishes concerning the granting of a dispensa- shorn of the similes and metaphors customar- tion to Valerius could damage his efforts to ily used by the pope. It is stringent in argu- make the Nordic clergy live in celibacy. In spite ment, and lucidly clear in its juridical and polit- of this series of papal objections, the dispensa- ical observations, even if some of the papal tion was actually given and Valerius duly elec- statements on clerical celibacy could easily ted as the new archbishop of Uppsala. have produced examples of the well-known pa- There are several interesting aspects in this pal rhetorical language. Innocent III had been election of Valerius. One of these is the way in informed about the situation in Sweden by let- which the dispensation was actually given. In ters from Anders Sunesen himself, from the the papal letter it seems as if Anders Sunesen Swedish king Sverker II Karisson, from the not only acknowledged, but also acted directly Swedish bishops, and from the canons at the upon, the newly developed papal privileges cathedral at Uppsala. These Swedish interlocu- concerning ecclesiastical causae maiores, ac- tors had apparently asked the pope for the dis- cording to which the pope reserved to the papa- pensation that would allow Valerius to become cy alone the final decision not only in cases of the new archbishop in Uppsala. Parts of Inno- bishops' translations, depositions and renun- cent III's response to these letters, addressed to ciations, but also in cases involving "defective" Anders Sunesen in Lund, seem to be a restate- bishop-candidates. In these matters, Innocent ment of the arguments of the original Nordic developed, in the early years of his pontificate, letters and letter bearers. For example, we are a special procedure, according to which a "de- told that the reason why the archiepiscopal see fective" bishop-candidate could become bishop in Uppsala had been vacant ever since the after all but only by papal dispensation. The death of the former bishop Olof some time in bishop-candidate with the defectus could not be 1206, was because of both Anders Sunesen's elected to his see by the local chapter and thus pilgrimage and "the insolence of the region and could not be installed by the local archbishop. its people" .15 In this situation, the dispensation Before the formal election took place, the for Valerius was requested. Later on in the let- bishop-candidate had to be postulated to the ter, we are told that some of the arguments pre- pope, who would then decide whether or not he sented by Anders Sunesen were focused on the would dispense the candidate from the defectus freedom for the church of Uppsala. Innocent
POPE INNOCENT III AND DENMARK, SWEDEN, AND NORWAY 15
directly referred to these arguments, in declar- throne, Eric II Knutson. Once again he had to ing that there was no church in the world so appeal to Denmark for help. But on this occa- much under the "yoke of servitude" as the sion the Danish royal power either could not or Swedish church in Uppsala. This was due - would not help or even support the unpopular once again to the "insolence of the people".76 government of King Sverker II Karisson. In this Anders Sunesen, furthermore, had apparently situation, the king had to rely solely on the re- submitted another argument - or threat - to latives of his Danish wife. Accordingly, Anders the pope. Innocent, in response, delegated to Sunesen and several of his brothers organised the Danish archbishop the task of evaluating an army and sailed off to Sweden only to suf- whether an election of Valerius would "make fer a crushing defeat in the battle at Lena"; the king and the people favour the church more a battle in which the Danish archbishop lost and preserve its freedom" .77 It is not clear two of his brothers.81 The Swedish king and the whether or not this is the same "people" that sorry remnants of his army barely managed to had severely oppressed the church earlier and flee back to Denmark, together with Archbish- put it under the "yoke of servitude". Much be- op Valerius. In this situation Innocent wrote to comes clear, however, when we consider that the bishops of Vastmanland, Linkoping and Valerius, as this papal letter reminds us, was Skara in Sweden in November 1208.82 He told the former chaplain of the Swedish king Sverk- them to persuade Eric II Knutsson to reconcile er II Karlsson.70 This is important information, himself with Sverker II Karlsson, and to make because in this way both the papal letter and Eric surrender Sweden to her rightful king. In- the succeeding election of Valerius can be in- nocent's arguments for supporting Sverker II terpreted as a display of papal and archiepisco- Karisson were very imprecise. Innocent III pal support for Sverker II Karlsson's very inse- pointed out that Sverker had assured the pope cure position on the Swedish throne. In 1205 in his letters that his kingdom had been taken King Sverker II Karlsson and his opponent Eric from him contra iustitiarn. This in fact had II Knutsson had fought a battle in which three forced the papacy to act, since it turns out that of Eric II Knutsson's brothers were killed. Two King Sverker and his kingdom had already years later, in 1207, the situation in Sweden been placed under apostolic protection. Be- was one of open war, in which the reigning sides these arguments, the pope simply stated king, Sverker II Karisson, had the upper hand that because of the "destruction of churches for the time being. In this perspective it makes and also the oppression of widows", the bish- perfect sense why Valerius was running for the ops of Sweden had to persuade Eric II Knuts- archbishopric, despite his defectus natalium. son to make peace and surrender the king- With Valerius as new archbishop Sverker II dom." Karlsson would be able to strengthen his royal The stories of the destruction of churches power by using the administration and struc- and the oppression of clerics might actually ture of the Swedish church to bolster his posi- have been true. In January 1206 Innocent had tion. Apart from these political and strategic responded to complaints brought before him manoeuvres and explanations, however, Arch- by Sverker II Karlsson and the then archbishop bishop Anders Sunesen might have had his of Uppsala, OIof.84 In his letters the pope com- own very private reasons for supporting King manded them both to prevent clerics being put Sverker II Karisson and Valerius in their to trial before lay judges; to see to it that lay wishes: for the wife of the Swedish king, Bene- people did not depose or install priests; and to dicte, was in fact his niece.79 put a stop to the burning down of clerics' dwell- However, the election of Valerius proved of ings.85 The papal appeal was repeated in March little account in this regard, because a year lat- of the same year, and this time the appeal was er in 1208 the situation had dramatically supplemented by a papal demand that the "foul changed once again. Now it was the turn of custom" in Sweden of lay people not being al- Sverker II Karisson to be in serious trouble in lowed to make legacies to the church, be aban- his contest against the rival claimant to the doned.86
16 TORBEN K. NIELSEN
King Sverker II Karisson seems to have been of the many reasons for the archbishop's refus- dogged by bad luck. For when in 1210 he once al could also have been that King Sverre denied again tried to destroy his opponent, he once him his former income from various fines and again 1ost8 : and this time also his life. Eric taxes, levied on the population. In acting thus Knutsson ascended the throne, and reigned the king presumably violated an old agreement over Sweden from 1210 until 1216. The new between the former kings and archbishops. king lost no time in making peace with the Furthermore, the king had cut down on the Danes by simply marrying the sister of the Dan- archbishop's retinue: from now on, Eirik Ivars- ish king Valdemar II the Victorious, Richizza. son was allowed to take not ninety as hitherto, Archbishop Valerius crowned Eric in 1210. In- but only thirty people with him on his visita- nocent for his part confirmed the new Swedish tions to the bishoprics of Norway. But behind king and took the kingdom of Sweden under these comparatively trivial fiscal and adminis- apostolic protection. Furthermore, the pope trative disputes lay some more serious prob- granted the Swedish king the right to ordain lems. King Sverre wanted the church to submit two new bishops in a region "wrested from the to royal power and allow the king himself to in- hand of the pagans". The dioceses in question stall his own priests. Furthermore, the king did were probably parts of present-day Finland. not recognise clerical jurisdiction in cases When Eric II Knutsson died of illness in 1216. against clerics and in spiritual matters. 95 In this The last of the Sverker family, Johan Sverkers- way, King Sverre violated the statutes of 1153, son, succeeded him. Once again Archbishop when Cardinal Nicholas Breakspeare, later Valerius showed his political aptitude, when he Pope Adrian IV, had instituted Norway as an survived yet another change in the ruling house independent church province with Nidaros as and made peace with the new king.89 archiepiscopal see. 96 Later in 1190, Archbishop Eirik Ivarsson found it more convenient, as Innocent III and Norway well as safer, to go into exile in Denmark. He When Innocent III ascended the papal throne in found refuge at the court of the Danish arch- 1198, Norway was in a state of civil war. This bishop Absalon in Lund. Both Archbishop Eir- was no novelty, for civil war seems to have been ik and King Sverre appealed to the Holy See.97 more or less the state of affairs in Norway since However, because of the papal election in 1130 and the death of King Sigurd Jorsalfar 1191 91 it took nearly four years before Celestine (c.1090-1 130). 0 A special feature about the Nor- III, in a clear and unequivocal letter, took Arch- wegian civil wars in the period from about 1184 bishop Eirik's part in the struggle. 99 With his until about 1202 was the leading role played in newly acquired papal support, Eirik, from his them by the church in Norway. 91 The Norwe- exile in Denmark, excommunicated King gian King Sverre (d. 1202) 12 and his so-called Sverre.'°° Later Celestine did the same to the Birkebeiner party had usurped the royal power bishops who supported the king. 101 From 1196 by defeating the former kings Erling Skakke in onwards the Norwegian church sought directly 1179 and Magnus Erlingssonin 1184. to oust King Sverre and to install a new, more In the following years King Sverre had to church-friendly royal government. In these ef- deal with several, but all comparatively minor, forts, the church's hierarchy found massive uprisings against his rule. The years between support among sections of the Norwegian aris- approximately 1185 and 1193 were to be the tocracy disaffected to the king. 102 However, most peaceful during his reign. The conflict their warlike efforts could not threaten the king between King Sverre and the Norwegian seriously, partly because of King Sverre's leg- church opened in the first years of the last dec- endary skills in warfare, partly because of his ade of the twelfth century. Apparently in 1190, effective control over large parts of the country. King Sverre felt himself provoked by the fact At some time between 1196 and 1202 King that the newly elected archbishop of Norway, Sverre wrote his famous Oration against the Eirik Ivarsson (d. 1205), refused to crown Bishops .113 In this document Sverre declared Sverre without approval from the pope .94 One himself against the church, because of its nu-
POPE INNOCENT III AND DENMARK, SWEDEN, AND NORWAY 17 merous alleged attacks on the royal power and The civil war and power struggles between its overall corruption. The document is extraor- King Sverre and the Norwegian church also dinary in its explicit assertion of the preroga- prompted another papal letter to Archbishop tives of royal power and the relationship Eirik Ivarsson. On 11 October 1198 Innocent between royal and sacerdotal office. Sverre ar- answered several questions of a juridical na- gued that Christ and the church, i.e. the whole ture posed by the Norwegian archbishop)" We of Christendom, was allegorically seen as a read, among other things, that an altar on body. The king was the heart and chest of this which an excommunicated priest had cele- holy body and, accordingly, must assume the brated mass did not have to be re-consecrated, role as overseer and guardian of the rest of and that the clergy ought not to give commun- Christendom. In this anthropomorphic image ion to an excommunicate, even though the ex- of Christian society, the different offices in the communicate promised to comply with the Church, represented by the various parts of the wishes of the church. The sinner could not re- body, all played subordinate roles: The bishops ceive absolution and communion before the were the eyes of the body, showing the right penance was actually served 112 These archie- way and thus ensuring nobody was led astray. piscopal questions, and other similar ones an- The archdeacons were the nose, the deacons swered by Innocent III in the letter, clearly bear and provosts the ears. The priests were the ton- the mark of the ongoing conflict between gue and lips; as such, the priests ought to be ex- church and state. So does the final question an- amples of the right teaching and way of life)04 swered by the pope in his letter. Innocent III af- But, according to the Oration, things had firmed that: "Because clerics, who command changed radically. The eyes of the body of ships in battle, and those who fight themselves Christendom had begun to squint, the nose and those who incite others to fight, commit an could only smell bad odours, and the ears had enormous sin, we conclude that according to grown deaf. The bishops, who ought to guard the rigour of the law they must be deposed Christendom, had been blinded by avarice, from office"."' In yet another letter dating to profligacy, greed, pride, and injustice. 105 August 1200,114 Eirik Ivarsson had asked Inno- In this situation of open war between King cent for further advice, and was told that ex- Sverre and the pro-church Bagley party, active- communicated persons were not allowed to be ly supported by leading protagonists of the buried together with true believers. The corp- Norwegian church, Innocent III had to act ses of the excommunicated were to be ex- against the Norwegian king - and he did so. In humed and thrown outside the churchyard - if a letter of 6 October 1198 the pope praised it was at all possible to discern which bones be- Archbishop Eric Ivarsson for his pure faith and longed to the excommunicated and which did constant fervour against King Sverre's persecu- not. 115 tion and the exiling of the archbishop. 106 The That the warfare was not limited to the conti- purpose of the letter was to condemn the bish- nental parts of the Norwegian realm is attested op of Bergen, Martin, for his continued support in a letter from the bishop of Orkney dating to of the king and to suspend him from office un- 1202.116 Apparently the bearer of the letter, the til he showed himself before the pope in Rome; layman Lumberd, had committed a grave sin and - if he did not attend - to excommunicate during a military expedition to Caithness in him. 107 On the same day, Innocent III wrote let- Scotland. Obeying a command from his superi- ters to Archbishop Eirik Ivarsson, and to the or, the Earl of Orkney, Lumberd had cut out Danish and Swedish kings. 108 In these letters In- the tongue of the bishop of Caithness, John."' nocent accused Sverre of ruling Norway by un- With the papal letter Lumberd was absolved, just force and especially of persecuting the provided that he would meet the (stiff) require- church. He also condemned King Sverre for us- ments of penance listed in the letter. Lumberd ing forged papal letters. 109 Consequently, the was to return at once to his own country and pope laid the royally controlled Norwegian re- walk in front of all people barefooted and gions under interdict. 110 dressed only in a short, sleeveless shirt of wool
18 T0RBEN K. NIELSEN in his home area and in the land where the op had taken action on his own authority, with- bishop had been dishonoured. In these places out commission from the Holy See. Accord- he was to do penance for fifteen days. The pen- ingly, Innocent accused Eirik of arrogating to ance is vividly described: Lumberd was ordered himself a power that was not his, and that Eir- to visit the churches in his woollen tunic and ik, "like the monkey who imitates the actions of with a string round his tongue and tied to his man, had wanted to do what he could not and neck, in such a way that his tongue was stick- what, according to the laws, he should not ing out of his mouth. At the churches he was to do". 121 Though Eirik Ivarsson's lifting of the stop outside, for he was not allowed to enter, ban had been illegal, he was told in the papal prostrate himself on the ground and let himself letter that he could later lift it again, but this be whipped with a birch of his own. 118 When time on papal authority. 123 the fifteen days were over, Lumberd was to When in January 1204 King Hákon Sverre- make a journey to the Holy Land where he was son too died, the peace process once again to serve three years' hard labour for our Sa y- came to a halt. New struggles for royal power jour - "and he shall never again take up weap- erupted, involving inter alia an attempt by Den- ons against Christians". For eleven years, mark to invade the southern parts of Norway in moreover, he was to fast on water and bread 1204. 124 As a result, Norway was in a state of every Friday. 119 relative warfare in the period from about 1204 King Sverre had tried to strengthen the foun- to 1207, when an insecure peace was finally ne- dation of the Norwegian royal power by orga- gotiated and royal power divided between two nising and incorporating parts of the Norwe- kings, Inge Bârdsson (1185-1217) and Filip Si- gian aristocracy under his personal command, monsson (d. 1217). Hâkon Galen (d. 1214) thereby applying European political ideas of emerged as the military leader of the Birkebei- kingship to his own regime. But throughout al- ner party together with Inge. A period of rela- most his entire reign he remained at odds with tively stable, but certainly not secure, political the Norwegian church and had to crush several relations lasted until both the remaining kings uprisings against his royal power. However, died in 1217.125 A new king, Hâkon Hákonsson many of the problems in Norway seemed to go (1204-1263), succeeded them and stayed in away, when King Sverre suddenly fell ill and power until 1263 without major problems. The died during the siege of the city of Bergen on 8 high medieval civil wars of Norway had come March 1202. Perhaps even Sverre himself saw to an end. the untenability of his position, because on his The tense, but still comparatively more deathbed he is supposed to have urged his son peaceful political circumstances in Norway }-Iâkon Sverreson (d. 1204) to make peace with during the double kingship of Inge Bàrdsson the church. Hâkon complied with his father's and Filip Simonsson from about 1207 are re- last wishes, 120 while Archbishop Eirik Ivarsson flected in the papal correspondence. We can for his part lifted the ban on King Sverre and recognise some new concerns in the papal let- his supporters. In in a letter to Eirik Innocent ters, this time not to do with war and the royal III thus expressed his satisfaction that King oppression of the church, but rather with fi- Svene had died and that the new king had ap- nancial and moral questions relating to the parently made peace with the church. 121 How- Norwegian clergy. In February 1206, shortly af- ever, Innocent would not have been the man he ter his election, the newly installed Archbishop was if he were to have allowed Eirik Ivarsson's Tore (d. 1214) received a series of papal letters slightly too independent action to go unchal- from Innocent III. In these he was among other lenged. He told Eirik in no uncertain terms that things ordered to collect Peter's Pence in his the archbishop had no right to lift the ban on church province and to use ecclesiastical sanc- his own. The pope and the archbishop both tions against anyone who hindered the arch- agreed that the ban should be lifted. What was bishop in this task. 121 However, the papal letters at issue here was not the lifting of the ban itself, also testify, in their concerns, to the continuing but the prerogative for doing so. The archbish- effects of the civil war. In one of them, Arch-
POPE INNOCENT III AND DENMARK, SWEDEN, AND NORWAY 19 bishop Tore was authorised to absolve lay peo- the Danish church even accepted the imprison- ple from the sentence of excommunication im- ment of a leading prelate in the person of Bish- posed on them for having attacked clerics. Like op Valdemar. In the vexed question involving Anders Sunesen in Denmark, Tore was to de- the French King Philippe Auguste and the Dan- cide for himself whether the crimes were so ish Queen Ingeborg, the Danish church also grave, that the sinners had to go to Rome for showed itself able and willing to actively sup- absolution or not. If the assaults had not resul- port Danish royal claims. In this harmonious ted in any grave injury to the clerics, Tore was and co-operative atmosphere it was possible allowed to give the absolution himself. 127 In an- for the Danish archbishops to focus mainly on other letter Archbishop Tore was told that cle- internal ecclesiastical problems, more specifi- rics who went to war, and actually shed blood, cally those concerning unchaste clergy and were to be deposed from office, if they did not more generally a pastoral concern for the Dan- desist from this practice. 128 People, who had ac- ish church and its believers. In a way, the re- tually killed priests in battle, were only to be sults of the relationship between Innocent III absolved by the pope himself. 119 and the Danish church, and especially the ac- Whether the civil wars also were the cause of tivities of the Danish archbishops, can reason- Innocent's letter of 1st March 1206 is not ably be termed a "second wave of christianiza- known. Innocent wrote to tell Archbishop Tore tion". Broad notions of pastoral care are known that a christening of infants on the verge of dy- elsewhere to have been one of Innocent III's ing, by rubbing spittle or saliva on its head and many political concerns. Whether or not pasto- chest and between its shoulders (due to a lack ral tendencies also came to the fore in the Dan- of water and priests), was not to be considered ish crusades against Estonia, this article has a proper baptism. 131 not touched upon. But pastoral tendencies - or policies - were undoubtedly of some impor- Innocent III and the North tance in Denmark during the pontificate of In- It seems clear from papal documents and cor- nocent III. Whether the focus on pastoral care respondence that Innocent III had his own very should be viewed in light of the comparatively developed notions of politics and policy to- more peaceful circumstances in Denmark is wards great countries as Germany, England hard to determine. One of the ways to judge in and France. But did the pope also follow a dis- this matter is by way of comparison. tinct policy towards the countries in Scandina- Sweden in this period was characterized by a via? Or, on the contrary, did he act on a totally comparatively weak church. In Sweden the ad hoc basis? Did he use his general political in- church found itself deeply involved in struggles stincts, principles and ideas in a quite opportu- for royal power. However, the problems for the nistic way to address the politically charged ca- Swedish church were of a different kind, com- ses submitted to his judgement? In this article, pared to Denmark and Norway. It seems as if I have only discussed some of the political is- the church in Sweden suffered from the rather sues in Scandinavia raised in relations with the massive disaffection and often open opposition papacy, and I hasten to say that a proper treat- of large sections of lay society. Certainly, at ment of them would have to include a far more times the church had to seek royal support thorough analysis than has been given in this against claims from the lay aristocracy, forbid- article. However, the central question to be ding the church to receive legacies and, more considered still remains: how did Innocent III generally, hampering its independence. On think politically towards the Scandinavian re- other occasions, the Swedish church was ex- gion? Were the Northern peoples at all a dis- ploited in what looks like a private foreign poli- tinct theme on his political agenda? cy by the Danish Sunesen brothers. Whether The relationship between regnum et sacerdo- the lay disaffection to the Christian church was tium in Denmark during the pontificate of In- a specifically Swedish feature, or whether it nocent III was marked by harmony. In order to must be considered a teething trouble in the further stabilise the royal power in Denmark, overall christianisation of the North, is a theme
20 TORBEN K. NIELSEN still worth investigating. It is obvious that the were in a sense directly inherited from the civil Swedish church in these early years of the thir- wars: namely, how to deal with their unpleas- teenth century was to a far lesser degree a solid ant, but probably unavoidable effects, i.e. the and acknowledged driving force and power in assaults against clerics and the like. In contrast society than was the church in Denmark; this to Sweden, the attacks on the church were not was a position that the church in Sweden was caused by any general disaffection to the Chris- still struggling to achieve during this period. tian faith or by opposition to the church en- During these years of struggling for the very croaching on hitherto lay rights or the like. right to exist, there would have been little point Rather, the attacks on the Norwegian church in promoting ideals of pastoral care or in incul- by lay people were a direct effect of the civil cating ethical standards in ecclesiastical life. wars. In these civil wars, we recall, the Norwe- For the Swedish church in these years was gian church itself had played an active military fighting for its very means of subsistence; tithes role: large parts of it had been organised, and and the right for lay people to make legacies to mobilised, in a militant war party ever since the Church were major themes in the political 1196. This is clearly displayed in the papal cor- struggle for independence, just as was the right respondence and in the Norwegian relations to uphold the ecclesiastical privilegiurn fori. In with the Apostolic See. a way, the Swedish church in these years was At times, however, all three countries seem- struggling in an almost "Gregorian" way. ingly enjoyed very good relations with the Ap- In Norway the situation was in some ways ostolic See. In all three countries, furthermore, similar, but in other ways quite different. A a secure royal power was being established. In state of civil war was the normal condition dur- his policy towards the Nordic countries, Inno- ing almost half of the pontificate of Innocent cent III tried actively to bring these countries III. It was not until c. 1207, when the peace even closer to Rome. It is equally obvious, that processes finally came to the fore, that the the Scandinavian countries to a very large ex- church in Norway could concentrate on inter- tent indeed in this period were becoming fully nal problems. Still, the main correspondence members of a Christian European community. between Norway and the Apostolic See focused Accordingly, the frequent perception of Scandi- on problems which were very much like the navia as a specific dark region in the Middle problems facing the church in Sweden. The Ages is not the whole truth. There is more to main difference was that in Norway, for several the picture than this. Denmark, Norway and years, the main opposition to the church came Sweden were countries that each displayed dif- from the king himself (Sverre). But during peri- ferent, but also similar features in the Middle ods when the king himself was not posing the Ages. The features they shared tell a story of direct threat against the church, it is safe to say christianization, ecclesiastical structuring and that the problems facing the Norwegian church royal state-building.
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