University of Southern Denmark

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN DENMARK THE CHRISTIAN KINGDOM AS AN IMAGE OF THE HEAVENLY KINGDOM ACCORDING TO ST. BIRGITTA OF SWEDEN A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF HUMANITIES IN CANDIDACY FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY INSTITUTE OF HISTORY, CULTURE AND CIVILISATION CENTRE FOR MEDIEVAL STUDIES BY EMILIA ŻOCHOWSKA ODENSE FEBRUARY 2010 2ACKNOWLEDGMENTS In my work, I had the privilege to be guided by three distinguished scholars: Professor Jacek Salij in Warsaw, and Professors Tore Nyberg and Kurt Villads Jensen in Odense. It is a pleasure to admit that this study would never been completed without the generous instruction and guidance of my masters. Professor Salij introduced me to the world of ancient and medieval theology and taught me the rules of scholarly work. Finally, he encouraged me to search for a new research environment where I could develop my skills. I found this environment in Odense, where Professor Nyberg kindly accepted me as his student and shared his vast knowledge with me. Studying with Professor Nyberg has been a great intellectual adventure and a pleasure. Moreover, I never would have been able to work at the University of Southern Denmark if not for my main supervisor, Kurt Villads Jensen, who trusted me and decided to give me the opportunity to study under his kind tutorial, for which I am exceedingly grateful. The trust and inspiration I received from him encouraged me to work and in fact made this study possible. Karen Fogh Rasmussen, the secretary of the Centre of Medieval Studies, had been the good spirit behind my work. It has been a pleasure to benefit from her competence and helpfulness. This thesis is dedicated to my husband, Wojtek, my “perfect reader,” whose open- mindedness and spontaneous love of knowledge inspired my work. Emilia Żochowska Odense, February 2010 3TABLE OF CONTENTS <a href="#3_0">ACKNOWLEDGMENTS </a>TABLE OF CONTENTS <a href="#3_0">3</a>4<ul style="display: flex;"><li style="flex:1">CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION </li><li style="flex:1">7</li></ul><ul style="display: flex;"><li style="flex:1"><a href="#7_1">7</a></li><li style="flex:1"><a href="#7_1">1.1. THESIS AND AIM OF THIS STUDY </a></li></ul><ul style="display: flex;"><li style="flex:1"><a href="#9_0">1.2. SOURCES AND PREVIOUS RESEARCH </a></li><li style="flex:1"><a href="#9_0">9</a></li></ul><ul style="display: flex;"><li style="flex:1"><a href="#9_1">9</a></li><li style="flex:1"><a href="#9_1">1.2.1. The Text of </a><a href="#9_1">Revelationes </a><a href="#9_1">and Its Contributors </a></li></ul><a href="#19_0">1.2.2. Medieval Commentaries on </a><a href="#19_0">Revelationes </a><a href="#19_0">and Various Responses to the Book </a><a href="#24_0">1.2.3. Contemporary Research </a> <a href="#19_0">19 </a><a href="#24_0">24 </a><a href="#0_0">33 </a><a href="#0_1">33 </a><a href="#0_2">41 </a><a href="#0_3">43 </a><a href="#0_4">48 </a><a href="#0_2">49 </a><a href="#0_2">52 </a> <a href="#0_0">1.3. RESEARCH METHOD </a> <a href="#0_1">1.3.1. Interpretation of a Source according to the Theological and the Historical Method </a><a href="#0_2">1.3.2. Consequences of the Complex Authorship of </a><a href="#0_2">Revelationes </a><a href="#0_3">1.3.3. Contextualization </a><a href="#0_4">1.4. THE SYMBOLIC IMAGERY OF </a><a href="#0_4">REVELATIONES CELESTES </a><a href="#0_2">1.4.1. Cognitive Process and Prophetic Visions in Late Medieval Scholastics </a><a href="#0_2">1.4.2. The Nature of Birgitta’s Visionary Experience according to Alfonso </a><a href="#0_5">1.4.3. B</a><a href="#0_5">irgitta’s Symbolic Imagery and I</a><a href="#0_5">ts Possible Interpretation according to </a><a href="#0_5">Epistola solitarii </a> <a href="#0_5">60 </a> <a href="#0_6">1.4.4. Bir</a><a href="#0_6">gitta’s Symbolic Imagery and I</a><a href="#0_6">ts Possible Interpretation according to </a><a href="#0_6">Revelationes </a><a href="#0_6">celestes </a><a href="#0_6">63 </a><a href="#0_7">69 </a><a href="#0_4">71 </a><a href="#0_6">73 </a> <a href="#0_7">1.4.5. The Four Ways of Understanding the Word of God </a><a href="#0_4">1.5. THE STRUCTURE OF THIS STUDY AS INSPIRED BY THE “FOUR SENSES” </a><a href="#0_6">1.6. REFERENCES AND QUOTATIONS </a> CHAPTER TWO: POLITICS AND HISTORY IN THE EYES OF A MYSTIC <a href="#0_2">2.1. ST. BIRGITTA’S REFLECTIONS ON HISTORY A</a><a href="#0_2">ND TIME </a><a href="#0_8">2.1.1. The History of Salvation as a Hermeneutical Instrument </a><a href="#0_9">2.1.2. </a><a href="#0_9">In Principio </a>75 <a href="#0_2">76 </a><a href="#0_8">77 </a><a href="#0_9">82 </a><a href="#0_2">97 </a><a href="#0_2">2.1.3. </a><a href="#0_2">Historia Magistra Vitae </a><a href="#0_6">2.1.4. History Understood Allegorically </a><a href="#0_10">2.1.5. The Point of View of Eternity </a><a href="#0_5">2.1.6. The Epochs of World History </a> <a href="#0_6">110 </a><a href="#0_10">114 </a><a href="#0_5">119 </a><a href="#0_2">133 </a><a href="#0_11">135 </a><a href="#0_3">140 </a><a href="#0_6">149 </a><a href="#0_2">158 </a><a href="#0_12">158 </a><a href="#0_2">167 </a><a href="#0_6">171 </a><a href="#0_2">2.1.7. St. Birgitta’s Concept of History </a><a href="#0_11">2.2. THE FOUR CITIES </a> <a href="#0_3">2.2.1. The Friends of God (</a><a href="#0_3">amici Dei</a><a href="#0_3">) as a Distinctive Group </a><a href="#0_6">2.2.2. The Society of </a><a href="#0_6">God’s Friends </a> <a href="#0_2">2.3. STRUCTURES OF THE CHRISTIAN KINGDOM </a> <a href="#0_12">2.3.1. Various Divisions of Society </a><a href="#0_2">2.3.2. Clerics and Laymen </a><a href="#0_6">2.3.3. The New Vineyard </a>4 <a href="#0_2">2.3.4. Vera Militia </a><a href="#0_2">2.3.5. Principles of Royal Power </a> <a href="#0_2">180 </a><a href="#0_2">198 </a>CHAPTER THREE: A MIRROR OF CHRISTIAN SOCIETY <a href="#0_3">3.1. KING AND QUEEN </a> 220 <a href="#0_3">223 </a><a href="#0_13">224 </a><a href="#0_14">230 </a><a href="#0_15">232 </a><a href="#0_2">254 </a><a href="#0_6">269 </a><a href="#0_16">269 </a><a href="#0_6">278 </a><a href="#0_17">282 </a><a href="#0_18">282 </a><a href="#0_11">288 </a><a href="#0_8">293 </a><a href="#0_13">3.1.1. </a><a href="#0_13">Via Regia </a><a href="#0_14">3.1.2. The New Son of the Virgin Mary </a><a href="#0_15">3.1.3. Tyrant or “Shadow King”? </a><a href="#0_2">3.1.4. The Queen </a> <a href="#0_6">3.2. THE LAITY </a> <a href="#0_16">3.2.1. Knights </a><a href="#0_6">3.2.2. Communitas Regni </a> <a href="#0_17">3.3. CLERGY </a> <a href="#0_18">3.3.1. The Way of the Good Shepherd </a><a href="#0_11">3.3.2. Priests </a><a href="#0_8">3.3.3. The Pope and the Importance of Rome </a>CHAPTER FOUR: “ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN” <a href="#0_13">4.1. COMMUNITY WITH THE HEAVENLY KINGDOM </a><a href="#0_19">4.2. </a><a href="#0_19">IMITATIO CHRISTI </a>299 <a href="#0_13">301 </a><a href="#0_19">307 </a><a href="#0_6">318 </a><a href="#0_11">319 </a><a href="#0_13">325 </a><a href="#0_20">346 </a> <a href="#0_6">4.3. </a><a href="#0_6">IMITATIO </a><a href="#0_6">OF THE REIGN OF CHRIST </a><a href="#0_11">4.3.1. “</a><a href="#0_11">Dux Qui Reget Populum Meum Israhel</a><a href="#0_11">” </a><a href="#0_13">4.3.2. </a><a href="#0_13">Hereditas Christi </a><a href="#0_20">4.3.4. The Kingdom of Mary </a> CHAPTER FIVE: THE LAST DAYS AND THE CHRISTIAN KINGDOM <a href="#0_21">5.1. ST. BIRGITTA AS THE PROPHET OF THE LAST DAYS </a> <a href="#0_2">5.1.1. Announcing the Apocalypse </a> 356 <a href="#0_21">357 </a><a href="#0_2">358 </a><a href="#0_13">370 </a><a href="#0_2">383 </a><a href="#0_6">385 </a><a href="#0_2">398 </a><a href="#0_0">409 </a><a href="#0_13">5.1.2. The Signs of Christ’s Second Coming </a><a href="#0_2">5.1.3. Making History Present </a> <a href="#0_6">5.2. THE GREAT WAR BETWEEN GOOD AND EVIL </a><a href="#0_2">5.3. THE INDIVIDUAL JUDGMENT AND THE FINAL JUDGMENT </a><a href="#0_0">5.4. “</a><a href="#0_0">CIVITAS GLORIAE</a><a href="#0_0">”: THE ULTIMATE AIM OF THE CHR</a><a href="#0_0">ISTIAN SOCIETY </a><ul style="display: flex;"><li style="flex:1">RESUMÉ </li><li style="flex:1">418 </li></ul>421 424 STRESZCZENIE ABBREVIATIONS <ul style="display: flex;"><li style="flex:1">BIBLIOGRAPHY </li><li style="flex:1">426 </li></ul><a href="#0_22">426 </a><a href="#0_22">1. </a><a href="#0_22">St. Birgitta’s W</a><a href="#0_22">orks </a>5 <a href="#0_23">2. Other</a><a href="#0_23"> </a><a href="#0_23">Medieval and Ancient Sources </a><a href="#0_24">3. Contemporary</a><a href="#0_24"> </a><a href="#0_24">Literature </a> <a href="#0_23">427 </a><a href="#0_24">432 </a>6CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION “Habent tamen corpora omnia ad invisibilia bona similitudinem aliquam.” – Richard of St. Victor, Benjamin major II, 121 1.1. Thesis and Aim of this Study In his recent book on Scandinavian crusading history, Dick Harrison wrote of St. Birgitta: “According to the future saint, kingdoms, duchies and counties were insignificant in God’s eyes, only Christendom itself was significant.”2 Birgitta’s ideas of politics and patriotism undoubtedly were much different from ours, but were political structures altogether insignificant for her? And what did she actually say about the relation of these structures to Christendom as a whole? This study is an attempt to discuss these questions as Birgitta describes them in her Revelationes celestes. The thesis of this study is that the idea of Christian community is an important subject of St. Birgitta’s Revelationes celestes, especially in relation to structures of political power on the one hand and to the heavenly community of saints on the other. Birgitta was an advisor to King Magnus Eriksson for many years, until she left Sweden. Later, she became active supporter of the pope’s return to Rome and gave her prophetic advice to a number of Christian rulers. 1 PL 196, 90. Benjamin major, also known as De Arca mystica, has not yet been critically edited. 2 ”In det blivande helgonets ögon var riken, hertigdömen och grevskap oväsentliga i Guds ögon; det enda väsentliga var kristenheten som sådan.” Dick Harrison, Gud vill det! Nordiska korsfarare under medeltiden (Stockholm: Ordfront förlag, 2005), 475. 7 Despite this great activity, she is not considered a political thinker, nor is she granted a prominent place in the history of medieval political theory. This is because of the very specific character of Birgitta’s revelations, which indeed are difficult to classify as political thought. In my opinion, Birgitta never attempted to be a theorist; on the contrary, she acted as a prophetess, addressing the Christian rulers in the name of God. The thesis of this study is that her task was to start a great work of reform in the church, beginning with the personal conversion of the individuals responsible for the wellbeing of the community and gradually involving all Christians. She intended this reform to prepare society for the second coming of Christ. Another element of my thesis is that, despite this highly practical task, Birgitta had a general conceptual view of Christian society as well as its origin, history, and final destination. She also was deeply interested in the relationship between the religious and the political performance of Christian rulers, bishops, and nobles: specifically, the pragmatic exterior and spiritual interior of their activities. Therefore, even if we do not regard Birgitta as a political thinker, we must admit that she is a descendant of a certain political tradition. This tradition has specific Scandinavian marks, but it is also a part of general Christian political theology. Revelationes celestes is among the priceless sources that can aid an exploration of this tradition. The aim of this dissertation is to contribute to the study of St. Birgitta’s texts (Revelationes and other parts of the Corpus Birgittianum) concerning the Christian kingdom and its relation to the kingdom of heaven. I have set out to achieve a better understanding of the texts at hand, carefully following the thought of the authors, identifying notions and concepts characteristic to the text, and identifying the structure of the authors’ thought. I am of the opinion that knowledge of the surrounding historical and ideological context contributes to a better understanding of a 8source text. If a theological work is concerned, then, theological analysis is the proper tool for examining this context. Therefore, I have made theological study a part of my research procedure. 1.2. Sources and Previous Research This study does not aspire to be a complete presentation of the subject concerned. Rather, it is a synthesis of what has been already done by the scholars who have previously worked with the Birgittine texts. The originality of this dissertation lies mainly in its research method, described in a separate section of this introduction. I will begin by sketching a short “genealogy” of this dissertation, starting from the medieval interpretations of St. Birgitta’s work, as they introduce the philosophical environment of Revelationes and therefore play an important role in its contextualization (see section 1.2.2). Next, I will present the modern research concerning the text in three subsections, as Revelationes celestes is discussed mostly within the fields of philology and the history of literature (literature studies), history, or theology. This division can by no means be regarded as complete and absolute, since these disciplines are largely interconnected and often overlap (see section 1.2.3). 1.2.1. The Text of Revelationes and Its Contributors The main source of my research is the text of Corpus Birgittianum, which includes Revelationes celestes by St. Birgitta of Sweden, and the Opera minora,3 another work Birgitta authored with the help of her advisors and confessors.4 In this study, the text in its present Latin 3 Opera minora inlcude: Sermo angelicus, lections about the life of Virgin Mary, intented to be a part of the liturgy of hours in Vadstena monastery, Regula Salvatoris, the rule of Birgittine order in its original form, Quattuor Orationes, the four prayers of St. Birgitta, and Revelationes Extravagantes, a series of revelations excluded from the eight books of Revelationes celestes. 4 About the authorship of Revelationes and my attitude towards this question, see section 1.3.2. 9form is in focus.5 I have worked with the modern critical edition of St. Birgitta’s writings, published by The Swedish Royal Academy of Letters, History and Antiquities with Svenska Fornskriftsällskapet between 1956 and 2002. A number of philologists authored the critical edition; among them are Hans Aili, Birger Bergh, Sten Eklund, Arne Jönsson, Lennart Hollman, and Carl-Gustaf Undhagen. I also have consulted the electronic edition of Revelationes based on the above critical text. Sarah Risberg edited the electronic version, published by Riksarkivet in Stockholm. The textual history of Revelationes celestes is quite complex, as the original reports of visions—written or dictated by Birgitta—were translated from Old Swedish into Latin, then edited and re-edited by Birgitta or her confessors. Therefore, the final Latin version of the text includes remarks and contributions of at least four persons other than Birgitta Birgersdotter: Magister Mathias of Linköping, Petrus of Alvastra, Petrus of Skänninge, and Alfonso de Jaén.6 From this group, two men left written apologies for Birgitta’s visions: Magister Mathias, who advised Birgitta in Sweden, and Alfonso de Jaén, who guided her in Rome. Their accounts are particularly important for reconstructing the context of Revelationes, but they can also be read as an interpretation of the text made by its contributors. Magister Mathias, a canon of Linköping diocese chapter, was a leading theologian of fourteenth-century Scandinavia.7 Together with St. Birgitta, he is the most influential 5 The eight books of revelations are the central part of Corpus Birgittianum. Opera minora have similar visionary character. Therefore, I often use the word “Revelationes” as synonymous with “the work of St. Birgitta”. 6 For the further clarification of the subject and a short bibliography of the textual history of Revelationes see the next section, “Research method”. 7 The below passage concerning Magister Mathias is based on: Anders Piltz, “Magister Mathias of Sweden in his theological context: A preliminary survey,” in The Editing of Theological and Philosophical Texts from the Middle Ages, ed. Monika Asztalos (Stockholm: Almqvist & Wiksell International, 1986), 137-160; Anders Piltz, ”Nostram 10 representative of medieval Swedish literature and theology. Educated in Paris as magister in sacra pagina, he served as a confessor and spiritual adviser to St. Birgitta for a number of years before she left Sweden in 1348. He probably died in 1350. Not all of his works survive. Those preserved to the present day include a commentary on the book of Apocalypse; Homo conditus, a theological compendium for preachers; Copia exemplorum, an anthology of exempla useful in preaching; and Aphabetum distinctionum, a Bible concordance or, rather, encyclopedia. This work has survived only in fragments, as the manuscript was largely destroyed in the sixteenth century. Mathias is also author of Testa nucis and Poetria, two important treatises on poetic art and the art of translation, based on Aristotle’s Poetics. His works were known and studied in Europe: Bernardino of Siena owned a copy of Mathias’s commentary on the apocalypse, and we also know that Nicolas of Cusa valued his work. The influence of Magister Mathias’s books on Revelationes is evident, although we still lack a detailed study of the mutual influence the works may have exercised upon one another. Mathias’s opposition to the unorthodox doubting of the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist can be interpreted as a polemic with Averroist theories. This subject is touched upon in Revelationes as well. Birgitta did not mention Averroes, but she strongly supported the belief in the Eucharistic presence of Christ.8 Another important theological question of Birgitta’s time was naturam sublimaverat: den liturgiska och teologiska bakgrunden till det birgittinska mariaofficiet,” in Maria i Sverige under tusen år: föredrag vid symposiet i Vadstena 6-10 oktober 1994, ed. Sven-Erik Brodd and Alf Härdelin (Skellefteå: Artos, 1996), 255-287; Anders Piltz, Prolegomena till en textkritisk edition av magister Mathias’ Homo conditus (Uppsala: Almqvist & Wiksell, 1974); Bengt Strömberg, ”Magister Mathias’ ställning till tidens heretiska strömningar,” Svensk teologisk kvartalskrift 19 (1943): 301-322; Hjalmar Sundén, ”Den heliga Birgitta och hennes biktfar, magister Mathias,” Kyrkohistorisk årsskrift 73 (1973): 15-39. 8 "Et tunc ipsa in oracione audiuit vocem dicentem sibi, . . . 'Propterea confessor tuus congregatis omnibus inhabitantibus in domo ista et vicinis dicat eis ista verba, . . . "Nec dicatis, quod in altari nichil aliud immolatur nisi una tortella panis, sed firmiter credite, quod ibi est vere corpus Dei crucifixum in cruce"' (VI, 78. 2 and 4 and 8). In the revelation, this sentence belongs to Christ’s statement. Through Birgitta, he gives advice to her confessor about the 11 the status of the human soul after death. In 1336, in his bulla Benedictus Deus, Pope Benedict XII stated that the saints enjoy visio beatifica immediately after death and do not dwell in an interim place until the Last Judgment. Mathias supported this thesis, as did St. Birgitta (VI, 75. 1–12). They were also both involved in polemic with the superstitious belief in destiny, or fortune, as they called it. 9 Mathias explained that only God in his providence governs time and human lives; impersonal, omnipotent destiny does not exist. Both Mathias and Birgitta also upheld the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin,10 which was a subject of polemic between Franciscan and Dominican theologians at the time. The two Swedes supported the Franciscan party, even though one would be unlikely to find any direct quotations from Duns Scotus in Mathias’s works. St. Bonaventure more greatly influenced him. However, in other subjects Mathias followed both the secular and Dominican masters: he was probably an adherent to Henry of Ghent and, in other aspects, to Hervaeus Natalis, his contemporary master from Paris, who belonged to the order of St. Dominic. It is thus likely that Mathias influenced Birgitta. It is also possible that the influence was mutual. According to Revelationes, in at least one instance Magister Mathias asked Birgitta for her advice (or, rather, for God’s advice through her mediation) while commenting on the book of Apocalypse (VI, 89. 1–5), but it is possible that he consulted her more often.11 way of preaching to certain people who lacked faith. The confessor could be perhaps identified with Magister Mathias, as the subjects of the sermon belong to his field of interest. 9 “Nec dicatis, quod fortuna facit ista vel illa, sed quia Deus sic permisit” (VI, 78. 7). 10 Mary speaks about the beginning of her life: “Facto autem corpore meo Deus a diuinitate sua animam creatam immisit corpori, et mox anima cum corpore sanctificata est, quam angeli custodiebant et seruabant die ac nocte” (I, 9. 4). 11 See revelation 75 in Book VI describing Birgitta’s vision given her in response to her prayer for Mathias. In this revelation Mathias’ reaction to Birgitta’s advice is not mentioned.

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