Table Of ContentA Companion to Birgitta of Sweden
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Brill’s Companions to the
Christian Tradition
a series of handbooks and reference works on the
intellectual and religious life of europe, 500–1800
Edited by
Christopher M. Bellitto (Kean University)
volume 89
The titles published in this series are listed at brill.com/bcct
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A Companion to
Birgitta of Sweden
and Her Legacy in the Later Middle Ages
Edited by
Maria H. Oen
leiden | boston
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Cover illustration: Woodcut from Anton Koberger’s print of Birgitta’s Revelations (Nuremberg, 1500), serving
as frontispiece to Liber celstis imperatoris ad reges (Book viii). Courtesy of Uppsala University Library.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Oen, Maria H., editor.
Title: A companion to Birgitta of Sweden and her legacy in the later Middle
Ages / edited by Maria H. Oen.
Description: Leiden ; Boston : Brill, 2019. | Series: Brill’s companions to
the Christian tradition, issn 1871-6377 ; volume 89 | Includes
bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: lccn 2019017276 (print) | lccn 2019019633 (ebook) | isbn
9789004399877 (ebook) | isbn 9789004338685 (hardback : alk. paper)
Subjects: lcsh: Bridget, of Sweden, Saint, approximately 1303-1373.
Classification: lcc bx4700.b6 (ebook) | lcc bx4700.b6 c66 2019 (print) | ddc
271/.97--dc23
lc record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019017276
Typeface for the Latin, Greek, and Cyrillic scripts: “Brill”. See and download: brill.com/brill-typeface.
issn 1871-6377
isbn 978-90-04-33868-5 (hardback)
isbn 978-90-04-39987-7 (e-book)
Copyright 2019 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands.
Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill, Brill Hes & De Graaf, Brill Nijhoff, Brill Rodopi,
Brill Sense, Hotei Publishing, mentis Verlag, Verlag Ferdinand Schöningh and Wilhelm Fink Verlag.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system,
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910, Danvers, MA 01923, USA. Fees are subject to change.
This book is printed on acid-free paper and produced in a sustainable manner.
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Contents
Acknowledgements vii
List of Figures viii
List of Abbreviations x
Notes on Editions and Translations xi
Notes on Contributors xii
Timeline xv
Introduction: Birgitta Birgersdotter and the
Liber celestis revelacionum 1
Maria H. Oen
1 God’s Words, or Birgitta’s? Birgitta of Sweden as Author 25
F. Thomas Luongo
2 Birgitta and the Bible 53
Anders Piltz
3 The Political Discourse of Birgitta of Sweden 80
Unn Falkeid
4 Challenging and Championing St Birgitta’s Revelations at the
Councils of Constance and Basel 103
Anna Fredriksson
5 The History and Spiritual Life of Vadstena Abbey 132
Birgitta Fritz
6 Birgitta and Her Revelations in the Sermons of the
Vadstena Brothers 159
Roger Andersson
7 The Iconography of Liber celestis revelacionum 186
Maria H. Oen
8 Reshaping Birgitta of Sweden in Tuscan Art and Sermons 223
Nirit Ben-Aryeh Debby
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vi Contents
9 The Revelations of St Birgitta in the Holy Roman Empire 247
Pavlína Rychterová
10 Birgitta and Late-Medieval English Spirituality 269
Ann M. Hutchison
Bibliography 289
General Index 323
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Acknowledgements
I would like to extend my warmest thanks to Claire L. Sahlin, who originally
had the idea of producing a Companion to Birgitta of Sweden; to my good
friend and colleague Unn Falkeid for encouraging me to get involved and to
see the project through; and to all of the contributors for their patience and en-
thusiasm. I am also very grateful for the support of Christopher Bellitto, series
editor of Brill’s Companions to the Christian Tradition, and the editorial staff
at Brill, in particular Ivo Romein and copy editor Meredith McGroarty. Three
anonymous readers for Brill carefully read the manuscript, and I thank them
for their many thoughtful suggestions.
For their help and invaluable assistance, I am grateful to the staff of The
Swedish Institute of Classical Studies in Rome; Biblioteca Apostolica Vati-
cana; Kungliga Biblioteket (National Library of Sweden); The British Library;
The Warburg Institute Library; and the Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale in Flor-
ence. Special thanks also go to F. Thomas Luongo at the Department of His-
tory, Tulane University; Kurt Villads Jensen, Roger Andersson, Olle Ferm, and
Gustav Zamore at the Centre for Medieval Studies, Stockholm University; Wim
Verbaal at the Department of Literary Studies, Ghent University; Sara Risberg
at Riksarkivet in Stockholm (the Swedish National Archives); Fredrik Eugen
Christiansen at the Department of Linguistics and Scandinavian Studies, Uni-
versity of Oslo; Lena Liepe at Linnaeus University; Halfdan Martin Baadsvik at
the Department of Philosophy, Classics, History of Art and Ideas, University
of Oslo; the staff at the Norwegian Institute in Rome; Kathryn Boyer for her
careful proofreading of several chapters in this book; and Bridget Morris, who
translated Birgitta Fritz’s chapter.
With regard to the use of images, I would like to thank Uppsala University
Library; The Pierpont Morgan Library, New York; Biblioteka Narodowa, War-
saw; The British Library; Kungliga Biblioteket and Riksarkivet in Stockholm;
Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale in Florence; and F. Thomas Luongo.
My work on this volume was made possible through grants from the Sven
och Dagmar Saléns Stiftelse, the Research Council of Norway, and the Euro-
pean Research Council (European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme for
research, technological development, and demonstration under Marie Curie
grant agreement no. 608695). The Department of Linguistics and Scandina-
vian Studies at the University of Oslo has also been very generous with its fi-
nancial contribution.
For their support and inspiration at various stages during this project, my
personal thanks go to Valentina Cacopardo, Linda Báez Rubí, Ane Katrine
Øverseth Olsen, Linn Magnhild Eian Valderaune, and my parents, Marit Hus-
abø and Håkon Oen. I owe my deepest appreciation to Stefano Fogelberg Rota.
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Figures
7.1 St Birgitta of Sweden Receiving a Vision (Frontispiece to the Heavenly Book of
Revelations). New York, Pierpont Morgan Library, MS M.498, fol. 4v. Date: last
quarter of 14th century. Photo: The Pierpont Morgan Library & Museum. MS
M.498, fol. 4v. Purchased by J. Pierpont Morgan (1837–1913) in 1912 193
7.2 St Birgitta of Sweden Receiving a Vision (Frontispiece to the Book of Questions).
Warszawa, Biblioteka Narodowa, 3310, fol. 224v. Date: last quarter of 14th cen-
tury. Photo: Courtesy of Biblioteka Narodowa, Warsaw 199
7.3 St Birgitta of Sweden Receiving the Heavenly Emperor’s Book to Kings from Christ
(Frontispiece to The Heavenly Emperor’s Book to Kings). New York, Pierpont Mor-
gan Library, MS M.498, fol. 343v. Date: last quarter of 14th century. Photo: The
Pierpont Morgan Library & Museum. MS M.498, fol. 343v. Purchased by
J. Pierpont Morgan (1837–1913) in 1912 202
7.4 Initial with Author Portrait of St Birgitta of Sweden. Stockholm, Riksarkivet,
E8801, fol. 3r. Date: first quarter of 15th century. Photo: Courtesy of the Swedish
National Archives 208
7.5 St Birgitta of Sweden Writing the Revelations / St Birgitta’s Revelation of the Nativ-
ity of Christ. Firenze, Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale, Magl. ii. ii. 393, fol. 1r. Date:
first quarter of 15th century. Photo: F. Thomas Luongo. Courtesy of Biblioteca
Nazionale Centrale di Firenze 211
7.6 St Birgitta of Sweden Presents a Revelation from Christ to a Bishop. London,
British Library, Cotton MS Claudius B i, fol. 117r. Date: first quarter of 15th
century. Photo: © The British Library Board (Cotton MS Claudius B i) 213
7.7 St John the Baptist Interprets a Vision of the Virgin to St Birgitta of Sweden.
London, British Library, Cotton MS Claudius B i, fol. 34r. Date: first
quarter of 15th century. Photo: © The British Library Board (Cotton MS
Claudius B i) 215
7.8 St Birgitta of Sweden’s Revelation of the Nativity of Christ. London, British Library,
Cotton MS Claudius B i, fol. 270r. Date: first quarter of 15th century. Photo: ©
The British Library Board (Cotton MS Claudius B i) 216
7.9 St Birgitta of Sweden Presenting the Rule of the Savior to Members of Her Order.
Stockholm, Kungliga biblioteket, A 75, fol. 1v. Date: early 15th century. Photo:
Courtesy of the Royal Library of Stockholm 220
8.1 Agostino di Duccio. St Birgitta of Sweden Receiving the Rule. Metropolitan Mu-
seum of Art, New York. Date: 1459. Photo: Asap Creative/Akg-Images 223
8.2 Pietro di Miniato, Annunciation. Santa Maria Novella, Florence. Date: c. 1400.
Photo: Asap Creative/Akg-Images/Orsi Battaglini 227
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Figures ix
8.3 Pietro di Miniato, Annunciation: The Scene of the Nativity. Santa Maria
Novella, Florence. Date: c. 1400. Photo: Asap Creative/Akg-Images/Orsi
Battaglini 229
8.4 Andrea da Firenze, Via Veritatis (detail). Spanish Chapel, Santa Maria Novella,
Florence. Date: 1370. Photo: Asap Creative/© 2006 TopFoto/Alinari 232
8.5 Giovanni Antonio Sogliani, St Birgitta, San Marco, Florence. Date: 1522. Photo:
Asap Creative/Akg-Images/Rabatti & Domingie 245
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Abbreviations
aass Acta sanctorum, eds. Johannes Bollandus, Godefridus Henschenius, et
al., 68 vols (Antwerp: 1643–1940)
AP Acta et processus canonizacionis b. Birgitte, ed. Isak Collijn. sfss, Ser. 2,
Latinska skrifter 1 (Uppsala: 1924–31)
cccm Corpus Christianorum Continuatio Mediaevalis (Turnhout: 1967–)
ccsl Corpus Christianorum. Series Latina (Turnhout: 1954–)
csel Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum (Vienna: 1866–)
ES Alfonso of Jaén, Epistola solitarii ad reges, ed. Arne Jönsson, in Birgitta
of Sweden, Revelaciones Book viii, ed. Hans Aili (Stockholm: 2002),
47–81
Extrav. Birgitta of Sweden, Reuelaciones Extrauagantes, ed. Lennart Holl-
mann. sfss, Ser. 2, Latinska skrifter 5 (Uppsala: 1956)
kvhaa K ungliga Vitterhets Historie och Antikvitets Akademien. The Royal
Academy of Letters, History and Antiquities
mhuu Mittelalterliche Handschriften der Universitätsbibliothek Uppsala. Kat-
alog über die C-Sammlung, eds. Margarete Andersson-Schmitt, Håkan
Hallberg, and Monica Hedlund, 8 vols. Acta Bibliothecae Universitatis
Upsaliensis 26: 1–8 (Uppsala: 1988–95)
PL Patrologia latina cursus completus. Series latina, ed. Jacques-Paul Mi-
gne. 221 vols (Paris: 1841–64)
Prol. M. P rologus Magistri Mathie, in Birgitta of Sweden, Reuelaciones Book i,
ed. Carl-Gustaf Undhagen (Stockholm: 1977), 229–40
Rev. i–viii B irgitta of Sweden, Revelaciones Books i–viii, eds. Hans Aili, Birger
Bergh, Ann-Mari Jönsson, and Carl-Gustaf Undhagen, 8 vols (Stock-
holm: 1967–2002)
RS Birgitta of Sweden, Opera minora i: Regvla Salvatoris, ed. Sten Eklund
(Stockholm: 1975)
SA Birgitta of Sweden, Opera minora 2: Sermo angelicus, ed. Sten Eklund
(Uppsala: 1972)
sbl Svenskt biografiskt lexikon (Stockholm: 1917–)
sfss Samlingar utgivna av Svenska fornskriftsällskapet. Swedish Medieval
Texts Society
uub Uppsala Universitetsbibliotek. Uppsala University Library
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