Valerius (Archbishop of Uppsala)

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Christianization of Finland
Seal of bishop bero of finland.gif
People
Bishops: Thomas ● Henry ●
Rodulff ● Fulco ● Bero
Popes: Alexander III ●
Innocent III ● Gregory IX
Archbishops: Anders ●
Valerius
Others: Birger Jarl ●
Sergius ● Lalli ● King Eric
Locations
Kokemäki ● Köyliö ●
Nousiainen ● Koroinen ●
Turku Cathedral
Events
Finnish-Novgorodian wars
First Swedish Crusade
Second Swedish Crusade
Third Swedish Crusade

Valerius was the Swedish Archbishop 1207–1219 (or as late as 1224 [1] ). He was the fifth archbishop after the establishment of the see in 1164.

Archbishop of Uppsala primate of the Church of Sweden

The archbishop of Uppsala has been the primate in Sweden in an unbroken succession since 1164, first during the Catholic era, and from the 1530s and onward under the Lutheran church.

Episcopal see the main administrative seat held by a bishop

An episcopal see is, in the usual meaning of the phrase, the area of a bishop's ecclesiastical jurisdiction.

Contents

Appointment

At the establishment of the archiepiscopal see at Uppsala in 1164, the Pope did not have enough faith in Swedish Christianity and therefore made the Archbishop of Lund in Denmark the primate over Uppsala. When Valerius was elected in Uppsala in 1207, the Danish archbishop objected on the grounds that he had a clerical ancestry, and priests and other clergymen were not allowed to marry. In Sweden, the practice of priests marrying continued far into the Middle Ages because of the low population numbers.

Pope leader of the Catholic Church

The pope, also known as the supreme pontiff, is the Bishop of Rome and ex officio leader of the worldwide Catholic Church. Since 1929, the pope has also been head of state of Vatican City, a city-state enclaved within Rome, Italy. The current pope is Francis, who was elected on 13 March 2013, succeeding Benedict XVI.

Denmark constitutional monarchy in Europe

Denmark, officially the Kingdom of Denmark, is a Nordic country and the southernmost of the Scandinavian nations. Denmark lies southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and is bordered to the south by Germany. The Kingdom of Denmark also comprises two autonomous constituent countries in the North Atlantic Ocean: the Faroe Islands and Greenland. Denmark proper consists of a peninsula, Jutland, and an archipelago of 443 named islands, with the largest being Zealand, Funen and the North Jutlandic Island. The islands are characterised by flat, arable land and sandy coasts, low elevation and a temperate climate. Denmark has a total area of 42,924 km2 (16,573 sq mi), land area of 42,394 km2 (16,368 sq mi), and the total area including Greenland and the Faroe Islands is 2,210,579 km2 (853,509 sq mi), and a population of 5.8 million.

Primate (bishop) high-ranking bishop in certain Christian churches

Primate is a title or rank bestowed on some archbishops in certain Christian churches. Depending on the particular tradition, it can denote either jurisdictional authority or (usually) ceremonial precedence.

The Pope allowed a dispensation for Valerius on the grounds that there was no other suitable candidate and because Valierus was known as a learned man with good customs and virtues.

Civil war

Valerius joined side with the King Sverker II of Sweden, who belonged to the House of Sverker. The House of Sverker was one of the antagonists in a civil war that had been going on and off since 1130. In 1208 the opposing side, the House of Eric, seized the power, and the king fled the country, taking Valierus with him. They exiled in Denmark.

Sverker II of Sweden King of Sweden

Sverker II or Sverker the Younger was King of Sweden from 1195 or 1196 to 1208.

House of Sverker

After the extinction of the House of Stenkil and the ascension of Sverker I of Sweden in 1130, a civil war commenced. In the beginning, there were several pretenders, of whom Sverker I emerged as victorious, for a time. The antagonists in long run were finally the House of Sverker in Östergötland and the House of Eric in Västergötland and Uppland, which alternated on the throne for several generations, until in the 1220s the Eric dynasty got the upper hand, and the Sverker dynasty became extinct.

House of Eric

The House of Eric was a medieval Swedish royal clan with several throne pretenders between 1150 and 1220, rivaling for kingship of Sweden with the House of Sverker. The first king from the House of Eric was Eric IX of Sweden, also known as Saint Eric, from whom it got its name. Almost all the subsequent kings of Sweden have been descendants of the House of Eric.

Sverker gathered a small army and tried to conquer Sweden, but was killed. Valerius bowed down and accepted the opposing King Eric Knutsson. As a result, he was allowed to return to Uppsala, where he crowned Eric in 1210. The Pope Innocent III sent a letter to Valerius where he proclaimed the procedure to be unauthorized and unlawful, but it seems to have had little impact.

Eric X of Sweden King of Sweden

Eric "X" was the King of Sweden between 1208 and 1216. Also known as Eric the Survivor, he was, at his accession to the throne, the only remaining son of King Canute I of Sweden and his queen. The name of his mother is not known, but may have been Cecilia.

Pope Innocent III 12th and 13th-century Catholic pope

Pope Innocent III, born Lotario dei Conti di Segni reigned from 8 January 1198 to his death in 1216.

Establishment of the church in Finland

Valerius seems to have been involved in the earliest phases of the Diocese of Finland. In 1209, when he was exiled in Denmark, Anders Sunesen, Archbishop of Lund, contacted Pope Innocent III in order to have a new bishop appointed for Finland. Similar to Valerius, the unnamed bishop hopeful had adequacy issues that were however omitted on Anders' recommendation in the lack of suitable candidates, the same excuse that had made Valerius the Archbishop. [2] The church in Finland was said to have been established "newly" as the work of "a few noble men".

Anders Sunesen Danish archbishop

Anders Sunesen was a Danish archbishop of Lund, Scania, from 21 March 1201, at the death of Absalon, to his own death in 1228.

Years later, Valerius is said to have been in touch with the Pope directly, worried about the "barbarian" attacks to Finland. The Pope mentions this in 1221 in his letter to the unnamed Bishop of Finland who was now authorized to establish a trade embargo against the hostiles. [3] In the letter, the church in Finland was again said to have been of recent origin.

Later years

King Eric Knutsson died in 1216. Valerius lived on to crown the succeeding King John in 1219, when he came of age.

According to medieval Chronicon rerum Sveogothicarum and Chronologia vetus, Valerius died later that year on April 7, 1219, and was buried in the church in Old Uppsala. However, some historians regard that the chroniclers had the year of his death wrong, assuming that he died closer to the appointment of his predecessor Olov Basatömer in 1224. [1]

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References

  1. 1 2 Herman Schück, "Det augustinska kanikesamfundet vid Skara domkyrka" i Västergötlands Fornminnesförenings tidskrift 1983-84.
  2. ↑ "Letter by Pope Innocent III to the Archbishop of Lund". Archived from the original on 2007-08-14.. In Latin.
  3. ↑ "Papal letter to Bishop of Finland". Archived from the original on 2007-09-27. in 1221. In Latin.
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