Heinrich of Uppsala
Heinrich von Uppsala († around 1156 in Köyliö , Finland ), called Bishop Henrik in Finland , is a Catholic saint . According to tradition, he took part in a crusade to Finland as Bishop of Uppsala in the middle of the 12th century and served as a missionary and first bishop of Finland, but was soon slain by a Finnish peasant.
Heinrich was venerated as the Finnish patron saint until the Reformation and, as Finland's only “own” saint, still has an important position in the country's religious life. From a historical point of view, there are considerable uncertainties about Heinrich and his traditional life.
Life
Legend and folk tune
The tradition of the life of Heinrich von Uppsala is based on two different, sometimes contradicting sources. Contemporary sources on Heinrich's life are not known.
The oldest written source is the Latin legend of St. Henry . This text, written for the liturgical purposes of the veneration of saints, was probably written in the last decades of the 13th century, at least not before 1270. It is also the oldest surviving written work in Finnish history. As a canonical legend of saints , the text is divided into a vita part about Heinrich's life and a miracula part about the miracles he performed.
In contrast to this source is the death ballad of Bishop Heinrich, handed down as a folk tune in Finnish . The origin and time of creation of this work, which has been passed on exclusively orally for centuries, are unknown. Mostly it is thought to be a little younger than the legend . Only in modern times was the death ballad recorded in writing; the first known records date from the 17th century. The death ballad only deals with the time from Heinrich's arrival in Finland until his death, but adds numerous details to the legend .
Traditional life
According to tradition, Heinrich came from England. Further information about his life up to his arrival in Sweden is not available. Around 1152 Heinrich was sent to Scandinavia to accompany the papal legate Nicolaus von Albano, who later became Pope Hadrian IV , in order to organize the church in the Nordic countries. Legend has it that Heinrich was bishop of Uppsala before his trip to Finland .
Heinrich finally came as a participant in the so-called first crusade of the Swedish King Erik IX. to southwestern Finland. The legend reports that the Finnish people was barbaric and pagan at this time and wreaking by raids to Sweden much damage. In the course of the successful crusade, Erik forced the Finns to Christianity. Before Erik returned to Sweden, Heinrich was appointed the first bishop of Finland and remained in Finland to organize the church. His first official seat was in Nousiainen .
According to legend , Heinrich found a violent death by a Finnish farmer the following winter, on January 20th . The sources differ as to the details. The legend reports that the bishop had punished a baptized farmer who was not named in the legend with a church sentence for murder and was then slain in anger by him. On the other hand, the death ballad tells us that Heinrich asked for hospitality in the house of the farmer Lalli in the absence of the landlord. When Lallis returned home, his wife said the bishop had refused to pay. The ballad explains this to be a lie, although free hospitality according to the church's understanding would have been part of the episcopal right to tax. In any case, Lalli, enraged by this incident, followed the bishop and killed him on the ice of Lake Köyliö .
Historical view
No contemporary sources are known about Heinrich von Uppsala. The earliest written source, the legend , not only came into being at least a century after Heinrich's supposed death, but also, as a legend of saints, did not serve the purpose of accurate historiography. The second main source, the death ballad , was also created in the context of Heinrich's cult of saints and can therefore only be used with caution for historical research. The correctness of the tradition concerning Heinrich is therefore doubtful and controversial in all aspects from a historical point of view.
The fact that Heinrich actually existed as a historical person has been a matter of course in Finnish historiography for centuries. This was seriously questioned in the 20th century. Some researchers, in particular Stjerna and Schmid, considered the legend about Heinrich to be an invention for the purpose of embellishing the legend of the saints about King Erik. Today, however, even historians generally assume that Heinrich was a historical person. Virrankoski considers this statement to be obvious, while Heikkilä admits a remaining doubt, but considers a direct connection with the Erik legend to be unlikely due to the history of the origin of the legend .
The tradition that Heinrich was Bishop of Uppsala before he left for Finland is now considered unreliable or at least very dubious. On the one hand, there are no references to Heinrich as bishop in the otherwise complete documents in Uppsala, on the other hand it would be unusual to assume that the bishop will leave his diocese for a multi-year trip abroad.
The so-called First Crusade of Erik IX. is the subject of historical controversy to this day. Even the question of whether Erik made any kind of move to Finland is unanswered, but a majority of historians today answer in the affirmative. Opinions regarding the nature of this move cover a broad spectrum, from a classic crusade with missionary character to a military campaign for the purpose of strengthening the position against Russia to an ordinary raid. What is certain is the knowledge that Christianity in south-western Finland, in which Heinrich von Uppsala worked, had already gained a foothold since the middle of the 11th century and was already in the majority by the time Erik's accepted crusade. However, there was no church organization until Heinrich's arrival.
The question of the year Heinrich came to Finland remains open. According to current research, the years 1155, 1157 or 1158 are given as the most likely times. Accordingly, the year of Heinrich's death - the winter following the “crusade” - has not been clarified. The dating uncertainties are also reflected in the anniversary celebrations of the Finnish Church, which sees the arrival of Heinrich as the hour of its birth. Its 700th anniversary was celebrated in 1857, while the 850th anniversary was celebrated in 2005.
Adoration of saints
Spread of worship
Insofar as Heinrich is recognized as a historical person, it is assumed that the veneration of Heinrich as a saint began very soon after his death. Evidence for the existence of the cult is only available from the second half of the 13th century. Towards the end of the century, Heinrich was included in the Finnish ecclesiastical calendar. His traditional death anniversary, January 20th, was dedicated to his liturgy. Heinrich's legend of saints was probably also written during this period, between 1270 and 1290.
Heinrich's bones were buried at his main place of work in the church of Nousiainen . This church was the starting point of Henry's veneration of saints and the first center of the Finnish church. The bishopric was moved to Koroinen after 1229 and finally moved a few kilometers further south to Turku at the turn of the century. At that time, Heinrich was also designated the patron saint of Turku Cathedral and his relics were ceremoniously transferred here. Heinrich became the patron saint of the entire diocese , which included all of Finland at that time.
As the only “own” saint of the diocese, Heinrich enjoyed a special position in Finland. His veneration, however, extended geographically to the Swedish mainland. Outside of Finland, however, his name day was brought forward to January 19, since January 20 was occupied by Saints Sebastian and Fabian, who were perceived as more important . In Finland, the calendar was not adjusted until the end of the 17th century. Outside of what was then Sweden, Heinrich achieved little significance as a saint.
With the Reformation, the veneration of saints ended as such in Sweden and Finland. The memory of Bishop Heinrich remained an identity-forming part of the Finnish church even during the Lutheran period. There is also an evangelical reminder of Heinrich outside of Finland: The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America has set up a day of remembrance for him on January 19th . Today Heinrich is the patron saint of the Catholic Cathedral in Helsinki, which also houses some of the saint's relics.
wonder
Legend has it that eleven miracles are attributed to St. Henry, all of which occurred after his death.
The first miracle happened immediately after the bishop's murder, in the form of punishing the murderer. The latter took the hat from the slain Heinrich, put it on his head and mocked the bishop at home. When he tried to take the cap off his head, his scalp and scalp got stuck on it and were torn from his head. This description was the model for the saint attribute used in later depictions of Heinrich : the bishop was regularly shown standing, the bald murderer lying at his feet.
The second miracle also had lasting significance for Heinrich's admiration. In the spring of his murder, after the ice had already melted, Heinrich's finger and his ring, which had been severed by the murder, were said to have washed ashore on an ice floe on which a raven croaked. The severed, ringed finger became the symbol of the Turku diocese in 1618.
The remaining miracles describe two resurrections from the dead, five healings from diseases, one rescue from distress and one punishment of a doubter.
Relics and saints grave
Several mentions in the two main sources, the legend and the death ballad , indicate that there was a pronounced cult of relics at the time of their creation. Later medieval sources, in particular the bishops' chronicle of Turku, indicate that Henry was first buried in Nousiainen and later brought to Turku. The exact time of the transfer is unknown, but it is believed that it will coincide with the consecration of the Turku Cathedral as a bishopric. It is just as likely that some of the bones remained in Heinrich's ancestral church in Nousiainen. The sarcophagus of Henry in the church of Nousiainen was not until the 15th century decorated magnificently.
A number of relics are known to date that are believed to have come from Heinrich. In no case could their authenticity be proven with scientific certainty. A find that was made during restoration work on Turku Cathedral in 1924 caused a stir. A skull and two arm bones were found wrapped in cloth in a boarded-up closet in the sacristy . In the medieval chronicle of bishops it was reported that Bishop Maunu II had shrines made for Heinrich's skull and arms. In public it was often concluded that the skull of Heinrich von Uppsala had been found.
Canonization
In today's calendars of saints it is stated that the canonization, i.e. the canonization of Henry in 1158, was carried out by his companion Pope Hadrian IV. However, this information cannot be verified by sources. It is based on speculations that were only made by researchers in modern times . None of the original sources provide information about the actual canonization. Today it is also considered possible that a papal canonization of Henry never took place, since canonization was declared the sole right of the Pope only in 1234.
memory
The Estonian composer Veljo Tormis wrote Piispa ja pakana (The Bishop and the Heath) in 1992 for male choir and soloists using a Latin sequence and Finnish folklore.
literature
- Jarl Gallén: Heinrich of Uppsala . In: Lexicon for Theology and Church. Vol. 5. Herder, Freiburg / Brsg. 1960 (2nd ed.), Sp. 202. ISBN 3-451-22005-9 (3rd ed.)
- Tuomas Heikkila: Pyhän Henrikin legenda . SKS, Helsinki 2005. ISBN 951-746-738-9
- Ekkart Sauser : HEINRICH from Uppsala. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 16, Bautz, Herzberg 1999, ISBN 3-88309-079-4 , Sp. 648-649.
- Pentti Virrankoski: Suomen historia I . SKS, Jyväskylä 2001. ISBN 951-746-341-3
Web links
- Anni Järvinen: The First Centuries of Christianity in Finland. University of Tampere 2005.
swell
- ↑ Stjerna, Knut: Erik den helige. En sagohistorisk study. Lund 1898
- ^ Schmid, Toni: Sveriges Kristnade. Uppsala 1934
- ↑ a b Virrankoski p. 65
- ↑ Heikkilä p. 54 f.
- ↑ Heikkilä p. 68
- ↑ Complete overview of the disputes of the crusade at Heikkilä, pp. 55–73
- ↑ Virrankoski p. 58 f.
- ^ Heinrich von Uppsala in the Ecumenical Lexicon of Saints
- ↑ Heikkilä p. 104 ff.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Heinrich of Uppsala |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Bishop Henrik; Henry of Finland |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | catholic saint |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 11th century or 12th century |
| DATE OF DEATH | around 1160 |
| Place of death | Köyliö , Finland |