Peter (Uppsala)

Petrus († September 18, 1197 ) is the name of the third archbishop in Old Uppsala .

Little is known of Archbishop Petrus. He received his pallium from Pope Clement III. and was consecrated in Lund by Archbishop Absalon , the primate of the Danish-Swedish Church. An undated letter from the archbishop from his term in office gives some information about the church conditions. In it he gave the canons of the cathedral church the bishop's tenth of "Beling" (today Bälinge ) and "Waxalle" (today Vaksala) and more to strengthen monastic life at the metropolitan church. This is the first sure source that a cathedral chapter was made up of monks. The letter also speaks of the newly converted Hälsingland . At that time, Hälsingland also included today's Medelpad , Ångermanland and the southern part of Västerbotten . The tithe was still paid in kind, because in the letter he gave the cathedral chapter 100 Alnar linen from the tithe he had received on his visitation trip to Hälsingland .

After the death of King Knut Eriksson in 1196, to whom he must have been close, Sverker the Younger came to the throne. This was related to the Danish royal family and grew up in Denmark. This gave the Danish Archbishop Absalon the opportunity to interfere more strongly in the affairs of the Swedish Church. This led to a conflict between Lund and Uppsala. Archbishop Absalon complained to the Pope that the Swedish Church was ignoring his position as a primate and that the Swedish episcopate did not appear at the synods he had called . During this time, three bishoprics in Sweden became vacant. For all three bishoprics bishops were elected who did not come from a legal marriage because they were undoubtedly the sons of priests. Priestly marriage was still common in Sweden at that time, and there seem to have been regular priestly families. Archbishop Absalon forbade Archbishop Petrus to confirm these elections and to consecrate those chosen. But Peter consecrated two of them. Then Absalon suspended these two and again forbade the consecration of the third and brought this matter to the Pope, who, as a reformer, placed special emphasis on celibacy . This led to great resentment in Sweden. Archbishop Peter did not live to see the dispute settled. The papal decision then went to his successor, Olov Lambatunga .

He died on September 18, 1197 and was buried in the cathedral church of Alt-Uppsala.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Anders Winroth: "Petrus" in: Svenskt biografisk lexikon , accessed on March 23, 2013.

literature

• Gustav Åsbrink / Knut B. Westman: Svea Rikes Ärkebiskopar från 1164 till nuvarande tid . Stockholm 1935. pp. 50-51.

predecessor	Office	successor
Johan	Archbishop of Uppsala 1187–1197	Olov Lambatunga