Bishop Henry: Encyclopedia - Bishop Henry

Bishop Henry

Bishop Henry, or Piispa Henrik (died January 20, 1156) was an English-born bishop of Uppsala, who was martyred by Lalli in Finland.

Henry came to Sweden in 1153 with the papal legate Nicolas Breakspear (the future Pope Adrian IV) and was made bishop of Uppsala.

When Erik the Holy, king of Sweden, decided to take a small armed force to help convert Finns to Christianity, he took Bishop Henry with him. Very soon after arriving on Finnish soil, however, he was slain by Lalli, most likely a rich man who owned a manor.

Henry was canonized by Pope Adrian IV and he became the patron saint of Finland.

Bishop Henry - The Legend

Very few facts are known about the real causes for Henry's death, but the incident is full of the hallmarks of legend. A folk poem from the 13th century called the "Piispa Henrikin surmavirsi" (The death-psalm of Bishop Henry) written in the same manner as the Kalevala has survived.

In the most well-known legend, Lalli's wife Kerttu alleged to him that upon leaving the manor, their ungrateful guest had without permission or recompense through violence taken food for himself and hay for his horse. This is supposed to have enraged Lalli so that he immediately grabbed his skis and went in pursuit of the thief, finally chasing Henry down on the ice of Lake Köyliönjärvi. There he executed him on the spot with an axe. Bishop Henry's body was buried at Nousiainen. Some other accounts describe Lalli as a miscreant and a criminal who, when reprimanded or excommunicated by Bishop Henry for his deeds, became enraged and killed the man.

Bishop Henry - Heavenly retribution

Further legends enumerate the pestilences and misfortunes which befell Lalli after his "treacherous slaying" of the holy benefactor of the miserable Finnish pagans who were "twice removed" from the grace afforded by knowledge of Christ. His hair and scalp are said to have fallen out as he took off the bishop's cap, taken as a trophy. Furthermore, he is said to have been constantly nibbled by mice, which finally caused him such distress that he ran into a lake and drowned himself.

Bishop Henry - Political use of the legend

This legend of Finnish ingratitude was much much expanded upon by preachers to justify later harsh measures they took to ensure that Finnish conversions to Christianity were not mere words, but that they sincerely and unreservedly accepted church authority. Bishop Henry took the status of holy martyr, and Finnish folk revered him as a saint.

He was buried in Nousiainen, but in 1300 his bones were moved to Turku. They may have been removed by Russian soldiers in 1720.

Categories: Saints | 1156 deaths

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Bishop Henry", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki