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i 4 . ST. BIRGITTA: HER LIFE IN SWEDEN. 123
Sweden at the Mora Stones. He is, therefore, rightly re
garded as a sort of national hero in that province. He was
a friend of St. Birgitta, of whom I am about to speak, and
the first who brought her revelations to the notice of the
pope (Nordisk F. B., s.v. Hemming).
Nicolaus Hermanni, the last Swedish saint before the Re
formation, was even more closely connected with Birgitta,
who chose him as tutor for her children. After her death
he worked hard to get her canonized, and was the author of
a well-known hymn in her praise :
Rosa rorans bonitatem
Stella stillans claritatem
Birgitta vas gratiae
in a metre which became popular for Swedish verse.
Nicolaus was the first Churchman of high rank to sup
port Queen Margaret, and he is, therefore, an important
link between the Folkunga and Union periods. His con
temporary, Archbishop Birgerus Gregorii (1366 1383),
another zealous friend of Birgitta s, may also be mentioned
as the principal Latin poet of the Middle Age, in company
with Bryniulf (/. S. L. H., i., p. no). His offices for St.
Botvid and St. Birgitta have some real poetical beauty
(See G. M. Dreves Lateinische Hymnen-dichtung, I.,
PP- 437-41. Leipzig, 1909).
14. ST. BIRGITTA (1303 1373). HER FAMILY AND CHAR
ACTER. EARLY IMPRESSIONS. MARRIAGE WITH
ULF. DEATH OF HER HUSBAND. REVELATIONS :
THEIR METHOD. POLITICAL INTERESTS.11
We must now turn our attention to Birgitta herself,
whose life (1303 1373) deserves a fuller treatment. She is
confessedly one of three representatives of religion in
Sweden, whose names are everywhere known the other
two being Gustavus Adolphus and Swedenborg.
She was also the first who has left sufficient personal
11
See the detached note at the end of this lecture.
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