Absalon, Archbishop of Lund

ABSALON, Archbishop of Lund. - Primate of Denmark and Sweden, b. in 1128 to a noble family, d. on 21 March 1201 and buried in the monastery of Sorø, which he founded, near Copenhagen. He completed his studies in Paris and, having returned to his homeland in 1156, immediately took an active part in political life, as counsellor and valuable support to the great king Valdemar (1157-82) in the work of unifying the kingdom of Denmark. In 1157 bishop of Roskilde and Zealand, in 1177 he was designated to the primatial see of Lund, as successor to archbishop Eskill. During the schism of 1159, A. took the side of Alexander III. Vast is A.'s work as a man of the Church and of the State: he contributed effectively to the spread and establishment of Christianity in the Scandinavian countries, founded monasteries and cities (the founding of Copenhagen is his merit), greatly promoted culture, in particular the great historian of medieval Denmark, Saxo Grammaticus, who dedicated his Gesta Danorum to A., and gave a large part to his patron in the narrative. After Valdemar's death, with the new sovereign Canute VI the influence of A. was even greater, for he was the true political head of the kingdom for 20 years.

Michels Maccarone