BRYNOLPHUS, Bishop of Skara, Saint. - Born toward the middle of the 13th century and died on 6 February 1317. Belonging to one of the noblest Swedish families, he was sent as a boy to France, to receive there an adequate ecclesiastical education, and returned to his homeland after about 18 years. First a canon at Linköping and at Skara, he was then appointed bishop of this last city in 1278, and remained there until his death.

A strong figure of a believer and of an organizer, he is now remembered as the first Swedish lyric poet. His melodious verses, all on religious subjects, do not depart from the medieval scholastic tradition except perhaps for some stronger mystical note. His Offices of St. Helen, of St. Eskil, for the Virgin and for the Crown of Thorns of Christ have come down to us.

B. is venerated as a saint with a feast on the anniversary of his death. At the Council of Constance the request for canonization was introduced (1416), but the matter was referred to certain Swedish prelates for further investigations. In 1417 Martin V approved the decision of the Council. According to some authors the canonization would have taken place in 1498.

Bibliography2 works

BIBL.: Acta SS. Februarii, I, Paris 1863, pp. 933-35; Nordisk tidskrift för bok-och biblioteksviken, 20 (1933), pp. 36-41.

Alda Manghi

@incollection{ec3_brynolphus_vescovo_di_skara_sa, author = {Manghi, Alda}, title = {Brynolphus, vescovo di skara, santo}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {III}, pages = {163}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1949}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/brynolphus-vescovo-di-skara-santo} }

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Brynolphus, Bishop of Skara, Saint

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