Sigfrid of Sweden

Saint

Sigfrid of Sweden
Statue of St Sigfrid at Växjö Cathedral
Apostle of Sweden
BornUnknown (10th century)
England
DiedUnknown (11th century)
Växjö
Venerated inEastern Orthodox Church
Roman Catholic Church
Anglican Communion
Major shrineVäxjö
Feast15 February
Attributesbishop carrying three severed heads; bishop carrying three loaves of bread (misrepresentation of the heads); baptizing King Olof of Sweden; traveling in a ship with 2 other bishops; bishop menaced by devils,
PatronageSweden

Saint Sigfrid of Sweden (Swedish: Sigfrid, Latin: Sigafridus, Old Norse: Sigurðr, Old English: Sigefrið/Sigeferð) was a missionary-bishop in Scandinavia during the first half of the 11th century. Originally from England, Saint Sigfrid is credited in late medieval king-lists and hagiography with performing the baptism of the first steadfastly Christian monarch of Sweden, Olof Skötkonung.[1] He most likely arrived in Sweden soon after the year 1000 and conducted extensive missions in Götaland and Svealand.[2] For some years after 1014, following his return to England, Sigfrid was based in Trondheim, Norway.[3] However, his position there became untenable after the defeat of Olaf Haraldsson.[4]

While in Norway, Sigfrid continued to participate in the Christianization of Sweden, to which he devoted the remainder of his life.[5] According to Swedish and Icelandic tradition, he retired to Värend.[6] Sigfrid later died in Växjö on an unknown date within the life-time of Adam of Bremen.[7] Sigfrid's burial-place in Växjö became the centre of a cult.[8] According to a statement by Johannes Vastovius, an antiquarian writing in the 17th century,[9] Sigfrid was canonized by Pope Hadrian IV c. 1158. His feast day is 15 February.[10]

Sigfrid is remembered in the Church of England with a commemoration on 15 February.[11]

  1. ^ Scriptores Rerum Suecicarum Medii Aevi, vol.I, p. 8 for king lists; vol. II, part i, pp. 356, 368 for hagiographical references; discussion of this tradition, and alternative attributions of the baptism, in Fairweather 2014, pp.140-154.
  2. ^ See Fairweather 2014, pp. 181-194.
  3. ^ See Fairweather 2014, pp.198-205,
  4. ^ See Adam of Bremen 4,34; 4.37; Snorri, Olafs saga Helga, chapter 217.
  5. ^ Adam of Bremen 2.57; 4.34.
  6. ^ Scriptores Rerum Suecicarum Medii Aevi vol. II, part 1, p. 364 and vol. III, part ii, 112,115 (Eng. trans. in Fairweather 2014, p. 210; also Icelandic traditions about Bishop 'Sigurd' in Olafs saga Tryggvasonar en mesta ed. Halldorson, vol III, pp. 57-64; trans. by Michael Taylor et al. in Fairweather 2014, pp. 334-8.
  7. ^ Adam of Bremen 4.34.
  8. ^ Åberg 2007, pp. 9-16.
  9. ^ Vastovius (1623) p. 32.
  10. ^ Åberg 2007, p. 13.
  11. ^ "The Calendar". The Church of England. Retrieved 27 March 2021.