Stefan (archbishop of Uppsala)
Stefan was the first
Archbishop of Uppsala in the year
1164, a post he had until his death
July 18,
1185.
Stefan was a
Cistercian monk from
Alvastra monastery. His origin is not known, but it is believed that he was originally from England or Germany because many monks from the monastry were from those countries and because his name was rather uncommon in Sweden at that time.
In
1164 Stefan travelled to
Sens in France to meet the
Pope Alexander III. The Pope was seeking refuge in Sens because of disputes in Rome. Present in Sens was another refugee: the
Archbishop of Lund (Denmark), Eskil, who had been rooting for the wrong king in Denmark and thus forced in exile.
The Pope agreed to grant Sweden an Archbishop. This matter had already been discussed a decade earlier, but because of civil conflicts it never got realized. A
pallium had however been made in
Lund for that occasion, and Eskild had brought it with him when he left Denmark. The pallium was now given to Stefan.
The Archbishop of Lund was declared
primate of Uppsala, thereby given the right to ordain the Archbishop of Uppsala. The primate condition was being upheld for a century until political conflicts between the two countries led the Uppsala archbishopric to free itself, and thereafter the Archbishop would travel to
Rome to be ordained by the Pope.
What is likely to be a protocoll from the Sens meeting is still in existence at the
Swedish Royal Library.
*
Svea Rike Ärkebiskopar, Uppsala, 1935
*
article Stefan Nordisk Familjebok
