The Archbishop of Uppsala (spelled Upsala until early 20th century) has been the primate in Sweden since 1164, first during the Catholic era, and from the 1530s and onward under the Lutheran church.

History

There have been bishops in Uppsala from the time of Swedish King Ingold the Elder in the 11th century. They were governed by the archbishop of Hamburg-Bremen until Uppsala was made an archbishopric in 1164. The archbishop in Lund (which at that time belonged to Denmark) was simultaniously declared prima Suecia, meaning it was his right to select and ordain the Uppsala archbishop by handing him the pallium. But to gain independance, Folke Johansson Ängel in 1274 went to Rome and was ordained directly by the Pope. This practice was ever increasing, so that no Uppsala archbishop has been ordained in Lund after Olov Björnsson , in 1318. But not until 1457 was the archbishop Jöns Bengtsson allowed to declare himself prima Suecia.

At first, the city Uppsala with the archbishop was actually located a couple of kilometers to the north of the present city, in what is today known as Gamla Uppsala (which translates to Old Uppsala). Although its exact role is disputed, according to medieval sources Old Uppsala was the seat of an important line of kings and an important religious center long before the Christianization of Sweden in the early 11th century. As was often the case, the Church appears to have utilized the prestige of a known place of worship and secular power to establish itself. In 1273, the archbishopric, together with the relics of king Eric the Saint, was moved to the trading center of Östra Aros, which from then on overtook the name Uppsala. The construction of the present cathedral of Uppsala was however not begun until 1287. The king's relics were meanwhile held in a temporary church within the limits of the plans of the new catheral.

In 1531, Laurentius Petri became the first protestant archbishop. Thereby, the other bishops of Sweden were declared independant from the archbishop. The archbishop was merely declared primus inter pares -- the first among equals.

Some of the more notable archbishops have been: Birger Gregersson (1366-83), Nils Ragvaldsson (1438- 48), Jöns Bengtsson (1448-67), Jakob Ulfsson (1470-1514; founder of Uppsala University), Gustav Trolle (1515-21; supporter of the Danish King and involved in Stockholm Bloodbath), Johannes Magnus (1523-26, the last catholic archbishop), Laurentius Petri (1531-73; the first protestant archbishop), Abrahamus Angermannus (1593-99), Olaus Martini (1601- 09), Petrus Kenicius (1609-36), Laurentius Paulinus (1637-46), Johannes Canuti Lenaeus (1647-69), Olof Svebilius (1681-1700), [[Erik Benzelius the Elder]] (1700-09), Haqvin Spegel (1711 -14), Mattias Steuchius (1714-30), Samuel Troilius (1758-64), Uno von Troil (1786- 1803; politician), Jakob Axelsson Lindblom (1805-19), Karl von Rosenstein (1819-36), [[Johan Olof Wallin]] (1837-39; poet), Karl Fredrik af Wingård (1839-51; politician), Hans Olof Holmström (1852-55), Henrik Reuterdahl (1856-70) Anton Niklas Sundberg (sedan 1870) and Nathan Söderblom (1914-1931; Nobel Prize winner).

See also List of Archbishops of Uppsala for the complete list of archbishops.

See also

• List of Archbishops of Uppsala

External links

• Ärkebiskop' from Nordisk familjebok. In Swedish.
• Uppsala ärkestift from Nordisk Familjebok. In Swedish.

References

• Svea Rikes Ärkebiskopar, Uppsala, 1935