SOURCE: Apostasy and Reform in the Revelations of St. Birgitta, Almqvist & Wiksell International, 1993, 262 p.

[In the following excerpt from his book discussing Birgitta's notion of the moral apostasy of her contemporaries, Fogelqvist outlines the first of many failings the Saint observed in her fellow Christians—a so-called "love of the world" reflected in the prevalent "sins of pride, covetousness, and carnal pleasure."]

There are several revelations where St. Birgitta in general terms accuses the Christians of her time of having apostatised or fallen away. Of special interest in these revelations is how the Church relates to and is affected by sinful Christians. The relationship does not always appear immediately evident, as Birgitta uses different kinds of imagery when describing it.¹ Regarding her understanding of the Church, the distinction between ecclesia congregata and ecclesia congregans is helpful. We have here two aspects of the Church. The former views the Church in a passive sense, as the community of the congregated, consisting of people; the latter, seeing the Church in an active sense, emphasises the divine congregating and is the institutional aspect of the Church, the Church existing before its members and gathering them together.²

According to Hammerich, Birgitta understands the Church solely as the community of believers.³ A closer examination, however, reveals that she often speaks of the Church as an institution.⁴ This aspect is found in images where Birgitta distinguishes between the Church and the Christians belonging to it. For example, she compares the Church to an apiary, in which two kinds of bees live, i.e. good and bad Christians (II 19 E), or to a virgin having three children, signifying different kinds of good and bad Christians (III 24 C). Birgitta often speaks of the institutional Church with reverence, calling it "Holy Mother Church" (VII 18.13), and comparing it to a "noble castle" (I 5.1), a "blessed vineyard" (III 10 C; IV 78.22), and to a "magnificent and glorious house".⁵ She writes that this Church was founded by Christ,⁶ and contains the means by which he sanctifies man and enables him to attain eternal life. For example, she says of the Church that its "disposition is excellent in the faith, beautiful in the seven sacraments, praiseworthy in manners and virtue, amiable in its fruit, and shows the true way to eternity".⁷ Thus, the Church being a divine institution, is beautiful and excellent, and therefore it can in no way be subject to any downfall.

Nonetheless, Birgitta also sees a difference between this beautiful Church and the visible Catholic Church of her own time. The Church, she writes, is not in an admirable condition (IV 74.25). The reason for this is the many apostate Christians in the Church. Traditional medieval theology speaks of them as belonging to the Church numero non merito, or corpore non mente.⁸ Their membership is merely formal. This teaching constitutes the background to several of Birgitta's images showing the role of these Christians in the Church. In one image, they are described as perverted or ruined. For example, she compares Christ to a bridegroom, who wedded a beautiful and virtuous bride and led her into the bridal chamber. The bride, Birgitta says, signifies the Christians, inflamed with faith and charity, and the bridechamber means the Church. Now, however, she continues, the bride has become an adulteress, preferring the devil to Christ (VI 33.1-3). A similar image describing the Christians as corrupted or destroyed is given by Birgitta when she compares them to a city wall that has fallen down. She hears Christ speaking: "What is the wall of Jerusalem, that is of my Church, if not the bodies and souls of the Christians? Out of them my Church ought to be built. The wall of this Church has now fallen down".⁹

Another image of the fall of the Christians is Birgitta's description of the apostates as besiegers of the Church, which she compares to a strong castle containing the sacraments, the teaching, and the example of the saints. "This castle", she continues, "is now besieged by enemies, for inside Holy Church there are many, who proclaim my Son, but who are not in agreement with him as regards their behaviour." On the one hand, then, Birgitta explicitly says that these Christians are inside the Church, that is, inside the visible Catholic Church. On the other hand, the same Christians are described as being outside the Church, attacking it; they do not belong to it, since they lack the proper qualifications. Similarly, Birgitta compares the Church to a virgin, who has several children, one of whom made an attempt to rape her. That son signifies the evil Christians (III 24 B,D). Thus, from one point of view, the son belongs to the Church, from another, he is a brutal evildoer attacking it.

The assault on the Church is sometimes described by Birgitta not only as a siege; the evil Christians have also forced their way through and occupied it. This is the case in a revelation where she compares the Church to a castle, the foundation of which is the belief that Christ is a just and merciful judge. "Now, however, the foundation is undermined", for hardly anyone believes that he is a just judge (I 5.13). They have also occupied the Church, for Birgitta says that they oppress God's elect inside the castle (I 5.15). In other words, she says that many Christians inside the Church do not in reality belong there. A similar occupation is described in another revelation, where she writes of four sisters, who each had a seat and power in their patrimony. They represent four virtues found in the Church. These sisters, however, are now stripped of their patrimony and despised by everyone. Four illegitimate sisters have taken their place, signifying four vices: Lady Pride, Lady Delight of the Flesh, Lady Superfluity, and Lady Simony (IV 45.1-7). Thus, the Church, signified by the patrimony, is described as occupied by the vices of evil Christians, while the virtues are suppressed.

We have been dealing with Birgitta's understanding of the corruption of Christians, viewing the Church as ecclesia congregans, i.e. as an institution assembling the Christians. Sinful Christians belong physically to this institution, but not spiritually. Birgitta, however, also speaks of the Church as consisting of the community of the congregated, ecclesia congregata:

God is disgusted by the fall and ruin of his holy Church, for its door bends down towards the earth … ; the hinges are straightened out as much as possible and in no way bent; the floor is completely dug up into deep holes without bottom; drops of burning and smoking sulphur are dripping from the roof; the walls are as revolting to look at as pus mingled with rotten blood.¹⁰

Birgitta, then, identifies this decaying edifice with the Church. Further down she writes that the Church is the "community of the Christians" (kristna manna samføgil). The door, she explains, represents the pope, the hinges signify the cardinals, the floor is the secular clergy in general; the roof is an image of the religious, and the walls signify the laity. Thereafter, an account follows of the vices of these categories of people.¹¹ Thus, the Church in decay refers to people, to the community of Christians.¹² The reason, according to Birgitta, as to why it is decaying is that they are not living as they should.

The Christians accused by Birgitta of having fallen away belong to all classes of society: "all grades have apostatised from their praiseworthy condition" (III 27 D). Often, however, within this general condition of apostasy Birgitta distinguishes between different classes.¹³ According to medieval perception, each Christian must be as perfect as his state requires, though not every member of a more perfect state is necessarily more perfect than a member of a less perfect state.¹⁴ Birgitta accuses the traditional three Christian orders of clerics, religious and lay people of having apostatised.¹⁵ The distinction of these three orders is spiritual and based on religious anthropology. People of the Middle Ages also made a distinction based on social criteria, whereby they differentiated between clerics, warriors, and producers or labourers.¹⁶ Birgitta also mentions these three groups of people and accuses them of having apostatised (I 55.14-19).

Not all are equally guilty in Birgitta's view. In particular, she accuses the two leading classes, the clergy and the knights, who also were the people with whom she had the closest contact, of having abandoned Christ. In a vision she sees an innumerable mass of people perishing in dangerous waves, because the steersmen constantly wish to steer the ship to places where—they think—there is greater profit to gain. These steersmen signify all those having secular and spiritual power in the world. The common people imitate their miserable deeds, and so the leaders cause both themselves and their subjects to perish (III 5 A-B). The guilt of the priests and the knights, then, is greater, for they have enticed the common people to sin. Birgitta also writes that of all the states of laity, the knights have apostatised more than others.¹⁷ The clerics, however, are in Birgitta's view the worst of all, since more is expected of them in terms of sanctity. She says that Christ selected them before all angels, and gave to them alone the power to handle his body in the Eucharist (IV 133.9; IV 132.1). Now, however, they have become more troublesome to him than all the others (IV 134.2).

Finally, it can be noted that when describing the falling off of Christians, Birgitta often writes that it has taken place "now",¹⁸ that is, in her own time. The apostasy is not understood by her as having more or less existed at all times in the history of the Church, nor is it to be regarded as a gradual process, but it has happened quite suddenly. She writes, for example, that the monastic fervour of the early Church continued "for a long time" (RS Prol. 3.26). The great change has occurred in her own time. In a vision she hears John the Baptist saying: "Not in a thousand years has God's anger at the world been so great" (IV 134.1). Thus, in Birgitta's view, the general defection in her own time is unparalleled in the history of the Church. In one revelation she speaks of the world as having three ages. The first age lasted from Adam to the Incarnation, the second lasted from the Incarnation and continued for a long time. The third age has just begun "now", in Birgitta's own time, and will last to the General Judgment. The special sign of the third age is widespread apostasy. Birgitta does not, however, identify this age with the time of the Antichrist; he will not be born until the end of the third age.¹⁹

In the following, I intend to examine how Birgitta understands the substance of apostasy. Three main defects can be distinguished: love of the world, contempt of Christ and contempt of neighbour.²⁰

2.1. Love of the World

In an aforementioned parable Birgitta speaks of certain steersmen, who steer themselves and their passengers to places where the waves are seething horribly. An infinite number of the people perish in the waves. By the steersmen Birgitta understands those having secular and spiritual power in the world. "Many of them love their own will so much that they do not attend to what benefits their own souls or those of their subjects, by voluntarily entangling themselves in the fierce waves of the world, that is, of pride, covetousness and impurity" (III 5 B). In this passage, Birgitta mentions several causes of sin. We can note, to begin with, the significance of the disordered will; the Christians have "voluntarily" entangled themselves in sin. She often emphasises in the Revelations that people will to sin.²¹ According to traditional teaching, the proper principle of a sinful action is the will, since every sin is voluntary.²² It can also be noted that Birgitta here is reflecting the voluntarism typical of twelfth century spirituality.²³

As a result of man's having the will to sin, Birgitta says that the devil's power increases in him (I 32.9). She accuses the Christians of having put their faith in the devil and of obeying his will and suggestions (VII 30.6; I 1.5). She compares the devil to an adulterer whom the Christians have chosen instead of Christ, their bridegroom;²⁴ and to a vile robber, whom they have followed instead of Christ their true king, and who has carried them off by means of evil suggestions and false promises.²⁵ What is more, Birgitta says that the Christians obey the devil "with delight and glad ness" (VII 27.12). He may incite men to sin by trying to impede them from performing good works, by presenting attractive objects to human appetite (VI 29.2-3) or by corrupting man's will and good desires (I 13.3). She emphasises, however, that the reason why the devil dominates in man is due to the inconstancy of human will.²⁶ In other words, the direct cause of sin cannot be the devil but man's own will alone.²⁷

The passage in III 5 Β above speaks of disordered self-love as a source of sin; the Christians love their own will. Birgitta repeatedly mentions this as an important characteristic of sinners.²⁸ She says that the way leading to love of the world is through self-will, which arises when man does not bother to resist his evil inclinations, but does everything that enters into his thoughts, whether licit or illicit (I 15.15). According to Thomas Aquinas, the fact that anyone desires a temporal good disorderedly, is due to the fact that he loves himself disorderedly.²⁹

Another cause of sin mentioned in III 5 Β is love of the world. The fierce waves at which the steersmen plunge the ship, and which cause so many people to perish, are identified by Birgitta with "the world". Here she uses the term "world" in a pejorative sense, referring to those aspects of the terrestrial order which are corrupt and transitory and to which man turns when sinning.³⁰ The sinner's will, Birgitta says in another revelation, is to please the world more than God (IV 52.16). She accuses the Christians of having abandoned the love of God and of taking delight in love of the world.³¹ Their reason for doing so is that the world's promises seem more certain than Christ's (I 48.9). She compares the apostatised Christians' love of the world to that of the Israelites making and worshipping the golden calf in the desert (I 48.11).

The monk's love of the world is in particular serious, for he has formally renounced the world, that is, the world outside the monastery. Here Birgitta finds good reason for criticism. She accuses monks in Rome of having dwelling places in town: everyone has a house of his own (IV 33.17). Moreover, she is critical of the lax discipline apparent when the gates of nunneries in Rome are indiscriminately opened for both lay people and clerics, whomever it pleases the sisters to let in even at night.³² She also complains of how the worldliness of the monks is expressed in the laxity of the dress code and writes:

It is now almost impossible to recognise a monk by his habit. The tunic, which formerly used to reach down to his feet, now hardly covers his knees. The sleeves, which formerly used to be honourably sewn and wide are now tight-fitting. A sword hangs from his side instead of style and slate. He hardly wears any garment by which a monk can be recognised, except for the scapular, which, however, is often hidden, as if it were a scandalous thing to wear a monk's clothing. Some monks are not even ashamed of carrying armour and weapons under their tunics, so that they can do what they please after nightfall.³³

Here Birgitta describes a monk who dresses himself as a layman; he has conformed himself to the world outside the monastery. Similar complaints are found in Cistercian statutes from the fourteenth century.³⁴ Among other things, they mention monks carrying swords and knives.³⁵

According to the passage from III 5 B, quoted at the beginning of this section, to love the world implies to fall prey to the three temptations of pride, covetousness and carnal pleasure.³⁶ For Birgitta, this triad forms the principal sins.³⁷ She repeatedly accuses the Christians in general of having yielded to these three vices.³⁸ The papal curia, prelates, the clergy and the religious have succumbed to them;³⁹ they abound in the kingdom of Sweden (Ex. 74.4; VI 23.6-7). Because of these three vices, she fears that few men will enter into her own monastery (Ex. 19.3). In addition, she says that the Greeks who refuse to submit to the Roman Church are affected by these sins (VII 19.34) and that they abound in Famagusta on Cyprus (VII 16.5).

In the medieval tradition, this triad of sin was often regarded Another medieval and summation of vice, of as the cause categorisation all sins. quite⁴⁰ different from the Three Vices, was that of the Seven Deadly Sins.⁴¹ Birgitta mentions the concept occasionally,⁴² but it is by no means as important in her teaching as the Three Vices. The familiar phrase "the devil, the world, and the flesh" is in the medieval tradition related to this triad as naming the sources of temptation.⁴³ In the Revelations, we also find the devil associated with pride, covetousness with the world, and pleasure with the flesh.⁴⁴

Christian writers have traditionally seen the Fall of man in Genesis 3 as the beginning and pattern of all temptation, and they sought to associate avarice, sins of the flesh and pride with original sin. For example, the eating of fruit suggests gluttony, the wish to be like gods is vainglory, and the knowledge of good and evil, as well as the visual appeal of the luscious fruit illustrates avarice.⁴⁵ Similarly, Birgitta in her dramatic account of how the Christians of her time have defected (II 6 B) speaks of a new Fall. She does not explicitly mention Adam and Eve, but in her account the Christians have likewise given in to the devil's enticements and have succumbed to pride, avarice and carnal pleasure. This implies that Birgitta does not reproach the Christians of her day with having committed sins which are more or less found in every age. Instead, in her view, an especially great defection has taken place in her own time.

The relationship between the three sins in question can be explored further. We might in particular consider if any of them is regarded as the principal evil, in Birgitta's view. In the Christian tradition there was not complete freedom in singling out the most important vice, for the Bible indicated two as especially significant. Ecclus. 10:15 teaches that "Pride is the beginning of all sin". St. Paul, on the other hand, writes in 1 Tim. 6:10: "Covetousness is the root of all evil things." Most of the early medieval writers chose pride as the chief vice.⁴⁶ In the eleventh century, however, there began a shift of emphasis towards covetousness.⁴⁷ This was partly due to the change in economic values from agrarian to mercantile. During the period between 1000 and 1350 virtually all the basic structures of Europe's commercial economy developed. Alongside the new emphasis on covetousness, the older view of pride's predominance continued to have an influence.⁴⁸ Other writers maintained pride and covetousness on an even basis without letting the one take precedence over the other.⁴⁹

A similar balancing of the leading vices is found in Birgitta's Revelations. In the main, she does not attach special emphasis to either covetousness or pride. It can be noted, however, that pride is in general the sin mentioned first by her in passages where the three sins are mentioned together.⁵⁰ Thus, it would seem that Birgitta regards pride, the desire to excel, as the principal vice from which all others emerge, and which motivates man to acquire temporal goods.

In the following, I intend to examine more closely how Birgitta understands the concept "love of the world", which we have seen consists of the three vices of pride, covetousness and carnal pleasure.

2.1.1. Pride

It is characteristic of pride (superbia), Birgitta writes, that it "raises a man … above himself (supra se), as if he were equal to God and righteous men" (IV 17.4). She agrees here with the traditional understanding of pride according to which a man is said to be proud because he wishes to appear above (super) what he really is; pride is the inordinate desire of one's own excellence.⁵¹ Moreover, according to traditional teaching, the root of pride consists in man's not being subject to God and his rule.⁵² Birgitta describes pride in a similar way when she says that the pride of Christians is so great that, if they could ascend above God, they would gladly do so.⁵³ There are several other aspects of pride found in the Revelations. I will in the following distinguish between inward and outward pride, a distinction also used by Birgitta (III 14 B).

2.1.1.1. Inward Pride

The first aspect of inward pride for us to consider is that of vainglory, the desire for empty or vain praise. In the Revelations vainglory is closely related to man's⁵⁴ hearing since it is through the hearing that the devil introduces into a man's heart the sounds of his own praise and thus puffs him up through pride in himself (VII 5.30). Birgitta accuses many of her contemporary Christians of having fallen prey to vainglory: "pride alone pleases their hearing" (I 57.3). According to her, they wish to hear their own praise and honour, by being called great and good by everyone (I 23.4; I 33.2). Characteristic of these people is that they do not refer the praise received to God. Birgitta writes of a person that his only aim concerned his own glory (III 4 A).

According to Birgitta, the desire for vainglory is a sin particularly affecting clerics. She mentions several ways by which they strive to win the praise of people: they seek to acquire a reputation of being learned (I 33.2; III 4 A), they give people money and benefices,⁵⁵ and they praise Christ for the sake of gaining their own praise. There are clerics, Birgitta says, who "lift up" Christ's praise to sublime heights, but with no other intention than to increase their temporal honour and fleeting benefit (VI 37.3). Vainglory, she says, often lies behind the eloquence of many priests.⁵⁶ An example given by her is of certain clerics who have the habit of singing Mass or the Divine Office in an affected way for the sake of vainglory (IV 102.20; VI 35.13,51). Finally, she is critical of clerics who treat people indulgently and ignore their faults in order to receive their appreciation. The priests, Birgitta writes, say what people like to hear in order to obtain applause.⁵⁷

A second aspect of inward pride in the Revelations is ambition, the excessive desire for honour. Birgitta accuses the Christians of her time of desiring to be exalted in the world and be called great (II 8 B,D; VI 96.6). In a revelation she hears a cleric say: "I am called to honour. Therefore, I will strive to become honoured by men, for happiness consists in being great in the world." (Ex. 83.10). The knights' ambition is, according to Birgitta, focused on how they can extol their names and families, and how they are to raise their heirs and make them mighty to gain the honour of the world (VI 39.14). She also censures people for being eager to go to war and to give their lives in order to acquire honour (II 8 C) and of having married invalidly because of ambition: by marrying they seek only temporal glory, not God's honour (VIII 9).

The ambition of the religious is noticeable in their chief reason for entering the religious life, which according to Birgitta is the desire to be more honoured than others and to be able to hold places of honour (Ex. 83.11). She reproaches the clerics and the religious for striving to acquire honour by attaining the reputation of being learned,⁵⁸ or by acquiring ecclesiastical offices, in particular the office of bishop.⁵⁹ She accuses bishops, abbots and benefice-holders of hav ing abandoned their flocks in order to receive other offices and positions of authority with the intention that in these offices they may be more honoured by people and raised to a higher status in the world (VII 29.5-6). Important in these passages is the reason why people seek higher honours. According to Birgitta, they do it "for the world's sake" (III 18 B), for their "personal freedom" and "bodily pleasure" (VII 20.23). In other words, they do not refer their desire of honour to God, nor do they seek it for the profit of others.⁶⁰ All this striving renders their desire for honour disordered.

A third aspect of inward pride is disobedience. Birgitta says that when living on earth Christ subjected himself to complete obedience, but the knights have followed the devil's advice not to allow anyone to be superior to them; they do not humbly bow their heads to anyone (II 8 B). Disobedience to God and their superiors characterises the Christians in general. According to Birgitta, they prefer to follow their own will, obeying only for the sake of worldly benefit.⁶¹ She gives the example of the Franciscan Brother Adversary,⁶² who intends to show himself so humble and obedient that all will reckon him a saint. However, when others are fasting and keeping silence, he will do the opposite: by eating and drinking and talking so secretly that none of the others will notice it.⁶³

A fourth aspect of inward pride is anger, since "pride", as Birgitta writes, "often accompanies anger".⁶⁴ Also impatience, which traditionally denotes failure to bear up the evils that tend to make man sad and thus break his spirit,⁶⁵ is closely related to pride in the Revelations.⁶⁶ Why do worldly-minded people become so impatient when reproached, Birgitta asks. The answer is that they seek the praise of self rather than the praise of God (II 23 B). A man's impatience, then, is rooted in pride and vainglory. She reproaches her contemporary Christians for impatience with God's justice and design; they wish to obtain something else than he has decided for them (IV 39.6; VI 52.51). They also get angry with him because his works are good and theirs are evil, and because he does not consent to their sins but sharply denounces them (VI 28.11-13, 15). Furthermore, Birgitta accuses the Christians of being impatient and angry with their neighbour (IV 17.27; VI 39.30), as when they cannot get hold of his goods (IV 17.27).

A fifth aspect of inward pride is mental pride. We are here not—as previously—concerned with man's will and affections but primarily with his intellect. Birgitta compares her contemporary Christians to a butterfly with broad wings and a small body, for their mind is inflated with pride like bellows filled with air (IV 112.3). One expression of this pride is the setting of oneself over others.⁶⁷ She censures them for considering no one to be their equal.⁶⁸ Either people take pride in their good life, which they consider to be better than that of others, or they pride themselves on their intelligence, thinking themselves wiser than others.⁶⁹

Another kind of mental pride is when people think that what they have received from God comes from themselves. Thus, Birgitta reproaches the Christians for crediting themselves with the good things given by God (I 47.9; I 4.5), for example, their beautiful bodies, their possessions, servants, clothes, power and their noble descent.⁷⁰ According to Birgitta, many do not realise that they should thank Christ for giving them everything (I 19.5). A variation of this theme is when people think that they have received their good things because of their own merits. They say: "What I have gained is through my diligence, and I own it justly."⁷¹ This pride extends also to spiritual matters. She accuses people of believing that they can obtain heaven through their own merits, and of believing that they can make satisfaction for their excesses by their own works (IV 20.9). She compares such people to the Israelites in the desert, who sinned because of pride when they, contrary to God's will, wanted to "ascend" to war.⁷² Similarly, through their pride many Christians wish to ascend to heaven, having no confidence in Christ, but putting their trust in themselves and following their own will (I 53.10,17). As an example, Birgitta says of a certain brother that he refrained from eating altogether during Lent and also made other indiscreet fasts. He desired, she says, to obtain heaven through his abstinences, which, however, derived more from pride than from humility (VI 69.4-5).

2.1.1.2. Outward Pride

In Birgitta's Revelations, outward pride, that is the visible manifestation of pride, principally involves dress, speech, and actions.

First, we have Birgitta's criticism of people wearing ostentatious apparel (VIII 57 A; VI 15.5,8), Here, as often elsewhere, she is in continuity with a long Christian tradition of reproaching people for paying excessive attention to their outward appearance. Gregory the Great, to give only one example, says that there are some who think that attention to finery and costly dress is no sin. He argues against this, saying, surely, if this were no fault, the word of God would not say so expressly that the rich man who was tormented in hell had been clothed in fine linen and purple. No one, Gregory concludes, looks for costly apparel, such as exceeds his estate, except out of vainglory.⁷³

Birgitta voices a similar criticism when she accuses people of wearing clothes that claim a status beyond their actual one. She says that friars and priests dress themselves like bishops (IV 33.25; IV 135.10). People can also be accused of exceeding their natural state, by using "unseemly forms of clothing." According to her, they do so because of pride and want their bodies to seem more beautiful and more lascivious than God created them. They also daub their faces with antimony and other extraneous colouring.⁷⁴

In particular, Birgitta focuses on the deviations of the religious from their prescribed dress. She accuses them of being disgusted by coarse clothes (IV 127.11); they prefer soft and beautiful garments (VI 98.2-3), and use robes made of the same valuable material as those of rich bishops (IV 33.25). She is here commenting on a widespread relaxation of the monastic dress code. Similar accusations are found in the statutes of the Cistercian General chapter. For example, the General Chapter criticised a monastery where the monks had introduced the new custom of wearing woollen clothes contrary to the Rule.⁷⁵ The General Chapter also found it necessary to enforce repeatedly the prescription that costly dress should be abolished altogether.⁷⁶

The statutes of the Cistercian General Chapter also criticised monks for wearing superfluous and irreligious clothes,⁷⁷ and excessively long robes.⁷⁸ Similarly, Birgitta accuses Benedictine monks of choosing clothes that appeal to people and excite carnal affections. She says that instead of a cowl, wear a cape so pleated, wide and long that they look more like proud boasters than humble monks. Instead of the regular scapular they wear a small piece of cloth in front and behind. On the head they wear a worldly hat, thus showing their pride and ostentation (IV 127.12-18).

A second manifestation of outward pride is proud speech. One kind is boasting.⁷⁹ Birgitta accuses especially the clerics of this sin (II 20 B; III 4 C). She writes of how bishops, abbots and other prelates boast about the offices and honours they have attained, although by gaining them they have abandoned their sheep and parishes (VII 29.6). Canonists boast that they know the Law of the Church, but in reality their knowledge aims at deceiving others (VI 15.10).

Birgitta tells of a certain proud monk who had visions and dreams to offer.⁸⁰ He claimed that St. Peter and St. Paul had told him that he would simultaneously become both pope and emperor, and that the archangel Michael had showed himself to him in the guise of a merchant (VI 68.3-4). There are also other religious topics for the proud to boast about. Of a certain bishop Birgitta says that he discusses continuously the passion of Christ and the miracles of the saints, in order to be called holy. In reality, however, these things are far away from his heart (III 14 B). Loquaciousness is yet another kind of proud speech (II 20 B), as well as scurrilous language, of which Birgitta repeatedly accuses her fellow Christians.⁸¹

Furthermore, proud speech is expressed in impatience and anger. Birgitta accuses her fellow Christians of impatient, disorderly and injurious speech against their neighbour.⁸² She also accuses people of being guilty of blasphemy against God. In their anger, she says, they strive to hurt him by telling him how much they despise him, in particular because of his patience, goodness, his suffering, and death for mankind.⁸³

Thirdly, there are the proud actions, one of which is hypocrisy. In the Revelations, the word "hypocrisy" is contrasted with "simplicity of religion" (VI 5.9). Characteristic, then, of hypocrites is that they lack sincerity or frankness: they have something to hide. In reality they are not so good or holy as they appear. There are people, Birgitta writes, who pretend to be good and yet find delight in sin. They sin secretly, when they can so that people will not notice them (VI 37.5). Birgitta accuses especially the clerics and the religious of hypocrisy. She writes, for example, of a certain Swedish Cistercian monk⁸⁴ that he got tired of keeping the Rule as he had vowed and instead thought of ways of pleasing people through simulated holiness in order to be able to indulge in gluttony in secret (IV 23.20). In this passage is also revealed what in Birgitta's view is the cause of hypocrisy, viz. vainglory.⁸⁵

Birgitta mentions several kinds of hypocritical deeds of which the clerics and religious are in her view guilty. One example is of a bishop who appears to be humble in words and gestures, in dress and actions, but in reality he is proud and ambitious, considering himself holier than others (III 14 B). Another wishes it to appear that he owns nothing, yet he desires to own everything secretly (III 15 B; III 14 B). A religious pretends to fast and to keep silent. In secret, however, he delights in food, drink and talk. He, too, makes a show of poverty and fills his purse (VII 20.19-20).

According to Birgitta, the hypocrisy of the religious is sometimes seen in their desire to perform extraordinary deeds of various kinds. It is not enough for some to keep the common rule of the monastery and obey their superiors. For example, Birgitta says of a certain religious that he sought to be praised by men, rather than God, and therefore performed unusual and remarkable deeds.⁸⁶

Not all proud actions, however, are hypocritical in character. Birgitta blames her contemporary Christians of living in extravagant luxury and pomp. According to her, the custom now prevails in the houses of bishops and lords of having an excess of gold and silver and of keeping large and expensive horses.⁸⁷ She accuses the Dominicans of erecting high and expensive churches (III 18 E). Her criticism, however, is not only directed against the religious orders and the priests, but also towards the laity who could indulge to a greater extent in extravagant luxury without opening themselves up to accusations of hypocrisy. The nobility imitates, she says, the proud manners of their parents; they like to sit among the first in rank and to have many servants (VI 52.16-17). She also accuses kings of burdening their subjects out of pride (IV 76.13). Pride also lies behind the rulers' killing and robbing of innocent people (VII 56 O).

2.1.2. Covetousness

The second of Birgitta's three major vices of the Christians of her time is cupiditas, "covetousness". A traditional definition of the term as unrestrained love of possessing is found in the Summa Theologiae of Thomas Aquinas. According to Thomas, in as much as the good consists in a certain measure, man is allowed to have external riches in so far as they are necessary for him to live in keeping with his condition of life, but it is a sin for him to exceed this measure by wishing to acquire or keep them excessively.⁸⁸ Birgitta, too, understands covetousness as the exceeding of an allotted measure. The covetousness of her fellow Christians, she complains, "exceeds all limit and measure",⁸⁹ and is "as insatiable as a sack with a hole in it" (VII 30.11).

It should be noted that, according to the traditional teaching, the word covetousness, understood as the unrestrained love of possessing, could in Birgitta's time be interpreted in both a general and a special sense. It is a general sin when defined as unrestrained love of possessing anything: goods, position, knowledge. Covetousness as a special sin is the disordered desire for money and possessions.⁹⁰ In Birgitta's Revelations, the term "covetousness" often occurs without her explicitly stating its specific meaning. In such cases the context may sometimes be of help to understand the sense. For example, the terms "pride and covetousness" in V rev. 3.6 correspond to "pride and ambition" in V rev. 3.7. Thus, covetousness here denotes primarily covetousness of honour. Another example is the "covetousness" mentioned in IV 126.105, which also refers to the desire for higher offices and honours.⁹¹ Sometimes Birgitta expressly says that she is referring to this meaning, as when speaking of "covetousness of worldly honours".⁹² Thus, as these examples show, she can use covetousness in the general sense. This is also the case in passages where covetousness denotes a disordered desire for heaven (VI 39.13), or where the devil's covetousness denotes his desire to become mightier than God (I 34.22), as well as his desire to win as many souls as possible for hell (VI 31.14). Covetousness in the general sense also occurs in the Revelations where the term by Birgitta is contrasted with charity of God (III 27 D; II 19 E).

Birgitta, however, also uses covetousness in the special sense of denoting disordered desire for money and possessions. For example, covetousness in I 56.2 refers to the "sack of money" spoken of in I 56.1.⁹³ In some cases she explicitly mentions that she has in view covetousness in the special sense, for example when speaking of "covetousness of worldly possessions" (III 13 B), or of "covetousness of money".⁹⁴ In fact her use of covetousness in the Revelations suggests that it primarily is used in the special sense. For example, she accuses the Christians of being filled "with worldly ambition and covetousness".⁹⁵ Here covetousness cannot denote covetousness of honour, since ambition already refers to that sin. Instead, covetousness obviously stands for covetousness in the special sense, denoting greed.

With respect to the disordered desire for money and possessions, Birgitta is criticising developments which strained the social fabric of her time. The background to her criticism is the development of commerce and industry in the high Middle Ages, which is most markedly characterised by the widespread introduction of money into transactions where previously it had been virtually absent. By the fourteenth century, transactions involving money were an everyday occurrence. The rulers collected enormous sums of money through taxes, which enabled them to employ many officials. The increased circulation of money also enhanced people's interest in possessing money, and they tended to disregard the strict rules of the Church regulating how the Christian should handle it. During this time there is a shift of emphasis in devotional literature from pride as chief vice to covetousness.⁹⁶

This increased emphasis on covetousness is reflected in Birgitta's message to Pope Clement VI, who is told that "covetousness and ambition" have flourished and increased during his pontificate (VI 63.6). Repeatedly she accuses the secular and spiritual leaders of society of having unrestrained desire for riches.⁹⁷ The priests have, she writes, received God's commandments and summarised them as: "stretch out your hand and pay!"⁹⁸ She emphasises the Christians' desire beyond measure for riches; these people are never satisfied although they already have more than enough (III 14 D; I 57.3). She compares them to a bag without bottom and which can never be filled.⁹⁹ One effect of covetousness, she notes, is that it gives rise to restlessness by burdening man with excessive anxiety and care. She accuses the bishops of being excessively preoccupied acquiring things of the world; they are uneasy and disturbed because they never allow themselves any rest from worldly desire.¹⁰⁰

So far we have analysed covetousness of riches in the sense of excess in the inner desire for riches. Covetousness is, however, also expressed in actions. First, it belongs to the vice of covetousness to exceed in retaining.¹⁰¹ Birgitta asks if there are any kings who are prepared to restore what the Crown keeps unjustly (IV 76.13). Obviously, in her opinion, there are very few such kings in her time. Also the knights in general are accused by Birgitta of retaining their ill-gotten goods (IV 76.8; Ex. 75.14). Moreover, one nobleman is accused of not having paid his debts to the last farthing (VI 10.21), and another of not having given a widow complete satisfaction for the property he had bought from her (Ex. 56.3).

Another manifestation of excess in retaining is the refusal to give alms. For example, Birgitta tells of a religious whom she accuses of unlawfully taking for himself all those things that should be given to others out of compassion.¹⁰² The covetous Christians give only with great reluctance. If one florin, she says, were to be levied from the knights, the religious and others, most of them would rather prefer not to tell the truth that they have the money than to admit it and so lose it (III 27 D; VI 39.23).

Secondly, the vice of covetousness entails to exceed in receiving. Birgitta accuses people of having acquired riches by unjust and illegal means. Simony she connects with covetousness (IV 45.7). More important is the connection of covetousness with theft and robbery. In particular, the secular rulers of society are accused of this vice. She accuses the knights in general of having followed the devil's advice to shed their neighbour's blood in order to acquire his possessions.¹⁰³ One example of this is Albrecht of Mecklenburg the younger, who, she says, was enticed by his mother to appropriate goods. He followed her advice and attacked poor people who could not defend themselves; he plundered their goods and killed them.¹⁰⁴ Another example is the behaviour of the two chief opponents in the Anglo-French conflict taking place at this time. Birgitta calls the kings of France and England "beasts", burning with the fire of anger and covetousness; they fight for gold and worldly riches and do not spare the blood of Christians (IV 104.8-9). A form of violence is also employed by those rich people, whom she accuses of forcing their labourers to work on feast days (IV 33.40). Obviously, the intention of the employees is to gain money.

The covetous man, in taking other people's goods, employs not only violence but also deceit. This is in particular prevalent among the religious who lack the power of the secular rulers to take goods by force. Thus, Birgitta accuses the clergy of accepting bribes to transmute the sentences of the courts; they extend their covetousness to all people and turn what is right into falsehood (I 55.14-16). The law of the Church, she says, is now read in the house of gamblers. For the small amount of justice which the canonists find in this law, they acquire a great sum of money. The law, she concludes, is no longer read to Christ's honour, but with the aim of getting hold of money (VI 15.4).

Another kind of excess in acquiring is to make money by disgraceful means, for example, the practice of usury.¹⁰⁵ According to Birgitta, usury is now flourishing in the City of Rome; the Christians practise it like the Jews and are even more covetous than they (IV 33.41).

The covetousness for riches among the religious is regarded by Birgitta as especially serious because of the violation of their vows of poverty. Sometimes it is individual poverty that is abandoned. For example, in the revelation concerning the Franciscan "Brother Adversary", Birgitta says that because he is aware that the Rule of St. Francis forbids him to touch money or possess gold or silver,¹⁰⁶ he will engage some special friend to keep his money and gold secretly on his behalf so that he may use it to his liking.¹⁰⁷ Sometimes the monastery as a whole is described as having fallen prey to greed. For example, when visiting a certain nunnery, Birgitta sees among the nuns a hideous "Ethiopian", also dressed as a nun. He is the "demon of covetousness", who advises the nuns to collect possessions, castles and great riches.¹⁰⁸ The mendicants in Rome have a reputation of being richer than people who consider themselves rich. Several of these own property, which, she points out, is against the rule (IV 33.23-24).

2.1.3. Carnal Pleasure

The third of Birgitta's three major vices of the Christians of her time is carnal pleasure. We can note, however, that she also uses other terms related to pleasure. In I 13.2 Birgitta compares the body of a certain Cistercian prior to a ship attacked by waves, which represents the devil's temptations. Just as the water broke into the ship through the keel, so, Birgitta writes, "pleasure" went into his body by the "delight" with which he rejoiced in his thoughts. Since he did not resist through penance or strengthened himself through the nails of abstinence, the "water of pleasure" increased daily. Then, when the ship was filled with "concupiscence", water flooded and overwhelmed the ship with "pleasure" so that it could not reach the port of salvation.

The vices mentioned in I 13.2 are all sins of the flesh.¹⁰⁹ The body is affected by pleasure (voluptas), a concept mentioned three times. The other terms used are delight (delectatio) and concupiscence (concupiscentia). In this text, the three terms appear to be used interchangeably. Since other revelations, however, make plain that there are certain differences between them, I intend to show how Birgitta understands them.

First, there is the passion of "concupiscence" (concupiscentia). Thomas Aquinas defines it as a craving for what is pleasant. Men and animals have certain strong and necessary desires—for life, food, drink, and propagation, which are forms of natural concupiscence. Among earthly creatures only man can desire things beyond natural needs, such as fame, promotion, entertainment, modish attire, etc. When strong or disordered, non-natural concupiscence is called covetousness.¹¹⁰ Master Mathias also mentions these two kinds of concupiscence, but speaks of them solely as disordered.¹¹¹ In Birgitta's Revelations, too, concupiscence denotes an inordinate desire, an excessive appetite for what is pleasant. It is sometimes used to denote natural as well as non-natural sinful desire.¹¹² Mainly, however, it denotes natural concupiscence.

This is the case when Birgitta says that the Israelites sinned in the desert in craving meat (concupierunt carnes), which they had enjoyed in Egypt. Similarly, the Christians now sin through concupiscence of the flesh. She says that Christ gave man everything he needed to use honourably and moderately, but man wants to have everything immoderately and indiscriminately. If it were possible, she continues, the Christians would copulate without stop, drink without restraint and crave without measure, for as long as they could sin they would never stop (I 53.10, 14-15). Characteristic, then, of concupiscence of the flesh for Birgitta is that it is an excessive and uncontrolled craving for bodily pleasure. Two kinds of carnal concupiscence are mentioned by her: gluttony and sexual lust. Sometimes in the Revelations carnal concupiscence denotes solely sexual lust.¹¹³

Secondly, there is "delight" (delectacio). In the medieval tradition, concupiscence and delight are passions clearly distinguished from one another. While concupiscence, as we have seen, refers to the desire for what is pleasant, delight denotes the repose of the appetitive power in some loved good. There is a good delight, whereby the higher or lower appetite rests in what is in accord with reason, and an evil delight, whereby the appetite rests in what is discordant with reason and the law of God.¹¹⁴ Birgitta, too, understands delight as a repose in some loved good. There is good as well as evil delight.¹¹⁵ She accuses people of having yielded to "disordered delight".¹¹⁶ Their delight has now become "irrational like that of animals" (Ex. 51.4). Thus, like Thomas, she mentions the irrational character of the disordered delight.

Characteristic of the disordered delight of many Christians, Birgitta writes, is that they have found it elsewhere than in God: "no one desires to have me as their delight", Christ complains to her.¹¹⁷ She speaks of two kinds of disordered delights. First, there are "earthly delights" (VII 16.3) and "delights of the world", which please the sight of many Christians.¹¹⁸ This is the temporal delight taken in possessions, honour, and the like. Secondly, there is the disordered delight directed at satisfying the body. Birgitta speaks here of "delight of the flesh".¹¹⁹ The devil inspires man to fall prey to such delights (IV 23.12). They are described as "enemies" (VI 66.12) and "oppressive guests" (VI 65.39). In Birgitta's view, delight of the flesh is found in many Christians of her time. Instead of "Sister Abstinence", "Lady Delight in the flesh" now dominates in the Church.¹²⁰ The Christians, Birgitta says, take excessive delight in food and drink, in bodily comfort and in sexual lust.¹²¹

Thirdly, there is "pleasure" (voluptas). In the Summa Theologiae of Thomas Aquinas, "pleasure" is used interchangeably with "delight".¹²² In particular, "pleasure" corresponds to "bodily delights".¹²³ Thus, important expressions of "pleasure" include sins of the flesh, like gluttony,¹²⁴ lust,¹²⁵ and effeminacy or softness, which is opposed to toil.¹²⁶ Also in Birgitta's Revelations, pleasure refers mainly to disordered bodily pleasures, pleasures of the flesh: "the flesh draws me to distorted pleasure", she hears a man saying.¹²⁷ The close relationship existing between pleasure and the flesh is seen in concepts such as voluptas corporalis (II 3 D), voluptas corporis (IV 7.46; VI 39.26), voluptas carnis,¹²⁸ and carnalis voluptas.²⁹

Birgitta accuses her contemporary Christians of having succumbed to the "pleasure of the flesh".¹³⁰ Their carnal pleasure is so important to them, Birgitta says, that they would more gladly forfeit Christ than give up their disordered delight (VII 30.10). Birgitta emphasises the immoderate character of the Christians' pleasure; it causes them to exceed beyond every measure and laudable order (VI 27.14; III 13 B). Thus, carnal pleasure is a sin against the virtue of temperance.

Three sins, in particular, are included in Birgitta's concept of carnal pleasure: sloth, gluttony and lust (VI 39.26,32). They will be examined more closely in the following.

2.1.3.1. Sloth and Gluttony

Birgitta writes: "Since the body has a sense of feeling, it follows that it gladly feels pleasure and bodily rest" (II 23 D). In other words, there is a tendency of the body to enjoy pleasure by letting it rest from work. Birgitta accuses many of her contemporary Christians of having fallen a victim to the sin of sloth. For example, she says of a nobleman that he was lazy as regards doing good works to God's honour, wasting his time for the sake of bodily rest and holding bodily benefit and pleasure very dear.¹³¹

A weightier sin of unrestrained pleasure dealt with by Birgitta is gluttony, which traditionally denotes excess in eating and drinking. It is an uncontrolled indulgence in the delights of the palate.¹³² She accuses many of her contemporary Christians of having fallen prey to this sin (IV 95.4). Not least the people of Sweden are singled out as being guilty of gluttony.¹³³ Just like a vessel open at both ends is never filled, even if the whole sea were poured into it, so, Birgitta says, the clerics are never satiated and their immoderate lasciviousness increases the sinfulness of their gluttony (VI 7.4).

More specifically, Birgitta blames people of simply eating too much: they eat "beyond measure".¹³⁴ She also accuses a Swedish nobleman of feeding himself too exquisitely, by preparing for himself too sumptuous courses, thereby gaining greater bodily delight.¹³⁵ A third aspect of gluttony occurs when Christians violate the prescriptions of the Church concerning fasting and abstinence. She complains that many healthy people in Rome eat meat during Lent, and very few are content with having only one meal a day during that time. Some of them abstain from meat during daytime, but at night they feast on meat at secret taverns. These abuses are practised by the clergy as well as by the laity in Rome. In doing so, Birgitta writes, they resemble the Saracens, who fast at daytime but satiate themselves with meat at night (IV 33.38-39).

A special problem is the gluttony she witnesses among many people belonging to the religious state, a gluttony which she believes to be contrary to the monastic ideal of frugality. She accuses individual monks and nuns of having made themselves guilty of overindulgence; they indulge themselves in unrestricted eating both as regards quantity and quality.¹³⁶ She also accuses the religious in general of having receded from the right road because of overindulgence (RS 28.273). This accusation includes the monks of Alvastra who are, she says, like serpents crawling on their belly of gluttony.¹³⁷ Furthermore, the religious are accused of having abandoned their special commitment to abstinence and fasting. For example, a certain Swedish Dominican was, Birgitta says, deceived by the "demon of gluttony" to eat and drink at forbidden times, even going to extremes and rejecting abstinence completely.¹³⁸

2.1.3.2. Lust

Birgitta accuses her contemporary Christians of having yielded to lust,¹³⁹ the vice of indulging in unlawful sexual pleasures.¹⁴⁰ She calls the married people of her time "temporal married couples", and says that they indulge "in lust like cattle and worse than cattle"¹⁴¹ It appears that she regards the sin as mortal (I 26.23). Her opinion comes close to that of Thomas Aquinas, saying that sexual intercourse inside the marriage is mortally sinful if man's sexual interest in his wife is so exclusively aimed at finding pleasure that he views her as only an object of lust, not as a wife.¹⁴²

According to Thomas Aquinas, lust is present when a person tries to make himself attractive through clothing, appearance or speech in order to stimulate carnal desires and thus provoke sinful thoughts and actions. Thomas allows women to use means to please their husbands, if they do it soberly and moderately, but otherwise they cannot without sinning desire to give lustful pleasure to those men who see them because this is to incite them to sin.¹⁴³ Birgitta reproaches her contemporary Christians for this. The devil has, she writes, incited women in Sweden to wear indecent ornaments on their heads, feet and other parts of the body in order to provoke lust (VIII 57 A). She also accuses the inhabitants of Naples of being deformed from their natural state by the unseemly forms of clothing they are wearing. They do this so that those who see them may be more quickly provoked and inflamed towards carnal concupiscence. They also daub their faces with antimony and other extraneous colouring (VII 27.19-20). Another way of inciting people's lust, mentioned by Birgitta, is vulgar speech. A knight is accused of having—by his speech—induced not only his wife to a greater pitch of passion, but attracted also others to listen to him, and think about the scurrilous things he says.¹⁴⁴

Furthermore, Birgitta accuses the lay people of committing adultery. She writes, for example, that, after a quarrel, many men in Rome desert their legitimate wives for as long as they wish without bothering about the ecclesiastical authorities. In place of their wives they take mistresses. Some men even keep a mistress to gether with the wife in the same house and are glad to see them simultaneously giving birth to children (IV 33.36-37). Birgitta also accuses wealthy people in Naples of keeping their female servants in their own houses as prostitutes both for themselves and for others.¹⁴⁵ It has been pointed out that one significant explanation of the existence of sexual licentiousness among the wealthier classes in the Middle Ages was the impact that the ideal of romantic love, proposed by some of the troubadours, had made on many of them. It was in effect an endorsement of romantic sexual activity separated from marriage and procreation.¹⁴⁶

Lay people holding ecclesiastical property were not allowed to be married because of their canonical title. Birgitta accuses these laymen in Rome of keeping concubines in their house by day and in their beds by night. Despite this they say. "We are not allowed to be married, for we are canons" (IV 33.7-8). Another brand of impurity concerns a knight, who Birgitta says unduly and inordinately emitted his semen, for, although he was married and kept away from other women, he nevertheless ejaculated his semen through improper embraces, words and shameless gestures.¹⁴⁷

Birgitta reproaches people for homosexual activities. According to her, in the kingdom of Sweden there is found a sin more abominable than the others,¹⁴⁸ for it incites man towards lust that is against nature itself (VI 80.4). She does not say which unnatural vice she has in mind,¹⁴⁹ but in her so called letter of revolt the unnatural vice is explicitly mentioned as homosexuality. She writes that—according to a widespread rumour—King Magnus has had sexual intercourse with men. In her view, the rumour is credible.¹⁵⁰ According to Gottfrid Carlsson, Birgitta's accusation is probably false.¹⁵¹ Another scholar, Hans Furuhagen, is more hesitant.¹⁵² Whether Birgitta's accusation is correct or not will not be discussed here. It can be noted, however, that the origin of the rumour on which Birgitta founded her accusation can—at least in part—be determined. The king had—against the law of the country—made his favourite, Bengt Algotsson, Duke of Finland.¹⁵³ Moreover, she mentions in VIII 11 that the king and queen had made a mutual agreement of continence. It is criticised by Birgitta, for, in her view, the king had made it out of new passion, indiscreet zeal and levity of mind. She also mentions the risk that the agreement may become an occasion of backbiting (VIII 11). What Birgitta here hints at is that the king's vow of continence gave rise to the rumour that he had homosexual relations.

As regards the clerics, Birgitta accuses them of keeping concubines, or as she puts it, "damned women", locating them in some safe place so that they can indulge their lust. They caress these women and take delight in them, while ignoring Christ (IV 132.14). The clerics in Rome are, she says, publicly happy when seeing their "harlots" with swelling bellies taking a walk together with other women. They do not even feel ashamed when someone tells them: "Look, sir, soon you will have a son or a daughter!" (IV 33.9-10). That the custom of keeping concubines was widespread in Birgitta's time is shown, for example, in the statutes of the diocese of Linköping in the 1350s.¹⁵⁴ In another statute from 1368, a provincial synod in Uppsala complains that priests hold concubines publicly and refuse to refrain from their "lustful pleasure".¹⁵⁵

Finally, Birgitta accuses the religious of having abandoned their vow of chastity. For example, she writes that the monks in Rome gladly embrace their sons before the eyes of visiting friends, and say: "Look, this is my son!" (IV 33.17). The abbot of Farfa is accused of having several children (Ex. 105.1; III 22 A). Moreover, Benedictine monks are accused of dressing so as to excite lust (IV 127.11). As for the nuns, Birgitta compares the nunneries in Rome to brothels (IV 33.27).

Notes

¹ For an example of a scholar giving an inadequate interpretation in this matter, see below section 2.3.2.

² For these terms, see Henri de Lubac, Méditation sur l'Église, Paris 1953 (Théologie 27), pp. 87f.

³ See above, section 1.1.

⁴ See Klockars, Birgitta och hennes väria, p. 99, and her article "Borg och bigård: Om den heliga Birgittas syn på kyrkan", Lumen: Katolsk teologisk tidskrift 13 (1970), pp. 94-96; Ingvar Fogelqvist, "De kristna och kyrkan i Heliga Birgitta Uppenbarelser, in Heliga Birgitta—Budskapet och förebilden, pp. 146-148.

⁵ IV 58.2. For the different images of the Church in Birgitta's Revelations, see Graziano Maioli, "II volto della Chiesa nella visione di S. Brigida di Svezia: Spigolature in un campo dimenticato", Ephemehdes Carmeliticae 17 (1966), pp. 191-198.

⁶ I 55.12; I 5.1,12; II 19 E; III 10 C; IV 78.22.

⁷ III 24 C. See also IV 18.15-17; IV 65.9; II 5 G; IV 116.5-6; IV 16.6-7.

⁸ See Congar, Die Lehre von der Kirche: Von Augustinus bis zum Abendländischen Schisma, vol. Ill 3c of Handbuch der Dogmengeschichte, Freiburg im Breisgau 1971, p. 111, 141. The expression numero, non merito is used already by Augustine, Ibid., p. 4.

⁹ VI 26.2-3. See also III 27 E.

¹⁰ Birgitta, Originaltexter, ed. Bertil Högman, Heliga Birgittas originaltexter (SSFS 205), Uppsala 1951, pp. 74f., 11. 16-23. A similar description of a building in a state in decay is found in III 10.

¹¹ Birgitta, Originaltexter, pp. 75-78.

¹² It can be noted that the identification between the Church in decay and the Christians is to a large degree subdued in the Latin version in IV 49.

¹³ See Maioli, "II volto della Chiesa", pp. 199-205.

¹⁴ See, Morton W. Bloomfield, Piers Plowman as a Fourteenth-century Apocalypse, New Brunswick N.J. 1961, p. 49.

¹⁵ Ex 83.7-12; VII 16.3. For the three traditional "orders" or classes existing in the Church, the rectores or prœlati the bishops or prelates, the continentes or monks, and the conjugati or married, see Yves, Congar, "Les laïcs et l'ecclésiologie des 'ordines' chez les théologiens des Xle et Xlle siècles", in I laid nella "societas Christiana" dei secoli XI e XII: Atti della terza Settimana internazionale di studio Mendola, 21-27 agosto 1965, Milano 1968 (Miscellanea del centro di studi medioevali 5), pp. 86-88. For Birgitta's criticism of the religious, see Jarl Gallén, La province de Dacie de l'Ordre des Frères Prêcheurs. I: Histoire générale jusqu' au Grande Schisme, Helsingfors 1946 (Dissert, hist. 12), pp. 184-186.

¹⁶ Congar, "Les laïcs et l'ecclesiologie", pp. 89-104. This distinction is known since the end of the 9th century. The three orders are mentioned by Thomas Aquinas in Summa Theologiae, cura fratrum eiusdem Ordinis, ed. Biblioteca de Autores Cristianos, 5 vols., Madrid 1951-1952, I, q. 108, a.2. (Hereafter referred to as STh). For quotations in English, I have used Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, trl. English Dominicans, 5 vols., 1911, 1920, 1948; rpt. Westminister Maryland, 1981.

¹⁷ VI 26.13. One individual is brought into particular focus by Birgitta: the Swedish king Magnus Eriksson. For Birgitta's relations with him, see Klockars, Birgittas svenska värld, pp. 118-133; Olle Ferm, "Heliga Birgittas program for uppror mot Magnus Eriksson: En studie i politisk argumentationskonst", in Heliga Birgitta—budskapet och förebilden, pp. 125-143.

¹⁸ I 5.13; IV 45.4; VI 26.3; VI 33.3; RS Prol. 3.28.

¹⁹ VI 67.2-11. Hjalmar Sundén, pp. 11-16, suggests that Birgitta's three ages are influenced by Joachim of Fiore's division of history into three "states" (status), respectively attributed to the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. For the opinion that Birgitta probably was acquainted with Joachim's ideas, see Johannes Jørgensen, Den Hellige Birgitta af Vadstena, II, København 1943, pp. 20-22; Carl-Gustaf Undhagen, in Birgitta, Revelaciones, Book I, p. 45, note 52; and Kjerstin Norén, "Själen är av långt bättre natur än kroppen: Om Birgitta av Vadstena," in I Guds namn: 1000-1800, ed. Elisabeth Møller Jensen, vol. I of Nordisk kvinnolitteraturhistoria, Höganäs 1993. There are, however, significant differences between Birgitta's and Joachim's concepts, which makes an influence little likely. As we have seen, Birgitta's third age is a time of apostasy at the end of which the Antichrist would be born. For the Abbot of Fiore, however, the defeat of the Antichirst occurs at the end of the second status. His defeat would usher a new stage of history, the status of the Holy Spirit, in which a renewed Church would reign in peace and contemplation. See Bernard McGinn, Visions of the End: Apocalyptic Traditions in the Middle Ages, New York 1979, pp. 128f, 133f. Thus, for Joachim, the renewal of the Church, being a new eruption of the power of the Holy Spirit within history, was a renewal from the future rather than from the past, see Bernard McGinn, Introd., Apocalyptic Spirituality: Treatises and Letters of Lactantius, Adso of Montier-en-Der, Joachim Fiore, The Spiritual Franciscans, Savoranola, New York 1979 (The Classics of Western Spirituality), p. 108. Birgitta had another understanding. Her hopes centered on the ideal of the apostolic life and the early Church and was thus backward looking: she attempted to revive a golden past.

²⁰ Different aspects of these three vices are treated in I 23, where a bishop is criticized by Birgitta. In I 23.5 she writes of him: … cogitacio eius tota est ad presencia et non ad eterna, tota, quomodo placeat hominibus et quid utilitas carnis requirit et non quomodo placeat michi et prosit animabus. See also I 5.15. Often Birgitta deals with one of these vices at a time. The focus is on worldly delights in I 13.1-4, on the contempt of Christ in I 1.4-5, and on contempj of neighbour in I 41.10-17.

²¹ II 6.14; I 30.3; I 32.10; I 37.6,9-10.

²² See STh, HI, q. 80, a. 1.

²³ See Constable, "Twelfth Century Spirituality", pp. 34f.

²⁴ VI 33.21. For this image, see Magister Mathias, Homo conditus, ed. Anders Piltz, Magistri Mathiae canonici Lincopensis opus sub nomine Homo conditus vulgatum, Uppsala 1984 (SSFS Ser 2, IX: 1), 1.37,40-42. Hereafter this work will be referred to as HC followed by the chapter and paragraph number or numbers.

²⁵ I 1.4-6. For this image, see HC, 1.13.

²⁶ VI 3.8; IV 67.13; I 1.6.

²⁷ See STh, I-II, q. 80, a. 1.

²⁸ I 1.5, 16-17; I 37.23-25; III 26; V int. 13.9.

²⁹ STh, I-II q. 77, a. 4.

³⁰ See Donald R. Howard, The Three Temptations: Medieval Man in Search of the World, Princeton N. J. 1966, pp. 65f. According to Thomas Aquinas, every sinful act proceeds from inordinate desire for some temporal good, STh, I-II q. 77, a. 4.

³¹ I 53.11-12; II 6 C; II 20 B; III 3 C-D; III 18 A; V int. 8.11; VI 33.5; VI 3548; I 13.3; I 48.9-11.

³² IV 33.27. Since the late eleventh century, the respectability and the good reputation of a nunnery depended greatly on the rigid enforcement of enclosure, see Lekai, pp. 350f.

³³ IV 33.18-20. See also IV 127.13,17.

³⁴Statuta Capitulorum Generalium Ordinis Cisterciensis: Ab anno 1116 ad annum 1786, ed. Josephus-Maria Canivez, 8 vols., Louvain 1933-1941 (Bibliothèque de la Revue d'histoire ecclésiastique 9-14 B), 1344.3, III (Bibl. 11), pp. 476f.; and 1360.5, III (Bibl. 11), p. 536.

³⁵Ibid., 1361.3, III (Bibl.), p. 537.

³⁶ Already in I John 2:16 the "world" is equated with lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes and pride of life.

³⁷ The Virgin Mary speaks in III 17 A: Huic sancto [St. Dominic] inspirauit filius meus tria esse in mundo que displicebant eidem filio meo, superbiam, scilicet, et cupiditatem et concupiscentiam carnis. Birgit Klockars has observed in Birgitta och bôckerna p. 173, that according to the Old Swedish legendary—a work to which Birgitta probably was acquainted—, St. Dominic once in a vision saw Christ inflamed with anger because of the three great sins of the world: "høgfærdh, giri ok oloflikin køzsins luste", Ett Fornsvenskt legendarium, ed. George Steffens, 3 vols., Stockholm 1847-1874 (SFSS 7), II, pp. 794f.

³⁸ VII 30.10-11,13; IV 79.4; IV 81.3; IV 116.7; III 5 B. The importance of this triad in Birgitta's teaching has been noted by Albert Nilsson, "Ära, rikedom och vällust", in his Ur diktens värld, Stockholm 1926, p. 26-27. See also Brilioth, Medeltiden, p. 153; Klockars, Birgitta och böckerna, p. 174, and Segelberg, Kyrkotrohet och kyrkokritik, pp. 1 If.

³⁹ VII 12.4; III 10 C; III 22 A-B; VII 20.17; Birgitta, Originaltexter, p. 76, II. 52-54; p. 77, II. 63-64.

⁴⁰ For example, Master Mathias writes in HC, 4.114;Verumtamen tercia impugnacio non minus grauis nobis cotidie imminet, temptaciones videlicet carnis, mundi et dyaboli. Caro nos temptat de luxuria et gula, mundus nos temptat de auaricia, sed dyabolus nos temptat de superbia. In hiis tribus simul conueniunt omnia peccata. Nam, vt dicit Iohannes, omne, quod est in mundo, aut est concupisceincia carnis aut concupiscencia oculorum aut superbia vite. [1 John 2.15]. See also Bonaventure, Breviloquium, vol. I of Obras de San Buenaventura; Edicion bilingue, ed. Leon Amoros et al, 2nd ed., Madrid 1955 (Biblioteca de autores cristianos 6) pars III, caput 9.1, p. 316; and STh, I-II, q. 77, a. 5.

⁴¹ See Morton W. Bloomfield, The Seven Deadly Sins. An Introduction to the History of a Religious Concept, with Special Reference to medieval English Literature, East Lansing 1952 (Studies in Language and Literature); Bengt Ingmar Kilström, Den kateketiska undervisningen i Sverige under medeltiden, Lund 1958 (BTP 8), pp. 193-217.

⁴² See, VI 54.6. In VI 39.10-37 seven chief sins are listed: superbia, cupiditas, inuidia, auaricia, accidia, ira, and voluptas. This list differs somewhat from the classical list of Gregory the Great, which includes gula, but not cupiditas. Moreover, Gregory speaks of luxuria, not voluptas. See Moralia in lob, ed. Marcus Adriaen, 3 vols., Tumhout 1979 (CCSL 193), 31.45.87, p. 1610. See also Bloomfield, The Seven Deadly Sins, pp. 72-74. For another list of sins in Birgitta's Revelations, see III 13 B.

⁴³ See Howard, pp. 6If.

⁴⁴ See II 6 B: Tandem vox diaboli, idest superbia, soniut in mundo, que ostendit mundi diuicias et carnalem voluptatem. See also IV 135. 4-9.

⁴⁵ See Howard, pp. 47-53.

⁴⁶ The most influential of these were John Cassian, De instituas coenobiorum, ed. Michael Petschenig, Vindobonae 1888 (CSEL 17), 12, pp. 204-31, especially 12.7, p. 210, and Gregory the Great, Moralia in lob, 31.45.87, p. 1610. For the concepts of pride and covetousness in the Middle Ages, see Lester K. Little, "Pride Goes before Avarice: Social Change and the Vices in Latin Christendom", The American Historical Review 76 (1971), pp. 16-49.

⁴⁷ See for example, Peter Damian, Epistolae, 1.15, PL, 144, col. 234; John of Salisbury, Polycraticus, ed. Clemens. C.J. Webb, 2 vols., Ioannis Saresberiensis Episcopi Carnotensis Policratici, Oxonii 1909, 8.4, II p. 241.

⁴⁸ See Bernard of Clairvaux, Liber de gradibus humilitatis et superbiae, vol. 3 of Sancti Bernardi opera, eds. J. Leclercq, C. H. Talbot, and H. M. Rochais, Rome 1963, pp. 13-59; Bernard of Clairvaux, Sermones de diversis, vol. 6:1 of Sancti Bernardi opera, eds. J. Leclercq and H. M. Rochais, Romae 1970, Sermo 74, p. 312.

⁴⁹See, for example, STh, I-II q.84, aa. 1-2.

⁵⁰ For example, II 6 C; III 5 B; III 17 A; IV 49.16; IV 79.4; IV 81.3; IV 116.7; VII 19.22; VII 20.17; VII 30.10; Ex. 19.3; Ex. 74.4. See also I 40.7: Hanc autem superfluitatem inuenit superbia, que nunc habetur et diligitur pro lege.

⁵¹ See STh, II-II q. 162, aa. 1-2.

⁵²Ibid., II-II q. 162, a. 5. See also Ecclus. 10:14: Initium superbiae homimis apostare a Deo.

⁵³ VII 30.10; II 8 B-C; II 9 C; VI 15.12. Having this desire, they resemble the devil, see VI 23.10; VII 27.7.

⁵⁴ See, for example, STh, II-II q. 132, a. 1. According to Gregory the Great, vainglory is an immediate off-spring of pride, Moralia in lob 31.45.88, p. 1610. See also STh, II-II q. 132, a. 4.

⁵⁵ III 2 C; III 10 C; III 4 A; I 29.5.

⁵⁶ I 55.14; III 15 A; VI 35.51; I 48.19.

⁵⁷ I 55.14; III 2 D; III 15 A.

⁵⁸ I 33.2; VII 20.21; III 8 B-C.

⁵⁹ III 2 D; IV 126.104; Ex. 83.10-11; III 18 B; VII 20.23.

⁶⁰ See STh, II-II q. 13, a. 1.

⁶¹ Ex. 43.1; Ex. 83.11; IV 102.18; IV 107.6,15-19; VI 35.11; VI 39.8; VI 43.6; VI 121.3.

⁶² As regards the reason for this name, Birgitta is told by Christ, VII 20.17: … iste frater meus, qui Aduersarius nominabitur ex eo, quod Francisci régule aduersarius erit, multos de ordine Francisci trahet de humilitate ad superbiam….

⁶³ VII 20.19; also III 33.3. Birgitta accuses the priests of a similar hypocrisy in I 48.24.

⁶⁴ VI 65.70. Anger and pride are mentioned together in IV 104.11. However, Birgitta can also occasionally relate anger to covetousness, for example in IV 104.8. It would seem that Master Mathias primarily relates anger to covetousness, see HC, 7.99.

⁶⁵ See STh, II-II q. 136, a. 1.

⁶⁶ IV 24.4; IV 17.26,28. Like anger, however, impatience can also be related to covetousness, IV 17.30.

⁶⁷ This vice is called arrogantia in STh, II-II q. 112, a 1; q. 162, a. 4 and 4.

⁶⁸ VI 23.7; VI 35 ; III 22.4-5; IV 17.28; IV 112.3.

⁶⁹ VI 39.10-11 ; I 48.34; IV 135; I 17.2.

⁷⁰ See Birgitta's revelation quoted by Master Mathias, Prologus, in Birgitta: Revelaciones: Book I, ed. Carl-Gustaf Undhagen, Uppsala 1978 (SFSS Ser. 2, 7:1), par. 35. Also 35; I 19.3.4; II 9.14; VI 39.11-12; IV 112.5; VI 52. A similar vice is mentioned in STh, IIII q. 162, a. 4.

⁷¹ Ex 83.10. See also IV 112.3.

⁷² See Num. 14:40-45.

⁷³ Gregory the Great, Homiliae XL in Euangelia: PL 76, col. 1305; See also Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae, II-II q. 169, a. 1.

⁷⁴ VII 27.19-20; VII 16.27; VIII 57 A.

⁷⁵Statuta Capitulorum, 1195.68, vol. I (Bibl. 9), p. 192.

⁷⁶Ibid., 1231.8, vol. II (Bibl. 10) p. 93; also Ibid, 1270.1, vol. Ill (Bibl. 11), pp. 79f.; Ibid., 1317.17, vol. Ill (Bibl. 11), p. 337.

⁷⁷Ibid, 1303.6, vol. Ill (Bibl. 11), p. 316.

⁷⁸Ibid., 1269.4, vol. Ill (Bibl. 11), p. 69.

⁷⁹ For the relation between boasting and pride in Christian tradition, see STh, II-II q. 112, a. 1, ad 2; II-II q. 162, a. 4 ad 3 and Bernard of Clairvaux, De gradibus humilitatis et superbiae, 13.41, pp. 47f.

⁸⁰ This is, according to Bernard of Clairvaux, typical of boasting Ibid., 13 41, p. 48: Quod si de religione agitur, statim visiones et somnia proferuntur.

⁸¹ VIII 10; IV 51.14; VI 39.28; VI 23; VI 15.6;VI 98.11. Vulgar words are in the Revelations mentioned together with pride in VI 52.61. See also Bernard of Clairvaux, De gradibus humilitatis et superbiae, 13.41, p. 48: Dicas, si audias, rivum vanitatis, fluvium esse scurrlilitatis os eius …

⁸² IV 24.6; I 37.13; III 4 C; Ex. 75.7; VI 5.7; Ex. 75.6.

⁸³ I 5.17-18; I 30.2-3; V int. 12.40; I 58.5; I 18.3.

⁸⁴ He is called a hypocrite in the rubric of the chapter.

⁸⁵ Also VI 35.51. According to Gregory, hypocrisy is born of vainglory, Moralia in lob, 31.45.88, p. 1610.

⁸⁶ VI 35.51. According to Birgitta, the devil often incites people to perform such singular acts, as excessive vigils, fastings, prayers, works, see IV 29; VII 5.38. Singularity is elaborated by Bernard of Clairvaux in the fifth step of pride, see De gradibus humilitatis et superbiae, 14.42, pp. 48f.

⁸⁷ VII 12.32-33. The allegorical figure of pride appears in medieval representations as a mighty person seated on a horse. See Little, p. 31.

⁸⁸ STh, II II q. 118, a. 1.

⁸⁹ I 56.2; also II 3 D; VIII 18 B; VI 31.12.

⁹⁰ See STh. II-II q. 118, aa. 1-2.

⁹¹ In Birgitta, Himmelska Uppenbarelser, II, p. 215, Lundén translates, somewhat misleadingly, cupiditas, which occurs twice in this passage, with "vinningslystnad" and "girighet", terms which primarily denote disordered love of money. For another example where cupiditas seems primarily to denote covetousness for power, see VI 31.12-13.

⁹² III 13 B. Another term for disordered desire for honours is ambitio, VII 16.5.

⁹³ See also I 16.7, where cupiditas should be related to cupiditas pecunie in I 16.2.

⁹⁴ I 16.2; also III 10 C; IV 140.14; VI 3.9. A term equivalent to cupiditas in the special sense, used by Birgitta, is avaricia, I 48.11.

⁹⁵ VI 36.9. See also VI 63.6.

⁹⁶ See Charles de la Ronciere, "Die Kirche und das Geld", in Die Zeit der Zerreissproben (1274-1449), ed. Michel Mollat du Jourdin, André Vauchez; German ed. Bernhard Schimmelpfennig, vol. 6 of DieGeschichte des Christentums: Religion, Politik, Kultur, Freiburg im Breisgau 1991, pp. 480-483; Little, pp. 20-31; Bloomfield, Seven Deadly Sins, p. 95.

⁹⁷ Master Mathias, Prologus, par. 35; VIII 47 G; I 56.8-9; Ex. 51.8; VI 96.5-6.

⁹⁸ I 56.9. A similar criticism of greedy priests is found in the villages of Ariège. See Emmanuel Le Roy Ladurie, Montaillou: Cathars and Catholics in a French Village 1294-1324. Harmondsworth 1980 (Penguin Books), p. 336: "Sybille Pierre reported what the Autiès had said in a house in Ax-les-Thermes (ii.404): The priests steal all men's possessions…. To say Mass, to do anything at all, they want money."

⁹⁹1 56.1-2. The allegorical figure of covetousness that appears in medieval representations is closely connected with bags of money, see Little, p. 37; Kilström, Den kateketiska undervisningen, pp. 211, 213.

¹⁰⁰ II 10 B; III 6 C; IV 137.2. One of the daughters of covetousness is, according to Gregory the Great, restlessness. See Moralia in lob, 31.45.88, p. 1610. Also STh, II-II q. 118, a. 8.

¹⁰¹ See STh, II-II q. 118, a. 2.

¹⁰² V int. 7.19. See also Ex. 75.7. According to Gregory the Great, one of the daughters of covetousness is insensibility to mercy, when a man's heart is not softened by mercy to assist the needy with his riches, Moralia in lob, 31.45.88, p. 1610. Also STh, II-II q. 118, a. 8.

¹⁰³ II 8. See STh, II-II q. 66, a. 8, ad 1: Quamvis possint in acceptione praedae iustum bellum habentes peccare per cupiditatem ex prava intentione, si scilicet non propter iustitiam, sedpropter praedam principaliter pugnent: dicit Augustinus in libro De Verb. Dom., quod propter praedam militare peccatum est.

¹⁰⁴ VI 32.22-23; VII 16.32-33; IV 1.6; Ex. 43.3; Ex. 74.6; VI 23.5. See STh, II-II q. 118, a. 2.

¹⁰⁵ On the traditional teaching on usury, see STh, II-II q. 118, a. 8 ad 4; II-II q. 78, a. 1. The practice of usury was widespread in Birgitta's time, see Charles de la Roncière, "Die Kirche und das Geld", pp. 475-478. For basic background reading on the theory and practice of usury in the Middle Ages, consult, Hans-Jörg Gilomen, "Wucher und Wirtschaft im Mittelalter", in Historische Zeitschrift 250 (1990), pp. 265-301.

¹⁰⁶ See Francis of Asissi, Régula Bullata, ed. Théophile Desbonnets et al., Francois d'Assise: Écrits, Paris 1981 (SChr 282), 4, p. 188.

¹⁰⁷ VII 20.20. See also VI 35.14.

¹⁰⁸ VI 99.3. See also Ex. 83.11.

¹⁰⁹ Also in other revelations Birgitta accuses her contemporary Christians of having fallen prey to carnal desires. See III 28 A; IV 122.9; Ex. 83.11; VI 52.41; III 27 E.

¹¹⁰ STh. I-II q. 30. a. 3.

¹¹¹ HC, 6.98: Sed qui voluerit non solum cauere mendacia ymmo eciam omne peccatum cauere, caueat matrem omnis mali concupiscenciam, que duplex est: concupiscencia scilicet carnis ad fruendum delectationibus mundi, et concupiscencia oculorum, que est cupiditas deliciarum mundi. Also 6.105.

¹¹² In IV 126.85, for example, concupiscentia refers to amor mundi as well as to amor carnis.

¹¹³ In particular the latter denotation is characteristic of carnal concupiscence. In I 26.10, for example carnal concupiscence is distinguished from hunger and thirst, and corresponds to luxuria in I 26.11. As for another example where concupiscence denotes sexual desire, see IV 53.5.

¹¹⁴ See STh, I-II q. 34, a. 1.

¹¹⁵ The good delight is described in IV 120.2,5: Carnalis vel naturalis delectacio est, quando necessitate requirente refeccio sumitur…. Spiritualis delectacio est, quando anima delectatur in beneficiis Dei et temporalibus utitur et occupatur inuitus et ad solam necessitatem. A similar good delight is diuina delectacio in III 7.5. In Birgitta, Himmelska uppenbarelser, I, p. 293, Lundén translates this passage with "gudliga begàrelser". See also VI 52.91; VI 65.3. As we have seen, however, delectatiio is not to be regarded as a desire for some loved good, but as a repose in it. Normally, Lundén translates delectatio with "lust", or "lusta".

¹¹⁶ VII 30.10. See also VI 52.53.

¹¹⁷ Ex. 51.3. See also IV 120.1.

¹¹⁸ I 57.3; also Ex. 102.3; II 29 C; Ex. 19.3.

¹¹⁹ I 26.10; VII 20.4; IV 4.4.

¹²⁰ IV 45.6. See also IV 49.16; IV 36.2; VI 35.39-40.

¹²¹ In I 26.10-11, delectacionem carnis is expressly referring to luxuria.

¹²² STh, I-II q. 58, a. 9.1; II-II q. 138, a. 1 ad 2; II-II q. 142, a. 3.

¹²³Ibid., I-II q. 2, a. 6: … qui a delectationes corpo rales pluribus notae sunt assumpserunt sibi nomen voluptatum.

¹²⁴Ibid., II-II q. 148, a. 1.

¹²⁵Ibid., II-II q. 153, aa. 1, 3.

¹²⁶Ibid., II-II q. 138, a. 1.

¹²⁷ II 7 B. See also II 8 C-D. Occasionally, however, voluptas denotes a good pleasure. For example, II 11 B: Veni, et repleberis diuina voluptate! Also IV 133.21; 135.2; III 31 A. Normally, delectatio is used in such cases. In exceptional cases Birgitta speaks of voluptatem mundi, VI 35.42, which corresponds to the worldly delights mentioned above. Lundén sometimes incorrectly translates also voluptas with "begàrelser", see Birgitta, Himmelska uppenbarelser, I, pp. 210, 293.

¹²⁸II 1 C; II 23 D; III 10 B; III 27 C; IV 7.46; IV 32.3; IV 61.17; IV 62.4; IV 69.5; IV 95.5; IV 107.5,13,16; IV 108.16; IV 110.2; IV 111.13; IV 114.8; IV 123.6; VI 17.2; IV 55.1.

¹²⁹ II 6 B; IV 75.18; IV 81.10; VI 55.2.

¹³⁰ II 6 B; VI 5.10; IV 95.5. This is the case with the nobility, II 8 D-E; IV 7.46; IV 113.10; IV 122.3; VI 39.26,32,50; IV 81.3; VI 28.14; VI 56.11; VI 52.53,58,60,91, with the clerics, I 48.10; IV 132.14; 133.7; VI 7.7; III 7 A; IV 62.4, and with the religious, IV 102.20; VI 19.37; IV 23.19; IV 107.5.

¹³¹ VI 39.25-26. See also IV 122.3; VII 13.42.

¹³² See STh, II-II q. 148, a. 1.

¹³³ VI 80.4; Ex 74.4; VI 97.7.

¹³⁴ VI 10.6. See also VI 39.36; Ex. 56.12. See STh, IIII q. 148, a. 4.

¹³⁵ VI 39.35. See also VI 10.6; Ex. 75.6. See STh, IIII q. 148, a. 4.

¹³⁶ VI 98.4; IV 23.20; VI 19.3-4; VI 35.51.

¹³⁷ VI 14.15. See Klockars, Birgitta och böckerna, p. 192.

¹³⁸ VI 35.12. See also VII 20.19.

¹³⁹ I 26.20; I 57.3; IV 79.4; IV 95.4. I 16.2,7; VI 10.5; VI 81.3; VI 97.6; VI 56.10; IV 9.21; VI 32.21. The priests are often accused of this sin, I 59.20; IV 58.15; IV 132.13; IV 133.15,19; VI 15.10; IV 49.19; IV 142.7. Mainly, Birgitta uses the term luxuria. Other terms denoting this vice in the Revelations are incontinencia, I 4.5; I 59.20; VI 36.10; impuritas, IV 58.15; VI 56.11; VI 97.6; and immundicia, VI 56.10.

¹⁴⁰ For the traditional teaching on lust, see STh, II-II q. 153, aa. 1-2.

¹⁴¹ I 26.27. See also I 26.18,20,22; V int. 23.6; VI 31.23.

¹⁴² STh, Supplement, q. 49, a. 6.

¹⁴³Ibid., II-II q. 169, a. 2.

¹⁴⁴ VI 39.34. See also I 26.18.

¹⁴⁵ VII 28.13. For individuals of whom Birgitta mentions or hints at that they have committed adultery or fornication, see VI 10.5; VII 11.19; VI 80.5.

¹⁴⁶ See Ronald Lawler, Joseph M. Boyle, and William E. May, Catholic Sexual Ethics. A Summary, explanation, & Defense, Huntington, Ind., 1985, p. 43.

¹⁴⁷ VI 39 33 : Nam licet coniugatus erat et ab aliarum mulierum macula segregatus, tamen per amplexus et per verba inepta et eciam per gestus impudicos, effundebat semen suum modo indebito. According to Gottfrid Carlsson, Birgitta in this text accuses the knight of homosexual acts. See his article "Heliga Birgittas upprorsprogram", in Archivistica et mediaevistica: Ernesto Nygren oblata, Stockholm 1956 (Samlingar och studier utgivna av svenskt arkivsamfund 1), p. 97. Whether the text actually is speaking of homosexual acts is, however, somewhat uncertain. Strictly speaking, the sin Birgitta describes is not the vice of sodomy but the vice of procuring pollution, without any copulation, for the sake of sexual pleasure. See STh, II-II q. 154, a. 12. What arouses the suspicion about homosexuality are the words that he was ab aliarum mulierum macula segregatus. The words imply that he refrained from sexual activities with other women, but does not exclude that it was his wife who was the object of his sexual activités.

¹⁴⁸ Birgitta has previously in VI 80 mentioned gluttony and, it would seem, adultery.

¹⁴⁹ Thomas Aquinas mentions four types of unnatural vice: impurity, bestiality, sodomy and unnatural manner of copulation, see STh, II-II q. 154, a. 11.

¹⁵⁰ Birgitta, Originaltexter, p. 81. For Birgitta's accusation, see Olle Ferm, "Birgittas uppror mot Magnus Eriksson", p. 133. A similar accusation is found in the pamphlet Libellus de Magno Erici rege, ed. Claudius Annerstedt, in Scriptores rerum Suecicarum medii aevi, III:1, Upsala 1876, p. 14. The pamphlet, which is from the 1360s, was probably inspired by Birgitta, see Carlsson, pp. 96f. For Birgitta's influence on this pamphlet, see Ingvar Andersson, Kàllstudier till Sveriges historia 1230-1436: Inhemska berättande källor jämte Libellus Magnippolensis, Lund 1928, pp. 151-173.

¹⁵¹ "Heliga Birgittas upprorsprogram", p. 99. In support of this, Carlsson writes that Birgitta had a certain tendency to accuse people she disliked of homosexual acts. His reference, however, to VI 39 is, as we have seen (note 147 above), an uncertain support in this respect.

¹⁵²Furstinnan av Narke som blev Heliga Birgitta, p. 14f.

¹⁵³ See Kristin Drar, Konungens herravälde såsom rättvisans, fridens och frihetens beskydd. Medeltidens fursteideal i svenskt hög-och senmedeltida ka'llmaterial, Stockholm 1980 (Bibliotheca Historico-Ecclesiastica Lundensis 10), p. 111.

¹⁵⁴Statuta synodalis veteris ecclesica Sveogothicae, ed. H. Reuterdahl, Lund 1841, p. 45. Concerning the vice of incontinence, the synod says … quod heu! in Sacerdotibus et Clericis nostri temporis inolevit, et honestatem inquinat clericalem.

¹⁵⁵Ibid., p. 53.