Birger Peterssons grafsten i Uppsala, Nordisk familjebok

Herr Birger Persson (sometimes Petersson) of

Finsta Finsta () is a locality situated in Norrtälje Municipality, Stockholm County, Sweden with 244 inhabitants in 2010. Finsta is according to local tradition the birthplace of Saint Bridget, one of Sweden's best known saints and the founder of the ...

(??? - 3 April 1327) was a

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

magnate The magnate term, from the late Latin ''magnas'', a great man, itself from Latin ''magnus'', "great", means a man from the higher nobility, a man who belongs to the high office-holders, or a man in a high social position, by birth, wealth or ot ...

knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Gr ...

privy councillor A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...

and Uppland's first

lawspeaker A lawspeaker or lawman (Swedish language, Swedish: ''lagman'', Old Swedish: ''laghmaþer'' or ''laghman'', Danish language, Danish: ''lovsigemand'', Norwegian language, Norwegian: ''lagmann'', Icelandic language, Icelandic: , Faroese language, ...

. He was a co-drafter of the

Law of Uppland The Law of Uppland (; ) was the law that applied in Uppland, Sweden, from 1296 to the beginning of the 1350s. It was drafted by a Royal commission, enacted at the three Folkland (Swedish provinces), Folkland Thing (assembly), Things, and given Roy ...

, and father of

Saint Bridget of Sweden Bridget of Sweden (c. 1303 – 23 July 1373) born as Birgitta Birgersdotter, also Birgitta of Vadstena, or Saint Birgitta ( sv, heliga Birgitta), was a mystic and a saint, and she was also the founder of the Bridgettines nuns and monks after t ...

. He was also son of the knight Per Israelsson. Birger is portrayed with several

coats of arms A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in its wh ...

. According to the tombstone in

Uppsala Cathedral Uppsala Cathedral ( sv, Uppsala domkyrka) is a cathedral located between the University Hall of Uppsala University and the Fyris river in the centre of Uppsala, Sweden. A church of the Church of Sweden, the national church, in the Lutheran tra ...

, his shield showed two lowered wings, close together, without major gaps. But his seal in medieval letters shows two wings, the upper base of which is well separated, at large intervals, between a six-leafed rose, which hangs in a garland-like object.

References

Further reading