Birgitta Botolfsdotter, or ''Botulfsdotter'' ( fl. 1567) was a Swedish Roman Catholic

nun A nun is a woman who vows to dedicate her life to religious service, typically living under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience in the enclosure of a monastery or convent.''The Oxford English Dictionary'', vol. X, page 599. The term is o ...

abbess An abbess (Latin: ''abbatissa''), also known as a mother superior, is the female superior of a community of Catholic nuns in an abbey. Description In the Catholic Church (both the Latin Church and Eastern Catholic), Eastern Orthodox, Copt ...

Vadstena Abbey The Abbey Pax Mariae ( la, Monasterium sanctarum Mariæ Virgìnis et Brigidæ in Vatzstena), more commonly referred to as Vadstena Abbey, situated on Lake Vättern in the Diocese of Linköping, Sweden, was the motherhouse of the Bridgettine Ord ...

during the ongoing

Protestant Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and ...

. Birgitta was inducted into the order in 1492 by the

Bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is c ...

Linköping Linköping () is a city in southern Sweden, with around 105,000 inhabitants as of 2021. It is the seat of Linköping Municipality and the capital of Östergötland County. Linköping is also the episcopal see of the Diocese of Linköping (Church ...

, who also financed her convent

dowry A dowry is a payment, such as property or money, paid by the bride's family to the groom or his family at the time of marriage. Dowry contrasts with the related concepts of bride price and dower. While bride price or bride service is a payment ...

. She became a prioress, and was in 1534 made abbess for the double convent of Vadstena. She was a controversial abbess; in 1539, she was deposed by the

monk A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...

s in the male section of the convent and replaced by Katarina Matsdotter. She left the convent and married the wealthy merchant Nils from the city of

Vadstena Vadstena () is a locality and the seat of Vadstena Municipality, Östergötland County, Sweden, with 5,613 inhabitants in 2010. From 1974 to 1979 Vadstena was administered as part of Motala Municipality. Despite its small population, Vadstena ...

. The reformation had by this time made it voluntary for nuns to stay in their convents or leave them and, if they wished, marry, but it was considered as a great shame if they did. She was likely the perhaps first former nun in Sweden to marry. The couple became one of the greatest benefactors and protectors of the convent. After the death of her spouse in 1566, she was again referred to as "Mother Sister" by the nuns, an honorific of the Abbess.

References

Antiqvarisk tidskrift / Sextonde delen
* Signum svenska kulturhistoria: ''Renässansen'' (2005)

Bridgettine nuns Swedish Roman Catholic abbesses 16th-century Swedish nuns 15th-century Swedish nuns People of the Protestant Reformation