Saint Ingrid of Skänninge (died in

Skänninge Skänninge () is a locality situated in Mjölby Municipality, Östergötland County, Sweden with 3,140 inhabitants in 2010. It lies about 10 km north of the municipal seat Mjölby. Before the local government reform in 1971 the ''City of Skä ...

, 9 September 1282) was a Swedish abbess venerated as a saint in the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

. She founded

Skänninge Abbey Skänninge Abbey, also known as St. Ingrid's Priory, St. Martin's Priory or Skänninge Nunnery, was a Roman Catholic convent for females of the Dominican Order in Skänninge in Sweden, in operation from 1272 until 1544. It was founded by Saint I ...

, a nunnery belonging to the Dominicans, in 1272. Her feast day is on September 2.

Life

Ingrid was the daughter of Elof, a nobleman from

Östergötland Östergötland (; English exonym: East Gothland) is one of the traditional provinces of Sweden (''landskap'' in Swedish) in the south of Sweden. It borders Småland, Västergötland, Närke, Södermanland and the Baltic Sea. In older English li ...

. She was a member of the family ''Elofssönernas ätt'', and belonged to the elite of the Swedish nobility. She had at least two brothers, Anders and Johan, the latter of whom was a knight of the

Teutonic Order The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem, commonly known as the Teutonic Order, is a Catholic religious institution founded as a military society in Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. It was formed to aid Christians on ...

. Her niece, Kristina Johansdotter (d. 1293), was the first spouse of Birger Persson, who became the father of

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 ...

in his second marriage. It is believed that Ingrid was an inspiration of Bridget. Ingrid married a nobleman referred to as Sir Sigge, who likely died in 1271. After being widowed, Ingrid and her sister Kristina became a part of a circle of pious females around the Dominican friar Petrus de Dacia in Skänninge. In one of his letters, Petrus de Dacia has left a description of the ascetic life style and mystic revelations of one of his "spiritual daughters" in this circle of women, which likely refers to Ingrid. In 1272, this circle of women formed an informal convent under the leadership of Ingrid by adopting the habit of the Dominicans and practicing its rules. Ingrid made pilgrimages to

Santiago de Compostela Santiago de Compostela is the capital of the autonomous community of Galicia, in northwestern Spain. The city has its origin in the shrine of Saint James the Great, now the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, as the destination of the Way of St ...

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

and

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

. After the death of her sister, Ingrid applied for formal recognition of her convent. This was granted in 1281, a year before her death.

Veneration

After her death in 1282, Ingrid's remains became objects of veneration and pilgrimages to her convent. She was, however, not formally recognized by the Pope as a saint. When her relative

was formally

canonized Canonization is the declaration of a deceased person as an officially recognized saint, specifically, the official act of a Christianity, Christian communion declaring a person worthy of Cult (religious practice), public veneration and enterin ...

Pope Boniface IX Pope Boniface IX ( la, Bonifatius IX; it, Bonifacio IX; c. 1350 – 1 October 1404, born Pietro Tomacelli) was head of the Catholic Church from 2 November 1389 to his death in October 1404. He was the second Roman pope of the Western Schism.Richa ...

on 7 October 1391, it caused a need to have Ingrid recognized as a saint as well. At the Council of Costance, an application was made for the cause of her canonization. In 1499,

Pope Alexander VI Pope Alexander VI ( it, Alessandro VI, va, Alexandre VI, es, Alejandro VI; born Rodrigo de Borja; ca-valencia, Roderic Llançol i de Borja ; es, Rodrigo Lanzol y de Borja, lang ; 1431 – 18 August 1503) was head of the Catholic Churc ...

agreed to a

translation Translation is the communication of the Meaning (linguistic), meaning of a #Source and target languages, source-language text by means of an Dynamic and formal equivalence, equivalent #Source and target languages, target-language text. The ...

of her remains, which took place in Skänninge Abbey in 1507.

Legacy

Following the

Swedish Reformation The Reformation in Sweden is generally regarded as having begun in 1527 during the reign of King Gustav I of Sweden, but the process was slow and did not end definitively until the Uppsala Synod of 1593 and the following War against Sigismund, with ...

, the remains of Ingrid were removed to the

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 Orde ...

. In 1645, the

skull The skull is a bone protective cavity for the brain. The skull is composed of four types of bone i.e., cranial bones, facial bones, ear ossicles and hyoid bone. However two parts are more prominent: the cranium and the mandible. In humans, the ...

was stolen from the Vadstena church by

Antoine de Beaulieu Antoine de Beaulieu (died 1663) was a French noble, dancer, and ballet master of the Swedish court from 1637 to 1663 and is considered to have introduced ballet in Sweden. Antoine de Beaulieu was employed in Sweden after a recommendation to the ...

, who believed it to be the skull of

. Antoine de Beaulieu gave Ingrid's skull to the French ambassador Gaspard Coignet de la Thullerie, who in turn placed it in the Church of

Courson-les-Carrières Courson-les-Carrières () is a commune in the Yonne department in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté in north-central France. The commune lies south of Auxerre on the main N151 road from Auxerre to Clamecy. It is the largest single settlement in the nat ...

in France. In 1959, it was given to the

Bridgettine The Bridgettines, or Birgittines, formally known as the Order of the Most Holy Savior (; abbreviated OSsS), is a monastic religious order of the Catholic Church founded by Saint Birgitta or Bridget of Sweden in 1344, and approved by Pope Urban ...

abbey of Mary's Refuge in

Uden Uden () is a town and former municipality in the province of North Brabant, Netherlands. Since 2022 it has been part of the new municipality of Maashorst. History Uden was first recorded around 1190 as "Uthen". However, earlier settlements h ...

The Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, where it was exhibited as the skull of Bridget of Sweden.DNA skriver historia - Forskning & Framsteg

Life

Veneration

Legacy

References

Further reading