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Introduction
For the seven years between 1440 and 1447,
Walter Bower, abbot of Incholm, toiled away at an
immense task: compiling an authoritative history of
Scotland, the Scotichronicon.1 This sixteen-volume
work, written at the request of the minor noble Sir
David Stewart of Rosyth, 2 “immmediately became
the basic account of Scottish history” (Webster
1997:106; cf. Terrell 2011:327).3 Bower’s work is
based on an earlier corpus of five books authored
by John of Fordun,4 the Chronica gentis scotorum,5
which dates to the last half of the fourteenth century.
The Scotichronicon is a transcription, interpretation,
and extension of the Fordun texts.6 Bower widely
incorporates Fordun’s texts in his work, going so
far as to annotate the margins of his work with
notes on which parts were his own conception, and
which were Fordun’s (Bower and Watt 1998:14–15
ll. 56–60, 315).7 However, certain books of the
Scotichronicon are entirely Bower’s own undertaking—
including parts of Book VI and all of Books
VII, XV, and XVI (ibid.:315). In the later books of
the Scotichronicon, Bower allows himself a much
freer hand in his use of Fordun, editing and amending
from his source so that the material would fit his
own work more successfully, and without signalling
his textual manipulation (ibid.).
Born in 1385 at Haddington (East Lothian),
Bower entered the Augustinian priory at St. Andrews
early in his life, and later gained degrees in
both canon law and theology (ibid:204–208, Mason
2006:54–55).8 From 1418 until his death in 1449,
he was abbot at Incholm, an Augustinian foundation
on the Firth of Forth. The modern editors of the
Scotichronicon assert that Bower was “one of the
ecclesiastical magnates of Scotland” (Bower and
Watt 1998: 206). He was active in the political life
of the courts of both James I and James II and thus
presumably wielded a certain degree of power. After
James I’s return from exile in England in April 1424,
Bower was often in attendance at the king’s councils
and parliaments (ibid.). In addition, he served twice
as tax collector, with his first term spanning two
years from May 1424, and further terms in 1431 and
1433. In the parliament that convened on 10 January
1435, Bower was charged with committee service
on a panel set up to hear complaints. It is likely
that as one trained in law he served in similar functions
at other parliaments (ibid.). Under James II,
Bower fulfilled many administrative and political
roles, including attending a general council in Edinburgh
in April 1441, and another in Stirling in 1442
(ibid.:207). Additionally, he reprised his role of an
auditor for complaints in the parliament of 2 July
1445. Bower’s service paid off: in early June 1441,
he received a crown charter establishing the territory
of Inchcolm Abbey as a barony, with the aim of
repairing damages wrought by pirate attacks (ibid.).
As a barony, the territory was permitted to handle
criminal and administrative actions locally (Grant
2008:156–158), and could thus deal with the crime
in its midst more effectively. Bower was clearly a
man intimately involved in contemporary Scottish
political life, and his chronicle demonstrates his
deep interest in Scottish nationalism.
As the modern editors of Bower’s work point
out, the chronicle functions more as “ ‘A History
Book for Scots’ rather than ‘A History of the Scots’,
let alone ‘A History of Scotland’ ” (Bower and Watt
1998:318; cf. Terrell 2011:329). Bower provides a
version of Scottish history which emphasizes the
unbroken lineage of the Scots, a generational link
unassailable by the English, and one which unites
a community which was in actuality rather diverse
(Mason 2006:56).9 The Scots fought English invasions
in the two Wars of Independence (1296–1328,
Textual Authority and Symbolic Capital:
Birgitta of Sweden’s Inclusion in Walter Bower’s Scotichronicon
Alicia Spencer-Hall*
Abstract - Walter Bower’s fifteenth-century historical chronicle of Scotland, the Scotichronicon, was the authoritative
national narrative for the Scots of the period. A blend of propaganda and history, the work is shaped by Bower’s separatist
agenda and desire to create a cohesive Scottish identity free, as far as possible, from English attacks. St. Birgitta of Sweden
is one of the sources Bower uses in his strategy of writing a history that impacts deeply on his present time. Despite being
highly Anglophobic, Bower inserts Birgitta’s messages from Christ repeatedly in his text, even though she was particularly
strenuously claimed by the English as a de facto national saint. This paper explores the use of Birgitta of Sweden and her
visions in Bower’s text, examining his harnessing of the saint’s authority as divine messenger and putting this divine insight
to his own, nationalistic purposes.
Across the Sólundarhaf: Connections between Scotland and the Nordic World
Selected Papers from the Inaugural St. Magnus Conference 2011
Journal of the North Atlantic
*French Department, University College London, Gower St., London, WC1E 6BT UK; Alicia.spencer-hall.10@ucl.ac.uk.
2013 Special Volume 4:107–119
A. Spencer-Hall
2013 Journal of the North Atlantic Special Volume 4
108
1332–1357)10, and the Scotichronicon’s national
history was an important tool against further English
claims to the Scottish throne. Book I of the
Scotichronicon (ch. 19–37) presents the Scottish
as descendants of Gaythelos, a Greek prince, and
Scota, a Pharaoh’s daughter, conferring a classical
and Biblical ancestry on the Scottish people (Bower
and Watt 1993:26–87, Mason 2006:56). In 330 BC,
Fergus I—a direct descendant of Scota—establishes
the Scottish realm, and his own descendants are
shown to rule over the lands right up until the fifteenth
century. While the English rulers were tainted
by a pattern of broken lineage by multiple invasions,
including those by the Anglo-Saxon, Danish
and Norman, the Scottish monarchy is positioned
as having a direct link to their earliest ancestors
(Terrell 2011:322). This origin legend also served
as a counterpoint to the circulating mythologies of
the early roots of the Britons, particularly that of
Geoffrey of Monmouth, which portrayed the British
as descendants of Troy, in his History of the Kings
of Britain (Historia Regum Britanniae) written
ca. 1136 (ibid.:321, Mason 2006:57).11 In Geoffrey’s
narrative, Brutus arrived in the uninhabited
land of Britain and cleansed the territory of giants
(Monmouth 1854: Book 1, chapters 16–18, 18–19).
Brutus’ three sons inherited Britain, divided into
three areas of land, later called Scotland, England,
and Wales (Monmouth 1854: Book 2, chapter 1:23).
Thus, the English are depicted as the rightful heirs to
Scotland, which in the legend is shown as subordinate
to England, the area initially settled by Brutus.
Indeed, Bower tackles Geoffrey’s version of events
head on in the first six chapters of Book II of the
Scotichronicon (Bower and Watt 1993:168–179),
emphasizing that his own version of Gaythelos and
Scota, contained in Book I, is actually the correct
one. Bower’s chronicle becomes an important ideological
weapon against English aggression (Terrell
2011:324–325). It matters little that the mythology
is for the most part “entirely spurious” as Mason
(2006:56) notes, as long as it serves its purpose well.
The chronicle is intended to be educative—morally,
politically, and practically—for its audience,
comprised of all elements of Scottish society (Bower
and Watt 1998:319). In the preface to the Corpus
MS, Bower elucidates the improvement of rulers,
clerics, and laymen that he foresaw if they read his
text astutely:
In this volume, I believe, rulers will find how
to avoid the dangers of war and uncertain issues,
religious will learn the rudiments of the
monastic life, laymen will learn fruitful lessons,
preachers will find tales with a moral.
By force of its example kings will become
more cautious, religious will be instructed
more in accordance with their rule, and all
those who are depressed will be given over
to joy by reading it. (Preface to Corpus MS,
ibid.:9)12
Indeed, Bower’s work is more propaganda than
history, and the author selects his sources and frames
events as he sees fit given contemporary events. For
example, he extends his work from fifteen to sixteen
books after the murder of James I in 1437, we are
told, as the kingdom has fallen foul of tyranny. 13
Material in Book XVI about the “most illustrious”
James I serves as a manual for King James II, aged
only six when attaining the throne in 1437, and all
those who follow him. Indeed, Bower directly addresses
the governance of James II in the final passages
of this book. He prays to Christ that the king,
inspired by the text, will rule well and learn the
appropriate lessons from his royal ancestors. 14 He
frames the future—the rule of James II—in terms
of the past, hoping that the King will mirror the past
so that he may become a worthy subject of history
in due course (Bower and Watt 1998:322, Mapstone
1997:65–66, Terrell 2011:325–327).
The Scotichronicon indeed found a wide audience,
as Bower intended. Many manuscripts of the
text were produced, including abbreviations rendered
to make the text more serviceable (Webster
1997:106; Terrell 2011:328, 335).15 An examination
of the Latin used in the text reveals that the work
was targeted at both an educated audience and a lay
public who would receive knowledge of its contents
via clerical parallel reading and translation to render
the material more accessible to the lay community
(Engels 1998:314; Terrell 2011:328). Based on
manuscript evidence, several high-ranking clerics
and religious communities have been identified as
fifteenth- or sixteenth-century owners of the Scotichronicon,
either abbreviated or full-text editions.16
In the mid- to late fifteenth century, production of
Latin recensions of the Scotichronicon flourished,
even leading to several vernacular versions (Terrell
2011:336).17
The wide dissemination of this “politicized
historiography” testifies to its social and political
currency in Scotland during the medieval period
(Terrell 2011:335). Part of Bower’s (arguably successful)
textual strategy is to fashion a persuasive
historical account from a wide variety of sources,
building up layer upon layer of historical “proof ” of
Scottish independence. The author draws not only
from Fordun, but also widely from other authors,
such as Vincent of Beauvais.18 Mason (2006:56)
argues that Bower’s use of myriad sources produce
“a somewhat unwieldy ragbag of information”,
with Bower more a compiler than an author. However,
Bower’s nuanced handling of sources, shaping
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them to show the results he wished, is central to the
Scotichronicon’s success. An interrogation of the
handling of a specific source is a productive scholarly
endeavor, particularly for a source whose usage is
in itself noteworthy. As Nicola Royan (2008) points
out, extensive inclusion of material from female
religious sources is “relatively scarce” in medieval
Scottish chronicles (132). A significant exception to
this is Bower’s repeated references to St. Birgitta of
Sweden (b. 1303–d. 1373), and to date, little academic
attention—if any at all—has been paid to the
saint’s appearance in the text.19 This article thus targets
this gap in research, offering a study of Bower’s
manipulation of Birgitta and her visions to reinforce
his own textual authority, and demonstrate the error
of English aggression.
The only woman to be canonized in the fourteenth
century (Morris 1999:1, Newman 2005:37),
and the only woman to have ever founded her
own monastic order, Birgitta of Sweden was a
remarkable figure with wide-ranging influence.
For example, Birgitta’s visions of Jesus’s birth
and death widely influenced medieval art (Cornell
1924, Cuttler 1993, Panofsky 1953, Sperry
1973:125). The saint’s holy life also inflected the
spiritual lives of other women, most notably Margery
Kempe.20 Born in 1303 in Uppland to a noble
family, Birgitta bore eight children and fulfilled
the Christian roles of wife and mother.21 After the
death of her husband, Ulf, in 1344 or 1346, she was
called to the spiritual life of prophet by a vision of
Christ, the first of over seven hundred revelations
she was to receive. During this time, she battled
for reform in the Church, critiquing the clergy for
abuse of ecclesiastical office,22 and petitioning for
the return of the papacy to Rome from Avignon.23
She also exhibited significant political interests,
entreating for peace between France and England
at the start of the Hundred Years War,24 and advising
both popes25 and royalty.26 Equally, she upheld
a devout spiritual life, and made a pilgrimage to
Rome in 1350 (Morris 1999:93–94), and to Jerusalem
in 1371. Eighteen short years after her death
in 1373, Birgitta was canonized by Pope Boniface
IX. Due to intense ecclesiastical turmoil, she was
re-canonized by Pope Martin V at the Council of
Constance (1418). Circulating after her death, her
Revelations text was highly popular, read by theologians
and educated laity alike (Sahlin 2001:19).
There are approximately one hundred and fifty
extant Latin manuscripts of the Revelations in European
and North American libraries. The work was
also translated into Swedish, English, German, Italian,
Czech, and Dutch during the medieval period,
with its first printing in Latin in Lübeck in 1492.
Between 1492 and 1680, nine full editions of the
Latin text were published in Germany, Rome, and
Belgium. Her order was confirmed by Urban V in
1370, and flourished; by the end of the fifteenth
century, there were approximately 60 or 70 of the
Order’s houses in existence (Feiss 1993:314, Sperry
1973:125).
Birgitta and her works are referenced in eighteen
chapters of the Scotichronicon.27 She is portrayed
repeatedly as an authority on Biblical matters, such
as the exact events of the virgin birth and the age of
the Virgin Mary,28 alongside current theological issues.
Her visions are utilized to argue against claims
of papal heresy,29 predestination,30 and the Lollard
heresy,31 emphasizing in particular the real presence
of Christ in the Eucharist.32 She is called upon to
delineate the manner of killing pagans without sinning33
and invoked to explain the origins of devastating
plagues.34 Birgitta’s vision of the divine punishment
of a monk who married a girl is used to critique
clerical impropriety.35 Even kings receive counsel
from Birgitta, as Bower quotes extensively from her
advice to rulers in Book VIII of her Revelations.36 If
Bower’s work is the beginnings of the trend of “liturgical
nationalism”—a movement towards increased
devotion to regional saints which continues to the
later fifteenth century (Mason 2006:58)—why did he
choose a Swedish saint to further the argument for
Scottish sovereignty?
In addition, in the medieval period, Birgitta was
hailed by the English as a saint of their own land,
akin to St. George (Beckett 1993:137, Bradley
Warren 1999:315). Bower was zealously Anglophobic
and deeply committed to Scottish separatism
(Bower and Watt 1998:352–353, Terrell 2011:324).
Attending a council in 1433 to decide on a peace
offer from England, Bower enthusiastically turned
down all English entreaties (Bower and Watt
1998:206–207, Terrell 2011:331). Bower casts any
and all available aspersions on the English in the
Scotichronicon,37 although Scotland in the main
was not the victim of English violence between the
Wars of Independence and the Reformation (ca.
1535–ca. 1560) (Terrell 2011:331, 334–335). Internal
strife in Scotland, with factions developing due
to the weak governance of exiled or minor kings
(James I and James II, respectively) was the primary
cause of instability in the land while the English
were busy during the Wars of the Roses (ca.
1455–1485) (ibid.). Nevertheless, English violence
still weighed heavily upon Scottish minds, and
was not a fact of the far distant past. For example,
the father of Bower’s patron, Sir David Stewart of
Rosyth, was killed in the battle of Shrewsbury on
21 July 1403, fighting for Henry Hotspur in a rebellion
against Henry IV (Borthwick 1998:356). Yet
Bower repeatedly calls upon Birgitta, despite her
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staunch English association, to attack English vice
and wrongdoing. In spite of Birgitta’s pronouncements
on the importance of pilgrimage to the Holy
Land, the English obstruct the passage of pilgrims
with their violent incursions into surrounding
lands.38 Birgitta’s pronouncements on the divine
punishment for those who usurp others’ thrones
are used to rebuke Henry IV for deposing Richard
II in 1399.39 In Book XV, Bower cites Birgitta to
emphasize the righteousness of Joan of Arc’s campaign
against the English.40 Nancy Bradley Warren
(1999) has amply shown that medieval holy
women, including Birgitta, were “valuable sources
of symbolic capital which played crucial roles in
the process of constructing social identities” in
England (309).41 How does Bower in the Scotichronicon
subvert Birgitta’s English association for his
own ends, and harness her “symbolic capital” in his
vision for a stable and separate Scottish realm?
Birgitta in England and Scotland
Despite the prominence of Birgitta in medieval
Europe and the Scotichronicon text, there is thus far
scant evidence of a significant Scottish dedication to
her (Murray 1885:27).42 Moreover, in the medieval
period, Birgitta was explicitly hailed as an English,
not a Scottish, saint and she had a devoted following
south of the border (Beckett 1993:137, Bradley
Warren 1999:315). In particular, the English seized
upon revelations received by Birgitta that related to
the Hundred Years War, using them to argue for the
righteousness of their military endeavors against
France (Beckett 1993:126, Ellis 1982:173, Johnston
1985:78).43 In three chapters (103–105) from
Book IV of the Revelations, the saint likens France
and England to two “ferocious beasts”, with marriage
the only solution for peace between the two
parties (Birgitta 1992:Book IV, chapters 103–105;
2008:184–186).44 King Magnus of Sweden summarized
the saint’s message in these chapters and sent
it to the English in 1348, although this made little
difference at the time (Johnston 1985:78). Nevertheless,
English diplomatic memoranda frequently
made reference to these passages.
In The Regement of Princes, a text composed for
the English Prince Henry (later V) in 1410–1411,
Hoccleve (1897:194–195) faithfully inserts chapter
105 of the Revelations’ fourth book (Beckett
1993:137, Chance 1995:175, Coote 2000:169–171,
Johnston 1985:78). Hoccleve appeals to the King
to marry in order to secure peace, directly drawing
from Birgitta’s material. The same chapter was again
mobilized as the rationale for a marriage during
Henry V’s rule in 1415, and also during the rule of
Henry VI (Beckett 1993:137). In the Scotichronicon,
Bower provides a counterargument to this marriage
solution, quoting from chapter 140 of the same book
of the Revelations instead. After detailing the military
activities of the virtuous “maid of France”, Joan
of Arc, in fighting the English at Meung-sur-Loire,
which resulted in the death of three thousand Englishmen,
Bower comments:
In Bridget’s book On the French, Our Lady
appeared to her saying “that there will never
be such firm and quiet peace in France that
the inhabitants can in any way rejoice together
there in full security and harmony until
the people of the kingdom have appeased God
my son by some great works of piety and humility,
for they have hitherto provoked him to
indignation and wrath by their many sins and
flashy ways.”45 (Scotichronicon, Book XV,
chapter 36; Bower and Watt 1987:132–133)
Joan, we are told, has been “sent by the Most
High to repel and weaken the plans of the English”
(ibid.).46 Bower shows that God has clearly returned
to France, or at least sent His envoy in the form
of Joan—implying that the cited Birgitta’s prophecy
is true, and thus that the French will ultimately
find peace in their lands. The battle at Meung-sur-
Loire was a part of the decisive Loire campaign of
1428–1429, a series of battles culminating in the
overwhelming English defeat at Patay, in which the
French forced the invading English north of the river
Loire, allowing safe passage to the city of Reims
(Edmunds 2008:57–65, Richey 2003:67–88) Moreover,
it is after the victories at the battle of Meungsur-
Loire and Jargeau, masterminded by Joan, and
on the maiden warrior’s advice, that
the king [Charles VII] went to the city of Rheims
in Champagne and there was crowned
and anointed with the oil in the sacred vessel
brought [as it is said] by an angel to Charlemagne.
47 (Scotichronicon, Book XV, chapter
38; Bower and Watt 1987:131)
Anointment with holy oil, purportedly sent from
heaven, was a unique part of the French coronation
process, laid down by French King Louis IX
(b. 1214–d. 1270) in two ordines from 1230 and
1250 (Fraioli 2005:51). The origins of this ritual
lie not with Charlemagne, as Bower asserts, but
with the baptism of Clovis I (b. ca. 466–d. 511) by
St. Remigius, when a white dove (the Holy Spirit)
delivered a vial of holy oil for the rite on Christmas
day of 496 (Fraioli 2005:47, Le Goff 1988:20). The
holy oil emphasized the French rulers’ divine right
to the throne, and thus the coronation of Charles
VII is deployed as a signal of the return of God
to the kingdom. French sovereignty was further
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legitimized by creating a direct link to Clovis, the
first Catholic king of the Franks and the first king to
unite Frankish tribal lands into one nation (Le Goff
1988:20). Even some Englishmen recognized this:
the English Benedictine monk Matthew Paris (b. ca.
1200–d. 1259) wrote that Louis IX was “the king of
earthly kings … because of this heavenly anointing”
(Fraioli 2005:52).48 On 17 July 1429, Joan would
witness Charles VII’s coronation, complete with
holy oil, at Reims cathedral, the traditional site of
the crowning of French kings. This ceremony sealed
the young dauphin’s status as true ruler of the nation,
highlighting his link to past kings of France all the
way back to Clovis, while also underlining God’s
own approval of his rule via the holy oil (Allmand
1988:34). The Treaty of Troyes, signed in May 1420
after the devastating French defeat at Agincourt, set
forth that Henry V and his descendants would inherit
the French throne, rather than Charles VI’s heir.
Henry VI’s two coronations not only occurred after
Charles’, but also did not take place in Reims but first
on English soil, in November 1429 in Westminster
Abbey, and again in December 1431 in Notre-Dame
in Paris. By comparison, Charles VII’s coronation,
following the traditional model for ascension to the
French throne and complete with divine legitimacy
bestowed by the holy oil and Birgitta’s prophecy,
appears to be that of the true king. Reclaiming their
sovereignty by emphasizing a symbolically unruptured
lineage and aggressively defending their territory
from the English, the French implicitly serve
as an example to the Scottish and the campaign for
their own enduring national sovereignty.
With the foundation of Syon Abbey in 1415 by
Henry V, the firm English allegiance to Birgitta was
rendered visible. Syon Abbey was the only Birgittine
institution in the land and became the largest English
nunnery (Beckett 1993:131).49 The abbey became a
“national shrine” to Birgitta, particularly after the
abbey gained possession of one of the saint’s bones
(Beckett 1993:139). Devotion to Birgitta also spread
beyond Syon, as shown by the wide uptake of the
Birgittine rosary with sixty-three beads and the
bustling trade of pilgrims visiting the abbey (Jones
and Walsham 2010:16). The proliferation of texts
produced by Syon for popular consumption and the
inclusion of a short vernacular life of the saint in the
sixteenth-century Nova Legenda Anglie50 equally reveal
significant English veneration of Birgitta (Johnston
1985:75–93, Jones and Walsham 2010:16).
As Tore Nyberg (1974:139) indicates, there is
a mutually productive relationship between a religious
institution and its royal supporters. While the
religious foundation is sustained by financial and
political aid from its benefactors, the benefactors
access a sort of divine “surplus energy” otherwise
unavailable to them by dint of a staunch relationship
to God (ibid.). Syon Abbey was not just a focal
point of Birgitta’s cult in England, but served as an
important symbol in Henry V’s aims to reinforce
his claims to both the English and French throne:
“the public representation of his dynastically solid
and divinely sanctioned kingship” (Bradley Warren
1999:318, cf. 314, 316). Henry V tapped in to Birgitta’s
cult to harness this “energy” and demonstrate
the legitimacy of his rule—after all God, through
Birgitta, was on his side (ibid.:308). Henry V laid
the foundation stone at Syon on 22 February 1415
(ibid.:314). “Syon” was synonymous with “Jerusalem”,
and thus Henry V had brought the holiest of
holy lands to the heart of his own kingdom, showing
God’s support for English supremacy (Beckett
1993:138). When petitioning Pope Martin V in a
supplica delivered in 1418 for the confirmation of
Syon Abbey, Henry also urged the pontiff to confirm
the saint’s canonization (ibid.:127, Bradley Warren
1999:314). The importance of Birgitta’s holy status
for Henry’s strategy of divinely appointed royal
legitimacy is clear. Further, residents of the abbey
were charged with praying with particular attention
for the king and his family, theoretically providing
a stream of divine sponsorship for their exploits in
the Hundred Years War (Beckett 1993:132). Henry
V even petitioned Martin V for permission to build
more Birgittine houses in England at the start of
his reign, though he likely could not actually have
afforded to finance their establishment (Beckett
1993:129, 131). Syon Abbey required huge financial
outlay from Henry, including a yearly endowment
of one thousand marks, and most of the money was
sourced from the King’s own pocket (Bradley Warren
1999:315). The King’s willingness to spend so
much of his own wealth on the abbey testifies to the
value he perceived in its existence, buttressing his
royal legitimacy (ibid.).
At the beginning of his reign, Henry conferred
on Syon the land of eight priories in England, which
had originally belonged to the French (ibid.).51 This
transfer emphasized Henry’s sovereignty over the
French, with added authority given by the Birgittine
recipient. As Neil Beckett (1993:133–135) points
out, however, Syon did not actually conform to all
of Birgitta’s rule: it contravened precepts on the
age of applicants, architectural form, and format of
worship. A special dispensation had to be sought
from Pope Martin V to resolve this issue. The speed
with which Henry established the abbey, resulting
in these errors, testifies to the King’s urgent wish
to found the institution and thereby solidify his
link with Birgitta as soon as possible (cf. Beckett
1993:133, Bradley Warren 1999:314n.40). A week
after signing Syon’s foundation charter in May of
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2013 Journal of the North Atlantic Special Volume 4
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from her on how he should conduct himself
justly and wisely as a ruler. It is found in the
second chapter of her Liber Celestis [Revelations,
Book VIII], where Christ speaks to
her as follows: … (Scotichronicon, Book X,
chapter 6; Bower and Watt 1990:306–307)54
This passage highlights Birgitta’s role as prophet,
and thus an authoritative and worthy source of
spiritual information. It also emphasizes the Swedish
king’s humility in seeking advice from Birgitta,
an individual of the weaker sex, and further justifies
Bower’s own reference to her. Significantly, Bower
suppresses one of the ten precepts contained in
chapter two of the book from which he is quoting:
the inestimable importance of the foundation of a
Birgittine order by a wise and rightful king (Bower
and Watt 1990:445–446).55 The Scottish author does
not advertise this elision, and merely renumbers the
following precepts accordingly (ibid.). In the cited
revelation, Christ proclaims that the ten rules he
sets forth are “ten things which [the Swedish king],
and any king, must do” to “live a just and wise life
as a ruler” (my emphasis, ibid.:307).56 Magnus II of
Sweden founded the Birgittine abbey in Vadstena in
1346, fulfilling this recommendation, as did Henry
V with his establishment of Syon in 1415. No Scottish
king, including James I, had set up a Birgittine
house. Bower tactically removes this precept to
erase any potential evidence for Scottish kings to be
deemed illegitimate.
Birgitta’s Value as Divine Messenger
The efficacy of Bower’s usage of Birgitta for
Scottish interests lies, in fact, in the saint’s strong
connection to the English. From both the English
and Scottish perspective, Birgitta’s symbolic value
is directly founded on her status as a holy woman,
with direct access to God, who delivers her unquestionably
authentic messages. Bower reinforces the
saint’s status as genuine divine conduit and then
recasts her (unquestionably authentic) revelations
for his own purposes of political propaganda. The
English cannot simply designate Birgitta as a false
prophet, as her visions are so central to their political
ideology. Rather, thanks to his repeated references to
Birgitta, a sheen of truth gilds Bower’s own words—
a truth implicitly acknowledged by the English via
their own strong veneration of Birgitta.
In chapter 39 of Book IV, Bower admonishes his
readers to remember that:
these revelations [of Birgitta’s] are like an
epistle or letter sent by God to this endangered
world at the urging of the glorious Virgin
Mary, the Mother of Mercy, and all of the
1415, Henry lobbied the city of London for financial
support for his invading mission to France (Bradley
Warren 1999:314). Moreover, in both Henry’s first
(24 July 1415) and last (10 June 1421) will, the King
specifically referred to Birgitta by name (Beckett
1993:127). After his death, a cross containing one of
the saint’s relics was discovered among the King’s
effects (ibid.).
Syon was originally located in Sheen, near the
royal manor—a place intimately connected with
Richard II, who was usurped by Henry IV in 1399.
By choosing this symbolic location, Henry V “symbolically
forged a connection with Richard II”, suppressing
his father’s act of usurpation and creating
a tangible Lancastrian link with earlier Plantagenet
kings (Bradley Warren 1999:316–317). Henry also
maintained a staunch link with his father, Henry IV,
through his association with Syon (ibid.:318). In
1408, Henry IV wrote to the Brigittines in Vadstena—
the seat of Birgitta’s order in Sweden—informing
them that Sir Henry FitzHugh52 had received his
permission to lodge two Vadstena monks in Cherry
Hinton, with the aim of ultimately founding an order
(ibid.). Henry also appealed to the Pope to establish
a Birgittine foundation in York. Although this petition
was unsuccessful, the King articulates his desire
to “be the special friend and protector of the order”
(ibid., Beckett 1993:126–127).
Birgitta’s rule, the Regula Salvatoris, stresses
that kings should found Birgittine houses (Beckett
1993:136; Birgitta and Eklund 1975:chapter 26, 131
and chapter 23, 170). In chapter thirty-one, Christ
explicitly states that peace will reign in lands which
establish abbeys dedicated to the saint (Beckett
1993:138, Birgitta and Eklund 1975:139). Henry V’s
statements in the Syon charter echo this notion of
peace and tranquillity flowing into a country housing
a Birgittine foundation53 (Aungier 1840:26, cited in
Beckett 1993:138). There were no Birgittine institutions
in Scotland from which Bower could draw
conclusions as to the righteousness of Scottish separatism
and English defeat in France. Instead, Bower
must rely on careful shaping of Birgitta’s revelations
embedded in the Scotichronicon to make his case,
trading on the saint’s status as divine messenger
from textual evidence alone. Bower introduces a
lengthy quotation from the Revelations which takes
up the majority of three chapters—all in Christ’s
voice—on the correct counsel for kings by invoking
Birgitta as a mouthpiece for Christ:
Because I want the king to have good solid
counsel, at this point I give the divinely
prescribed advice to kings which the King
of Kings revealed to the Lady Bridget as she
was praying for the king of Sweden [Magnus
II Ericsson], who had humbly sought advice
113
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2013 Journal of the North Atlantic Special Volume 4
1:26–38, 2:1–20) to illustrate the true events of the
scene (Bower and Watt 1993:216–219). This first
person account offers a detailed record of the nativity
scene, including, for example, Mary removing
her shoes, cloak, and veil in preparation for the birth,
and setting out linen clothes with which to swaddle
her child. Bower capitalizes on Birgitta’s privileged
information, garnered from her divine visions—
underscoring that “few people have heard about
the miraculous way”
64 (Bower and Watt 1993:216)
in which Christ was born—and thereby inserts a
claim for his own text’s importance as a repository
of knowledge beyond the common run, and even
perhaps divinely inspired prophecy.65 Moreover, as
Bower quotes Birgitta’s narration of what she saw,
“When I was at the Lord’s crib in Bethelehem, I
saw a certain Virgin …” 66, the first person subject
shifts—first referring to Birgitta, then to Bower, and
finally to the reader. Through Birgitta, Bower inserts
not only himself into the nativity scene—thereby becoming
a witness, whose account must be true—but
also his readers, allowing them direct knowledge
of the scene. This seeming “direct knowledge” persuades
the readers to share Bower’s perspective on
the vision scene, and allows the readers to bask in
their own privileged knowledge too.
After his careful framing of Birgitta as prophet
par excellence, Bower invokes her messages with
subtlety to critique the English. He includes extensive
citation from Birgitta on the virtue and necessity
of pilgrimage to the Holy Land so that “…
readers may more eagerly aspire to undertake such a
salutary expedition” (Scotichronicon, Book V, chapter
33; Bower and Watt1995:94–99).67 The English,
apparently, obstruct such pious activities with their
violence in the region, nefariously interrupting devout
Christian practices. Bower’s overt subject in
this chapter is not an attack of the English, rather
his criticisms flow naturally, almost as an aside, in
his discussion of pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Similarly,
after a discussion of the illegitimacy of Lancastrian
rule in England after the deposition of Richard II,
Bower invokes Birgitta’s declaration on the divine
punishment of those who usurp thrones as a generalization
on “accounts … of this kind”.68 Bower
refutes the Lancastrians’ attempted appropriation of
direct lineage, exemplified by the first location of
Syon Abbey in Sheen, as discussed above.
In addition, Bower mobilizes Birgitta to condemn
Scottish bad behavior, creating an artificial
sense of balance: the author seemingly does not
shirk from applying Birgitta’s teachings to his own
countrymen. His use of the saint as divine messenger
is thus portrayed as unbiased and well-intentioned.
The author attributes the degradation of the heirs of
accomplices of Robert Bruce in the murder of Sir
saints … (Scotichronicon, Book XIV, chapter
39; Bower and Watt 1996:376–377)57
Bower also inserts an apocryphal quotation from
the Revelations (Bower and Watt 1996:510), neatly
encapsulating Birgitta’s role in delivering divine
truths. Christ purportedly says to the saint: “I should
still send through you the words from my lips, that
is the words of this volume” (ibid.:378–379).58 The
Scotichronicon’s modern editors have been unable
to trace this direct speech to any of Birgitta’s own
works, although the topic of the preceding paragraph
relates to Book VII, chapter seventeen of her Revelations
(ibid.:510). That the quotation is apocryphal
does not detract from its successful functioning as
further reinforcing Birgitta’s status as holy channel.
Moreover, the positioning of this fictitious quote
from Birgitta alongside remarks which, although
rephrased, do relate to her authentic text reinforces
the citation’s supposed veracity.
Many of Bower’s references to Birgitta amount
to a fleeting allusion to the saint, moving swiftly on
to citation or paraphrasing from her Revelations.59
Formulations such as “Christ speaks to Birgitta as
follows …” precede often lengthy direct quotations
from the saint’s source text—direct speech from
Biblical figures delivered to Birgitta—to elaborate
on Bower’s chosen theme, or solidify his point.60
For example, Bower quotes at length from Birgitta’s
Celestial Book for Emperors and Kings (Book VIII
of the Revelations) on the divine rewards for those
fighting against pagans to authorize his own account
of the pardoning of Christian warriors during Charlegmagne’s
Saracen campaign.61 Christ’s message
to Birgitta on this subject serves as an additional historical
document, revealing Bower’s retelling of historical
events to be unquestionably truthful. Birgitta’s
utility for Bower is her role as divine conduit, channelling
God’s word. Evoking her authority constitutes
a powerful truth-claim for Bower’s own text.
In the Scotichronicon, Birgitta is cited alongside
a wide variety of renowned theological scholars
and spiritual figures, including St. Augustine, St.
Mechthild of Magdeburg, St. Jerome, St. Gregory
the Great, St. John Chrysostom, William of Auxerre,
St. Bernard, and Hildebert of Lavardin.62 At times,
Birgitta is even presented as a preferred source of
doctrinal and spiritual knowledge. Debating the
age of Mary at her death, Bower discounts Peter
Comestor’s chronology of the Virgin’s life in his
Scholastic History, preferring instead to side with
Birgitta’s account: “… but I agree with the Revelation
of St. Bridget …” (Scotichronicon, Book II,
chapter 25; Bower and Watt 1993:224–226).63 Relating
the Virgin birth, Bower opts to use Birgitta’s
version of events over others, including references
in the gospels (Matthew 1:18–23, 2:1–12; Luke
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2013 Journal of the North Atlantic Special Volume 4
114
John Comyn to divine punishment on sons in lieu of
their fathers, bolstering his argument with reference
to Book XII, chapter 19 of Birgitta’s Revelations on
the subject (Book XIV, chapter 20, Bower and Watt
1996:308–311). One of the heirs, Roger de Kirkpatrick,
was killed by another, Sir James de Lindsay,
who received capital punishment for his crime.
Nevertheless, this episode equally functions as an
implicit critique of Henry V, the heir of a man who
sacrilegiously deposed Richard II, and as a subtle
warning to his descendant Henry VI.
Conclusion: Birgitta, the Pan-European Saint
Nicola Royan (2008:132) suggests that Bower
refers to Birgitta so frequently in his text because
of the saint’s presumed popularity with the Scottish
King James I. James spent eighteen years (1406–
1424) held captive at the court of Henry V, and
possibly developed a parallel affection for Birgitta.
However, close attention to Bower’s work shows a
calculated and cumulative strategy of subverting the
saint’s English association for his ultimate purpose
of castigating the English, their invasion schemes,
and illegitimate claim to Scottish rule. Bower’s tactic
of harnessing Birgitta’s status as divine conduit,
trading on the “sacred” truths which spill from her
lips, and which he modulates and transmits as necessary
to fit his political purposes is exemplified in
his final remarks on both Birgitta and his own text.
The following three lines constitute Bower’s final
remarks on Birgitta:
He is not one of yours, Christ,
who is not pleased with this Book,
that is the Revelations of Bridget. (Scotichronicon,
Book XIV, chapter 39; Bower and Watt
1996:378–379)69
Those who may disagree with his glossing of
English wrongdoing via solicitous references to
Birgitta are clearly designated as morally corrupt:
disagreeing with Birgitta equates to disagreeing
with God Himself. Disagreeing with Bower, who
relies on Birgitta and her texts at key points in his
narrative, also implicitly corresponds to disagreeing
with the Lord. Strikingly, this proclamation echoes
the final line of Bower’s entire work: “Christ! He is
not a Scot who is not pleased with this book” (Book
XVI, chapter 39; Bower and Watt 1987:340–341).70
Comparing this text with his earlier remarks about
Birgitta, the saint’s work has been replaced by
Bower’s own text, and the congregation of true
Christians by true Scots. Bower categorizes his text
as a history book for the true Scot, designating any
individual who disagrees with his pronouncements
as a contemptible foreigner. His work is authoritative,
at least in part by his leveraging of Christ’s own
messenger Birgitta, whose words no true Christian
could doubt.
Bower’s use of Birgitta is part of a wider pattern
in the Scotichronicon in which he cites Englishclaimed
texts, and then neatly subverts them for his
own ends (Bradley Warren 1999:332). For example,
in chapter six, Book IX, Bower quotes extensively
from Ranulph Higden’s Polychronicon, a renowned
history book in fourteenth-century England (Bower
and Watt 1990:16–18, Terrell 2011:332). In the
citation, the devilish ancestry of the English rulers
is revealed: Geoffrey Count of Anjou, the English
King Henry II’s ancestor, married a woman who flew
out of church whenever mass was performed. The
chapter is somewhat sensationally entitled “[h]ow
the kings of England are descended on one side from
the race or family of the devil” (Bower and Watt
1990:17).71 Significantly, Bower identifies the text
as the “Polychronicon of the English”,72 highlighting
its English origins and thereby suggesting that
the English themselves admit, and even vaunt, their
diabolical roots (Terrell 2011:332).
In fact, the Scottish, French, and English (both
Lancastrian and Yorkist factions) all traded in the
“same symbolic coin”—Birgitta—to construct opposing
and interweaving narratives of royal legitimacy
and unimpeachable sovereignty in the medieval
period (Bradley Warren 1999:321). Along with
Hoccleve’s more straightforward utilization of Birgitta,
detailed earlier, English texts also manipulated
her visions to strengthen their textual attacks on the
French. For example, in one English manuscript,
Bodleian Library MS Ashmole 27, the scribe amends
the cited Revelations text of Book IV, chapter 103 to
textually isolate the French from a traditional source
of divine support (Ellis 1982:173). The original version
records St. Denis’ prayer to the Virgin Mary on
behalf of the French:
Therefore have mercy on the kingdom of
France, your France and mine. It is yours,
because its inhabitants honour you in their
measure. It is mine, because I am patron saint
and they trust in me.73 (Revelations, Book IV,
chapter 103; Birgitta 2008:183).
Ashmole 27’s scribe omits all text after “the
kingdom of France”, efficiently severing the link
between both St. Denis and the Virgin Mary and
France (Ellis 1982:173). The first Yorkist king of
England, Edward IV (b. 1442–d. 1483 [reigned
1461–1470, 1471–1483]), called one of his daughters
Bridget, a sign of his veneration of Birgitta,
and came to be regarded as the “second founder”
of Syon thanks to his restoration of property lost
during the reign of Henry VI (Bradley Warren
115
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2013 Journal of the North Atlantic Special Volume 4
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Almqvist and Wiksells, Uppsala, Sweden. 229 pp.
Birgitta. 2008. The Revelations of St. Birgitta of Sweden.
Volume 2, Liber caelestis, Books IV–V. D. Searby
(Trans.), B. Morris (Ed.). 2 vols. Vol. 2. Oxford University
Press, Oxford, UK. 360 pp.
Birgitta, and S. Eklund. 1975. Regula Salvatoris. Berlingska
boktryckeriet, Lund, Sweden. 244 pp.
Borthwick, A. 1998. Bower’s patron, Sir David Stewart
of Rosyth, by Alan Borthwick. Pp. 354–364, In W.
Bower, and D.E.R. Watt. Scotichronicon: In Latin and
English. Volume 9. 9 vols. Vol. 9. University of St.
Andrews, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK. 558 pp.
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Latin and English. Volume 8. 9 vols. Vol. 8. Aberdeen
University Press, Aberdeen, Scotland, UK. 409 pp.
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Latin and English. Volume 2. 9 vols. Vol. 2. Aberdeen
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Bower, W., and D.E.R. Watt. 1995. Scotichronicon: In
Latin and English. Volume 3. 9 vols. Vol. 3. Aberdeen
University Press, Aberdeen, Scotland, UK. 521 pp.
Bower, W., and D.E.R. Watt. 1996. Scotichronicon : In
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University Press, Aberdeen, Scotland, UK. 557 pp.
Bower, W., and D.E.R. Watt. 1998. Scotichronicon: In
Latin and English. Volume 9. 9 vols. Vol. 9. University
of St. Andrews, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK. 558 pp.
Bradley Warren, N. 1999. Kings, Saints, and Nuns:
Gender, Religion, and Authority in the Reign of
Henry V. Viator: Medieval and Renaissance Studies
30:307–322.
Bradley Warren, N. 2001. Spiritual Economies: Female
Monasticism in Later Medieval England. University
of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia, PA, USA. 276 pp.
Chance, J. 1995. St. Catherine of Siena in late medieval
Britain. Feminizing literary reception through gender
and class. Annali d’italianistica 13:163–204.
Cornell, J.H. 1924. The iconograph of the nativity of
Christ. Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden. 106 pp.
Coote, L. A. 2000. Prophecy and Public Affairs in Later
Medieval England. York Medieval Press, York, UK.
301 pp.
1999:321–322, Johnston 1985:86). Additionally,
passages from Birgitta’s Revelations (Book IV,
chapter 3) were utilized to denounce the overthrowing
of Richard II, to lobby for Edward IV’s
right to the throne and thereby emphasize the legitimacy
of Yorkist reign in England (Ellis 1982:173,
Johnston 1985:87). In this instance, the Yorkist
English and Bower were on the same page, using
Birgittine texts to discredit Lancastrian claims to
the English throne, despite any mutual tension regarding
the Scottish throne. In 1445, the French,
normally anti-Birgitta because of her English affiliations
(Bradley Warren 2001:309), produced a
text lobbying for a marriage between Henry VI and
Margaret of Anjou, which contained a reference
to Revelations Book IV chapter 105 (Birgitta
1992:299), in which Birgitta maintains that marriage
is the only option to end French-English wars
(Abnergale 1993:904, Bradley Warren 2001:309).
It is clear that “macro-level” research into Birgitta’s
political and social influences in Europe more
generally must be contextualized with an examination
of the “micro-level” national affiliations to
the saint, which at times offer both opposing and
overlapping perspectives on the significance of the
saint’s visions. In light of the myriad national allegiances
historically forged with the saint, it is rather
fitting that Birgitta was proclaimed co-patroness
of all of Europe by Pope John Paul II (1999) on the
cusp of the new millenium.
Acknowledgments
My thanks to the Arts and Humanities Research Council
for Ph.D. funding that has allowed the preparation of
this paper and my postgraduate studies. A debt of gratitude
is also owed to Dr. Jane Gilbert (UCL) and Prof. Claire
Sahlin (TWU, guest editor of this manuscript) for invaluable
guidance and advice.
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UK, and New York, NY, USA. 204 pp.
Voorbij, J.B. 1998. Bower’s use of Vincent of Beauvais.
Pp. 260–280, In W. Bower and D.E.R. Watt. Scotichronicon:
In Latin and English. Volume 9. 9 vols. Vol. 9.
University of St Andrews, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK.
558 pp.
Webster, B. 1997. Medieval Scotland. The Making of
an Identity. Macmillan Press Ltd., Basingstoke, UK.
164 pp.
Wogan-Browne, J. 2001. Saints’ Lives and Women’s Literary
Culture c. 1150–1300: Virginity and its Authorizations.
Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. 314 pp.
Endnotes
1Cambridge, Corpus Christi, MS 171, also known as MS C, is the
main manuscript of the Scotichronicon, and was a working copy
for the library of Incholm Abbey (Bower and Watt 1998:149; for
a description and analysis of the Corpus MS, see: ibid.:148–185).
All other extant manuscripts are copies of the Corpus manuscript.
For a description and analysis of the Corpus MS, see: Bower and
Watt (1998:148-85). Extant copies of the Corpus MS are: Royal
MS (British Library, MS Royal 13 E. X, also known as MS R);
Donibristle MS (Darnaway Castle, Moray, also known as MS
D); Brechin MS (Scottish Record Office, MS GD.45/26/48, also
known as MS B); Harleian MS (British Library, MS Harleian
712, also known as MS H); Edinburgh MS (Edinburgh University
Library, MS 186, also known as MS E). For detail on these
copies, see ibid.(186–192), Murray (1885:9–15). Abbreviated
copies of the Corpus MS are also in existence. These are: Coupar
Angus MS (National Library of Scotland, Adv. MS 35.1.7, also
known as MS CA); Catholic MS (National Library of Scotland,
MS Acchapter 10301/6, Scottish Catholic Archives Collection,
MS MM2/1, also known as MS FF); Perth MS (National Library
of Scotland, Adv.MS 35.6.7, also known as MS P); Harleian MS
4764 (British Library, MS Harleian 4764, also known as MS
FE). For detail on these abbreviated MS, see Bower and Watt
(1998:193–198).
2For a concise biography of Sir David Stewart of Rosyth, see:
Borthwick (1998).
3Bower’s prologue and preface to the Scotichronicon in the Corpus
MS mentions his patron’s request explicitly: “Reddere igitur
necesse est quod promisi, et ad satisf-[aciendum] importunis
generose probitatis militis domini David Stewar[t] de Rossisse
peticionibus acquievi, ...” (Bower and Watt 1998:2).
4Little is known of Fordun, though he is classified as a chaplain at
Aberdeen church in one mid-fifteenth century copy of the Scotichronicon
(Webster 1997:99–100). Additionally, the introduction
to MS Coupar Angus emphasises his dedication to research,
including visiting England to source material (Bower and Watt
1998:12–15 [ll. 28–53], 317; Webster 1997:99–100). Bower, in
comparison, never left Scotland (Bower and Watt 1998:204).
5The full Latin text is available in Fordun and Skene (1871).
6For an in-depth comparative study of sources used by Bower
and Fordun, see Bower and Watt (1998:234–259). See also ibid.
(315–320) for more on the relationship between Bower’s text and
Fordun’s work, and Mason (2006:55).
7In the introduction to the Coupar Angus MS, Bower mentions
his annotations: “Ac eciam ipsis suis quinque libris premissis
protracciones liniares cum titulo ‘Scriptoris’ hicinde intromisi,
per quod constare poterit legenti, quid inibe ipse scriba confecit
ad quid de meo suis appositum dereliqui.” (Bower and Watt
1998:14, ll. 46–49).
8Bower and Watt (1998:204–208) provides an excellent biography
of Bower.
9Bower makes reference to the diversity in the Scottish people
explicitly in Scotichronicon, Book II, chapter 9 (Bower and Watt
1993:184–187).
10For an excellent overview of the wars of independence, see Barrell
(2000:92–136).
11See: Monmouth (1854) for the full Latin version of Geoffrey’s
text. An English translation of the text is available: Monmouth
and Thompson (1999). Bower follows John of Fordun in detailing
this origin myth for the Scots (Mason 2006:56; Terrell
2011:323).
12“In hoc, ut reor, volumine invenient principes evitare bellorum et
dubiorum eventuum pericula, religiosi percipient regularia rudimenta,
seculares salubria documentam predicatores exemplaria
narramenta. Cuius exemplarietate rees cauciores reddentur, religiosi
regularius institutentur, et quotquot tedio affect lectura eius
leticie condonentur.” (Preface to Corpus MS, Bower and Watt
1998:8, ll. 99–104.) Bower also refers to his military and clerical
readers in Scotichronicon, Book XIV, chapter 38, ll. 40–41
(Bower and Watt 1996:372–373; Terrell 2011:327).
13“Hic finem libri proposui fecisse; sed mente ulterius stimulates
ob intolerabilem tirannidem undique excresentem concito post
portem inclitissimi regis nostril Jacobi primi per universum regnum
brevier perstringam eius actus inclitos, ut regalis
eiusdem rectoria sit sequacibus eius regibus tamquam imago
descripta specula [refulgens] forma virtutis c’.” (Scotichronicon,
Book XV, chapter 39; Bower and Watt 1987:146–147)
14“Inflammetur igitur, obsescro Altimissum, lectura huius codicis
saltem rex noster modernus, et sic transiat in regimine per bona
tempralia ut aspiret ad eternal, orans insuper Christum quod
ipsum ex munere misericordie sue talem efficiat ut habeamus
aliquid eternal memoria dignum, sicut de egregiis antecessoribus
suis regibus, quod ministerio gramatum de se ad posteros transmittamus.”
(Scotichronicon, Book XVI, chapter 39; Bower and
Watt 1987:340–341)
15Bower comments on his production of abbreviated versions of
the text in the introduction to the Coupar Angust MS as follows:
“Sed quia delicates auribus grata est brevitas, prolixitas odiosa,
ideo omissis in hoc Scotichronicon abbreviato diversis incidenciis
et notabilibus allegacionibus digressionibus et exemplis ad
diversa proposita perspicue facientibus qui illinc inseruntur,
hic per extensum, his succinccius tanquam ad summarium et ad
allevacionem transumencium et copiare infrascripta volencium
stilum paro; ...” (Bower and Watt 1998:ll. 49–55, 14).
16These include Paisley Abbey, Simon Finlay (chaplain of the
altar of Saint Michael in Saint Giles Church, Edinburgh), the
Cistercian abbey of Coupar Angus, the Carthusians of the Perth
Charterhouse, the abbot of Dunfermline, a bishop of Aberdeen
and one of Dunkeld (George Brown) (Bower and Watt
1998:186–192, Murray 1885:8, Terrell 2011:326).
17For example, there are six Latin extant manuscripts, alongside
one vernacular French manuscript, of the Liber Pluscardensis,
an early abbreviation of the Scotichronicon (ca. 1450–1461)
(Terrell 2011:335).
18See Bower and Watt (1998:234–259) for a breakdown of identified
sources in the work. See also Voorbij (1998) on Bower’s use
of Vincent of Beauvais in particular.
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2013 Journal of the North Atlantic Special Volume 4
118
19Royan (2008) notes, however, that Kylie Murray was working
on references to Birgitta in the Scotichronicon, which had not
yet been published (132n.4). I have been unable to source Murray’s
work.
20See chapters 17, 20, 39 and 58 for references to Birgitta in Kempe
and Butler-Bowden (1932). There have been a variety of studies
on the influence of St. Birgitta on Margery Kempe’s work,
and the differing experiences of visionary spirituality in the two
women’s texts. See for example: Ellis (2005:320–321), Newman
(2005:29–32), Ross (1991). Rosalynn Voaden (1999:73–154)
provides an excellent chapter on the controversy surrounding
Kempe’s text which, read alongside her earlier chapter on the
same theme in Birgitta’s Revelations offers an insightful parallel
study. For a brief sketch of Birgitta’s influence on later female
religious, see Sahlin (2001:4).
21For a near exhaustive biography of Birgitta, see Morris (1999).
22E.g., Revelations, Book I, chapters 47–49.
23E.g., Revelations, Book III, chapter 10; IV, chapter 78, chapters
141–143; VI, chapter 63.
24E.g., Revelations, Book VI, chapter 63.
25E.g., Revelations, Book III, chapter 27; IV, chapter 33, chapter
136, chapters 141–143. For extensive examples of Birgitta’s
views on the necessity of clerical and ecclesiastical reform, see
Fogelqvist (1993).
26E.g., Revelations, Book VII, chapters 16–19 on Cyprus.
27The following is a complete list of references to Birgitta in the
D.E.R. Watt edition of the Scotichronicon. Book numbers and
chapters refer to the original Scotichronicon format preserved
by Watt within the critical edition, with a reference to their
place within this edition in brackets. Watt provides a somewhat
misleading page listing for Birgitta references, which
includes references to his own notes on the saint (Bower and
Watt 1998:237). Book II, chapters 21–22 (Bower and Watt
1993:216–219); Book II, chapter 25 (ibid.:226–227); Book III,
chapter 63 (1989:178–183); Book IV, chapter 53 (ibid.:432–
433); Book V, chapter 33 (1995:94–97); Book VII, chapter 2
(1994, 6-7); Book VII, chapter 9 (ibid.:24–25); Book IX, chapter
52 (1990:158–159); Book X, chapters 6-8 (ibid.:306–313);
Book XIV, chapter 20 (1996:310–311); Book XIV, chapter 39
(ibid.:374–379); Book XV, chapter 9 (1987:30–31); Book XV,
chapter 20 (ibid.:72–73); Book XV, chapter 36 (ibid.:132–133);
Book XV, chapter 39 (ibid.:140–143).
28Found in Book II, chapters 21–22, chapter 25, Bower and Watt
(1993:216–219, 226–227 respectively).
29Book XV, chapter 20, Bower and Watt (1987:72–73).
30Book VII, chapter 2, Bower and Watt (1994: 6–7).
31Book XV, chapter 39, Bower and Watt (1987:140–143).
32Book IV, chapter 53, Bower and Watt (1989: 432–433).
33Book III, chapter 63, Bower and Watt (1989: 178–183).
34Book VII, chapter 9, Bower and Watt (1994: 24–25).
35Book IX, chapter 52, Bower and Watt (1990: 158–159).
36Book X, chapters 6-8, ibid.(306–313).
37For example, Bower repeatedly lauds the French for contesting
English dominance (Book XV, chapters 31-6, Bower and Watt
1987:112–133; Book XVI, chapters 11-12, chapter 25, Bower
and Watt 1987:246–251, 293–295.) He denigrates the Welsh
for capitulation (Book XV, chapters 29–30, Bower and Watt
1987:104–111). He gloats over past attempts to force Englishmen
from benefices, as the Scottish were barred from English
benefices (Book XI, chapter 21, Bower and Watt 1991:60–63).
Moreover, the Scotichronicon includes several references to the
English being born with tails – a belief prevalent amongst Anglophobes
and dating back to St. Augustine of Canterbury (Book
III, chapter 33, ll. 10–17, Bower and Watt 1989:90–91; Book IX,
chapter 33, l. 65, Bower and Watt 1990:99; Book XIII, chapter
22, ll. 26–28, Bower and Watt 1996:74–75). On this, see Terrell
(2011:352–353).
38Book V, chapter 33, Bower and Watt (1995:94–97).
39Book XV, chapter 9, Bower and Watt (1987:30–31).
40Book XV, chapter 36, ibid.(132–133).
41Nancy Bradley Warren’s (1999) article is reproduced in her
monograph Spiritual economies (2001:111–133), and this later
text contains further relevant studies of holy women’s symbolic
value (see in particular 28, 73–110). Additionally, Jocelyn
Wogan-Browne (2001) writes at length on the symbolic value
of a holy woman’s virginity (see in particular 57–90). See also
Danna Piroyanska’s (2007:78–79) exploration of the symbolic
capital of medieval recluses in England.
42Jane Chance (1995:171–172), however, identifies a number
of manuscripts, originating in Scotland from the fifteenth and
sixteenth century, which feature Birgitta and thus show a certain
interest in her. The Fifteen Oes of St. Birgitta, an anthology of
prayers apocryphally attributed to Birgitta, is found in a manuscript
of an Horae (National Library of Scotland, MS. 16499,
ff.13–24v), dating from the fifteenth or sixteenth century, which
was originally housed in Edinburgh, St. Mary’s Cathedral (ibid.:
172; Jones and Walsham 2010:15). Chance asserts that medieval
breviaries in which Birgitta appears ‘abound’ in Scotland, citing
in particular the “St Katherine Book of Hours” of Sarum Use
(University of Edinburgh MS. 39) which includes the calendar of
the saint (Chance 1995:171). Moreover, Chance (1995:166–167)
suggests that texts were distributed between the Birgittine
institution of Syon Abbey in England, founded in 1415, and
the convent of Sciennes in Edinburgh, dedicated in 1517 to St.
Catherine of Siena—but this has not been fully substantiated,
43The revelations most often referred to for the English cause are
found in Revelations Book IV, chapter 3, chapters 103–105;
Book VI, chapter 63. Ellis (1982:173) lists the following MS
examples of this practice: BL, MS Cotton Vesp. E 7 (V), f.117r;
BL, MS Arundel 66, f.291; Lincoln College, Oxford, MS Lat. 28,
ff.102r–106v; Bodleian Library, MS Ashmole 27.
44Birgitta’s original version of these revelations did not refer to
marriage at all. This was an invention by Alphonse of Pecha
when re-editing the work (Beckett 1993:137).
45“Birgitta de Franci, cui apparuit nostra Domina dicens : ‘Quod
[numqaum erit sic firma et tranquilla pax in Francia, quod habitantes]
in ea plena securitate et concordia possunt ullatenus
congaudere antequam populus [regni placaverit Deum filium
meum per aliqua] magna pietatis et humilitatis opera, quem
suis multis peccatis et ostensionibus ad [indignacionem et iram
hactenus provocavunt.’” (Bower and Watt 1987:132)
46“… que dicebat se fuisse missam ab Altissimo ad propulsandem
et enervandum Anglorum molimina.” (Bower and Watt
1987:130).
47“Et consequenter de consilio le Pucel accesit rex ad civitatem
Remensem in Campania et ibidem coronatus est <[et inunctus
unccione ampulle per angelum Karolo Magno transmisse …”
(Bower and Watt 1987:131).
48Fraioli sources this quote from Le Goff et al. (2001:156).
49For detail on the particularities of Syon’s beginnings, see in
particular: Jones and Walsham (2010:3–6).
50See Tynmouth (1901) for the full text of this work.
51The properties belonged to: Saint Nicholas, Caen, Fécamp,
Lodgers, Marmoutiers, Saint Bertin, Saint Omer, and Séez
(Bradley Warren 1999:315).
52Sir Henry Fitz-Hugh was, in fact, the first Englishman to bring
Birgitta’s cult to England (Beckett 1993:126–127). After accompanying
Henry IV’s daughter Phillipa to her nuptials in Sweden
in 1406, FitzHugh gave over his manor at Cherry Hinton for
the institution of the first Birgittine foundation. Two Birgittine
monks from Vadstena lodged there at FitzHugh’s own expense
from 1408 to 1415.
53The original Latin text is available in Dugdale (1830:542).
54“Quia igitur voluntatis mee est ut rex habeat solidum consilium,
hic datur regibus consilium divinitus dictatum quod Rex Regum
monstravit domine Brigitte oranti pro rege Swecie, qui ab ea humiliter
consilium peciit quomodo in regimine juste et prudenter
se habere deberet, ut habetur libro celesti capitulo iio; Christus
itaque sic ei loquitur: …” (Bower and Watt 1990:306).
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2013 Journal of the North Atlantic Special Volume 4
55For the full Latin text, see Birgitta (2002). An English translation
is available in Gilkaer (1993).
56“… Et quia iste rex Swecie querit a te humiliter quomodo in
regimine juste et prudenter vivat, ideo ego indacabo ei. Decem
sunt ei et cuilibet regi facienda …” (Bower and Watt 1990:306).
57“Sciendum est igitur quod hee revelaciones sunt quasi epistola
vel litera Dei missa huic periclitanti mundo ad impetracionem
gloriose Virginis Marie Matris Misericordie et omnium sanctorum
…” (Bower and Watt 1996:376).
58“Propterea, ut ibi ait Christus: ‘Mittam adhuc per te verba
oris mei, hoc est vera huius voluminis …” (Bower and Watt
1996:378).
59Examples of citation from Birgitta’s text in the Scotichronicon,
with minimal, if any, discussion of the saint: Book II, chapters
21–22; Book III, chapter 63; Book IV, chapter 53; Book V, chapter
33; Book VII, chapter 2; Book VII, chapter 9; Book X, chapters
7–8; Book XIV, chapter 20; Book XV, chapter 9; Book XV,
chapter 20; Book XV, chapter 39. An incident from Birgitta’s text
is also paraphrased in a similar manner in Book IX, chapter 52.
Book III, chapter 63 is a particularly good example, including a
shift from “the king of Sweden asked Birgitta” to “Birgitta praying”
to “Christ speaks to his bride” to “the son of God speaks,
laying down rules” (Bower and Watt 1989:178–183).
60E.g., Book IV, chapter 53, “Nam iste Cristus libro ivto capitulo
lxiii sic dicit Brigitte: …” (Bower and Watt 1989:432); Book
VII, chapter 2, “Ad istud confirmandum, dicit Christus Brigitte,
libro vi capitulo xxii …” (1994:6); Book X, chapter 6,
“… Christus itaque sic ei loquitur: …” (1990:306); Book XIV,
chapter 20, “audi quod est Libro Questionum domine Brigittie,
cui dicit Dominus quod …” (1996:310). The Virgin Mary and
God are also evoked through Birgitta—see Book VII, chapter 9
and Book V, chapter 33, respectively.
61Book III, chapter 63, Bower and Watt (1989:178–183).
62Book XV, chapter 39, Bower and Watt (1998:138–147). The editors
note, however, that most of these references cannot be traced
back to an invoked author’s textual corpus (ibid.:212–214). This
makes little difference in their functioning as sources of divine
authority in Bower’s text, however.
63“… Sed quod supervisit xv annis juxta Revelacionem Sancte
Brigitte assencio, ” (Bower and Watt 1993:224–226).
64“… quia pauci audierunt de mirabili modo parturicionis huius
benedicti pueri, … ” (Bower and Watt 1993:216).
65My thanks to Dr. Jane Gilbert (UCL) for suggestions improving
my phrasing of this point.
66“Cum essem apud presepe Domini in Bethleem, …” (Bower and
Watt 1993:216).
67“… ut lectores avidius aspirant ad tam salubrem expedicionem
subeundam.” (Book V, chapter 33; Bower and Watt 1995:96).
68“Propter huiusmodi usurpaciones….” (Book XV, chapter 9,
Bower and Watt 1987:30).
69“Non tuus est, Christe, cui liber non placet iste, scilicet Revelacionum
Brigitte” (Bower and Watt 1996:378).
70“Non Scotus est Christe cui liber non placet iste” (Bower and
Watt 1987:340).
71“Quomodo reges Anglie de genere sive generacione diabolic ex
uno latere processerunt” (Bower and Watt 1990:16).
72“… Policronicon Anglorum …” (Bower and Watt 1990:16).
73“Miserere igitur regno Francie tuo et meo. Tuo quidem, quia
habitatores eius te pro modulo suo honorant; meo autem, quia
patronus eorum sum et in me habent fiduciam” (Book IV, chapter
103, Birgitta 1992:295).