Saints and Politics During the Kalmar Union Period: The Case of Saint Margaret in Tensta

Although there is a good deal of material to document the major political events of the period, it can be much more difficult to understand the thinking of individuals, even those who played central roles in the decisions that would influence the entire region and period. While charters, treaties, and chronicles produced by one faction or another can all provide insight into the major events of the era, there may be other ways to learn of the views of individuals. During the Middle Ages, there was no separation of the secular and spiritual aspects of life. Furthermore, a central aspect of medieval Nordic religiosity, just as it was elsewhere in medieval Christendom, was the cult of the saints. This characteristic can be seen from the enormous range of church, chapel, and altar dedications, prebends and masses, images in churches as well as institutional and personal seals, written prayers and legends, and even naming traditions, all of which connect the saints to the lives of their devotees. Given their central position in medieval Nordic religious life, it should not surprise us that saints and their images could have a role to play in political life as well.