In 1999, Pope John Paul II declared one of the most impressive female figures of the Middle Ages to be the patron saint of Europe: Birgitta of Sweden (around 1303-1373). She came from the Swedish aristocracy and wanted to become a nun as a child, but her parents married the 13-year-old to an influential nobleman named Ulf. Birgitta became the mother of eight children and stood up for socially ostracized women. Together, the deeply religious couple undertook various pilgrimages, most recently to the Spanish tomb of St. James. Ulf fell ill on the return journey and died in 1344, whereupon Birgitta began a strictly ascetic life and kept having new visions: As the “bride of Christ and mouthpiece”, she wanted to found a religious community and proclaim God’s justice and love to the whole world. As a counselor at the Swedish royal court, she openly criticized the immorality of the nobility and clergy until she moved to Rome in 1349 and dedicated herself to caring for the poor. Birgitta called on the Pope in Avignon to return to Rome as well. On a political level, Birgitta campaigned for an end to the Hundred Years’ War between England and France. She did not live to see the official confirmation of her order in 1378: Birgitta died in Rome on July 23, 1373. Pope Boniface IX canonized her in 1391.
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