Dear Folk,
On this day July 29, two saints died. Both were warlike. One became king, one pope.
Born in 995, Olaf was the son of a Norwegian jarl (earl) named Harald Grenske. The boy was a bit of a jock and was big enough to go a-viking about when he was 12. You know, we really could solve some of our youth problems if we had a nicely organized viking program. Remember the "Viking is a Verb, not a Noun" campaign a few years ago? Anyway, Olaf hired out to some powerful dudes: Richard of Normandy and Ethelred II of England (fought the Danes in 1013 for Ethelred).
When he was 15 he listened to Archbishop Robert in Rouen, France. Got himself baptized, the whole nine yards.
Five years later, he returned to Norway to take his dad’s place. He put his training to good use. He kicked the Danes and Swedes out of Norway in the space of one year. He became king of Norway at the age of 21. Not too shabby.
With the same zeal he showed in killing folk, he attacked converting them to Christianity. He brought in clergy from all over Europe. He forbade the worship of Norse Gods. Now that is not a nice thing: bringing in foreign missionaries and telling folks to forget Freya.
In fact, his rules caused widespread hate and discontent. He tended to end most discussions with a killing or two. It is a hard habit to break. It was not long before the nobles revolted in 1029 and he was driven out by the Anglo-Danish King Knut (Canute). Olaf decided to visit scenic Russia but returned to Norway in 1031 with a few Swedish troops in an attempt to regain his kingdom. I always wonder at the wisdom of bringing in former enemies to be your hired soldiers. Only in Minnesota do the Swedes and the Norwegians get along that well. Olaf was killed in battle at Stiklestad on the Trondheim fjord on July 29, 1031.
Okay, he was a ruthless Viking, kicked Swedes and Danes’ collective butts, became king and a Christian. Seems like it all fits in a violence pattern we can see in our prisons today. What’s with the sainthood, I hear you asking? There were these miracles reported after his death: a spring by his tomb was said to have healing powers, a couple other things. The English guy he appointed Archbishop, Grimkel, ordered that folks should treat him like a martyr. Built him a nice little chapel. Pretty soon folks forgot all the beheadings and stuff and remembered only that he freed Norway. Forty five years later the Christians dug up his body and found it in darned good shape – incorrupt was the term -- enshrined it in what became the cathedral of Nidaros (Trondheim), which replaced the chapel, and became a site of pilgrimage.
I think that Canute’s son, Swein, helped out the legend of now "good king Olaf." Remember that Canute and company were Danes.. Olaf’s son Magnus took the throne pretty soon thereafter and those Danes slunk back to Denmark. Magnus spoke well of dad and dead fathers rise so high in folk’s imaginations. By 1070 the cult of Olaf was all over Scandinavia. He was officially made a saint in 1164. In England there were more than 40 ancient churches dedicated to Saint Olaf. His name also translates as Aulag (in Gaelic) which is the root for Macaulay. Add a t to the front of it and you get Tooley. No kidding, that is where the name supposedly comes from.
In art, Saint Olaf is depicted as a king with a lance and covered cup, who tramples on a crowned demon. Maybe we are slamming the Danes here? Sometimes he is shown enthroned with a man under his feet; or standing on an armed man; he is also shown with a halberd and dagger or an ax He is venerated in East Anglia and the patron saint of Norway.
I cannot let today go by without saying that today is marks the day, July 29, 1099 when Pope Urban II died. You might remember him as the Pope who cried "Dieu le Volt" which means "God wills it!" He was talking about the first Crusade, arguably the only really successful crusade. He gave his historic speech in Clermont on November 27, 1095. Funny thing, he never really got to see the victories that he so longed for.
Urban was born in 1042 and was made Pope in 1088. Why he preached a crusade is really uncertain. He could have wanted to get control of the Eastern Church, he also could have been worried that pilgrims were getting ripped off and killed, it could have been a great move to get the folks in Europe to quit whacking each other whilst there were Infidels to kill. All of those could and would be good reasons to head out from temperate Europe to the burning desert hell-hole which was the Middle East. Sure could have convinced me. Okay, I did go to Viet Nam; I am a dupe.
I want to give you a taste of what Urban II said on that day:
Oh what a disgrace if a race so despicable, degenerate, and enslaved by demons should thus overcome a people endowed with faith in Almighty God and resplendent in the name of Christ! Oh what reproaches will be charged against you by the Lord Himself if you have not helped those who are counted like yourselves of the Christian faith!
Of course he said it in Latin which must have made it sound even better. How about it, Brethren and Cistern, you ready to whomp up on them Infidels? Of course you are. I’d go with you but I have this bad knee.
A little about Urban (cool name, makes him sound like he is from the city.) He was named Odo of Lagery at birth in Champagne, France. He was a Benedictine at the monastery of Cluny. During the first six years of being Pope, he was kept out of Roman by the evil anti-pope Clement III. Clem 3 had been selected not by cardinals but by the Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV. Urban stood up to the HR Emperor and to Philip I of France who had tried to divorce his wife. Urban II died in Rome on July 29, 1099. He was beatified (formally made a saint) by Pope Leo XIII in 1881.
So what, if anything have we learned from these blessed men? It is sometimes better to get others to fight for you? The enemy of my enemies is not necessarily my friend? Getting folks to stop killing their neighbors may involve sending them off to kill foreigners? Most historic figures like Elvis appear much better after they are dead? Okay, Elvis still lives. I apologize. How about, you can wash him up, put a crown on his head, and even send him to Sunday school, but a Viking is still a Viking.
May all the blessed saints preserve you, and if they won’t, a little wee touch of Scotch might. A big hello to all those dyers who helped educate a simple weaver today in Tarnmist.