Stefan

Who was Stefan?

Stefan was created the first Archbishop of Uppsala in Sweden in the year 1164, a post he held until his death.

Stefan was a Cistercian monk from Alvastra monastery. His origin is not known, but it is believed that he was originally from England or Germany because many monks from the monastery were from those countries and because his name was rather uncommon in Sweden at that time.

In 1164 Stefan travelled to Sens in France to meet Pope Alexander III. The Pope was seeking refuge in Sens because of disputes in Rome. Present in Sens was another refugee: the Archbishop of Lund, Eskil, who had been rooting for the wrong king in Denmark and thus forced in exile.

The Pope agreed to grant Sweden an Archbishop. This matter had already been discussed a decade earlier, but because of civil conflicts it never got realized. A pallium had however been made in Lund for that occasion, and Eskild had brought it with him when he left Denmark. The pallium was now given to Stefan.

The Archbishop of Lund was declared primate of Uppsala, thereby given the right to ordain the Archbishop of Uppsala. The primate condition was being upheld for a century until political conflicts between the two countries led the Uppsala archbishopric to free itself, and thereafter the Archbishop would travel to Rome to be ordained by the Pope.