Upplands tidiga prosterier – argument i en kunglig prestigekamp

Resumé

The early deanery churches in Uppland – arguments in a royal battle for prestige
By Christian Lovén

A charter from 1164-67 mentions a dean (prepositus) in each of the three earliest towns in the province of Uppland, Sigtuna, Enköping and Östra Aros (present day Uppsala). Further sources show that each of the three old »folk lands« of Uppland was one deanery (fig. 1). In the middle of the 13th century, the deans were absorbed by the newly established secular chapter at Uppsala cathedral, 5 km from Östra Aros. At the end of the century, new rural deans were established, but their districts were much smaller. The Sigtuna dean had Saint Peter’s church, now a ruin (fig. 2). It must have been begun much earlier but was finished during this period. In Enköping, the deanery church was Saint Mary’s, now the town church (fig. 3). Its oldest parts are late Romanesque, and it seems to have been erected during the deanery period. The architecture of the deanery church in Östra Aros, Saint Mary’s, is not known. Two features differed the deanery churches from the ordinary parish churches. They had a special income, from 1244 two pennies every year from each yeoman in the folk land. The original fee was probably one penny. That they needed this is explained by their second special feature: the deanery churches lacked a parish. This means that they did not have the normal income of a church. After the disappearence of the deaneries, in the second half of the 13th century, parishes were created for the three churches. A »dean’s penny« is also known from two districts in the neighbouring Strängnäs diocese, and since these districts lay across the water from Uppland the fee was probably influenced from there. The dean’s penny is not known from the rest of Scandinavia, and parallells in the rest of Europe seem hard to find. The lack of a parish has parallells among cathedrals. Churches for large territories were hardly erected through local initiative, and the introduction of a new tax also points to a central authority. Furthermore, at least one of the deanery churches lay on land owned by the Crown. The reason that this highly organised system was created was probably political. In 1153, a papal delegate was sent to Sweden to create a new achbishopric. According to the Danish chronicler Saxo (circa 1200) the Swedes could not decide where to place it. However, in 1164 Uppsala was elevated to an archbishop’s see. The reason for the 1153 failure was probably that there were two kings who ruled jointly, Sverker (circa 1131-1156) and Erik (circa 1151-1160). Sverker was based in the province Östergötland and must have supported the candidacy of Linköping. Erik was martyrized in Östra Aros and was, according to his 14th century saint’s legend, responsible for the erection of Uppsala cathedral. There are also indications that he founded a regular chapter there. The deanery organisation can be explained as a part of Erik’s campaign to have the archbishopric placed in Uppsala.