ABSTRACT
The degree of spiritual authority acquired by Birgitta of Sweden during the turbulent decades of the Avignon Papacy is remarkable. Born in a noble family, her mother, Ingeborg Bengtsdotter, was a daughter of the Folkunga clan, the reigning Swedish dynasty that had occupied the Swedish throne since 1250. Unstinting in her criticism of the moral degeneracy and apostasy in contemporary society, her oracles acquired a unique prophetic status. The totality of her vision, encompassing a universal mission for the re-establishment of piety and morality in Christendom through the spread of her Order is astounding in its scope and extent. Moreover, this ideal was conceived not by ignoring or mitigating her status as mother. Looking first briefly at Birgitta's biblical identity, this chapter examines Birgitta's perception of her own biblical prophetic identity, her assimilation of contemporary events to the history of the Egyptian and Babylonian captivity based on the model of the first-century apostolic community.
