Saint Eskil
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Saint Eskil was a local saint particularly venerated during the Middle Ages in Södermanland, Sweden. He was the patron saint of the medieval Diocese of Strängnäs and of Strängnäs Cathedral, but he is also mentioned in connection with the nearby place Tuna, later named after him (see Eskilstuna), which was the seat of a bishop for some time in the early 12th century.
Eskil is said to have been an Anglo-Saxon missionary bishop who was killed in Strängnäs in Södermanland, Sweden, probably during the reign of King Inge the Elder at the end of the 11th century. According to the source closest in time, a legend of the Danish king Saint Canute, authored about 1122 by Ælnoth from Canterbury, an Anglo-Saxon priest who had settled in Denmark, an "Eskillinus", an English bishop of noble origins, was killed by the "wild barbarians" (specified as the Suethi et Gothi, i.e. Swedes and Geats) among whom he was preaching the gospel.
In its more developed form, the legend of Eskil is attested from the 13th century and known from a few different sources: according to this, he was successful in his mission during the reign of King Inge, but killed by Blot-Sweyn when trying to stop a pagan sacrifice. He is said to have been killed by stoning and with axes, and the stones later became his attribute. The legend shows stylistic influence from various sources, including the legend of Saint Olaf of Norway.
The veneration of Eskil spread in Sweden and to Denmark (Odense) and Norway (Trondheim). Eskil's feast (and purported day of death) was on the 11th of June, but it was later moved, except in the Diocese of Strängnäs, to June 12 in order not to collide with the Feast of Barnabas. Relics of Eskil existed in the church of Eskilstuna, which was traditionally seen as his burial place, as well as in other churches within the Diocese of Strängnäs, elsewhere in Sweden, and in Roskilde and Copenhagen in Denmark.
[edit] Reference
- Toni Schmid, "Eskil", Svenskt biografiskt lexikon, vol. 14, p. 518-522.
