Olav EngelbrektssonAlso spelled: Olaf, Olavus; Engelbertsen. (, Trondenes, Norway – 7 February 1538, Lier, Duchy of Brabant, Habsburg Netherlands) was the 28th Archbishop of Norway from 1523 to 1537, the Regent of Norway from 1533 to 1537, a member and later president of the Riksråd (Council of the Realm), and a member of the Norwegian nobility. He was the last Roman Catholic to be the Archbishop of Norway before he fled to exile in 1537.
After his death, Olav Engelbrektsson was given a "bad reputation as an untrustworthy and scheming prelate" () by the Protestant historians. Øystein Rian, "Olav Engelbrektsson", in: Norsk biografisk leksikon, 2. utgave, bind 2 [ Norwegian Biographical Dictionary, 2nd Edition, Volume 2 ], edited by Jon Gunnar ( Oslo : Kunnskapsforlaget [ Knowledge Publishers ], 2000 ), . His reputation did not improve after 1814, when Norway made its declaration of independence from Denmark, because he was still blamed for promoting the Catholic Church at the expense of Norwegian independence. Øystein Rian, "Olav Engelbrektsson", Norsk Biografisk Leksikon, retrieved 1 April 2013. But the later historians—Absalon Taranger in 1917, Sverre Steen in 1935 and Lars Hamre in 1998—have rehabilitated most of his reputation with detailed studies and labeled most of the accusations as unfair.
Background Olav Engelbrektsson is believed to have been born at Trondenes near Harstad in Troms around 1480 as the son of Engelbrekt Gunnarsson and Jorunn. Engelbrekt Gunnarson was a (a leader of farmers) and (a large landowner) in Romerike in Eastern Norway around 1447. He kept getting in arguments and fights with the Danish bailiff Lasse Skjold and eventually killed him. Researchers believe that that is why Engelbrekt and Jorunn moved to Trondenes, where his son Aslak was already living because, at that time, Aslak was the wealthiest man between Bergen and Senja. Per Agnar Auran, Skatval. Vår historiske arv, bind 5 [ Skatval : Our Historical Heritage, Volume 5 ] ( Skaval : Skatval Historielag [ Historical Society of Skatval ], 2007 ), , page 403. Young Olav was raised in a home that was always opposing the Danish overseers, and that might have been one of the several influences of his attitude towards the Danes in his years as the archbishop.Auran, op. cit., page 402.
Olav Engelbrektsson was from an old landowning family in Romerike, and it is often claimed that he and his family belonged to the gentry. King Christian I of Denmark was supposed to have ennobled Engelbrekt Gunnarson and his descendants sometime before 1480 but, in 1961, cand. philol. Trygve Lysaker wrote that the documentation did not exist to such a claim. Trygve Lysaker, Erkebiskop Olav Engelbrektssons bakgrunn [ Archbishop Olav Engelbrektsson's Background ], pages 1–10 in Det Kongelige Norske Videnskabers Selskabs Skrifter [ Writings of the Royal Norwegian Society of Sciences and Letters ], No. 3, Year 1961 ( Trondheim : F. Brun Bokhandel [ F. Bruns Bookstore ], 1961 ). Nevertheless, the family had a coat of arms—a blue shield showing a red rose surrounded by three lilies.
Five of Olav's relatives belonged to the clergy. Two of them were his paternal uncles Sakse Gunnarsson and Gunnar Gunnarson. Gunnar was a canon in Oslo, a profession that even some of his own sons chose. It is known that Olav and four of these relatives studied at foreign universities. His uncle Sakse was the one who gave Olav clerical education.
There is a prevailing theory among the Norwegian genealogists that Olav Engelbrektsson was not the first member of his family to be the Archbishop of Nidaros. Anders Stølen, "Olav Engelbrektsson og Aspe=ætta : Resyme over synspunkt [ Olav Engelbrektsson and the Aspa Family : Summary of the Theories ]", in : Bjørn Austigard and Rolf Strand, editors, Romsdal Sogelag Årsskrift 1995 [ 1995 Yearbook of the Historical Society of Romsdal ] ( Molde : A.s. EKH and Engers Boktrykkeri, 1995 ), , page 232. But, throughout his life, the records were more concerned with the church, the politics and the wars than with the families. So there may not be enough evidence to prove that Olav was the grandnephew of the 25th Archbishop Olav Trondsson, the nephew of the 26th Archbishop Gaute Ivarsson and the uncle of his own successor, Torbjørn Olavssøn Bratt, the first Lutheran "superintendent" of Trondheim. See the discussions forums at Arkivverket : Riksarkivet go Statsarkivene [ Archives : Royal and State Archives of Norway ] under "Erkebishop Olav Engelbrektsson", posted between 28 August 2004 and 13 August 2007 with 94 messages, and "Erkeb. Olav Engelbrigts. og slektskr. rundt han i Trondenes og omegn" [ Arch. Olav Engelbrigts. and his Relatives in Trondenes and Area ], posted between 18 January 2008 and 9 August 2010 with 900 messages, for more details. He did help with the education and careers of Torbjørn and his brother, Jens Olavssøn Bratt, but their biographies at Norsk Biografisk Leksikon do not name him as their uncle.The biographies of Torbjørn Olavssøn Bratt and Jens Olavssøn Bratt are at the online Norsk Biografisk Leksikon [ Norwegian Biographical Dictionary ]. Their mother is supposed to be Maria Engelbrektsdatter, the sister of the Archbishop, but she is listed as "unknown" in both biographies. It is the same with the possibility that Olav's mother might be the daughter of Ivar Trondsson from the Aspa family in Frei in Nordmøre.
Education Olav Engelbrektsson was enrolled in 1503 at the University of Rostock in Germany, Universität Rostock [ University of Rostock ], "Sommersemester 1503, Nr. 109, Immatrikulation von Olauus Engelberti [ Summer Semester 1503, No. 109, Enrollment of Olav Engelbrektsson" ], retrieved 14 January 2014. which at that time had between 400 and 500 students. He was already ordained as a priest but he wanted to continue his studies. He eventually took examinations to earn several more degrees at the university—a baccalaureus in 1505 and a Magister's degree in 1507. At the university, theology was being taught by conservatives from the Catholic Church but the city of Rostock was once the center of North German humanism.Auran, op. cit., page 404. There were several reformists who came to the university as guest speakers over the years but, when Olav was a student there, the regular teaching was left to the conservatives because the department of theology was led by a deputy commissioner of the business of papal indulgences of the city.
Olav Engelbrektsson soon became the leader of the Norwegian Collegiate Club, called (Senate of St. Olav) in the memory of the martyred King of Norway, Olav the Holy. They were located in a separate building under the Norwegian name of (House of St. Olav). Among the students, Engelbrektsson was known as a very sociable person, but not particularly charismatic, and he was not the one who usually followed the ways and beliefs of the club. He became acquainted with, among others, the brothers from Sweden, Johannes Magnus and Olaus Magnus. The brothers would be the last two Catholics to be the Archbishop of Uppsala, but Olaus is still famous for his map of Scandinavia, the Carta Marina of 1537. Engelbrektsson were especially good friends with another Swede, Laurentius Andreae, the archdeacon of Uppsala who quickly became one of the leaders of the Protestant Reformation of Sweden under Gustavus Vasa. By 1515, Olav Engelbrektsson had been at the university for eleven years and had even taught for his own studies, including a brief period at the Catholic University of Louvain. But in 1515 he decided that it was the time to return to his homeland.
The dean of Nidaros
When he returned to Norway, Olav Engelbrektsson was briefly mentioned as a canon in Oslo but, by 10 May 1515, he was already in Nidaros (now Trondheim) as a canon. Seven months later, on 17 December 1515, he was promoted to the dean of Nidaros, with a papal dispensation from Pope Leo X to succeed the late Peter Jonsson Stut. Although he was only thirty years old at that time, Olav became the second most important member in the Cathedral Chapter, next to the archbishop of Nidaros, the Dane Erik Walkendorf. Walkendorf had been appointed to his post in 1510 by King Christian II of Denmark and Norway without any consultation or recommendations from the cathedral chapter.Auran, op. cit., page 405.
Olav Engelbrektsson was responsible for the production of the sermons in the Nidaros Cathedral and probably sat on the editorial staff of the book for the Mass at the cathedral, the (Latin, Missal of Nidaros), the first book printed in the Norwegian language. Along with the cantor Peter Sigurdsson, Archbishop Walkendorf had the missal printed in Copenhagen in 1519. According to the church historian Oluf Kolsrud, it is "with his careful treatment of the Latin text, the excellent proof of Olav's learning" (). A few years later, another book of liturgy was also published for Nidaros with the title of the (Latin, "Breviary of Niadros"). Olav was on good terms with Walkendorf and became his representative, i.e., the head of the ecclesiastical proceedings within the Archdiocese. It also appears that he was also the Archbishop's economist and accountant.
When Walkendorf fled from the tyranny of King Christian II in 1521, the authority of the Archdiocese went to the Cathedral Chapter, whose chairman was Olav Engelbrektsson. Account books, the (a register of properties, circa 1533) and extensive building activities suggests that Olaf was a "talented and versatile administrator" () according to historian Øystein Rian. Olav Engelbrektsson began the complete reconstruction of the Archbishop's Palace, whose hall in the north wing and parts of the west wing had been destroyed by the Danish troops in 1532.
The archbishop of Nidaros
The beginning
In 1522, the news came to Nidaros that Walkendorf had died in Rome. The Cathedral Chapter then unanimously elected on 13 April 1522 Olav Engelbrektsson as the new Archbishop of Nidaros, and he therefore went to Rome for his pallium. Just over a month before the election, King Christian II had fled to the Habsburg Netherlands after the nobles revolted with the help from the Duchy of Schleswig - Holstein. This was known to the Cathedral Chapter when Olav Engelbrektsson was chosen because it still had to send a letter to the King for his approval of the election. On his way to Rome, Olav stopped in Mechelen, Flanders, for a visit with the King, who had been living in exile in the Duchy of Burgundy, because Christian II was still legally the King of Norway. Olav hailed the King, pledged his allegiance to him and delivered the Cathedral Chapter's letter to him. He left with the King's approval.
However, for his pallium, Olav had to wait in Rome for the election of the next Pope because Adrian VI had just died on 14 September 1523. During his stay, Olav met the Bavarian scholar, Jacob Ziegler, and gave him the information that went into Ziegler's major treatise of geography, Schondia, published in Strasbourg in 1532. Fredrik B[arbe]. Wallem, Steinvikholm ( Trondheim : F. Bruns Boghandels Forlag, 1917 ), page 79. Engelbrektsson's statements about his homeland showed his deep sense of nationalism and his distrust of the Danish officials who had been oppressing his homeland. When Giulio de' Medici was elected as Pope Clement VII on 19 November 1523, Olav could finally have his pallium and go home. He was consecrated as the Archbishop of Nidaros by the new Pope in December 1523. On Christmas Day, Olav left Rome for home.
Engelbrektsson probably would not have been the Archbishop of Nidaros, had the King of Denmark had the complete control of Norway. But the situation was left unsettled when Christian II fled to exile and Frederick I would not be legally elected by the of Norway as the next King of Norway until 1524.
Assembly of 1524