sermons were copied and edited by Franciscan monks
in or around Augsburg beginning in the 1260s, before
Berthold’s death, until approximately 1275; nonetheless,
it is unlikely that Berthold read or approved of many
of the works. The editor’s hand is clearly discernible;
thus these sermons should not be viewed as mere tran-
scriptions of the sermons as preached by Berthold. The
German sermons reveal a dependence on the earlier
Latin homiletic works, but none is a translation from
the Latin.
More than three hundred manuscripts containing
Berthold’s Latin sermons have been identified; in
contrast only eight principal manuscripts that include
the vernacular sermons are extant. The Latin homiletic
works follow the tradition of the thematic or university-
style sermon of the Scholastics, whereas the vernacular
sermons emphasize exempla (examples) as opposed to
a rigid structure or an interpretation of Scripture. In
general Berthold would have preached the Latin sermons
to a learned, religious audience and the vernacular ser-
mons to the laity; the notable exceptions are the German
Sermones ad Religiosas (Klosterpredigten, Sermons
for the Religious), which were preached to women in
Berthold’s spiritual care.
The frequency of Berthold’s name in medieval
chronicles, the wealth of extant sermons by and at-
tributed to him, and the esteem in which his contem-
poraries held him and successors attest to his infl uence
and importance.
See also Albertus Magnus, David von Augsburg
Further Reading
Banta, Frank G. “Berthold von Regensburg: Investigations Past
and Present.” Traditio 25 (1969): 472–479.
De Alcantara Hoetzl, Petrus, ed. Sermones ad religiosos XX ex
Erlangensi codice Unacum sermone in honorem S. Francisci e
duobus codicibus monacensibus in centenarium septimum fa-
miliae franciscanae. Munich: Huttler, 1882 [Latin works].
Pfeiffer, Franz, and Joseph Strobl, eds. Berthold von Regensburg.
Vollständige Ausgabe seiner deutschen Predigten. Vienna:
Braumüller, 1862 and 1880; rpt. ed. Kurt Ruh [with supple-
mentary material]. Deutsche Neudrucke, Texte des Mittelal-
ters. Berlin: de Gruyter, 1965 [German works].
Richter, Dieter. Die deutsche Überlieferung der Predigten Ber-
tholds von Regensburg. Munich: Beck, 1969.
Schönbach, Anton. “Studien zur Geschichte der altdeutschen
Predigt, I–VIII.” Sitzungsberichte der Kaiserlichen Akad-
emie der Wissenschaften in Wien, Philosophisch-historische
Klasse 142 (1900), 147 (1904), and 151–155 (1905–1907);
rpt. Hildesheim: Olms, 1968.
Debra L. Stoudt
BIRGITTA, SAINT (1302 [1303?]–1373)
St. Bridget of Sweden was a Swedish saint and mystic
and founder of the Brigettine Order. Born in Finsta,
Uppland, she was the daughter of lagman (“lawman”)
Birger Persson, and, on her mother’s side, was related
to the royal house of Sweden. At age fourteen, she mar-
ried Ulf Gudmarsson, who became a knight and lagman
in the province of Närke. There were eight children of
the marriage; the best known was the second-eldest
daughter, St. Katarina, who became the fi rst abbess
(although never consecrated) of the monastic founda-
tion at Vadstena in Östergötland. Ulf died in 1344, and
shortly afterward Birgitta received her “vision of call-
ing.” She renounced her worldly possessions, and took
up residence near the Cistercian monastery of Alvastra
in Östergötland.
Here, she received some of her most important vi-
sions, including the revelation of the Rule for a new mo-
nastic order. She was supported by spiritual counselors
and confessors, including Mathias, canon of Linköping,
Sweden’s foremost theologian of the time, and two cler-
ics with the name Petrus Olofsson, who were authors
of the Vita, the earliest biography of the saint. In 1349,
Birgitta was instructed in a vision to go to Rome, and
she arrived there in time for the holy year of Jubilee in- She remained in Rome, with a small following of
Swedes for the rest of her life, and never returned to her
native country. In Rome, she was involved in seeking
papal authorization for her new order, which was granted
in 1370. But it was not until 1419 that the order was
formally constituted by Pope Martin V. Birgitta made
occasional visits abroad, to Cyprus and Sicily. In 1372,
she traveled to the Holy Land, where she received an
important cycle of visions relating to the nativity and
life of Christ. Toward the end of her life, she made the
acquaintance of Alphonso of Pecha, formerly bishop of
Jaen; he edited and published her collected revelations
and promoted her case for canonization. After her death
on July 23, 1373, her relics were translated to Vadstena.
She was canonized in 1391, and her offi cial feast day
today is July 23.
Altogether, Birgitta received some 700 visions, many
of which were extremely infl uential long after her death.
They vary considerably in length, and cover an enor-
mous range of material, from questions of theology, to
descriptions of heaven and hell, to judgment scenes of
church and political magnates, to highly personalized
messages intended for her intimate circle of followers,
and to a monastic rule and instructions for life. Nearly
all of the recorded visions are occasional pieces, and
rarely do they contain circumstantial details. Birgitta’s
revelations came to her in different ways: she would
appear as one half-dead, or she would experience God
through her senses, or feel Him as a palpable move-
ment in her breast; or she would simply become rapt in
ecstatic prayer. When she was roused from a vision, she
wrote it down immediately in her native tongue, and her
confessors translated it into Latin. During her lifetime,
her revelations remained as private documents. The
BERTHOLD VON REGENSBURG