Adam Easton and St Birgitta of Sweden: a remarkable affinity

As a Benedictine monk in Norwich, an important religious centre with strong ties to the Continent, Easton would have known St Birgitta of Sweden (c.1303–1373) by reputation even before he was appointed to the papal Curia. On 21 September 1381, Urban VI elevated him to the cardinalate, demoting and imprisoning him five years later in 1385. Boniface XI, Urban’s successor, restored Easton’s cardinalate on 18 December 1389. In this position, he was able to advocate for the canonization of St Birgitta, who had come to Rome in 1349 and who was much revered as a prophet pursuing reform in the Church. His Defensorium Sanctae Birgittae, a carefully structured argument against an attack by an unknown Perugian, became important in defending women’s visionary writings, and thanks to his intervention and those of other clerics, St Birgitta was canonized in 1391. This chapter examines the nature of Easton’s arguments in defence of women visionaries and of St Birgitta, in particular.