Henry (bishop of Finland)

Henry, Bishop of Finland
Henry walking on his murderer. Painting from the Church of Taivassalo about 1450.
Bishop, missionary, martyr
Born	England
Died	Traditionally January 20, 1156 Lake Köyliö in Finland
Venerated in	Roman Catholicism, Lutheranism, Anglican Communion
Canonized	Pre-congregation
Major shrine	Earlier Cathedral of Turku, today only Catholic Cathedral of Helsinki
Feast	January 19
Patronage	Catholic Cathedral of Helsinki
Controversy	Existence disputed

Christianization of Finland
People
Bishops: Thomas · Henry
Rodulff · Fulco · Bero
Popes: Alexander III
Innocent III · Gregory IX
Archbishops: Anders
Valerius
Others: Birger Jarl
Sergius · Lalli · King Eric
Locations
Kokemäki · Köyliö
Nousiainen · Koroinen
Turku Cathedral
Events
Finnish-Novgorodian wars
First Swedish Crusade
Second Swedish Crusade
Third Swedish Crusade

Henry (Finnish: Henrik; Swedish: Henrik; Latin: Henricus; died c. 20 January 1156) was a medieval English clergyman. He came to Sweden with cardinal Nicholas Breakspeare in 1153 and was probably designated to be the new Archbishop of Uppsala, but the independent church province of Sweden could be established only in 1164 after the civil war was over, and Henry would have been sent to organize the Church in Finland, where Christians had existed already at least two centuries. According to legend, he entered Finland together with King Saint Eric of Sweden and died as a martyr, becoming a central figure in the local Roman Catholic Church. However, the authenticity of the accounts of his life, ministry, and death are widely disputed and there are no historical records of his death nor existence.

Together with his alleged murderer Lalli, Henry remains one of the most recognized people from the early history of Finland. His feast is celebrated by the majority Lutheran Church of Finland, as well as by the Roman Catholic Church of Finland. He is commemorated in the liturgical calendars of several Protestant and Anglican churches.

The legend of Bishop Henry's life, or his Vita, was written at the end of the 13th century. It contains little concrete information about Henry. He is said to have been an English-born bishop in Uppsala at the time of King Eric the Saint of Sweden in the mid-12th century, ruling the peaceful kingdom with the king in heavenly co-existence. To tackle the perceived threat from the non-Christian Finns, Eric and Henry were forced to battle them. After they had conquered Finland, baptized the people and built many churches, the victorious king returned to Sweden while Henry (Henricus) remained with the Finns, more willing to live the life of a preacher than that of a high bishop.