Nicolaus Jacobi Bothniensis

Note: Nicolaus, aka "Master Nils," is said to be of the Bure family lineage, per Runeberg.org text below.

The following biography is translated from "Memories of Strengnäs Diocese's Shepherds" Part Four, written in 1901, at http://runeberg.org/strher4d/0075.html

Nicolaus Jacobi Bothniensis (1620-55) or "generalprost mester" Nils” was Örebro's most commanding shepherd. "Other times, other customs!" Admittedly, there is only 250 years between our time and the one we can now portray. But how heavenly it is that they are not separated from each other. We lack room in our present church gallery for the general pastor of Queen Kristina's time; he no longer fits there and would certainly not find himself comfortable within the narrower range of powers and exercise of authority that now exist. And yet, we can say, Master Nils stood head and shoulders above the crowd of his time, not only in learning, but also in wisdom and courtesy. We judge him better and fairer, if we see him together with his contemporaries, his "kon-traktister." There we see then the honorable (man), about the privileges of the parsonage, the "Herr Måns" in Vintrosa, who, through his many daughters' happy marriages with faithful successors, has been called "the ancestor of the great clerical family in Vintrosa;" furthermore, by the superstition of the time, somewhat instructed "Mr. Jonas" in Mosjö, who, when he "withdrew from a written examination on Saint Walpurga's Eve (April 30) in 1633, seemed to see a fire on the road, which was not a veritable, true fire, but that rose high toward the sky," a vision that had the unfortunate consequence of Mr. Jonas waking up "blind" the following morning; so the poor, somewhat cowardly chaplain "Mr. Bröijel" in Almby, who never went out anymore, because he happened to be an outcast, (note: Småländ, etc.) In the middle of this circle - we could have gladly included the city's 4 mayors and 10 councilors - undoubtedly as diocese pastor, Master Nils occupied the top place, not only because of his dignity, but also by right of ecclesiastical superiority.

Like the bold politician "Messenian" Kristoffer Siggesson in Eskilstuna, Master Nils descended from the old and reputable Bure noble family. Born in Västerbotten in 1578, Nils received a good upbringing first in the home and then at Uppsala University, which now - thanks to Karl lX's care - began to scrape back to life, since during the days of King Johan and Sigismund it had rapidly languished, hard times of life and lack of support closed it for decades, together with liturgical struggles. A meeting at Uppsala 1593 cleared the air and brought greater vitality to the academy. It now received, besides its theological faculty, also a philosophical with three professors and a medical with one professor, and was headed by the powerful rector Laurentius Paulinus Gothus, later Archbishop of Uppsala.

Only everything was still so small and so limited, hence our Nils, who so eagerly thirsted for knowledge, followed other "notable" young people's customs and "traveled and studied." The road, of course, took him to Germany, which at this time, along with Paris, was the country for learning and education.

Returning to Sweden as "Master Laureate" in 1608, he was offered an apartment both at school and at Academy. Master Nils, however, found himself politely declining both one and the other. School's road was "parish road" for him, as the other less befit a lineage of the Bures family.

After Master Nils assumed the office of ministry, he was employed as a minister at the court of Charles IX. But to succeed Calvinist John Forbes here was by no means an easy task for the firmly avowed clergyman, as much as the king himself was known for Calvinist sympathies and even acted as author in this area. One good thing was that the familiar dissertation between Rudbeckius and (John) Forbes had already taken place in the presence of the king, and that Forbes had, on this occasion, been obliged not to answer. (note: by request of King Charles, Forbes presented his 68 theses, a summary of the Reformed doctrine, in Uppsala on November 17, 1608, where he was confronted with a contradiction related to the unconditional choice of grace. The Lutheran position was primarily defended by Archbishop Olaus Martini together with Professors Claudius Opsopæus and Petrus Rudbeckius with such force that Forbes became unresponsive a few times.)

It seemed that the King's Calvinist sympathies thereafter began to noticeably cool down and his Calvinist confessor lost his influence at court, giving rise to the then frequently used slogan “post hæc Forbesius nihil ("after this, Forbes did nothing"). Notwithstanding this, it was not always easy to serve as a court pastor at King Charles IX, who was as demanding on his clergy as on all his other officials.

However, Master Nils seems to have handled himself well with the King, gaining his exceptional satisfaction. As early as the following year, in 1610, he received Nyköping's eastern pastorate at only 32 years of age, one of the best in the diocese, where he lived eight happy years at his beautiful Stenbro residence. Then in 1618 he was authorized by Gustaf II Adolf to take the Örebro pastorate and become "general pastor over Nerike." In this capacity he possessed greater importance and authority than any other pastor in the diocese, almost comparable to the judge. He was to "elaborate on all the cases of Nerike, which belonged to the church's jurisdiction and which were not immediately convenient to be brought before the chapter." He was thus a kind of Episcopal vicar in Örebro with the right to summon Nerike's clergy in extraordinary cases and hold "chapters," which is why during his time "Örebro chapter" or "chapter in Örebro" are often mentioned, as, for example, in the 1638 investigation of the unfortunate and quite highly harassed Örebro rector, Nils Buddæus.

But "nobless oblige." Privilege entails responsibility. Master Nils also possessed ability.

Master Nils also possessed the ability, like no other, to fill his place and bear his dignity. Let us enter the sacristy of the church during a session in 1648. In the chair is the high and serious general priest himself, surrounded by the castle bailiff Oluff Eriksson and "the mayors of Erlighe and respected Arfiue Bengtsson and Lars Broms" as well as the chaplain and the most prominent of the city's bourgeoisie. What is the reason for this solemn meeting?

Well, an "old woman," as she is called, which is very likely tantamount to being called "witch," named Mother Brita, is found guilty of "corrupting a neighbor's cow and rendering them milkless." —she "gets butter, no one else can take it" and "wife Greta's cows, offspring in Mother Brita's pasture, become milkless." —Brita is asked to provide an explanation of this, but says no other spell can but cure "cold sores, snake stings, whistles and shots."

Brita is requested to provide an explanation for this, but says no other spell can but cure "cold sores, snake stings, whistles and shots." Further urged to account for her sorcery regarding the latter, she reads two enchantments. The one, against cold damage, of the following wording:

"All streams flow rapid, Flame and fire they fly far, Cold! out with all your anxiety. "

The other, against gunshots, reads:

Odin, he was standing on neighboring mountains; So many came to him. Where are you going? said Odin, I have the cure for shots, For earth shots and sun shots and water shots And for all the nine shots."

On that basis, it was resolved: “Whereas wife Brita is accused of sorcery, she, herself also acquainted with such a skill, such as spells and general blasphemia, putting Thorguden (Thor, god of thunder) in front of the holy Trinity, why also the dangerous 'old hag' who did not merely walk in but 'trolled' the countryside, but also despised the church and the word of God, 'shall be locked in prison, until she becomes repentant."

Such trials were, however, still somewhat rare; it is in the latter half of the 17th century that they are so often repeated. The orderly police and judicial system we have described here was mostly confined to "the abolition of sins by the congregation, such as: 1) Gudz Ordz and the preacher's foray, and 2) misery and drunkenness as well as privy as a guest party." But the peculiar thing was that one as well as the other was delivered and decided before the ecclesiastical authority. The church adopted the appearance of a council house or court, where the mayor and council assisted the pastor with the decision of morality cases and maintaining order. The direct use of "Brachium sæculare," the secular arm of the law, rarely occurred. People apprehended by civil authorities were quoted the Ten Commandments, the books of Moses or the Prophets' writings and the judgments cited not by church, church order, national or landscape law, but Numbers, Jeremiah, Hosea, 1 Corinthians et.al. At that time it was not just in Örebro, but a little everywhere in Sweden. And sure enough, Master Nils' atoning hand generally worked very well that way.

Master Nils was, for that reason, highly esteemed and revered above all, and enjoyed much favor with the government, whose "Grace" under his guardianship "successfully pled for government income to assist his Sons to continue their study of foreign affairs."

It seems as if the pastor in Örebro would not have wanted to use the government in such a private matter, no holdings would have been in need of government subsidies for his sons' upbringing, as his salary was quite roundly increased, constituting "six loads of grain, or 288 tubs, and tithes from Edsberg and Hackvad," except what else in kind could be obtained from the city and the castle, the latter which "delivered two fat oxen for slaughter, awarded to Pastor Örebro in favor and grace, under the name of the 'kvictionde'."

This latter benefit was soon lost to the pastor, since Queen Kristina ceased to keep the barn for her own use. Since the bourgeoisie took over the castle farm, continued assistance did not materialize, whether the person concerned did not know it was an obligation, or regarded it as a temporary, personal gratuity of the queen. All in all, no more slaughtered oxen were heard of.

For this reason, in February 1648 Master Nils petitions the queen's favor by letter as follows:

“Whilst I certainly know that my most gracious hath granted tender over and above, nor is this the will, that my income should be diminish, my humble request is that E. K. M. (Her Majesty the Queen) would favorably confirm rights of tender.

The result of the writing became an order to the bourgeoisie to "quickly deliver the requested oxen to the pastor."

Master Nils, during his 37 year career in Örebro, also had charge of inspecting the town's grammar school, but little concerned himself in this regard, most notably during the bitter battles between Vice Chancellor Buddæus and the town's bourgeoisie and councils in 1638. The school was, for that reason, in such a low state for a while, that we think Master Nils incurred reproach from the government for lack of supervision. However, the school system at that time was far better than nearly 100 years earlier when another Örebro pastor by the same name, Mr. Nils, was upbraided in1556 by Gustaf I, who "dismissed the worst of the whole bunch of discontents in the school not proficient as chancellors, the Chamber of Interest and other offices, but more fit to attend the plow than to be used in national affairs."

Master Nils died in 1655 as pastor of Örebro, having repeatedly submitted proposals for bishopric duties. During his Örebro period he had the grief of seeing Längbro parish church in the 1640s "struck by lightning from heaven and grimly and utterly destroyed."

His wife "Masters Nils' Anna" (b. 1590) or "dear mother of the parsonage," as she was commonly called, was the daughter of Pastor Börje of Lower Kalix, of whom the following anecdote is mentioned:

When Pastor Börje, during a visit of Charles IX to Västerbotten in 1602, followed the king some distance away, the king asked him what his name was.

"Mr. Börje," replied the pastor.

"Lord also," the king replied.

"Yes, Your Majesty, the Kalix farmers call me that."

Asked again if he wanted to make any application or demands of the king, Börje replied that "no other petition than that his wife would not have to be troubled to make anyone breakfast."

The king assured him that he would receive breakfast daily and issued a letter for him in 1602 to receive eight barrels of grain, which pleased the pastor and which for a long time was called "Mr. Börje's breakfast."

The Children. They called themselves Litman, after Stenbro where they were born (Litos=stone): Jacob (28 Dec—12 May 1674), district judge in Göta Court of Appeal in Jönköping, lawyer in Västergötaland and at Dal, ennobled in 1654, married 1639 to Brita Uppe, bergmäster's daughter (master stone mason?) from Orebro; Carl, Bishop in Strängnäs; Kristina, Deceased 1656, married chief district judge Tomas Klerck in Östergötaland, who died 1682; Elisabet (1624 – 30 Apr1659) died in childbirth, married General Field preacher (Danish War) and pastor Petrus Olai Vidbyensis in Köping, brother of cathedral dean Laurentius Vidbyensis in Strängnäs.

Source:

Hagström, Klaës Alfred. 1901. Runeberg.org: Strengnäs stifts herdaminne, Fjärde delen. Retrieved 11 Jan 2020 from http://runeberg.org/strher4d/0075.html, pp. 72-78, (Sidor).