In Swedish history: January 20

January 20, 1156: The legend says farmer Lalli came home one day and his wife informed him the bishop had visited their house and departed without paying for his food, drink or fodder. This made Lalli angry, and he left to pursue the bishop. When he found him, Bishop Henrik asked his entourage to flee and hide in a nearby forest. Meanwhile, Lalli decapitated the bishop, removed his hat and cut off his finger in order to take his ring. Lalli put on the bishop’s hat and ring. The hat, however, became fused to Lalli’s head and when he tried to remove it, it tore off his scalp with it. When he tried to remove the bishop’s ring from his finger, it likewise tore his finger off. Afterward, Lalli drowned in Lake Köyliönjärvi. Bishop Henrik’s last wish had been to have his body parts collected by his servants and transported with oxen. The site where the oxen stopped became the first church in Finland. The legend is told in a famous Finnish folk poem called “Henrikin surma” (“The Slaying of Henry”). Above, the murder of Saint Henrik by Lalli, painted by C.A. Ekman.
In Swedish history: January 20
1156: According to a legend, the Swedish bishop Henrik is killed by the farmer Lalli on the ice covering Lake Kjulo in Finland. Bishop Henrik had come to Finland a year prior on a crusade along with the Swedish king Erik den helige (Erik the Holy).
Even though today experts believe there’s very little truth to this legend, Henrik eventually became Finland’s patron saint and he’s buried in Åbo Cathedral. So who was he, this Bishop Henrik? Born in England, he was a medieval English clergyman, who came to Sweden in 1153. He might have been sent to organize the Church of Finland, where Christians had existed already at least two centuries. Together with his alleged murderer Lalli, Henrik remains one of the most recognized figures from the early history of Finland; his feast continues to be celebrated by the Roman Catholic Church of Finland, and he is commemorated in several Protestant liturgical calendars as well. Bishop Henrik (Saint Henrik) is celebrated on January 19, which is also the name day for Henrik.