Mikael Agricola

Agricola was consecrated as the bishop of Turku (Åbo) in 1554, without papal approval. He continued the reform of the Finnish church (then a part of the Church of Sweden) along Lutheran lines. He translated the New Testament into Finnish and also produced the prayer book and hymns used in Finland's new Lutheran Church. This work set the rules of orthography that are the basis of modern Finnish spelling. His thorough work is particularly remarkable in that he accomplished it in only three years.

He died of sudden illness while returning from a trip during which he assisted in negotiating the Treaty of Novgorod with the Tsardom of Russia.

Biography

Early life

Michael Olaui or Mikael Olofsson (Finnish Mikael Olavinpoika) was born in c. 1510 in the village of Torsby in Pernå (Pernaja), Nyland (Uusimaa), in what now is part of Finland but then was part of Sweden. He was named after the patron saint of Pernå's church. The exact date of his birth, like most details of his life, is unknown. His family was a quite wealthy gentry family according to the local bailiff's accounting. He had three sisters, but their names are not known. His teachers apparently recognized his aptitude for languages and his rector Bartholomeus sent him to Viborg (Fi. Viipuri; now Vyborg, Russia) for Latin school and some priestly training, where he attended the school of Erasmus. It is not known whether his first language was Finnish or Swedish; Pernå was mostly a Swedish-speaking district, but the language he used in his works indicates that he was a native speaker of Finnish. However, he mastered both languages like a native speaker and was possibly a bilingual child.

Studies

When Michael studied in Viborg (Viipuri) he assumed the surname Agricola ("farmer" gv. "agriculture"); surnames based on one's father's status and occupation were common for first-generation scholars at the time. It was probably in Viipuri where he first came in touch with the Reformation and Humanism. The Viipuri castle was ruled by a German count, Johann, who had served the king of Sweden, Gustav Vasa. The count was a supporter of the Reformation, and they already held Lutheran services.

In 1528 Agricola followed his teacher to Turku (Åbo), then the center of the Finnish side of the Swedish realm and the capital of the bishopric. There Agricola became a scribe in bishop Martinus Skytte's office. While in Turku Agricola met Martin Luther's first Finnish student Petrus Särkilahti, who eagerly spread the idea of the Reformation. Särkilahti died in 1529, and it was up to Agricola to continue Särkilahti's work. Agricola was ordained for priesthood sometime in the early 1530s.

In 1536 the bishop of Turku sent Agricola to study in Wittenberg in Germany. He concentrated on the lectures of Philipp Melanchthon, who was an expert in Greek. In Wittenberg Agricola studied under Luther. Agricola got recommendations to Swedish King Gustav Vasa from both of the reformers. He sent two letters to Gustav, asking for a confirmation for a stipend. When the confirmation came, Agricola bought books (for example, the complete works of Aristotle). In 1537 he started translating the New Testament into Finnish.

Rector and ordinarius

In 1539 Agricola returned to Turku and ended up as the rector of Turku (Cathedral) School. He did not like his job, calling his students "untamed animals". At the time Gustav Vasa had confiscated the property of the church when he was consolidating his power but he also drove the Reformation. In 1544 Agricola received an order from the crown to send several talented young men to Stockholm's taxing offices. For some reason, Agricola did not obey until the order was sent again the next year, with a more menacing tone. This episode probably affected their relations negatively.

In 1546 Agricola lost his home and school in the Fire of Turku. On 22 February 1548, Gustav Vasa ordered Agricola to retire from his position as a rector. At this time Agricola was already married, but history knows his wife only by her name: Pirjo Olavintytär (Bridget, "daughter of Olavi"; Birgitta Olafsdotter, Brigida Olaui). His only son, Christian Agricola (Christianus Michaelis Agricola), was born 11 December 1550, and became the bishop of Tallinn in 1584.

When an old bishop died in 1554, Gustav Vasa had Agricola consecrated as the ordinarius of Turku parish – for all practical purposes Bishop of Turku and by extension the first Lutheran bishop for all Finland. Agricola was not a particularly strict or dedicated reformer, although he did remove the Canon of the Mass.

Death

In 1557, Agricola headed a delegation going to Russia on a diplomatic mission, and was in Moscow from 21 February to 24 March negotiating a peace treaty, the Treaty of Novgorod (1557). On 9 April he fell ill and died on Kyrönniemi peninsula near the Uusikirkko (now Polyane) village on the Karelian Isthmus. This day is also Elias Lönnrot's birthday and it is celebrated in Finland as the day of the Finnish language. Agricola was probably buried inside Viipuri's church, but the exact location of the grave is not known.