Olay, Eric

Eric Olai (d. December 24, 1486) - Swedish priest, historian, teacher. Sometimes called the "father of Swedish historiography."

His date of birth and details of his early life are unknown. It was established that he came from Uppsala and was educated at the University of Rostock : he was enrolled there on October 1, 1447 and received a master's degree in theology on October 9, 1452. In 1475 he became a doctor of theology in Siena . In 1463, when Archbishop Jones Bengtsson (in Oxenshern ) was imprisoned, he temporarily performed his duties. Since 1477 he taught theology at Uppsala University , two years later he became dean of the cathedral chapter in this city. He died on Christmas Eve in 1486 and was buried in the cathedral; his tombstone died in the fire of 1702. According to some sources, during his lifetime he enjoyed a reputation of respected theology, and after his death, his grave until the Reformation remained a place of pilgrimage.

On the orders of King Charles VIII, he wrote the work “Historia Suecorum Gothorumque” ( Stockholm , 1615, with notes by I. Lokzenii , 1654), which reviews Swedish history from ancient times and goes back to 1464; One of the main theses of the composition was that Sweden is the homeland of the Goths . The sources for this work were old, unreliable rhymed chronicles; only occasionally did the author use archival information; the work was criticized during the life of the author, and in the 1900s gained popularity among Swedish nationalists. At the same time, according to the ESB , "his composition, however, contains valuable information and belongs to the best works of the Scandinavian Middle Ages." Five copies of the manuscript of this work, somewhat different from each other, have been preserved.