I would like to extend my warmest thanks to Claire L. Sahlin, who originally had the idea of producing a Companion to Birgitta of Sweden; to my good friend and colleague Unn Falkeid for encouraging me to get involved and to see the project through; and to all of the contributors for their patience and enthusiasm. I am also very grateful for the support of Christopher Bellitto, series editor of Brill’s Companions to the Christian Tradition, and the editorial staff at Brill, in particular Ivo Romein and copy editor Meredith McGroarty. Three anonymous readers for Brill carefully read the manuscript, and I thank them for their many thoughtful suggestions.
For their help and invaluable assistance, I am grateful to the staff of The Swedish Institute of Classical Studies in Rome; Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana; Kungliga Biblioteket (National Library of Sweden); The British Library; The Warburg Institute Library; and the Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale in Florence. Special thanks also go to F. Thomas Luongo at the Department of History, Tulane University; Kurt Villads Jensen, Roger Andersson, Olle Ferm, and Gustav Zamore at the Centre for Medieval Studies, Stockholm University; Wim Verbaal at the Department of Literary Studies, Ghent University; Sara Risberg at Riksarkivet in Stockholm (the Swedish National Archives); Fredrik Eugen Christiansen at the Department of Linguistics and Scandinavian Studies, University of Oslo; Lena Liepe at Linnaeus University; Halfdan Martin Baadsvik at the Department of Philosophy, Classics, History of Art and Ideas, University of Oslo; the staff at the Norwegian Institute in Rome; Kathryn Boyer for her careful proofreading of several chapters in this book; and Bridget Morris, who translated Birgitta Fritz’s chapter.
With regard to the use of images, I would like to thank Uppsala University Library; The Pierpont Morgan Library, New York; Biblioteka Narodowa, Warsaw; The British Library; Kungliga Biblioteket and Riksarkivet in Stockholm; Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale in Florence; and F. Thomas Luongo.
My work on this volume was made possible through grants from the Sven och Dagmar Saléns Stiftelse, the Research Council of Norway, and the European Research Council (European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme for research, technological development, and demonstration under Marie Curie grant agreement no. 608695). The Department of Linguistics and Scandinavian Studies at the University of Oslo has also been very generous with its financial contribution.
For their support and inspiration at various stages during this project, my personal thanks go to Valentina Cacopardo, Linda Báez Rubí, Ane Katrine Øverseth Olsen, Linn Magnhild Eian Valderaune, and my parents, Marit Husabø and Håkon Oen. I owe my deepest appreciation to Stefano Fogelberg Rota.