Meet the Middle Ages
Backthe Freedom Song
After his death, Engelbrekt was honoured with a poem, written by Bishop Thomas Simonsson in Strängnäs. It is one of the most well-known medieval poems in Sweden. Initially, Bishop Thomas was no supporter of Engelbrekt ´s. At the start of the Engelbrekt uprising, Bishop Thomas was on the side of King Erik, but later he changed his mind and supported Engelbrekt instead. The "Freedom Song" by Bishop Thomas was taught to all Swedish school children as late as in the 1960´s.
The song tells us that freedom is the most valuable thing on earth. If you want to be true to yourself, you should value freedom more than gold, because with freedom comes glory.
"Frihet är det bästa ting
som sökas kan all världen kring,
den frihet rätt kan bära.
Vill du vara dig själver huld
så älska frihet mer än guld
ty frihet följer ära."