Biography

Brask was born in Linköping 1464 to a bourgeois family. He studied philosophy

Philosophy

Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...

 and law

Law

Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...

 at German universities and around 1500 he received a doctoral degree

Doctor of Philosophy

Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated as Ph.D., PhD, D.Phil., or DPhil , in English-speaking countries, is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities...

 in civil and canon law from Rome

Rome

Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...

. Upon his return to Sweden he first worked as canon

Canon (priest)

A canon is a priest or minister who is a member of certain bodies of the Christian clergy subject to an ecclesiastical rule ....

 and was later, in 1505, appointed cathedral dean in the cathedral

Cathedral

A cathedral is a Christian church that contains the seat of a bishop...

 of Linköping. He also became a member of the council of the realm

Privy Council of Sweden

The High Council of Sweden or Council of the Realm consisted originally of those men of noble, common and clergical background, that the king saw fit for advisory service...

 (Privy Council of Sweden) and worked for a reconciliation with Denmark

Denmark

Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...

, with which Sweden has been at war for some years. In 1513 he was appointed bishop in Linköping. Brask was opposed to Sten Sture's struggle with archbishop

Archbishop

An archbishop is a bishop of higher rank, but not of higher sacramental order above that of the three orders of deacon, priest , and bishop...

 Gustav Trolle

Gustav Trolle

Gustav Eriksson Trolle was Archbishop of Uppsala, Sweden, in two sessions, during the turbulent Reformation events.After returning from studies abroad, in Cologne and Rome, he was in 1513 elected vicar in Linköping. One year later he became Archbishop of Uppsala...

, but signed a document at the 1517 diet

Riksdag of the Estates

The Riksdag of the Estates , was the name used for the Estates of the Swedish realm when they were assembled. Until its dissolution in 1866, the institution was the highest authority in Sweden next to the King...

 to remove the bishop. According to Olaus Petri

Olaus Petri

Olof Persson , better known under the Latin form of his name, Olaus Petri , was a clergyman, writer, and a major contributor to the Protestant Reformation in Sweden...

's Swedish chronicles, Brask was forced to sign the document. Under his seal he is supposed to have put a note saying "Härtill är jag nödd och tvungen - "To this I am forced and compelled". This legend is the origin of a word in modern Swedish: brasklapp (brask note), meaning a hidden reservation.

Brask supported the Danish king Kristian II

Christian II of Denmark

Christian II was King of Denmark, Norway and Sweden , during the Kalmar Union.-Background:...

, but was not part of the events that led to the infamous massacre in Stockholm

Stockholm Bloodbath

The Stockholm Bloodbath, or the Stockholm Massacre , took place as the result of a successful invasion of Sweden by Danish forces under the command of King Christian II...

 1520. After Gustav Vasa's rebellion he was forced to join the new king's side, but he would become an opponent of the king's politics. The events of 1527 diet in Västerås

Västerås

Västerås is a city in central Sweden, located on the shore of Lake Mälaren in the province Västmanland, some 100 km west of Stockholm...

 led to Brask fleeing the country to Poland

Poland

Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

.

Brask was an active man with many ideas. He had a was the first man to plan the channel between the two large Swedish lakes, Vänern

Vänern

Vänern is the largest lake in Sweden, the largest lake in the EU and the third largest lake in Europe after Ladoga and Onega in Russia. It is located in the provinces of Västergötland, Dalsland, and Värmland in the southwest of the country.- History :...

and Vättern

Vättern

Vättern is the second largest lake in Sweden, after Lake Vänern and the sixth largest lake in Europe. It is a long, finger-shaped body of fresh water in south central Sweden to the southeast of Vänern pointing at the tip of Scandinavia....

. He was running a printing house in Söderköping

Söderköping

Söderköping is a locality and the seat of Söderköping Municipality, Östergötland County, Sweden with 6,951 inhabitants in 2005. Söderköping is, despite its small population, for historical reasons normally still referred to as a city...

. The correspondence between Brask and others is an important source of history in a country where not much was written down.

Bishop Brask is believed to have died in Ląd

LAD

*A boy or young man*Lad culture, a British subculture*Ląd, Greater Poland Voivodeship, Poland*Lad: A Dog, a collection of short stories by Albert Payson Terhune**Lad - The real-life dog that the stories are based on....

 monastery

Monastery

Monastery denotes the building, or complex of buildings, that houses a room reserved for prayer as well as the domestic quarters and workplace of monastics, whether monks or nuns, and whether living in community or alone .Monasteries may vary greatly in size – a small dwelling accommodating only...

(the Cistercian Trail, Poland) in 1538, where his tombstone is seen to this day.