The Englishman Henry was consecrated
bishop of Uppsala,
Sweden in 1152. When Sweden's king, Saint Eric, embarked upon a crusade against the
pagan pirates of Finland, Henry accompanied him.
Eric was victorious, and Henry remained in
Finland to exercise his
zeal for the
conversion of the Finns to Christianity. A convert who resented a
penance that Henry imposed upon him after the convert had committed
murder turned his wrath upon the
bishop himself, slaughtering him. Henry has been venerated as the patron saint of Finland, where from 1300 until 1720 his body rested in the
cathedral of Turku.
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