Samuel Troilius

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Samuel Troilius (May 22, 1706 – January 18, 1764) was Archbishop of Uppsala in the Church of Sweden from 1758 to his death.

He was born in Stora Skedvi parish in the province of Dalarna, somewhat north of mid Sweden. His father was a vicar.

In school he was noted for his talent. In 1724, he had become student in Uppsala University, and was by 1734 appointed assistant professor of Greek and Roman literature, after having disputed in 1732 with the thesis De magnetismo morum naturali. Thereafter he continued in his father spiritual trail by studying to a priest, and getting consecrated in 1736.

Through some connections, he moved to the capital Stockholm in 1740 as court chaplain, and the following year became the confessor of the Swedish Royal Family.

He did make some harsh, and later condemned as overly superstitious, judgement in matters of witchcraft and magic while working in Dalarna, which rendered him a bad image in the following centuries.

After the death of the Bishop of Västerås Kalsenius in 1751, he was unanimously elected new bishop there. In 1758, after the death of the archbishop, he was elected archbishop.

In 1756, he and his descendants were ennobled under the name von Troil. The family were to have more members on bishops' and archbishops' seats. The two marriages he suffered were with Anna Elisabeth Angerstein in 1740 and with Brita Elisabet Silfverstolpe in 1751.