Helena of Skövde

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Saint Helena (or Saint Elin, the Swedish name) was allegedly a pious woman from Skövde, Sweden. She was born around 1101. In adult life, she married and bore children. After the death of her husband she gave her belongings to the poor and undertook a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. She returned and settled on a farm where she dedicated herself to spiritual and kind actions. The church in Skövde, now called St. Helena Church, was largely built because of generous donations from Helena.

Helena had a daughter who had married, and was beaten and abused by her husband. After a time, the servants at Helena's farm united and killed the husband. His relatives blamed Helena for the murder, even though she was on a pilgrimage to Rome at the time, and to avenge his death they killed Helena while she was on her way to church in 1160.

She was canonized in 1165 by the Pope Alexander III and the first archbishop of Sweden, Stefan. The legend was first written down in the 1280s by Brynolf Algotsson, Bishop of Skara.

Saint Helena is the subject of Skövde's coat of arms.