There are grounds for believing that some such conflict between the civil and spiritual powers arose in the present instance. Bishop Svart's chronicle states that "Knutsson was appointed bishop by the Council of the Kingdom in King Christian's absence"—which need by no means imply his ignorance—"and that he held the office two years." Official documents of Pope Pius II, however, show that immediately after the death of Olaf Gunnari in 1 46 1 the Pope appointed to the see Birger Mansson, who generally figures as successor, in May 1462, to Knutsson. As two letters are in existence, one of July 25, 1462, and another of 1463, in which Knutsson is spoken of as bishop of Vasteras, it seems fairly certain that one is not justified in assuming the death of Knutsson to have necessarily taken place before May, 1462, when Birger Mansson is credited with being elected bishop, a date that may only mark the time when the Papal nomination was accepted by the chapter. Supposing Knutsson to have been a partisan of the Danish king, as suggested above, one can easily understand that the Swedish clergy in their growing state of alienation from Christian I would welcome the opportunity of removing from office one of his supporters.
As to the time and place of Knutsson's death we are in ignorance. The same obscurity in which the earlier portion of his life is wrapt surrounds the closing scenes. The compilation of the work on the plague—the outcome of the experiences gained in his days of poverty—that was the source of all the treatises published on the subject for
