The cult of saints played a leading role in the process of Christian socialization, which had as its goal making the newly converted Swedes full-fledged members of the universal Church. The saints’ days strongly contributed to the structuring of time in the rhythm of the Christian calendar. Certain saint’s days were free from labour and might even be preceded by a fast. Fairs came to be associated with saints’ days. The Swedish saints, whose cults arose between the introduction of Christianity and the mid-fourteenth century, may be classified into a number of major categories, from which a pattern emerges. The saints who from an international perspective give the pantheon of Swedish saints a special character are not primarily the clerical or monastic saints, but rather holy laymen.