Foundation of Modern Sweden

Reformation

See also: Church of Sweden

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Thus the Reformation in Sweden was practically the work of one strong man, acting first from purely political and later from purely economic motives for the good of the state as he understood it. In this Gustav acted contrary to the religious instincts of the vast majority of the Swedish nation; for there can be no doubt at all that the Swedes at the beginning of the 16th century were not only still devoted to the old Church, but violently anti-Protestant. This popular Romanism was the greatest of all Gustav?s difficulties, because it tended to alienate the Swedish peasants.

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For the last hundred years the peasants had been a leading factor in the political life of the land; and perhaps in no other contemporary European state could so self-reliant a class of yeomen have been found. Again and again they had defended their own and the national liberties against foreign foes. In the national assemblies, too, their voice had always been powerful, and not infrequently predominant. In a word, they were the kernel of the still but partially developed Swedish constitution, the democratic safeguard against the monarchical tendency which was enveloping the rest of Europe. Gustav?s necessities had compelled him to break with the ecclesiastical traditions of Sweden; and they also compelled him, contrary to his masterful disposition, to accept constitutionalism, because without it his footing in his own kingdom would have been insecure. The peasants therefore were his natural allies, but, from the nature of the case, they tended to become his most formidable rivals. They prided themselves on having set King Gustav in the high seat, but they were quite ready to unseat him if his rule was not to their liking, and there were many things with which they were by no means contented. This anomalous state of things was responsible for the half-dozen peasant risings with which Gustav had to contend from 1525 to 1543. In all these rebellions the religious difficulty figured largely, though the increasing fiscal burdens were undoubtedly grievous and the peasants had their particular grievances besides. The wholesale seizure and degradation of Church property outraged them, and they formally protested against the introduction of ?Luthery.? They threatened, more than once, to march upon and destroy Stockholm, because the Reformers had made of it ?a spiritual Sodom.? They insisted on the restoration of the ancient Catholic customs, and would have made neglect of fasting and other sins of omission penal offences. Though he prevailed in the end, Gustav was obliged to humour the people throughout. And thus, though he was strong enough to maintain what he had established and finish what be had begun, he was not strong enough to tamper seriously with the national liberties or to crush altogether Catholic aspirations. At the time of his death the Riksdag was already a power in the state, and a Catholic reaction in Sweden was by no means an impossibility, if only the Catholics had been able to find capable leaders.

Related Topics:
Europe - Sweden - 1525 - 1543 - Stockholm - Sodom - Catholic

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Gustav?s foreign policy at first aimed at little more than self-preservation. Only with the pecuniary assistance of the wealthy merchants of Lübeck had he been able to establish himself originally; and Lübeck in return had exploited Sweden, as Spain at a later day was to exploit her American colonies. When, with the aid of Denmark, Gustav at last freed himself from this greedy incubus by the truce of August 28, 1537, Sweden for the first time in her history became the mistress of her own waters. But even so she was but of subordinate importance in Scandinavian politics. The hegemony of Denmark was indisputable, and Gustav regarded that power with an ever-increasing suspicion which boded ill for peace in the future. The chief cause of dispute was the quartering by the Danish king of the three crowns of Sweden on the Dano-Norwegian coat of arms, which was supposed to indicate a claim of sovereignty. Still more offensive was the attitude of Sweden?s eastern neighbor Russia, with whom the Swedish king was nervously anxious to stand on good terms. Gustav attributed to Ivan IV of Russia, whose resources he unduly magnified, the design of establishing a universal monarchy round the Baltic sea.

Related Topics:
Lübeck - Denmark - August 28 - 1537 - Scandinavia - Coat of arms - Russia - Ivan IV of Russia - Baltic sea

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