[Image] [Hi-Res Image]
Page 174
Sweden THE NEW SCHAFF-HERZOG 174 the nineteenth edition. It has been translated into English by H. A. Urseth, Luther's Small Catechism Explained (Minneapolis, 1900). JOHN O. EVJEN. BiBLIooRAPBY: J. B. Halvorsen, Norsk Porfatter-Lexikpn, v. 537 aqq., Christiania, 1901 (contains a complete list of his works). SWEDEN. 1. History. 1. The Missionary Period (830-1130). 2. The Roman Catholic Period.
Sweden is a kingdom constituting the eastern side of the Scandinavian peninsula in northwestern Europe. It has an area of 172,876 square miles and a population (1909) of 5,476,441.
I. History. 1. The Missionary Period (880-1180)In the beginning of the ninth century, the Norse religion had assumed a strong monotheistic tendency. Thor and Odin had acquired preeminence over the other gods, who, on the other hand, were multiplied in the direction of polytheism. This twofold tendency prepared the soil for the reception of Christ, and Sweden was one of the few heathen countries in which missionary activity took its initiative from the natives themselves. The belief in heathen deities was not in decadence, but the proclamation of Christ was not in the eyes of the Scandinavians necessarily inimical to their system of religion; so that everywhere old Norse representations, with little alteration, could be transplanted to the soil of triumphant Christianity. It was a matter of outward test between the strength of Christ and the ancient gods. This is why, all through the Middle Ages, old national ideas and beliefs endeavored to reshape the Roman Catholic Church. Great political interests had a share in Christianizing Sweden, influencing the sending of the first missionary, Ansgar (q.v.), in 830. Sweden became one of the northern world powers in the ninth and tenth centuries, taking part in the wars in western Europe; Denmark was at times under its control; and the Russian kingdom was established by Sweden (Rus) under Rurik about 860. Sweden was also in close relation with the Byzantine orient at this time, and of such importance as to attract missionary zeal. The missionary history falls into three periods. The first consists of incipient sporadic efforts for 150 years under the archbishop of Hamburg-Bremen. After Ansgar's death in 865 his work was carried on by Rimbert. Of the succeeding archbishops Unni seems to have been most active in the Swedish mission, and died while on a visit to Birka in 936. There were probably few Christians in this period; the mission exerted no influence upon national interests; the chief end seems to have been to bring Sweden under German domination and culture.
With the beginning of the eleventh century external conditions changed. Christianized Den mark had obtained inner stability; with the help of England King Olaf Trygvesson (995-1000) of Norway had Christianized his countrymen; and after the battle of Svoldern (1000), Svend (Sweyn L), the redoubtabie king of Denmark, who had brought England under his yoke (1014), annexed part of Norway. His son Knut the Great, or Canute, bred in England, introduced English interests. On the other hand, the archbishops of Hamburg-Bremen struggled to preserve their northern interests. The work of evangelizing was prosecuted with earnest zeal from two directions (1000-66), with the result that t the kingdom was won to Christianity. In 1008 Olaf Skottkonung, with many of his nobles, was baptized at Husaby in West Gothland, in spite of the fact that he and his successors retained their office as chief defenders of the heathen worship and of the national temple at Upsala. It is disputed whether Siegfried, who baptized Olaf, was German or English, but the fact remains that West Goth land, bordering on Norway, first received Christian ity from Norway, probably through the English priest, Sigurd, who is almost certainly the same as Siegfrid, and in this manner came to be one of the greatest saints of Sweden. He also preached in SmAland, where he is venerated as the founder of the church in Vexio. One effect of the leaven of Christianity among the people was the awakening of individual consciousness; there arose a desire to hand down the names of their dead to posterity. Most of the runic inscriptions date from this period; and these stones show that Christianity was now spreading to East Gothland, and as far as Svealand. But West Gothland was its head source, and the first bishopric was nominally erected there at Skara (Thurgot was first bishop of Skara, c. 1025). Those called bishops in Sweden at this time were really missionary bishops. King Olaf and his sons, Anund and Edmund, carried on a very prudent religious policy, exercising no pressure to hasten the conver sions. The Swedish mission developed more rapidly after Adalbert became archbishop of Bremen, and he succeeded in maintaining the dominance of German influence; Adalvard I. and Adalvard IL, ordained by him, introduced Christianity to the north, the former to Varmland, the latter to Sigtuna in Upp land, which later became the chief seat of the church of North Sweden. John the Monk was bishop of Birka, the first monastic known to have worked in Sweden after the time of Ansgar. Stenfi, another German missionary, went to Helsingland and be came the apostle of the Lapps, and a rune records that Jemtland was now Christianized. The first church was built in Gothland and around it the town of Visby grew. Asmund, a relative of Sigurd, who had obtained access to King Edmund, sought in Rome to obtain ordination independently of Bremen; but Adalbert thwarted his plans.The year of the Norman conquest in England, 1066, witnessed the downfall of Adalbert and the severing of the relations with Germany, through the reaction of heathenism in the German colonies. All attempts, therefore, to unite Sweden with the interests of the German Empire were at an end. The
