A cup of mead

”Sveriges kyrkohistoria” is a multi-volume work in Swedish. The topic dealt with is Swedish Church history, but “normal” history interferes essentially all the time. This volume is subtitled “Reformationstid”. It deals with the most interesting period in Swedish Church history, the 16^th century, when the Church of Sweden was transformed from a Roman Catholic Church province to an independent confessional Lutheran Church.

The Protestant Reformation in our northern lands wasn´t a straightforward affair and took about 80 years to complete! One reason is that the Reformation took place simultaneously with the transition from a relatively decentralized medieval polity to a strongly centralized monarchy with absolutist tendencies. Add to this the ambition of the Swedish ruling class to turn the small country into a European great power. This meant heavier tax burdens and a military draft for the peasants. The Church of Sweden supported the centralizing tendencies of the monarchy, which in turn used Lutheranism as a political tool. The peasants often identified the Reformation with the state, and hence wanted to remain Catholic (or at least keep all the old traditions associated with medieval Catholicism intact). The first Lutheran king of Sweden, Gustav Vasa, systematically confiscated Church property, including valuables made of gold, silver or expensive textiles. These had often been paid for by the tithes of the local peasantry, which therefore saw the confiscations as an attack against the common people. The largest peasant uprising against Gustav Vasa, the so-called Dackefejden led by Nils Dacke from Småland, had strong Catholic overtones and was even promised military aid by Catholic princes in Germany (in the end, none materialized). On the other hand, Catholicism also had a certain degree of support among the high nobility. This became especially obvious during the reign of Sigismund, who as simultaneous king of Poland actually was a Catholic. The book says that it probably wasn´t until around 1600 that the Swedish peasants had become used to the new Lutheran order (and I suspect “superstitious” medieval traditions survived even then).

The example of Sigismund also shows another factor complicating the course of the Reformation: Swedish foreign policy. Both Gustav Vasa and his successors had to navigate an increasingly perilous international situation in which religious affiliation was one – but only one – factor deciding who was allied to whom. Vasa was mostly cautious and pragmatic in his dealings with foreign powers, and often impeded Lutheran Church reforms in Sweden if he felt that a too militant posture would threaten whatever diplomatic maneuvers he was involved with at the time. It´s interesting to note that one of Vasa´s perennial enemies, Danish king (later ex-king) Christian II, switched religious affiliation several times. Two Catholic powers, Poland and the state of the Teutonic Knights, were “natural” allies of Sweden (both were anti-Russian), while at least one Lutheran power, Denmark, was a natural enemy. I get the impression that Gustav Vasa supported the Reformation mostly because it gave him an opportunity to expand royal power and strengthen the state. Economic issues also played a role, since king Gustav believed that the Catholic prohibition to work on Sundays and various holy days inhibited the productivity of the peasantry (and, I suppose, everyone else). His sons Erik XIV, Johan III and Karl IX, by contrast, seem to have been more genuinely interested in theological issues. Erik XIV and Karl IX were often accused of Calvinistic tendencies by the orthodox Lutheran clergy, while Johan III veered towards Catholicism. All insisted that the king should have the last say in Church matters, both in terms of creedal statements and clerical appointments.

Some situations described in the book are absurd, as when Erik XIV, his advisors and the bishops discussed an acute crisis during the “Seven Year War” against Denmark: the Danish blockade had made wine scarce, a problem since the Church of Sweden celebrated the Eucharist with wine given to the laymen and insisted that all masses must be Eucharistic. The lack of wine gave the Philippists (moderate Lutherans) and Calvinists a welcome opportunity to argue their view of Holy Communion, according to which the wine might just as well be replaced by water, mead or cherry juice. (Celebrating communion with mead does have a certain intrinsic appeal.) The orthodox Lutherans refused, and argued that wine simply must be used cuz Bible, period. Erik XIV veered towards the Philippists and Calvinists, but in the end a compromise solution was reached: it was allowed to mix water with wine, as long as it still tasted like wine! King Erik subsequently managed to procure a large quantity of real wine from Germany, thereby mooting the whole issue…at least for the time being.

For making my head spin, I give “Sveriges Kyrkohistoria. Band 3: Reformationstid” five stars out of five!