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 NORWAY

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NORWAY

Greenland. Jemtland was subject to the Swedish Arclulioccse of ITpsala. There were a thousand well- endowed ohurehes, thirty monasteries, and various orders of women: Henedietines, Cistercians, Pnemon- stratcnsians, Dominicans, l''ranciscans, Augustinians, and IJrigittines. Schools were attached to the cathe- drals and to most of the monasteries. For higher ed- ucation Norwegians went to foreign universities, es- pecially to Paris.

From the reign of Christian III Norway shared the fortunes of Denmark. Christian's son, Frederick II (1559-88), paid no attention to Norway, but much was done for the country during the long reign of Chris- tian IV (1588-1648), who endeavoured to develop the country by encouraging mining at Konsberg and. Roraas, and to protect it from attack by improving the army. Jemtland and Hcrj\ulalc!i, however, had to be ceded to Sweden. Frederick III 1 1(148-70) was alsoobhgedto cede Bohuslan. Frederick V (174(5-66) encouraged art, learning, commerce, and manufac- tures. Prosperity strengthened the self-reliance of the people and their desire for poUtical independence. In 1807 they were granted autonomous administra- tion, and in 1811 a national university was founded at Christiania. Political events enabled Sweden to force Denmark in the Treaty of Keil to relinquish Norway. Many of the Norwegians not being in favour of this, a national diet, held at Eidsvold (17 May, 1814), agreed upon a constitution and chose as king the popular Danish prince. Christian Frederick. But the Powers interfered and ratified the union with Sweden. The Swedish monarchs, Charles John XIV, Oscar I, Charles XV, and Oscar II, had a difficult position to maintain in Norway. Notwithstanding zealous and successful efforts to promote the material and intel- lectual prosperity of the land, they never attained popularity, nor could they reconcile national disUkes. Friction increased, the Norwegian parliament growing steadily more radical and even becoming the exponent of republican ideas. From 1884 the Storthing, which now possessed the real power, steadfastly urged the dissolution of the union, and on 7 June, 1905, declared it to be dissolved. The Swedish Government nat- urally was unwilling to consent to this revolutionary action. Negotiations were successfully concluded at the Convention of Karlstad, 23 September, 1905. The Norwegians elected as king Prince Charles of Denmark, who, under the title of Hakon VII, has since then reigned over the country.

Ecclesiastical History. — Little is known of the religious ideas of the heathen Norwegians, and this little rests on later sources, chiefly on the Eddas of the thirteenth century. It seems certain that not only animals, but also human beings (even kings), were sacrificed to the gods, of whom first Thor (later Odin) was the most important. The early Norwegians were characterized by reckless courage and a cruelty that alternated with generosity and magnanimity. Hakon the Good and Olaf Tryggoesson laboured to introduce Christianity, and during the reign of laf llarold.sson Christianity became, nominally at least, the prevail- ing religion. Olaf Haroldsson was a zealous adherent of the new faith. He built churches, founded schools, and exerted influence by his personal example. After his death he was revered as a saint : the church built at Nidaros (now Trondhjcm) over his grave was replaced later by the cathedral of Trondhjem, the finest build- ing in Norway. The Dioceses of Nidaros, Bergen, Oslo, and Stavanger were soon founded, monks and nuns carried on successful missionary work, and in a short time the land was covered with wooden churches (Stovkirken) of singular architecture; the few that remain still arouse admiration. Gradually stone churches with a rich equiijment were erected.

The Norwegian l)ishops were und(T the jurisdiction of the Metropolitan of Lund until 1152, when the papal legate, Nicholas of Albano, transferred the juris-

diction over the Norwegian Church to the Bishop of TroMdhjcm and his succe.s.sors. The suffragans of the new arclibisliopric wiTc: Ilamar, Farve, and Kirkwall in the (Orkneys, Skalhuil, and llolar in Ireland, and Gardarin (ii-cenlaud. The tillics, lcgall>' established before lloO in the reign of Sigurd .lonsalafari, made possible the foundalion of a huge number of new par- ishes and strengthened those already existing. The Diocese of Oslo coiit.iincil the largest number, namely 300 parishes; Nidaros had 280. There was a chapter for each see. Not much is known of the morals and religious spirit of the people; it is certain that in the Catholic period nuich more in ijroportion was given for purposes of religion than after the Reformation. There are few details of the pas- toral labours of bishops and clergy, but the works of Christia 1 charity, hospices, lazarettos, inns for pil- grims, bear ready testimony to their efforts for the advancement of civihzation. Nor was learning neg- lected. As early as the twelfth century the monk Dietrich of Trondhjem wrote a Latin chronicle of the country, and in 12.50 a Franciscan wrote an account of his journey to the Holy Land. Norwegian students who desired degrees went to the Universities of Paris and Bologna, or, at a later period, attended a univer- sity nearer home, that of Rostock in Mecklenburg. With the abandonment of the old Faith and its insti- tutions was associated the loss of national independ- ence in 1537. As early as 1519 Christian II had be- gun to suppress the monasteries, and Christian III abetted the cause of Lutheranism. Archbishop Olaf Engelloechtssen and other dignitaries of the Church were forced to flee; Mogens Lawridtzen, Bishop of Hamar, died in prison in 1642, and Jon Arason of Holar was executed on 7 November, 1550.

The large landed possessions of the Church went to the king and his favourites. Many churches were destroyed, others fell into decay, and the number of parishes was greatly reduced. The salaries of the preachers, among whom were very objectionable per- sons, were generally a mere pittance. Fanatics of the new belief thundered from the pulpit against idolatry and the cruelty of the "Roman Antichrist"; whatever might preserve the memory of earlier ages was doomed to destruction ; the pictures of the Virgin were cut to pieces, burned, or thrown into the water; veneration of saints was threatened with severe punishment. Notwithstanding this, it was only slowly and by the aid of deception that the people were seduced from the ancestral faith. Catholicism did not die out in Norway until the beginning of the seventeenth cen- tury. The pope entrusted the spiritual care of Nor- way, first to the Nunciature of Cologne, and then to Brussels, but the Draconian laws of Denmark made Catholic ministration almost impossible. Whether the Jesuits appointed to Norway ever went there is unknown. A Dominican who reached the country was expelled after a few weeks. The Norwegian con- vert Rhugius was permitted to remain, but was not allowed to exercise his office. Conditions remained the same later, when the supervision was transferred from Brussels to Cologne, from Cologne to Hilders- heim, and thence to Osnabriick.

There was no change until the nineteenth century when the laws of 184i5 and succeeding years released all dissenters, including Catholics who had come into the country, from the control of the Lutheran state Church. From the time of its foundation the Luth- eran Church had wavered between orthodoxy and rationalism, and was finally much affected by the Pietistic movement, led by Ilaugue. In 1843 a small Catholic parish was formed in Christiania, and from this centre efforts were made to found new stations. In 1869 Pius IX created an independent prefecture Apostolic for Norway. The first prefect was a French- man, Bernard, formerly prefect of the North Pole mission. He was followed by the Luxemburg priest