Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 12.djvu/788

 REFORMATION

706

REFORMATION

the latter was adopted in most Reformed terri- tories of the Zwinglian tj-pe.

B. The Xorthcrn Kingdoms: Denmark, Norway and Sweden. — The Lutheran Reformation found an early entrance into Denmark, Norway (then united to Denmark), and Sweden. Its introduction was pri- marily due to royal influence. King Christian II of Denmark (1513-23) welcomed the Reformation as a means of weakening the nobility and especially the clergy (who possessed extensive property) and thereby extending the power of the throne. His first attempt to spread the teaching of Master Martin Luther in 1520 met with little success: the barons and prelates soon deposed him for tjTanny, and in his place elected his uncle Duke Frederick of Schleswig and Holstein. The latter, who was a secret follower of Lutheranism, deceived the bishops and nobility, and swore at his coronation in 1.523 to maintain the Catholic Religion. Seated on the tlu'one, however, he favoured the Re- formers, especially the preacher Hans Tausen. At the Diet of Odensee in 1527 he granted freedom of religion to the Reformers, permitted the clergy to marry, and reserved to the king the confirmation of all episcopal appointments. Lutheranism was spread bj' violent means, and the faithful adherents of the Catholic religion were oppressed. His son Christian III, who had already "reformed" Holstein, threw into prison the Danish bishops who protested against his succession, and courted the support of the barons. \^'ith the exception of Bishop Ronow of Roskilde, who died in prison (15-1-1), all the bishops agreed to resign and to refrain from opposing the new doctrine, where- upon they were set at liberty and their property was restored to them. All the priests who opposed the Reformation were expelled, the monasteries sup- pressed, and the Reformation introduced everj'where by force. In 1537 Luther's companion Johann Bugenhagen (Pomeranus) was summoned from Wit- tenberg to Denmark to establish the Reformation in accordance with the ideas of Luther. At the Diet of Copenhagen in 15-lt3 the last rights of the Catholics were withdrawn; right of inheritance and eligibility for any office were denied them, and Catholic priests were forbidden to reside in the country under penalty of death.

In Norway .\rchbishop Olaus of Trondhjem apos- tatized to Lutheranism, but was compelled to leave the countrj', as a supjiorter of the deposed king, Christian 11. With the aid of the Danish nobility Christian III introduced the Reformation into Nor- way by force. Iceland resisted longer royal absolut- ism and the religious innovations. The unflinching Bishop of Holum, Jon Arason, was beheaded, and the Reformation spread rapidly after 1551. Some externals of the Catholic period were retained — the title of bishop and to some exient the liturgical vest- ments and forms of worship.

Into Sweden also the Reformation was introduced for political reasons by the secular ruler. Gustavus Vasa, who had been given to Christian II of Denmark in 1520 as a hostage and had escaped to Liibeck, there became acquainted with the Lutheran teaching and recognized the services it could render him. Returning to Sweden, he became at first imperial chancellor, and, after being elected king on the deposi- tion of Christian II in Denmark, attempted to con- vert Sweden into a hereditary monarchy, but had to yield to the opposition of the clergy and nobility. The Reformation helped him to attain his desire, al- though its introduction was difficult on account of the great fidelity of the people to the Catholic Faith. He appointed to high positions two Swedes, the brothers Olaf and Lorenz Peterson, who had studied at Wittenberg and had accepted Luther's teaching; one was appointed court chaplain at Stockholm and the other professor at Upsala. Both laboured in secret for the spread of Lutheranism, and won many

adherents, including the archdeacon Lorenz Anderson, whom the king thereupon named his chancellor. In his dealings with Pope Adrian VI and his legates the king simulated the greatest fidelity to the Church, while he was giving ever-increased support to reli- gious innovations. The Dominicans, who offered a strong opposition to his designs, were banished from the kingdom, and the bishops who resisted were sub- jected to all kinds of oppression. After a religious disputation at the L^niversity of Upsala the king assigned the victory to Olaf Peterson, and proceeded to Lutheranize the university, to confiscate eccle- siastical property, and to employ every means to compel the clergy to accept the new doctrine. A popular rebellion gave him an opportunity of accusing the Catholic bishops of high treason, and in 1527 the Archbishop of Upsala and the Bishop of Westraes were executed. Many ecclesiastics acceded to the wishes of the king; others resisted and had to endure violent persecution, an heroic resistance being offered by the nuns of Wadstena. After the Diet of Westraes in 1527 great concessions were made to the king through fear of fresh subjection to the Danes, espe- cially the right of confiscating church property, of ecclesiastical appointments and removals, etc. Some of the nobles were won over to the king's side, when it was made optional to take back all goods donated to the Church by one's ancestors since 1453. Clerical celibacy was abolished, and the vernacular introduced into Divine service. The king constituted himself supreme authority in religious matters, and severed the countrj' from Catholic unitj'. The Sj-nod of Orebro (1529) completed the Reformation, although most of the external rites, the images in the churches, the liturgical vestments, and the titles of archbishop and bishop were retained. Later (1544) Gustavus Vasa made the title to the throne hereditary in his family. The numerous risings directed against him and his innovations were put down with bloody violence. At a later period arose other great reli- gious contests, likewise of a political character.

Calvinism also spread to some extent, and Eric XIV (1560-68) endeavoured to promote it. He was, however, dethroned by the nobility for his tjTanny, and his brother John ill (1568-92) named king. The latter restored the Catholic Faith and tried to restore the land to the unify of the Church. But on the death of his first wife, the zealous Catholic Princess Kathcrina, his ardour declined in the face of numerous difficulties, and his second wife favoured Lutheranism. On John's death his son Sigismund, already King of Poland and thoroughly Catholic in sentiment, be- came King of Sweden. However, his uncle Duke Charles, the chancellor of the kingdom, gave ener- getic support to the Reformation, and the Augsburg Confession was introduced at the National Synod of Upsala in 1593. Against the chancellor and the Swedish nobility Sigismund found himself powerless; finally (1600) he was deposed as an apostate from the "true doctrine", and Charles was appointed king. Gust.avus Adolphus (1611-32), Charles's son, utilized the Reformation to increase the power of Sweden by his campaigns. The Reformation was then success- fully enforced throughout Sweden.

C. France and French Switzerland. — In certain humanistic circles in France there originated at an early date a movement favoiirable to the Reformation. The centre of this mo\'ement was Meaux, where Bishop Guillaume Brigonnet favoured the humanistic and mystic ideas, and where Professor LefJ\Te d'Etaples, W. Farel, and J. de Clerc, Humanists with Lutheran tendencies, taught. However, the Court, the university, and the Parlement opposed the reli- gious innovations, and the Lutheran community at Meaux was dissolved. More important centres of the Reformation were found in the South, where the Waldensians had prepared the soil. Here public