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 SWEDEN

353

SWEDEN

he allowpd the one university, Upsala, to sink into de- cay. The preachers frequently received mere pit- tances, and in many cases stood on a low moral and intellectual level. On the other hand much was done to improve agriculture, mining, and commerce, as well as to strengthen the defences of the country. However, the monarcli gave much more thought to his own advantage than to the well-being of the na- tion. When he died in (1560) he was the richest prince in Europe.

Among the later rulers of Sweden only one was a CathoUe, Sigismund; two princesses of the royal fam- ily, Cecilia Va.sa, daughter of Gustavus I, and Chris- tina, daughter of Gustavus II Adolphus, became converts in their later years. The nation was perma- nently separated from Rome, consequently it is only necessary here to treat the later history of the coun- try very briefly, especially as during tlie period of the "great powers" it is closely connected with that of Europe. The sons of Gustavus Vasa ruled Sweden from 1560 to 1611. Erik, the first to come to power, was half-craz\-, was soon deposed by his brother John, and died in prison. On account of mental deficiencies Magnus never came to the throne. On the other hand Vasa's youngest son, Duke Charles, who had in- herited both the good and bad qualities of his father, was able to drive his Catholic nephew Sigismund from the throne and to leave it to his son Gustavus II Adol- phus, whose share in the Thirty Years War was of such far-reaching importance; The conversion to Cathohcism of his daughter Christina was of as Uttle political importance as the earlier conversion of the most beautiful of Gustavus Vasa's daughters,Cecilia. Cecilia was the ancestress of the Catholic heroes, Mar- grave Leopold William and Louis William of Baden; she outhved all her brothers and sisters and died at Brussels in 1627.

The guilty family of Vasa was succeeded by rela- tives who were descendants of the Wittelsbach Pala- tinate family (1654-171S). The successful warrior Charles X Gustavus reigned only six years. During the reign of Charles XI a large part of the earlier ter- ritorial possessions was lost; the imprudence and recklessness of his son Charles XII almost ruined Swe- den, although at first he gained some temporary and brilliant successes. These two kings ruled ;is abso- lute monarchs and cut down greatly both the rights and possessions of the nobility. The succeeding kings, however, Frederick of Hesse and Adolphus Frederick of Holstein Gottorp, were limited in their sovereignty by pohtical parties (Hats and Caps). Gustavus III (1771-92), son of the lafit-nanied sov- ereign, restored the former splendour of the mon- archy, but was assassinated when barely forty-six years old. During his reign the first breach was made in the rigid sj'stemof the state Church. His son and successor Gustavus IV Adolphus (1792-1809), of honourable but obstinate character, was naturally not the one to direct state affairs skilfully in an era of universal upheaval. He was deposed by a military conspiracy (2.3 March, 1809). His uncle and suc- cessor, Duke Charles (King Charles XIII), sought to secure peace for the country by the surrender of ter- ritorj- which he coidd not hold. As he was childless, he first adopted Prince Christian Augustus of Augus- tenburg and, after the sudden death of this heir, the French marshal, .lean Bemadotte, who accepted the election as crown prince and became a Protestant to secure the succession to the throne for himself and his descendants. Even during the lifetime of his adopted father he was the real ruler. As the representative of the interests of his countrj- he came into collision with his former protector Napoleon, joined the allied powers in 1812, and sent .30,000 men to the Army of the North. After the battle of Leipzig he led his troops (of whom he had taken great care) again.st the Dane^. Denmark wa.s made to sign the Treaty of Kiel (1814) XIV.— 23

in whioh it yielded Norway to Sweden. The unwill- ing Norwegians only consented under pressure of cir- cumstances, and their differences with Sweden were never fully settled. Pinally, in 1905, the Norwegian Storthing proclaimed the independence of Norway, and Sweden had to consent to the separation. Conditions in Sweden have greatly improved under the new ruling family, although friction, especially at first, arose between ruler and people. Jean Ber- nadotte reigned as King Charles XIV John (1818-44). Especially prosperous was the reign of Oscar I (1844- 59); his wife Josephine, a Catholic princess of Ba- varia, was universally beloved on account of her chari- tableness. During the reigns of their sons Charles XV (1859-72) and Oscar II (1872-1907) the country de- veloped greatly in all directions, especially as regards political and religious freedom. Oscar It was also a distinguished author. The present king is Gustavus V Adolphus.

Scriptores rerum Suecicarum medii a-oi (3 vola., Upsala, 1S18, 1828, 1876): Sicnskt Diplomaiarium^ed.'LnjEGREK and Hilde- BRAND, I-VIII (Stockholm, 1829-1902); Scenska RiksarkireJs pergamenlsbref /ran och med dr 1351 JdrLecknade vied angifvande afinnehdllet (Stockholm, l»66-72) -.Stenskariksdagsakler, ed. Hid- DEBRAND for the years 1521-1716, continuation by Westrin, Sveriges historia frdn titdsta tid till vdra dagar, Isted. MoNTEUua, Weibull, etc. (Stockholm. 1877-81); 2nd ed., revised, enlarged, and with more than 2000 illustrations, Hildebrand (Stockholm, 1900): 7n heathen and Catholic periods: pt. II (1906) treats period aiiir, i!m in t !.! mi ion of Protestantism: Witt- MANN, Kur^er ^6rtss /' ' '. h. (Breslau. 1S96), Sttffe,

Skandinavien under u ^iia'kholm, 18S1); Sjogren,

Gu-s(M Paso (StockholTii. Ism,, Iimm, Gms(. Vasas sfiner (Stock- holm, 1901) ; Odberg. Om prinsc-^^n/i Cecilia Wasa, markgrefvinna af Baden-Rodemachern (Stockholm, 1896); Wieselqren, Markgre- fvinnan Cecilia, Gusto/ Wasas skOnasledoUer in Smakrifler ^1900); Kung Gustnfs I.Rcgislralur (25 vr)la., covcrinKthe years 1521-5.')); Bero, Bidragtiltdeniiir. ' i, ,r ■•,..> ', ■ , , i ,. l.rGuslnfl. (1893); Cronholm, > / ;,. • II, regering

(6 vols.. Stockholm, IS .7 ,- ! - ^ /; 1 ./,-;/ (Slock-

holm, 1894) ;Statenciw, (,,',' /f 1 - ', // ; s-. - ..nlighel och harts belydelse (2nded., Is'.ll): Aj:d Oj-.-nslj.niasskrifler och bref- v&xling (1888 — ); Annerstedt, Samhdlhklasseer och lefnadssatt under Jdrre halften af 1600 — talet in Foren. Heimdals folka- skrijter, xxxiii, xxxiv (1891); Sjogren, Karl XI. och svenska folket pdhans lid (Stockholm, 1895); Idem, Karl XII. och hans mdn (1899); Carlson and Westrin, Svcriges historia under konungame af Pfalziska huset (8 vols., Stockholm, 1855-1910); Stave.now, Friheistidcn (Gothenburg, 1898); Idem, Konung Gustnf III. (ibid., 1901); Odhner, Sverigcs politiska historia under konung Gustaf Ills regering (2 vols., Stockholm, 1885-96); DE Heidenstam, La fin d'une dynastic (Paris, 1911); Sandegren, Till historien om stadshvdlfningen i Sverige 1809 (1893); Alm£n, AUen Bernadotte (1893); Nordldnd, Den svensk-norska krisen (Upsala, 1905); Setterwall, Svensk. hist, bibliografi (1907), including the years 1875-1900; Uistorisk Tidskrift (Stockholm, 1881—), 30 vols., in no regular order, con- taining historical material from early times until the Bernadotte family a.scended the throne, also criticisms of works on Sweden. For further bibliography see Dahlmann-W.utz, Quellenkunde der deutschen Gesch, (7th ed., Gottingen, 1906).

Art. — Even as early as the end of the ancient Stone Age, probably a thousand years before Christ, the people of Sweden showed a desire to improve the shapes of utensils in common use, as is evi- denced by the discover}- of numerous utensils belong- ing to this long past era. There was a steady im- provement in the forms of tools, especially of the axes. Vessels of clay were not only adorned with graceful designs, but at times they were also orna- mented with more or less skilful drawings of animals. In the Bronze Age the sense of beauty rapidly in- creased; weapons and ornaments (rings and diadems) reached a high degree of correctness an<i beauty, al- though in part this wa.s plainly due to the influence of foreign skill in art. On the other hand the represen- tations of the human form showed decided clumsiness for a long time. In this period use was also made of the higher metals, gold and silver, especially in orna- menting the weapons for defence and attack. The weapons were first, made of bronze and afterwards of iron. Apparently art icles made of ghiss were brought from other lands. The Runic alphabet was first em- ployed in the early Iron Age; the runes were cut on