Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XV.djvu/532

 508 SWEDEN when the church assembly assented to the act of the diet permitting civil marriages and mar- riages by dissenting ministers, no one not con- firmed in the Lutheran faith could >be legally married. Every Swede who does not claim to belong to some one of the dissenting sects must be confirmed at the age of 14 or 15 and partake of the sacrament, upon which he re- ceives a certificate from his pastor. If he neg- lects the requirement, he is subject to many inconveniences, and is not entitled to the same burial rites as a confirmed person. The clergy, who must be graduates of one of the univer- sities, are generally moral and high-toned, and exercise a controlling influence in society. In the country parishes they are often magistrates as well as pastors. They receive in general a liberal income from permanent funds, tithes, and fees, but some are poorly paid. They are usually elected in parish meeting and commis- sioned by the king. The head of the church is the archbishop of TJpsal, who has under him 11 bishops, respectively of Linkoping, Skara, Strengnas, Westeras, Wexio, Lund, Gothen- burg, Calmar, Carlstad, Hernosand, and Wis- by. The archbishop and bishops are nomi- nated by the king from a list of candidates presented by the dioceses. Ecclesiastical mat- ters are discussed in convocation, but are sub- ject to the decision of the king. Public in- struction is gratuitous and compulsory, and it is rare to meet with any one who cannot read and write. Primary schools exist in every parish, excepting in the northern districts, which are so thinly peopled as to render movable schools necessary. Children who do not attend schools under government super- vision must furnish evidence of private edu- cation. In 1870 nearly 97 per cent, of the children from 8 to 15 years of age attended the public schools. The whole number of common schools in the kingdom was 7,303, with 555,595 pupils; of these 1,164 were mov- able schools. In 1871 the number of male teachers in the common schools was 5,029, of whom 52 were clergymen and 1,057 church clerks; the number of female teachers was 2,776. The amount paid for the support of common schools in 1871 was 3,537,968 riks- dalers, of which 2,573,927 was contributed by parishes, 842,907 by the state, and 121,133 was derived from interest on endowments. In 1870 there were 98 high schools for boys, with 756 teachers and 12,755 pupils. No high schools were provided for girls till 1873, when one was established at Carlstad. There are also tech- nical schools and day and evening schools in the several cities. The universities of Upsal and Lund have faculties of theology, law, medicine, and philosophy. In 1873 the former had 1,611 and the latter 563 students. Prepa- rations are nearly completed for founding a free university at Stockholm. There is a mili- tary school at Carlberg, a higher military academy for officers of engineers and of artil- lery at Marieberg, and a school for naval ca- dets at Stockholm. Libraries and collections of art, natural history, &c., exist in all the cit- ies, and are free to the public on certain days, and there are many literary and scientific soci- eties in the kingdom. Almost every parish, every prison, and all the large industrial estab- lishments have their libraries. In 1875 there were 271 newspapers and periodicals published in Sweden, of which 12 were daily and 16 were illustrated. The early history of Swe- den is confused and mythical. When Odin and his Swedes entered the country, they found a great part of it in the possession of the Goths, who had dispossessed the Lapps and Finns, and the kingdom which he founded comprised only a portion of Svealand, or the central province. (See DENMARK, NORTHMEN, NOR- WAY, and ODIN.) The dynasty of the Yng- lings, founded by Frey-Yngve, son of the pon- tiff Njord, Odin's successor, ended, it is sup- posed, before the 8th century, with Ingjald Illrada. He was succeeded by Ivar Vidfamne, who ruled over both the Swedes and the Goths. In 829 Ansgar or Anscarius, a monk of Corbie, visited Sweden and converted many pagans, but did not succeed in establishing Christianity. About the year 1000 Olaf Skot- konung (the lap-king, so called because he re- ceived homage when an infant) was baptized, and a bishopric was erected at Skara, but Svealand would not receive Christian teach- ers for more than a century afterward. Con- stant disputes and often open war existed for centuries between the Goths and the Swedes, and their political union was not completed until the reign of Waldemar, son of Birger Jarl (Earl Birger), who was made king in 1250. Finland had in the mean while been conquered and Christianized. In 1279 Magnus Ladulas (Barnlock, so called because he protected the people's .granaries from the rapacity of the nobles) ascended the throne and reigned with ability till his death in 1290. Then followed a long period of dissension between his three sons. In 1319 Magnus Smek, an infant, be- came king, and in the next year succeeded by right of his mother to the throne of Nor- way. He established his son Haco in Nor- way, and induced him to marry Margaret, daughter of Waldemar, king of Denmark. The three Scandinavian states being thus allied, he attempted by the aid of the kings of Nor- way and Denmark to abolish the senate, but was deposed and Albert of Mecklenburg was elected king in 1363. A war ensued between him and the kings of Denmark and Norway, which ended in Albert's defeat, and on July 20, 1397, by the "union of Calmar," Mar- garet, " the Semiramis of the North," became queen of the confederate monarchy of Swe- den, Norway, and Denmark. She retained possession of the triple government till her death in 1412, and was succeeded by her grand- nephew Eric of Pomerania (XIIL). The union of Calmar was maintained with great difficulty for more than 100 years, though in 1434-'6