I. Ilistorii, — The early historj' of Sweden is involved in great obscurity, nor do we find much in that historj' that will interest the general reader until we come down to the time of Gustavus Vasa, who, with great heroism, made an attack on Christian II, and succeeded ill obtaining the throne in 1623. The next character that stands out prominently on the pages of Swedish history is Gustavus Adolphus, the great champion of tlie Protestant faith, and the ix>werful foe with whom Austria had to contend during the important period of the Thirty Years' War. Gustavus was most fortunate in his counsellors and statesmen, especially in his chan- cellor, the wise and good Oxenstiern (q. v.), who, after the death of his sovereign at the battle of Lutzen in 16G2, was intrusted with the management of affairs during tlie minority of Christina, the daughter of Gustavus, who succeeded to the throne. Passing over a few years, we come to the period during which the celebrated Charles XII sat on the throne, whose wonderful martial exploits form one of the most brilliant pages of modern histor}'. At the commencement of his reign the king- dom of Sweden was at the height of its power antl of its glory. When he closed his administration, and, by bis death, Sweden came under the dominion of his sis- ter, Ulrica Eleonora, its prospects were far from flatter- ing. She surrendered herself to the control of her hus- band, Frederick of Hesse-Cassel, whose administration of the affairs of Sweden was most unfortunate and hu- miliating. In making terms of peace with the enemies with whom she had been at war for so long a time, cessions of large territories which were once within the boundaries of the kingdom had to be made. Ulrica dying without issue, the throne passed into the hands of Adolphus Frederick, in fulfilment of one of the terms of peace prescribed by the empress of Russia in the treaty of 1743. His reign of twenty years was one of constant commotion and trouble. At his death, in 1771, his sou Gustavus III succeeded to the crown and reign- ed twenty years, when he was assassinated, and his son Gustavus IV, a minor in age, came to the throne, with his uncle, the duke of Sodermannland, as regent. For various reasons the young king, after a few years, was compelled to abdicate, and his uncle, the regent, under the title of Charles XIII, became king. Upon his de- cease, Feb. 5, 1818, the French marshal Bernadotte was elected king, taking the title of Charles XIV. Dur- ing his reign of twenty-six years, Sweden enjoyed a good degree of prosperity, and recovered, in consider- able measure, what she had lost under the reigns of his liredecessors. At his death, in 1844, his son Oscar I succeeded him and perfected the plans of his father for developing the resources of the countrj^ and adding to its material wealth. His reign lasted fifteen years (1844-69), during the last two of which, on account of his ill-health, his son and successor had acted as re- gent. This son, Charles XV, was king for thirteen years (1859-72). During his administration, liberal ideas gained the ascendency, and the result was the intro- duction into the government of many constitutional re-
forms. Charles died in 1872, and was succeeded by the present king, Oscar 11.
II. Rdiyion. — Christianity was first introduced into Sweden, in the year 830 by Anschar, a monk of Corbey, Westphalia, although the Swedish historians assert that many of the people embraced the (iospel still earlier, and that in 813 a church was erected at Linkoping by Herbert, a Saxon ecclesiastic. The labors of Anschar were followed up b\' his successor, Rembert, who found- ed several churches, but gained few converts. Several of Rembert's successors failed to prosecute the work, and Christianity became almost extinct; and it was not until 1020 that Sweden became a Christian state. The Reformation commenced in Sweden in 1624 under (Justavus I, who secretly encouraged the preaching of Lutheran doctrines, in order, when he had formed a party of sufhcient strength, lo seize the revenues of the dominant Ctiurch and abolish its worship. One of the most popular and able missionaries of the Reformation was Olaf Petri, who published the New Test, in the Swedish language. The bishops called upon the king to suppress the translation, who treated their proposal with indifference, and consented to a public disputation at Upsala between the Romish and Protestant parties. This controversy tended to open the eyes of the peo])le to the errors of the Romish creed, and they welcomed the missionaries to their houses. Gustavus seized at once two thirds of the whole ecclesiastical revenues, and au- thorized the clergy to marry and mix with the world. He also declared himself a Lutheran, nominated Luther- ans to the vacant sees, and placed Lutherans in the parish churches. In the course of two years the Rom- ish worship was solemnly and universally abolished, and the Confession of Augsburg was received as the only rule of faith. John, who succeeded to the throne in 16G9, had married Catharine of Poland, a Roman Catholic, and soon displayed a decided leaning towards the old faith. In the fervor of his zeal he prepared a new liturgN', entitled " Liturgy of the Swedish Church, Conformable to the Catholic and Orthodox Church." This liturgy was rejected by the mass of the clergy of both churches, and even the papal sanction was re- fused. Still, the king so tiir prevailed as to induce the Swedish Church to revise its liturgy, and to declare all opposed to revision guilty of schism. On his death, his brother Charles became regent, and one of his first acts was to induce the Synod of L'psala (1593) to abolish the liturgy prepared by the late king and depose those ecclesiastics who had defended it. Sigismund, hearing of these proceedings, came to Sweden and inaugurated violent measures in behalf of the Romish faith, which were so generally opposed by clergy and people that he returned in disgust to Poland. Charles took up the work of reform, caused a decree to be published in 1600 that the Confession of Augsburg should be the only rule of faith in Sweden, that all Romish priests should leave the country in six weeks, and prescribing gen- eral conformity under penalty of banishment. Under queen Christina the Church sank into a deplorable con- dition of spiritual declension and decay. There was a religious awakening, however, under the preaching of Ulstadius, who suffered for his zeal by a long imprison- ment. To put an end to what was called in ridicule Pietism, an act was passed in 1713, and a still more stringent one in 172G, prohibiting, under heav}' penal- ties, all private religious meetings or conventicles. These harsh measures and the desire for true spiritual- ity led a number of the people to seek permission to have the old books used in the churches of their par- ishes, or to have regularly ordained pastors serve them, promising themselves to maintain them, in addition to paying all dues, as formerly, to the parish priest. This was refused, and they withdrew from the worsliip of the national Church, enduring many disabilities, as de- nial of marriage, fines, and penalties. It was not till 1873 that dissenting ministers were allowed to marrj-.