Protestantism in Sweden and Denmark - James Aitken Wylie
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Chapter 6<br />
<strong>Protestantism</strong> <strong>in</strong> <strong>Sweden</strong>,<br />
from Vasa (1530) to<br />
Charles IX. (1604)<br />
SINCE the middle of the reign of Gustavus<br />
Vasa, the liberties of the Reformed Church of<br />
<strong>Sweden</strong> had been on the ebb. Vasa, adopt<strong>in</strong>g the<br />
policy known as the Erastian, had assumed the<br />
supreme power <strong>in</strong> all matters ecclesiastical. His son<br />
John went a step beyond this. At his own arbitrary<br />
will <strong>and</strong> pleasure he imposed a semi-Popish liturgy<br />
upon the Swedish clergy, <strong>and</strong> strove, by sentences<br />
of imprisonment <strong>and</strong> outlawry, to compel them to<br />
make use of it <strong>in</strong> their public services. But now still<br />
greater dangers impended: <strong>in</strong> fact, a crisis had<br />
arisen. Sigismund, who made no secret of his<br />
devotion to Rome, was about to mount the throne.<br />
Before plac<strong>in</strong>g the crown on his head, the Swedes<br />
felt that it was <strong>in</strong>cumbent on them to provide<br />
effectual guarantees that the new monarch should<br />
govern <strong>in</strong> accordance with the Protestant religion.<br />
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