During the lesson, I noted that we would look at the process of change of Sweden going from
Catholic
and ------>
illiterate
|
Protestant
and ------>
literate
|
Intellectual developments, including the adoption of news
ideas of the Enlightenment
|
Here are some slides from Friday's lesson about the development of literacy in Sweden:
Go to Our World in Data: Literacy to get an interactive version of the above graph.
 |
| Notice that the list refers to ILLITERACY. Thus, the countries to the left are the most LITERATE. |
 |
| Swedes of the 18th century. The list includes scientists, engineers, architects, artists, writers . . . |
Swedish History so far
Material about Swedish that we have discussed:
(Many of the new words
found below were discussed in class, but you may need to look some of them up anew.)
- Gustav Vasa’s (Gustav Eriksson) rise to
power
o
Successfully led the fight against the Danish
king who led the Kalmar Union (of which Sweden was a part). His fight was
supported in part by loans from the Hansa League.
o
Removed Sweden from the Kalmar Union (Sweden
thus independent)
-
Things that GV did
o
suppressed all opposition
o
organized a centralized administration for
Sweden
o
pushed through the Protestant Reformation – thus
removing the Catholic Church from Sweden
o
confiscated the greater part of the Catholic
Church’s estates and treasures. As a part of this, all monasteries except for
Vadstena were eventually transformed into the property of the Crown
o
instituted a system of hereditary monarchy – we haven’t discussed yet
o
made the Riksdag (which at the time consisted of
the four Estates) a part of all future Swedish forms of government. – we haven’t
discussed yet
-
And thus by the time GV dies (in 1560), Sweden
o
was united
o
was centrally governed
o
was an independent kingdom (nation)
o
had its own foreign policy
o
had a substantial degree of self-subsistence
Introduction of the Reformation
-
GV starts the process of introducing the
Reformation in Sweden in 1527. With this the Catholic Church is removed from
Sweden, and instead Lutheranism becomes the religion of Sweden.
o
This allows GV to confiscate all the wealth of
the CC in Sweden. (This money will be used in a variety of ways, see below.)
o
The Church in Sweden is no longer under the
control of foreigners (the pope sat in Rome, you will recall).
o
One thing we did not discuss in class was the
social effect of the removal of the Catholic Church. The CC was the primary
provider of both education and care for the poor in Sweden. With the CC’s
removal, both of these areas of Swedish society digress, you could say. For
example, Uppsala University had been founded in 1477, then with GV’s
introduction of the Ref., it was closed for a hundred years.
-
With the money GV is able to get from
confiscating the Church’s estates and treasures, he is able to
o
get Sweden into a more stable economic position
o
build up a military
- Because of being able to do these things, he is able to
-
take care of (that is, put down, wipe out, control)
any opposition to his decisions. One of the main things people opposed was the
whole Reformation. But there were other reasons people opposed him. For
example, as GV increased his authority over the different regions of Sweden,
those who had previously had power over the regions tended to resist – which isn’t
so surprising. As a rule, people aren’t fond of losing power and wealth.
- gradually build up the authority of the Crown.
This includes more effectively collecting taxes and instituting rules and laws
that apply to the entire kingdom.
Expansion of territory
After GV dies, his sons rule Sweden, and then their sons. By
the early 17th century, Sweden is now a military power in the Baltic
region. Throughout the 1600s, Sweden expands her territory,
-
to the north
-
around the Baltic
o
into what today is Russia, Estonia, Latvia,
o
coastal areas of what today is Lithuania, Poland
– but those aren’t held long
o
northern coastal areas of what today is Germany
o
Gotland
-
to the west in parts of Norway
-
and most
importantly, to the south (1658, Peace of Roskilde)
o
Skåne
o
Blekinge
o
Bohuslän
- During the 1700s, many of the the territories around the
Baltic (Russia, Estonia, Latvia, most of the German territories) were lost.
- In the early 1800s, Finland (1809) and Swedish Pomerania
(1815) were lost.
But all natural coastal areas are preserved. And areas in the
north were preserved. These territories are relevant to Sweden’s future
developments.
-
Defense:
o
Easier to defend across an expanse of water than
land border – particularly one where there are no natural barriers, such as
mountains. (Skåne is pretty flat.)
-
Economy:
o
Movement in and out of the Baltic cannot as
easily be controlled by the Danes. (Think about that in the 17th and 18th centuries there is a lot of trade going on between European powers and Asia, Africa, and the Americas.)
o
Trade to around the Baltic is facilitated
o
natural resources in the south contribute to the
economic growth of Sweden. (Skåne is a very important to Swedish agriculture
and farming.)
o
We can even consider that today more than a
tenth of all Swedes live in Skåne(!).
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