Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - IV. The Romanized Church under the Union Sovereigns (1389—1520 A.D.)
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
Below is the raw OCR text
from the above scanned image.
Do you see an error? Proofread the page now!
Här nedan syns maskintolkade texten från faksimilbilden ovan.
Ser du något fel? Korrekturläs sidan nu!
This page has never been proofread. / Denna sida har aldrig korrekturlästs.
6. INNER RELIGIOUS LIFE OF THE CHURCH. 169
rather than white, and more wine than water is to be in the
chalice (Stat. Syn., pp. 145-399). I learn from Dr. Holm-
quist that in distant and scantily populated districts it is
probable that a bishop sometimes administered confirma
tion by deputy.
The learning of the priesthood also was small, and it
would be easy to quote evidence of canons warning them
against crimes and vices, and to relate instances of their
misdoings. But we have not that wealth of information
for Sweden which Chaucer, Langland, Wycliffe, Pecock,
etc., give us for England. The case of the Dane, Johannes
Jerechini, whom Eric of Pomerania foisted into the
Archbishopric of Upsala in 1409, with the consent
apparently of Gregory XII.18
,
stands almost alone in
Swedish annals.
The bishops of the medieval Church, even in its last and
most secular period, were generally men of good Swedish
families, and of good education, according to the standard
of the day, having mostly studied abroad and taken some
degree in arts, or theology and canon law. Even when
they were immersed in political intrigues and engaged
sometimes in actual warfare, they were patrons of art and
literature, and anxious to promote good men. We have
already seen such inconsistent characters in the persons of
Adalbert of Bremen and Eskil of Lund, while the fifteenth
century popes exhibited even more striking instances of the
same combination. As to the clerical antecedents of the
Swedish bishops, we find them, as was natural, taken
mostly from the dignitaries of the cathedral chapters,
particularly that of Upsala. Comparatively few were
members of religious orders.
The first archbishop (Stephen, 1164) was a Cistercian,
but no other member of that order so widely spread in
Sweden is known to have attained episcopal rank. Of
the twenty-eight archbishops who followed him up to
and including Johannes Magni, three were Dominicans
18
See Celsii :
Bullarium, p. 162, and Johannes Magni: Hist.
Metropol. E. U., s.n,
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
