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114 A History of Sweden
and the nobles, saying, If you wish to be the cause of
our ruin, we will with the help of Gustavus destroy
you/
"
Finally they decided to ask the king to resume the
government, assuring him that the Estates would
gladly yield to his wishes. On the fourth day the king
appeared before the Estates and was received with
every mark of respect. An act was then drawn accord-
ing to the king’s wishes and in due order passed by the
Riksdag : In the first place all superfluous incomes of
the bishops, cathedrals, and convents should be ap-
propriated for the relief of the state treasury, and all
castles and strongholds of the bishops should be con-
fiscated. In the second place, the Word of God should
be preached in its purity in every part of the kingdom.
Results of the Acts of Vesteras Riksdag. Hence-
forth the king instead of the pope became the chief
governor of the Church of Sweden. The clergy in all
secular matters became amenable to the civil courts as
other citizens. The powerful bishops’ days were ended.
They ceased to be members of the king’s council.
Bishop Brask could not endure the new, "evil times,"
since he had to give up his beloved castle, and so de-
parted to foreign lands.* Under the influence of the
new faith and changed conditions, people ceased to
shut themselves up in convents. The acts of the Riks-
dag had not abolished the convents, but only seized
* In 1531 the devout and gentle Laurentius Petri, younger brother of Olavus
Petri, was elected archbishop of Uppsala, which position he held till his death
in 1573. During this long period, the evangelical doctrines and practices spread
throughout the kingdom and became deeply rooted in the minds and hearts of
the people.
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