Swedish Church Ordinance 1571

rdf:langString Swedish Church Ordinance 1571

rdf:langString The Swedish Church Ordinance of 1571 was the first complete Swedish church order following the Swedish Reformation in the 1520s. The main originator of the ordinance was archbishop Laurentius Petri. Petri, archbishop since 1531, had published many doctrinal texts. He had, in vain, tried to persuade kings Gustav Vasa and Eric to be allowed to publish a complete church ordinance. With the ascension of King John in 1568, Petri was granted permission, and in 1571 published Canon Ecclesiasticus. It was formalized at a church meeting in 1572. Through the ordinance, all the fundamental Lutheran doctrines were written down and Catholic canon law formally lost its authority. Petri's work was however marked by a profound compromise between the old and the new. He altered the Catholic doctrines he believed were incompatible with true Christianity, but allowed others to remain if he deemed them useful. For example, the episcopate was retained, even though it was not directly dictated by the holy scripture, and prohibited degree of kinship was somewhat lessened, from the seventh to sixth degree of kinship. The Church Ordinance of 1571 also contained Eucharistic reservation. The Swedish Church Ordinance of 1571 also proclaimed the need of a schooling system. To benefit trade, craftsmanship and commerce in the cities, the city inhabitants were to have schools for every city child, both boys and girls, to learn how to read, write and count as well as how to manage some kind of basic commercial skill. Girls as well as boys were to be included; no schools for girls were founded, but it became common for girls to be included in the city schools' first classes. The countryside had to wait for a school system to be established until the Swedish Church Law 1686.