Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - II. The Conversion of Sweden (830—1130 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.
ii. CONCLUSION. 85
by the new pope, Paschal II., in 1103 or 1104 A.D. The
rights of Hamburg were not entirely abrogated, and Asser
seems to have had no jurisdiction at first in Sweden.
Indeed, Popes Calixtus II., in 1123 A.D., and Innocent II.
in 1 133 A.D, reaffirmed the rights of Hamburg. It was not
till the time of Eskil, Asser s nephew and successor, that
the primate of Lund became also primate of Sweden
(1152 A.D.).
In the meantime Pope Gregory s correspondent, Inge
I., had died (i 1 1 1
A.D.), and was succeeded by his nephews,
Philip and Inge the younger. The period was one of un
certain government, and, with their deaths, ended the line
of Stenkil and a period of even greater confusion followed.
In the meantime the conversion of the outlying provinces
was going on ;
Eastern Smaland was still heathen, and St.
Botvid, the first Swedish missionary, found work to do in
Sodermanland. The temple at Upsala was still standing
and heathenism had many powerful adherents in Upland.
But, generally speaking, we may say that Sweden had
become a Christian country about 1130 A.D., just three
hundred years after Anskar s mission began.
ii. CONCLUSION.
We can hardly be surprised that it took three hundred
years for a country, in which individual or at least family
life was so independent as in Sweden, to become Christian.
It was a country to which forcible conversion was
abhorrent, and where the example of the kings, if contrary
to public sentiment, did not go for very much. Conversion
demanded an extremely difficult change in life and
habits, even when it did not penetrate very deeply
into the character, especially among the men. A man had
to give up the Viking life. He was forbidden to follow
the old law of private vengeance, and to have more than
one wife. He had no longer unlimited power over his wife
and children, nor the right to acknowledge or expose his
children at his own will. The Church s rules as to mar
riage with near relations and others, as to penance, fasting
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
