Obrazy na stronie
PDF
ePub

37. Inhibentesque propterea omnibus et singulis vicariis et officialibus nec non et archidiaconis et decanis ruralibus aliisque ad quos criminum denunciatio correctioque quomodolibet spectat, aut quibus id per Ordinarios committetur, ne ad excessus transgressionesque alicuius dictarum constitutionum . . . nostrarum, ob pecuniam etiam ultro oblatam aut alterius rei gratia conniveant,, sed potius ad poenas . . . debitas contra delinquentes. . . procedant. Atque ut ita fiat

utque refloreat Catholica Fides ecclesiasticaque dignitas (haeresibus radicitus extirpatis) suum locum recuperet, id vix alio medio aptius. . . fieri possit quam synodis. Itaque, priscum synodorum morem renovare cupientes, statuimus et ordinamus ut singulo anno saltem Synodus Diocesana opportuno tempore a singulis episcopis celebretur . . . in quibus per quartas designentur iudices qui diligenter intendant si statuta praedicta aliaque per synodos de scitu episcopi statuenda observentur, invocato ad hoc, si opus fuerit, brachio saeculari..

...

Datum Ratisponae anno a Nat. Dom. 1524 nonis Iulii, Pontificatus praefati D. N. Papae anno quarto.

XXVI

THE BEGINNINGS OF REFORM IN SWEDEN,

1523-4

On St. Margaret's Day, 20 July 1397, by the Union of Calmar, Margaret, Queen of Norway, united the three Scandinavian Kingdoms under one elective crown. Half a century later the Union was in abeyance, and Sweden obtained a King of its own in Charles Canuteson, 1448-57. When, in 1454, he attempted to restrict the liberty of bequests to the church and attacked the property and privileges of the clergy, they protested and secured his expulsion. On 19 June 1457, Christian I, first King of Denmark, 1448-81, of the House of Oldenburg, was crowned King of Sweden. Next year, he obtained the succession in all three kingdoms for his son John: and in 1460 the duchies of SchleswigHolstein came to his House. King John, 1497-1501, could not hold his own against the nobles: but his son Christian II, who, in 1513, succeeded his father as King in Denmark and Norway, landed in Sweden in the character of a papal champion, and was crowned at Stockholm, 4 Nov. 1520, by Gustavus Trolle, Archbishop of Upsala1, 1514-23, a friend of the foreign and of the

1 ¶Upsala became an archbishopric 1163, and had five suffragan sees in Sweden, Wexiö, ¶Skara, Linköping, ¶Strengnäs, and ¶ Wésteräs, with ¶Äbo in Finland. ¶Vacant in 1523.

papal interest. By the Massacre of Stockholm, 8-11 Nov.,
Christian thought to suppress the patriots and secure the Union.
But it roused a spirit at once anti-papal and national, which, after
his dethronement, 1521, and a war of independence, 1521-3,
placed Gustavus Vasa, 1523-60, on the throne. Gustavus was
elected, 7 June 1523, by the Diet of Strengnäs.
Since 1519,
Strengnäs had been the centre from which reforming doctrines
had been propagated by the brothers Olaus, 1497-1552, and
Laurentius Petri, 1499-1573, lately returned from Wittenberg.
Olaus received preferment in the cathedral from Laurentius
Andreae, 1480-†1552, then administrator of the diocese. All three
might now be useful to the King, who wanted the wealth of the
Church with its 7 Sees and 50 Religious Houses (Weidling, Schwe-
dische Geschichte, 36 sqq.) to pay his debts for the war to Lübeck,
and for the maintenance of his throne. Accordingly, in spite of
the opposition of the hierarchy led by [No. 74] John Brask,
Bishop of Linköping, 1513-28 (cf. Handlingar rörande Skandi-
naviens Historia, vol. xviii. 236, and Watson, The Swedish Revolu-
tion under Gustavus Vasa, 161 sq.), he appointed Laurentius Andreae
Chancellor, June 1523, Olaus Petri preacher at and recorder of Stock-
holm, and his brother Laurentius professor at Upsala. Here, with
a view to breaking down the attachment of the people to the old re-
ligion [No. 75], a disputation was arranged, 27 Dec. 1524, at which,
against Dr. Galle, Provost of Upsala, as champion of the existing
order, Olaus maintained the Lutheran opinions (Baazius, Inventa-
rium Ecclesiae Sveo-Gothorum, 165 sqq., Lincopiae, 1642).

No. 74. Correspondence of Bishop Brask.

(1) Letter of Brask, Bishop of Linköping, to Johannes Magni, Legate of Adrian VI and Archbishop-elect 23 Nov. 1523, of Upsala, written on 20 June 1524.

... Insuper, R.P., accrescit continue turba eorum extraneorum foventium schisma Lutherianum per venditionem suorum operum, non obstante nostra prohibitione alias facta sub censuris ita quod veremur sero medicinam parari, nisi celeriter prudenti vestro consilio ac auctoritate huic infectivo

1 Rector of the University, 1527; Archbishop, 1531. Consecrated by the Catholic Bishop Petrus Magni of Westeräs, 1527-+34. On the question of Swedish Orders see Palmer, Treatise on the Church, i. 297 (ed. 3, 1842); Report of the Lambeth Conference, 1897, 119 sqq. and, 1908, 179 sqq.; Bright, Some Aspects of Primitive Church Life, 50 n. and Letters, 277 sq.; A. Nicholson, Apostolic Succession in the Church of Sweden (Rivington, 1880 and [part ii] Griffith and Farran, 1887),

[ocr errors][merged small]

morbo occurratur, iuxta commissionem Apostolicae Sedis eidem V. R. P. factam. . . .

(2) Correspondence of Bishop Brask with the King, 1524. (a) The Bishop, 21 May. By the allegiance which I owe. you, I deem it my duty to urge you not to allow the sale of Luther's books within the realm, nor give his pupils shelter or encouragement of any kind, till the coming council of the Church shall pass its judgement. . . . I know not how your Grace can better win the love of God, as well as of all Christian Kings and Princes, than by restoring the Church of Christ to the state of harmony that it has enjoyed in ages past.'

(b) The King, 8 June. Regarding your request that we forbid the sale of Luther's writings, we know not by what right it could be done, for we are told his teachings have not yet been found by impartial judges to be false. Moreover, since writings opposed to Luther have been circulated throughout the land, it seems but right that his too should be kept public, that you and other scholars may detect their fallacies and show them to the people. Then the books of Luther may be condemned. As to your charge that Luther's pupils are given shelter at our court, we answer that they have not sought it. If indeed they should, you are aware it is our duty to protect them as well as you. If there be any in our protection whom you wish to charge, bring your accusation and give their names.'

No. 75. The Disputation at Upsala, 27 Dec. 1524. Prop. I. An religio, recepta usuque longo servata, sit abroganda, ut etiam tollantur ritus ab ecclesia instituti ? Resp. D. Galle. Propositio continet duas partes. ra est de dogmate. Christiana religio defendit S. Scripturam, quam rite exponunt antiqui patres. Nam cum S. Scriptura sit intellectu difficilis, etiam tractet obscuriora, teste Apostolo Petro, 2 Pet. iii. [15 sq.]; intelligere autem obscuriora sine interprete nemo praesumit, quod exemplo Aethiopis eunuchi, Act. viii. [31] liquet; suntque vetusti interpretes sanctissimi viri, dicente Apostolo, 2 Pet. i. [21], quibus singularia dona sunt collata, referente Paulo I Cor. xii: ergo qui dogma illorum a Spiritu sancto ingestum negat, is Spiritui S. resistere deprehenditur, nec veram

religionem tenere potest. 2a pars propositionis est de ritibus ecclesiae. Qui ritus vel constitutiones non sunt contrariae verbo scripto, omnino serventur: siquidem sunt apostolicae. Novimus autem multa esse ab apostolis constituta quae scripta non sunt, teste Apostolo, 1 Cor. xi. [34] 'Dum venio, constituam'; et Ioannes dicit, 3 Ep. [13 sq.] Nolo scribere calamo, sed tradere per sermonem'. Item Act. xvi [4] et xvii Paulus et Silas iusserunt fideles servare constitutiones apostolorum. Ergo serventur traditiones et ritus ab apostolis et ecclesia primitiva constituti. Unde Augustinus dicit [Ep. xxxvi, § 2] ad Casul., quae sententia etiam legitur in Decret. Dist. XI, c. vii, 'Constitutiones ecclesiae quae in Bibliis scriptae non sunt, loco legis habentur a plebe, dantque rudioribus bonam informationem.'

Exceptio M. Olai. Concedo interpretationem S. Patrum esse recipiendam, ubi non discedit a scripto verbo. Nam ibi non valet auctoritas Patrum, sed ipsius verbi Dei veritas infallibilis. In aliis constitutionibus Patrum a S. Scriptura dissentientibus, etiam nos discedimus ab illis. Hoc si non fieret, nulla esset differentia inter verbum Dei et decreta Patrum. Constat etiam antiquos patres tanquam homines errasse. . . . Ideo non opus est pluribus probare veritatem religionis non pendere ab interpretatione Patrum. . . . Probat D. Galle inutiliter quaedam obscura contineri in S. Scriptura.... Verbum Dei... in causa salutis ac religionis lucidum et clarum. Obscuritas dependet a contemptoribus Verbi. . . . Sic Verbum est obscurum. . . carnalibus, praesertim non renatis, qualis fuit ratio Aethiopis.... Ad 2am partem Responsionis Galle de ritibus ecclesiae antiquitus institutis replico, posse facile concedi quaedam fuisse instituta ab apostolis et ecclesia primitiva quae scripta non sunt. Sed quis dicat Gallo quinam sint illi ritus, dum in ipsa Scriptura non habentur ; aut quomodo probet hos ritus, de quibus controvertitur, esse eosdem apostolicos? Nec videmus necessarium esse ut sciamus quae fuerunt illa quae coram tractarunt apostoli Paulus cum Corinthiis, Iohannes cum Gaio, dum non extant scripta. Si illa fuissent ecclesiae scitu necessaria, certe legeremus scripta. Scimus aliqua remansisse, quae ab ecclesia primitiva erant constituta, vid. celebrare Diem Dominicum loco sabbati Iudaici. aliqua sunt mutata, ut iam videantur ex usu licita quae tunc erant prohibita, scil. esus sanguinis et suffocati.... Possunt quidem tales ritus, data occasione, recte mutari, cum ratio nostrae salutis in hisce non consistat.... Habentque singulae ecclesiae aliqua singularia quae alibi non servantur. Igitur rationes

[ocr errors]

D. Galle sunt frivolae, quibus praesumit probare ritus antiquitus observatos hodie non esse mutatos...

Prop. II. An Christus dederit Papae, Episcopis ullisve Clericis ullum dominatum vel aliam quam potestatem praedicandi verbum Dei et administrandi sacramenta. Et num alii sint vocandi sacerdotes in ministerio Ecclesiae constituti quam qui hoc faciant.

Resp. D. Galle. Propositio continet duas partes. Christus dicit Matt. xviii [17], 'Si te non audierit, dic Ecclesiae praesulibus.' Hinc intelligimus datam esse potestatem Papae et Praelatis Ecclesiae iudicandi casus Ecclesiae, ordinandi necessaria et puniendi inobedientes. . . . Partem alteram Prop. explicant hi textus 1 Cor. xii [12 sqq.], Rom. xii [6 sqq.], Eph. iv [11 sqq.], ubi recensentur plura officia Ecclesiae. Unde probatur alios esse sacerdotes quam qui verbum Dei praedicant.... Sunt etiam in Ecclesia sancti qui continuis precibus pro Ecclesia Deum adorant.... Praestantissimum autem officium sacerdotis est consecrare corpus et sanguinem Christi, et offerre illud pro remissione peccatorum hominibus conferenda, quod monet Apostolus Heb. v [1]. Ergo plures sunt sacerdotes Ecclesiae utiles, quam qui praedicant verbum.

Exceptio M. Olai. Datam esse a Christo Apostolis et clericis potestatem legimus non quidem ad subigenda regna mundi sed ad convertendos peccatores et ad nuntiandam paenitentibus remissionem peccatorum. Dicit enim Christus Ioh. xviii [36] 'Regnum meum non est de hoc mundo'. . . . Vult ministros Ecclesiae se subiicere magistratui, non dominari. . . . Itaque decet eo magis servos Christi, praedicatores in Ecclesia eius, a dominio saeculari alienissimos esse, teste Apostolo 1 Pet. v [2 sq.] Pascite gregem non ut domini'. Ergo praedicatio verbi Dei est proprium officium ministrorum Ecclesiae. Ad partem alteram Responsionis dico, Non inveniri sacerdotes Dei qui voluntate eius sunt constituti, nisi solos praedicatores verbi Dei.... Dum infert D. Galle... esse mandatum Christi et apostolorum ut sancti orent Horas Canonicas... velim libenter informari qua auctoritate observentur Horae Canonicae? ... Septem Horae Canonicae coeperunt sola humana auctoritate, meritoque referuntur ad illa de quibus Christus Matt. xv [9] 'Frustra colunt me mandatis hominum'. Tractare sacramenta praesertim conficere corpus Christi in Eucharistia, dicit D. Galle, esse praecipuum sacerdotis officium. Iam constat tractationem sacramentorum fieri cum praedicatione verbi Dei, sine qua ignorat vulgus usum sacramentorum. Ergo praedicatio verbi

« PoprzedniaDalej »