Laurentius Petri Gothus (died 12 February 1579) was the second Swedish Lutheran

Archbishop of Uppsala The Archbishop of Uppsala (spelled Upsala until the early 20th century) has been the primate (bishop), primate of Sweden in an unbroken succession since 1164, first during the Roman Catholic Church, Catholic era, and from the 1530s and onward un ...

, Sweden. He served from 1575 to 1579.

Biography

He was born Lars Petersson in either 1529 or 1530 in the province of

Östergötland Östergötland (; English exonym: East Gothland) is one of the traditional provinces of Sweden (''landskap'' in Swedish) in the south of Sweden. It borders Småland, Västergötland, Närke, Södermanland and the Baltic Sea. In older English ...

, from which his name ''Gothus'' was derived as a means of distinguishing him from his predecessor, Laurentius Petri Nericius. Nericius recommended Gothus' appointment as court chaplain to King Erik XIV in 1560. When Erik's successor, John III, was crowned, John preferred Gothus to Nericius because Gothus was more in agreement with the king's own view on Lutheranism. They advocated a middle way between

Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

and Lutheranism in Sweden, unlike Nericius, who was more inclined to

Luther Luther may refer to: People * Martin Luther (1483–1546), German monk credited with initiating the Protestant Reformation * Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968), American minister and leader in the American civil rights movement * Luther (gi ...

's teachings. He was consecrated bishop on 14 July 1575 by Jacob Johannis of

Skara Skara is a locality and the seat of Skara Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden with 18,580 inhabitants in 2013. Despite its small size, it is one of the oldest cities in Sweden, and has a long educational and ecclesiastical history. O ...

and co-consecrated by

Paulus Juusten Paulus Petri Juusten ( fi, Paavali Juusten, sv, Paul (Påvel) Pedersson Juusten; ca. 1516 at Viborg, Sweden (now Vyborg, Russia) – 22 August 1575 in Åbo, Sweden (now Turku/Åbo, Finland) was the first Bishop of Viipuri, and later, Bishop of ...

Turku Turku ( ; ; sv, Åbo, ) is a city and former capital on the southwest coast of Finland at the mouth of the Aura River, in the region of Finland Proper (''Varsinais-Suomi'') and the former Turku and Pori Province (''Turun ja Porin lääni''; ...

, in a ceremony with Catholic elements, including a

Mitre The mitre (Commonwealth English) (; Greek: μίτρα, "headband" or "turban") or miter (American English; see spelling differences), is a type of headgear now known as the traditional, ceremonial headdress of bishops and certain abbots in ...

and typical Catholic rituals. In the 1570s, the

Jesuit , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

s were allowed to spread their messages. As a reaction, Gothus wrote several texts against papism and

liturgy Liturgy is the customary public ritual of worship performed by a religious group. ''Liturgy'' can also be used to refer specifically to public worship by Christians. As a religious phenomenon, liturgy represents a communal response to and partic ...

. At times his writing showed his support of liturgy yet he still supported Luther's ideas..

References

Nordisk familjebok, article "Laurentius Petri"
in Swedish {{DEFAULTSORT:Gothus, Laurentius Petri 1500s births 1579 deaths Lutheran archbishops of Uppsala 16th-century Lutheran archbishops 16th-century Swedish people

Biography

See also

References