Laurentius Petri Nericius (1499 – 27 October 1573) was a Swedish clergyman and the first

Evangelical Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

Archbishop of Sweden The Archbishop of Uppsala (spelled Upsala until the early 20th century) has been the primate of Sweden in an unbroken succession since 1164, first during the Catholic era, and from the 1530s and onward under the Lutheran church. Historical ove ...

. He and his brother

Olaus Petri Olof Persson, sometimes Petersson (6 January 1493 – 19 April 1552), better known under the Latinisation of names, Latin form of his name, Olaus Petri (or less commonly, Olavus Petri), was a clergyman, writer, judge, and major contributor to the ...

are, together with the King

Gustav Vasa Gustav Eriksson Vasa (12 May 1496 – 29 September 1560), also known as Gustav I, was King of Sweden from 1523 until his death in 1560. He was previously self-recognised Protector of the Realm (''Reichsverweser#Sweden, Riksföreståndare'') fr ...

, regarded as the main Lutheran reformers of Sweden. They are commemorated by the

Evangelical Lutheran Church in America The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is a mainline Protestant church headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. The ELCA was officially formed on January 1, 1988, by the merging of three Lutheran church bodies. As of December 31, 2023, it ...

on 19 April.

Early life

Laurentius was born Lars Persson in

Örebro Örebro ( ; ) is the seventh-largest city in Sweden, the seat of Örebro Municipality, and capital of Örebro County. It is situated by the Närke Plain, near the lake Hjälmaren, a few kilometers inland along the small river Svartån, and ...

Närke Närke () is a Swedish traditional province, or ''landskap'', situated in Svealand in south central Sweden. It is bordered by Västmanland to the north, Södermanland to the east, Östergötland to the southeast, Västergötland to the sou ...

. Laurentius studied in Germany in 1520, possibly together with his brother. Here they took influence from Lutheranism, among other things they met with

Martin Luther Martin Luther ( ; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, Theology, theologian, author, hymnwriter, professor, and former Order of Saint Augustine, Augustinian friar. Luther was the seminal figure of the Reformation, Pr ...

himself. On returning home to Stockholm, they got stranded and nearly lost their lives as the boat went ashore on the island of

Gotland Gotland (; ; ''Gutland'' in Gutnish), also historically spelled Gottland or Gothland (), is Sweden's largest island. It is also a Provinces of Sweden, province/Counties of Sweden, county (Swedish län), Municipalities of Sweden, municipality, a ...

. They both survived however, and settled on the island, and Laurentius became headmaster at a school while Olaus became assistant to a priest. Not long after, Olaus travelled with the priest to Stockholm and the crowning of King

. Subsequently, he managed to get on friendly terms with the King, and soon moved to Stockholm where he worked in the vicinity of the King.

Archbishop

At the Uppsala Council of 1531, the Swedish king

took the final step of breaking with the Roman Catholic Church, by personally appointing Laurentius as the new archbishop. On 22 September that year, Laurentius was consecrated archbishop by the Peder Månsson,

Bishop of Västerås A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of dioceses. The role ...

. Månsson was ordained bishop in Rome by Bishop

Paris de Grassis Paris de Grassis (also Paride de' Grassi, c. 1470 – 10 June 1528) was the master of ceremonies to Pope Julius II and Pope Leo X. He joined the Office of Ceremonies in May 1504 as a participating ceremonialist, progressed to role of president ...

, and by consecrating Laurentius the apostolic succession was retained in the

Church of Sweden The Church of Sweden () is an Evangelical Lutheran national church in Sweden. A former state church, headquartered in Uppsala, with around 5.5 million members at year end 2023, it is the largest Christian denomination in Sweden, the largest List ...

, which was considered important. But although the consecration took place according to Catholic ritual, those who officiated at the consecration made a secret declaration that they were acting under pressure. Later that year Laurentius married Elisabeth Didriksdotter, a daughter of the King's cousin becoming the first Swedish archbishop to be married. His brother Olaus had already become the first priest to marry in 1525. The king forbade Laurentius to interfere with the reformation plans. Laurentius wisely defended the autonomy of the Church against the various ideas of Gustav, such as his wish to abolish all bishops, while still steady advancing and promoting the ideas of the reformation texts within Sweden. His main contribution were his abundant writings which laid the foundation for the Swedish Church Ordinance established at the Uppsala Council 1571. He was archbishop for 42 years, unparalleled in Sweden, and during his time he was often in conflicts with the monarchs. In 1539 his brother Olaus was sentenced to death by the King over some arguments, and Laurentius was among those forced to sign the death sentence. It has been disputed whether Laurentius was doing this because of a weak character or if he thought it better to formally obey so that he could continue to spread the reformation ideas. Olaus did eventually get pardoned in 1542, much due to his influential friends, but he was forced to keep a low profile, leaving the role of main reformator solely to Laurentius.

Diplomat

Gustav I of Sweden Gustav Eriksson Vasa (12 May 1496 – 29 September 1560), also known as Gustav I, was King of Sweden from 1523 until his death in 1560. He was previously self-recognised Protector of the Realm ('' Riksföreståndare'') from 1521, during the on ...

entrusted Laurentius Petri to head the delegation who negotiated the

Treaty of Novgorod (1557) The Treaty, Truce or Second Peace of Novgorod was concluded in March 1557. It ended the Russo-Swedish War (1554–1557), a series of skirmishes in the Vyborg, Viborg and Shlisselburg, Oreshek areas resulting from Swedish attempts to keep Livonia, ...

, which ended the

Russo-Swedish War (1554–1557) The Russo-Swedish War of 1554–1557, considered a prelude to the Livonian War of 1558–1583, arose out of border skirmishes. It ended when the parties agreed on a truce in the Treaty of Novgorod (1557). The war ended inconclusively. Prelude ...

Works

The first complete Swedish translation of the

Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...

was published in 1541, nicknamed the

Vasa Bible The Gustav Vasa Bible () is the common name of the Swedish Bible translation published in 1540–41. It was a translation of Martin Luther's German Bible. The full title is as shown in the image: ''Biblia / Thet är / All then Helgha Scrifft / p ...

after the King. Laurentius was one of the main proponents supervising the project, together with his brother Olaus and the clergyman

Laurentius Andreae Laurentius Andreae ( Swedish: Lars Andersson ) (c. 1470 – 14 April 1552) was a Swedish Lutheran clergyman and scholar who is acknowledged as one of his country's preeminent intellectual figures during the first half of the 16th century. In ...

. In the 1560s, when the ideas of

Calvin Calvin may refer to: Names * Calvin (given name) ** Particularly Calvin Coolidge, 30th President of the United States * Calvin (surname) ** Particularly John Calvin, theologian Places In the United States * Calvin, Arkansas, a hamlet * Calvin T ...

gained in influence, Laurentius published several texts where he spoke for Lutheranism. It has been suggested that it was the first time the Swedish Church defined its Lutheran character.

Family

His wife was Elizabeth Didriksdotter daughter of

Didrik the Mint Master Diderik or Didrik is a Norwegian male given name. In North Germanic languages, the native form would be ''Tjodrik'', but ''Diderik'' and ''Didrik'' have been loaned from Low German and are now a common name in Norway. It may also be a variant of ...

and

Birgitta Kristiernsdotter Vasa Birgitta is the Swedish and Icelandic form of the Irish Gaelic female name ''Brighid''. Brighid or Brigid was the name of an ancient Celtic goddess, and its English form is Bridget. Birgitta and its alternate forms Birgit and Britta became common ...

( paternal cousin of

). They were betrothed on

23 September Events Pre-1600 * 38 – Drusilla, Caligula's sister who died in June, with whom the emperor is said to have an incestuous relationship, is deified. * 1122 – Pope Callixtus II and Holy Roman Emperor Henry V agree to the Concordat o ...

1531 Year 1531 ( MDXXXI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. Events January–March * January 15 – The third session of the Reformation Parliament of King Henry VIII of England is opened. * January 26 &nda ...

, after Laurentius Petri married

Catherine of Saxe-Lauenburg Catherine of Saxe-Lauenburg (''Katarina'' in Swedish; 24 September 1513 – 23 September 1535) was Queen of Sweden as the first wife of Gustav I from 1531 until her death in 1535. Life Catherine was born in Ratzeburg to Magnus I, Duke of Saxe ...

. Two daughters were born in the marriage: Margaret, who married Laurentius Petri Gothus (They had two daughters) and Magdalene, who married

Abraham Angermannus Abraham Andersson, better known by his Latin name, Abrahamus Andreæ Angermannus or simply Abraham Angermannus (died in October 1607) was the fourth Lutheran Archbishop of Uppsala in the Church of Sweden from 1593 to 1599. He was described as bol ...

Notes and references

The standard reference works in English remain: - Yelverton, Eric E., An Archbishop of the Reformation: Laurentius Petri Nericus, Archbishop of Uppsala, 1531-73 (Augsburg Publishing House, Minneapolis, MN, 1959), - Bergendoff, Conrad, Olavus Petri and the Ecclesiastical Transformation in Sweden, 1521-1552 (Fortress Press, Philadelphia, PA, 1965), - Grell, Ole Peter (editor), The Scandinavian Reformation: From evangelical movement to institutionalisation of reform (Cambridge University Press, 1995). * Article
Laurentius Petri
' in

Nordisk familjebok (, 'Nordic Family Book') is a Swedish language, Swedish encyclopedia that was published in print from between 1876 and 1993, and that is now fully available in digital form via Project Runeberg at Linköping University. The public domain edit ...

(1911)

External links

Olaus Petri and Laurentius Petri
{{DEFAULTSORT:Petri, Laurentius 1499 births 1573 deaths People from Örebro Lutheran archbishops of Uppsala 16th-century Lutheran archbishops Protestant Reformers People celebrated in the Lutheran liturgical calendar Burials at Uppsala Cathedral 16th-century Swedish clergy Translators of the Bible into Swedish Swedish Reformation Lutheran saints