The Swedish Church Ordinance of 1571 was the first complete

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

church order following the

Swedish Reformation The Reformation in Sweden is generally regarded as having begun in 1527 during the reign of King Gustav I of Sweden, but the process was slow and was not definitively decided until the Uppsala Synod of 1593, in the wake of an attempted Counter-Re ...

in the 1520s. The main originator of the ordinance was archbishop

Laurentius Petri Laurentius Petri Nericius (1499 – 27 October 1573) was a Swedish clergyman and the first Evangelical Lutheran Archbishop of Sweden. He and his brother Olaus Petri are, together with the King Gustav Vasa, regarded as the main Lutheran reform ...

. Petri, archbishop since 1531, had published many doctrinal texts. He had, in vain, tried to persuade kings

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 ...

and

Eric The given name Eric, Erich, Erikk, Erik, Erick, Eirik, or Eiríkur is derived from the Old Norse name ''Eiríkr'' (or ''Eríkr'' in Old East Norse due to monophthongization). The first element, ''ei-'' may be derived from the older Proto-N ...

to be allowed to publish a complete church ordinance. With the ascension of King

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

in 1568, Petri was granted permission, and in 1571 published ''Canon Ecclesiasticus''.Cornelius
p.76
/ref> It was formalized at a church meeting in 1572. Through the ordinance, all the fundamental

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 ...

doctrines were written down and Catholic

canon law Canon law (from , , a 'straight measuring rod, ruler') is a set of ordinances and regulations made by ecclesiastical jurisdiction, ecclesiastical authority (church leadership) for the government of a Christian organization or church and its membe ...

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 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 ...

was retained, even though it was not directly dictated by the holy scripture, and

prohibited degree of kinship In law, a prohibited degree of kinship refers to a degree of consanguinity (blood relatedness), or sometimes affinity (relation by marriage or sexual relationship) between persons that makes sex or marriage between them illegal. An incest taboo ...

was somewhat lessened, from the seventh to sixth degree of kinship. The Church Ordinance of 1571 also contained

Eucharist The Eucharist ( ; from , ), also called Holy Communion, the Blessed Sacrament or the Lord's Supper, is a Christianity, Christian Rite (Christianity), rite, considered a sacrament in most churches and an Ordinance (Christianity), ordinance in ...

ic 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 The Swedish Church Law 1686 () was a Swedish law which (with some alterations) regulated the relationship between the state and the church in Sweden from 1686 until the Swedish Church Law 1992, as well as in Finland (earlier a Swedish province) u ...

Aftermath

As useful as the ordinance was, it did not address the essential matter of a

statement of faith A creed, also known as a confession of faith, a symbol, or a statement of faith, is a statement of the shared beliefs of a community (often a religious community) which summarizes its core tenets. Many Christian denominations use three creeds: ...

. Petri planned on writing a declaration statement to the

Augsburg Confession The Augsburg Confession (), also known as the Augustan Confession or the Augustana from its Latin name, ''Confessio Augustana'', is the primary confession of faith of the Lutheranism, Lutheran Church and one of the most important documents of th ...

, but died shortly after, and the issue was not settled until the

Uppsala Synod The Uppsala Synod in 1593 was the most important synod of the Lutheran Church of Sweden. Sweden had gone through its Protestant Reformation and broken with Roman Catholicism in the 1520s, but an official confession of faith had never been dec ...

, 1593.Cornelius
p. 77
/ref> This ordinance was also altered by King

John III of Sweden John III (; 20 December 1537 – 17 November 1592) was King of Sweden from 1569 until his death. He attained the Swedish throne after a rebellion against his half-brother Erik XIV. He is mainly remembered for his attempts to close the gap bet ...

, who made several Catholic-inclined additions to it: the ''Nova Ordinantia'' of 1575, and his own church doctrine, the ''Röda boken'' ('Red Book') of 1576, two additions which introduced a middle stance between Catholicism and Protestantism, and reintroduced many Catholic customs. These were not reversed until the

of 1593. The Swedish Church Ordinance 1571 was succeeded by the

References

* Article
Kanonisk rätt
', 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) * Article
Kyrkoording
', in

(1911) * {{in lang, sv Cornelius:
Svenska kyrkans historia efter reformationen / Förra delen (1520-1693)
'' (1886–1887)

Source text

*''Den svenska kyrkoordningen 1571 jämte studier kring tillkomst, innehåll och användning'' published by Sven Kjöllerström, Lund 1971. Church Law 1571 Church Law 1571 Christianity and law in the 16th century 1571 in Sweden 1571 in Christianity Swedish Church Law 1571 Swedish Church Law 1571 16th century in education