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 did not end definitively until the Uppsala Synod of 1593 and the following War against Sigismund, with ...

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 reformers ...

. Petri, archbishop since 1531, had published many doctrinal texts. He had, in vain, tried to persuade kings Gustav Vasa and Eric to be allowed to publish a complete church ordinance. With the ascension of King John 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 doctrines were written down and Catholic canon law 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 was retained, even though it was not directly dictated by the holy scripture, and prohibited degree of kinship was somewhat lessened, from the seventh to sixth degree of kinship. The Church Ordinance of 1571 also contained

Eucharist The Eucharist (; from Greek , , ), also known as Holy Communion and the Lord's Supper, is a Christian rite that is considered a sacrament in most churches, and as an ordinance in others. According to the New Testament, the rite was instit ...

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.

Aftermath

As useful as the ordinance was, it did not address the essential matter of a statement of faith. 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 Lutheran Church and one of the most important documents of the Protestant Re ...

, but died shortly after, and the issue was not settled until the Uppsala Synod, 1593.Cornelius
p. 77
/ref> This ordinance was also altered by King

John III of Sweden John III ( sv , Johan III, fi, Juhana III; 20 December 1537 – 17 November 1592) was King of Sweden from 1569 until his death. He was the son of King Gustav I of Sweden and his second wife Margaret Leijonhufvud. He was also, quite autonomous ...

, 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 Uppsala Synod of 1593. The Swedish Church Ordinance 1571 was succeeded by the Swedish Church Law 1686.

References

* Article
Kanonisk rätt
', in

Nordisk familjebok ''Nordisk familjebok'' (, "Nordic Family Book") is a 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. Despite their consi ...

(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