The Conventicle Act ( sv, Konventikelplakatet) was a Swedish law, in effect between 21 January 1726 and 26 October 1858 in

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic countries, Nordic c ...

and until 1 July 1870 in

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bot ...

. The act outlawed all

conventicle A conventicle originally signified no more than an assembly, and was frequently used by ancient writers for a church. At a semantic level ''conventicle'' is only a good Latinized synonym of the Greek word church, and points to Jesus' promise in M ...

s, or religious meetings of any kind, outside of the Lutheran

Church of Sweden The Church of Sweden ( sv, Svenska kyrkan) is an Evangelical Lutheran national church in Sweden. A former state church, headquartered in Uppsala, with around 5.6 million members at year end 2021, it is the largest Christian denomination in Sw ...

, with the exception of family prayer or worship. The purpose was to prevent

freedom of religion Freedom of religion or religious liberty is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or community, in public or private, to manifest religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship, and observance. It also includes the freedo ...

and protect religious unity, as such unity was regarded as important to maintain the control of the Crown over the public through the Church. The law only applied to Swedish citizens, while the religious freedom of foreigners was protected by the Tolerance Act.

History

The law was initiated in 1726 to prevent the popularity of

pietism Pietism (), also known as Pietistic Lutheranism, is a movement within Lutheranism that combines its emphasis on biblical doctrine with an emphasis on individual piety and living a holy Christian life, including a social concern for the needy an ...

, which was spreading rapidly in Sweden in the first half of the 18th century, and used, among others, against early proponents such as Thomas Leopold, Johan Stendahl, and Peter Spaak. During the 19th century, the Conventicle Act was used as a tool against the spread of the

free church A free church is a Christian denomination that is intrinsically separate from government (as opposed to a state church). A free church does not define government policy, and a free church does not accept church theology or policy definitions fro ...

es. Free church preachers, such as Baptist

F.O. Nilsson Fredrik Olaus Nilsson (28 July 1809 – 21 or 24 October 1881), also known as F. O. Nilsson, was a pioneer Swedish Baptist pastor and missionary who founded Sweden's first free church, a Baptist congregation. He married Ulrika Sophia Olsson (1812 ...

, were exiled. This law was one reason for emigration from

to the USA in the 1840s and 1850s. During the 19th century, the law became controversial and was constantly debated in parliament. It was finally abolished in 1858. The new law stipulated that conventicles were not to take place in parallel with the services of the Lutheran Church without prior dispensation. This condition was abolished in 1868 and replaced with the condition that such gatherings were not to take place in the close surroundings of a

Lutheran church Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...

. The Conventicle Act was also in effect in Finland, until 1809 the Eastern part of Sweden. The Russian

Grand Duchy of Finland The Grand Duchy of Finland ( fi, Suomen suuriruhtinaskunta; sv, Storfurstendömet Finland; russian: Великое княжество Финляндское, , all of which literally translate as Grand Principality of Finland) was the predecess ...

kept her laws from the Swedish time until changed by the

Diet Diet may refer to: Food * Diet (nutrition), the sum of the food consumed by an organism or group * Dieting, the deliberate selection of food to control body weight or nutrient intake ** Diet food, foods that aid in creating a diet for weight loss ...

, which abolished the Conventicle Act from 1 July 1870.

Notes

{{Reflist

References

* Frängsmyr, Tore (2004). Svensk idéhistoria: Bildning och vetenskap under tusen år, Part II 1809–2000. Stockholm:

Natur & Kultur Natur & Kultur is a Swedish publishing foundation with head office in Stockholm known for an extensive series of teaching materials. Its logotype is an apple tree. Overview The publishing house was founded in 1922 by Johan Hansson and his wi ...

, p. 91f. * "Konventikelplakatet" 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 co ...

'' (first edition, 1884) 1726 in law 1858 in law 1870 in law 1726 in Sweden 18th century in Finland 18th century in Sweden 19th century in Finland 19th century in Sweden 1858 in Sweden Sweden during the Age of Liberty 1726 in religion Legal history of Sweden

History

See also

Notes

References