without a champion, and art was practically dead. Not till the
warfare ceased did people turn their thoughts to matters of education,
of religion, or of other things that lend a charm to life; and even then
the country was hampered during a considerable period by poverty,--an
outcome of the war. It is in this last period of the Revolution--a
period of peace--that the chief work of Gustavus Vasa was accomplished.
Then occurred the great changes in Church government and doctrine that
made Lutherans out of Roman Catholics, and in place of accountability to
the pope made every soul accountable to God. In the first few years of
his supremacy the monarch's opposition to popery was based almost
entirely on politics, but by the middle of 1525 he began openly to
oppose the Romish Church on grounds of faith.

The heaviest blow to popery was the order issued by the king in 1525
that the Scriptures be translated into Swedish. This all-important
measure resulted doubtless from the general dissension that had arisen
about the Word of God. If, as Luther urged, the Scriptures were our sole
criterion of faith, it was obviously proper that they should be
published in a form which every one could understand. Luther had
already three years before translated the Bible into German, but in
Swedish the only effort at a translation was in a manuscript of several
centuries before, which even Brask knew only by report. Gustavus,
therefore, toward the middle of 1525, instructed Archbishop Magni to
have a new translation made. His purpose, he affirmed, was not merely to
instruct the people but to instruct the priests, for many of them were
themselves incompetent to read the Latin version. As shepherds their
duty was to feed Christ's flock with the Word of God; and if they failed
to do so, they were unworthy of their name. This reasoning the
archbishop was unable to refute. He was himself disgusted with the
ignorance of his clergy, and promised Gustavus that the translation
should be made. Not wishing, however, to undertake too much, he devoted
his attention wholly to the New Testament, dividing it into several
parts and assigning the translation of different parts to different men.
Matthew and the Epistle to the Romans he took himself. Mark and the
Epistles to the Corinthians were assigned to Brask, while Luke and the
Epistle to the Galatians were given to the Chapter of Skara, and John
and the Epistle to the Ephesians to the Chapter of Strengnaes.