third estate.

[Sidenote: Norway]

Norway was a vassal of Denmark from 1380 till 1814. At no time was its
dependence more complete than in the sixteenth century. Frederic I
introduced the Reformation by royal decree as early as 1528, and
Christian III put the northern kingdom completely under the tutelage of
Denmark, [Sidenote: 1536] in spiritual as well as in temporal matters.
The adoption of the Reformation here as in Iceland seemed to be a
matter of popular indifference.

[Sidenote: Sweden]

After Sweden had asserted her independence by the expulsion of
Christian II, Gustavus Vasa, an able ruler, ascended the throne.
[Sidenote: Gustavus Vasa, 1523-60] He, too, saw in the Reformation
chiefly an opportunity for confiscating the goods of the church. The
way had, indeed, been prepared by a popular reformer, Olaus Petri, but
the king made the movement an excuse to concentrate in his own hands
the spiritual power. The Diet of Westeras [Sidenote: 1527] passed the
necessary laws, at the same time expelling the chief leader of the
Romanist party, John Brask, {138} Bishop of Linkoeping. The Reformation
was entirely Lutheran and extremely conservative. Not only the
Anabaptists, but even the Calvinists, failed to get any hold upon the
Scandinavian peoples. In many ways the Reformation in Sweden was
parallel to that in England. Both countries retained the episcopal
organization founded upon the "apostolical succession." Olaus Magni,
Bishop of Westeras, had been ordained at Rome in 1524, and in turn
consecrated the first Evangelical Archbishop, Lawrence Petri,
[Sidenote: Petri 1499-1573] who had studied at Wittenberg, and who
later translated the Bible into Swedish [Sidenote: 1541] and protected
his people from the inroads of Calvinism. The king, more and more
absolutely the head of the church, as in England, did not hesitate to
punish even prominent reformers when they opposed him. The reign of
Gustavus's successor, Eric XIV, [Sidenote: Eric XIV, 1560-8] was
characterless, save for the influx of Huguenots strengthening the
Protestants. King John III [Sidenote: John III, 1569-92] made a final,
though futile, attempt to reunite with the Roman Church. As Finland
was at this time a dependency of Sweden, the Reformation took
practically the same course as in Sweden itself.

[Sidenote: Poland]

A complete contrast to Sweden is furnished by Poland. If in the former
the government counted for almost everything, in t