390 Linde

Chapter 48 Pansophy in Sweden

Fabian Linde

The events associated with John Amos Comenius’ Swedish Pansophical ven­- ture transpired during a decisive period in the political and intellectual ­history of Northern Europe. In the course of the seventeenth century, Sweden devel- oped into a Great Power with adjoining territories in what in our day constitutes Finland, the Baltic States, Poland, and northern Germany. As a result, the Baltic Sea nearly became a Swedish inland sea (mare clausum). During the reign of Gustavus Adolphus (1594–1632, reigned 1611–1632), Sweden entered European power politics in earnest as a defender of Protestantism, with troops being disembarked on the continent in the already raging Thirty Years’ War. After the sudden and unexpected death of the king on the field of battle, a regency council was set up, as the heiress to the throne, Christina (1626–1689, reigned 1644–1654), was too young to carry the sceptre. Its leader was Axel Oxenstierna (1583–1654), generally recognised as one of the most skilled and shrewd states- men of the age. But not only the geopolitical developments turned out to be decisive for the future, as the authorities also implemented broad adminis- trative, educational, and ecclesiastical reforms in order to render the young state more effective. Although the upstart Northern Kingdom was relatively uncultured and of an unrefined nature in comparison with the great histori- cal monarchies on the continent, the circumstance that it was less weighed down by tradition and lacked strong independent institutions that might chal- lenge the consolidation of state power brought the advantage that it was quite malleable and lent itself to tough reforms implemented from above. The two most important exceptions were the nobility and the priesthood, whose inter- ests sometimes diverged from that of the Crown. Ever since the adoption of Lutheranism, the Church of Sweden had strived to establish itself as the lead- ing ideological body in the Kingdom, gaining far-reaching rights to implement its teachings, as well as to enforce adherence to Lutheran Orthodoxy among the general population. While it did on the whole live in a close relationship with the secular powers, functioning as a guarantor of state consolidation and carrying out various administrative duties, there were times when its position of power was challenged by members of the nobility who were more open to unorthodox ideas brought by various European currents of thought. This is the case with the period under discussion, which coincides with the first

© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2016 | doi 10.1163/9789004325968_050 Pansophy 391 significant peak of Swedish esotericism. It was advanced by loosely linked net- works of individuals committed to esoteric teachings. The individuals involved, if admittedly constituting only a small minority, were in many cases pioneers within their respective field of activity, who exerted a certain degree of influ- ence at court, within the expanding industrial complex, in higher education, and even in ecclesiastical circles. The central and strategic positioning of these individuals can in other words be said to have compensated for their limited numbers. Nonetheless, as was to be expected, their activity was significantly hampered by being constantly monitored by the theological authorities. It was into this volatile atmosphere that the internationally renowned reformist ped- agogue Comenius stepped in the early 1640s, bestowing­ on Swedish spiritual life what arguably amounts to one of the most significant impulses of the age.

Comenius and the Unity of Brethren

The Moravian theologian and pedagogue Jan Amos Komenský (1592–1670) is better known under the Latinised form of his name: John Amos Comenius. This deeply religious man was secretary, spiritual counsellor, and eventually last bishop of the Bohemian Unity of Brethren (Jednota bratrská or Unitas Fratrum), a Christian community forced into exile and eventually dispersed in connection with the violent re-Catholicisation of their native regions during the course of the seventeenth century. The Unity of Brethren, whose ideo- logical fathers were, among others, John Hus (1369–1415) and Petr Chelčitský (ca 1390–1460), acted as custodians of a comparatively tolerant and undog- matic form of Christian piety, adhering to the principle that in essentials unity should prevail, in non-essentials, liberty, and in all things, charity. Their teach- ings were centred on a few central articles of faith, the particulars open to the individual to supplement as he or she saw fit. At the basis of their attitude towards the world and its inhabitants lay an emphasis on universal edification, which is why it is hardly surprising that it was in the capacity of pedagogue that Comenius was to gain his enduring reputation. To this Christian heritage Comenius added a comprehensive Humanist erudition and a predilection for Hermeticism. The latter is discernible not only in the repeated references to the venerable Trismegistus that are scattered throughout his writings, but also in his most popular book, the richly illustrated Orbis sensualium pictus (The Visible World in Pictures), which is structured around the Hermetic principles of the four elements, and the triune interrelation of God, man, and cosmos, and tries to show the interrelatedness of all things. In addition, his vast literary out- put is marked by a utopian and apocalyptic streak. As Comenius experienced