Gustav Vasa Bible
Biblia, thet är, all then Helgha Scrifft på Swensko
I begynnelsen skapade Gud himmel och jord.
Our renderingIn the beginning God created heaven and earth.
What it is
Commissioned by King Gustav I Vasa and published in Uppsala in 1540–1541, this was the first complete Bible in the Swedish language and the most ambitious typographical undertaking in 16th-century Sweden. Translated largely from Luther's German Bible by Laurentius Andreae and the Petri brothers under direct royal mandate, it became the central devotional and formation text of the Vasa dynasty's Lutheran church settlement. The Gustav Vasa Bible shaped Swedish orthography and syntax for centuries and has been called 'the birth certificate of the Swedish language.' It was the only complete Bible printed in Sweden in the entire 16th century.
Why it still matters
As the foundational Swedish-language Scripture, its dignified prose tradition informs Swedish Lutheran liturgy to this day; it is of primary interest to historians of Bible translation and Christian formation.
Kept alongside
En Handbock på Svenska (A Manual in Swedish)
En handbock på svenska
Published in Stockholm in 1529 under the Vasa court's Lutheran programme, this Manual was the first vernacular service-book of the Reformation and the first vernacular prayer-book to appear anywhere in Europe. Commissioned within the Vasa reform framework, it provided Swedish-language rites for baptism, marriage, burial, and the visitation of the sick and condemned. Olavus Petri, whom King Gustav I Vasa had installed as court reformer, created the Manual as a practical expression of the principle that people must receive the Word in their own tongue. It was reprinted in 1533 and 1537.
Swedish Church Ordinance 1571 (Canon Ecclesiasticus)
Kyrkoordningen 1571
The first complete Swedish church order following the Reformation, published by Archbishop Laurentius Petri under King John III of the Vasa dynasty, formalizing Lutheran worship, catechesis, and formation across the kingdom. Petri had worked toward this ordinance under three successive Vasa kings (Gustav I, Eric XIV, John III), finally securing John's permission in 1568. The ordinance defined sacramental practice, ordained clergy duties, and established a framework for parish education — including children's formation — making it the foundational document of post-Reformation Swedish court and parish devotional life.
Regula Sancti Salvatoris
The Regula Sancti Salvatoris is the monastic rule that Birgitta claimed was revealed to her by Christ for the Order of the Most Holy Saviour. King Magnus Eriksson of the Folkunga dynasty granted the royal manor of Vadstena for the convent in 1346, directly enabling the Rule's institutional home. Approved by Pope Urban VI in 1378 as constitutions for the order, it was appended to the Augustinian Rule. A 15th-century parchment manuscript of the Regula is held at Yale University Library (catalog no. 2014432), and a bilingual Swedish-Latin edition is preserved at the Königliche Bibliothek Berlin (Germ. fol. 726).