Gustav Adolfs dag ping to the Swedish Ping List.
Posted on 11/06/2008 7:23:27 AM PST by WesternCulture
It's a shame that in the largest Protestant country on Earth, as well as in many other Protestant corners of the world, people who call themselves Protestants usually know very little about the history of our faith.
On the 6th of November 376 years ago, military genius and sole defender of the Lutheran faith, Gustavus Adolphus or Gustavus The Great, died at the battle of Lützen fighting the military forces of Catholicism and the Holy Roman Emperor under the command of Wallenstein. Gustavus died but Wallenstein was utterly defeated. However, the Thirty Year's war went on for decades.
Thanks to Gustavus brilliant leadership, Protestanism and especially Lutheranism was secured on Northern European soil. In the prolongation, this meant two important things:
- That true freedom of religion could develop (even though this didn't become a reality in many Western countries until the 19th century)
- That especially the Spaniards, Austrians and their allies were hindered from using Catholicism as an excuse for subjugating France (France didn't participate in the warfare itself though) and various parts of Central and Northern Europe.
The Thirty Year's War was a major tragedy in the history of Western Civilization. Especially Germany was hit in a terrible way and torture, pillage, rape and starvation became a part of everyday life. While there is nothing glorious about Europeans killing Europeans and Christians killing Christians, I would say something positive evolved out of this conflict.
Religious tolerance.
Today Europeans like I are growing more and more INtolerant towards a certain faith for apparent reasons. What we ethnic Europeans find disturbing about (fundamental) Islamists is not primarily that they veil their women and refuse to sit down and have a beer and a pork pie.
Fundamentalist Islam is in many ways a POLITICAL movement which is founded on the idea of the holy Jihad war.
While many Muslims denounce Fundamentalist interpretations, a large part of the World's Muslims believe in using religion as an excuse for subjugating other cultures. Like the Vatican, Spain and Austria once did.
This is something evil we Westerners and other freedom lovers much resist, wether we are Swedes (like I and Gustavus the Great), Germans, Spaniards, Japanese, Americans, Latin Americans, Jews or Hindus.
In my city, Gothenburg - home of "Liberal" Volvo - we celebrate Gustavus Adolphus every 6th of November by flying our flag and eating a certain Gustavus Adolphus cake/pastry made with (pieces) of sponge cake, butter cream, chocolate and marzipan originally created by the legendary café of Braütigam's, a Gothenburg establishment founded in 1870 but sadly enough turned into an Irish Pub in 1993 (but okay, "Guiness is good for you!").
Personally, I love cooking, but seldom make cakes and such things. However, I actually made some Gustavus Adolphus cakes myself before writing this post which I'll bring to a dinner party a friend of mine is throwing this evening. Three topics that I am convinced we will be discussing on this little get together are Nationalism, History and belief in true individual liberty.
Western history is a long, troublesome journey from ignorance, suffering and oppression to enlightenment, prosperity and freedom.
One of the men that stand out in this historical struggle is by all means Gustavus the Great. Few others have meant so much to Protestantism and freedom of religion as him. Furthermore, freedom of religion in many ways paved way for ideas like the modern republic, universal suffrage and the notion that education is a human right (because without education, a citizen is unable of understanding what is going on in political life and what his or her rights actually are in this societal context).
Greetings to Protestants, Catholics, Jews and everyone else who believe in true civilization from Volvoland,
WesterCulture
ping
Ping to read later
Very nice post. Thank you.
Except for those unfortunate Catholics in Sweden, Saxony, England and elsewhere who were expropriated and murdered for such crimes as attending Mass, possessing rosaries or other dangerous contraband, or being ordained as Catholic priests.
You don't feel very free when you're being disemboweled without anesthesia.
Oct. 31 started it all with the 95 Theses though, and that is Reformation Day....seems like a bigger deal for me.
Oh, and cake.
I enjoy knowing the Lutherans have ashes put on their forehead on Ash Wednesday and knowing Lutherans celebrate the Eucharist (at least Traditional Lutherans) and that their Pastors wear Vestments and that Luther continued saying the Rosary after he left the Catholic Church.
While there is nothing glorious about Europeans killing Europeans and Christians killing Christians, I would say something positive evolved out of this conflict.
Religious tolerance.
_________________________________
I guess it would be easy to tolerate something that is dead.
Here’s to Gustav Adolf, one of my Lutheran and Swedish heroes!
Gustav Adolfs dag ping to the Swedish Ping List.
But the underlying thesis of this post: that Gustavus Adolphus was fighting for religious freedom (something he never believed in and which he absolutely forbid in his own kingdom) and that his motive for going to war was out of religious principle (he was financially induced to join the war by Cardinal Richelieu of France) is ridiculous.
The war had been raging for years and Gustavus Adolphus never raised a finger. He only intervened when Catholic France, locked in its usual power struggle with the Catholic Habsburgs, offered him financial incentives to do so.
Moreover, Wallenstein is portrayed as a Catholic absolutist bent on destroying Protestantism, when in reality he tried to mediate a compromise between both sides and was arrested for his trouble.
After Adolphus' death in the Swedish victory at Luetzen, the next major clash between the two sides was at Nordlingen where the Catholic League decisively defeated the Swedes. The Swedes became a non-factor in the war at that point and the next major military threat to the Catholic League was the entrance of Catholic France into the war against the Catholic League.
Portrayals of the Thirty Years' War as a religious struggle are childish. There was certainly a religious aspect to it - but it really was a struggle over which Great Power would exercise control over the disorganized small states of Germany -the Emperor, the King of France or the King of Sweden.
With great fondness for the Lutherans, and speaking as someone who has attended a few Lutheran churches, “celebrate” and “Lutheran” aren’t two words I usually associate with one another! ;-)
Enjoy this happy time, it does sound delightful.
I know, I’ve always wanted to get one of those Lutheran humor books, I saw a whole book devoted to it once. Some is on the net and not offensive I believe on the whole.
“You know you are a Lutheran if
...you know what a Lutheran Church Basement Woman is.
...the only open pew is up front, so you volunteer to shovel (snow obviously) the sidewalk.
...you have your wedding reception in the fellowship hall and feel guilty about not staying to help clean up.”
- http://www.oldlutheran.com/page.php?page=humor&id=5
A lot more, many not all that funny.
What country are you talking about?
BTT
or is that redundant?
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