How did the Protestant Reformation affect Swedish literature in the 1500s?

The Protestant Reformation was the dominant force in Swedish literature during the 1500s, fundamentally shaping the development of the modern Swedish language and literary tradition.1

The most significant literary milestone of the era was the publication of the complete Bible in Swedish in 1541, known as the Gustav Vasa Bible. This work, which utilized Martin Luther’s translations, inaugurated modern Swedish and served as an essential foundation for future generations of writers.12

Key figures in this literary movement included the brothers Olaus Petri and Laurentius Petri. Olaus Petri provided much of the period's religious and polemical literature, including a Swedish New Testament, a hymnbook, and a church manual. His Chronicle is recognized as the first historical work in Swedish based on critical research, and he is also credited with writing Tobie comedia (1550), the first complete extant Swedish play.13

Conversely, the Reformation also led to the exile of scholars like Johannes Magnus and Olaus Magnus, whose historical and geographical accounts of Scandinavia were produced abroad.1