NORDIN, CARL GUSTAF (1749-1812)

This article appears in Volume V19, Page 741 of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: NEW-NUM

NORDIN, CARL GUSTAF (1749-1812) , Swedish statesman, historian and ecclesiastic. In 1774 he was made docent of

Gothic

GOTHIC

antiquities at Upsala University in consequence of his remarkable treatise, Monumenta svia-gothica vetustioris aevi false meritoque suspecta. Summoned to Stockholm in 1782 by Gustavus III. to edit a Swedish Corpus diplomaticum, half an hour's private conversation with thh

young

priest convinced Gustavus that Nordin's proper place was by his side in the political arena. But he employed Nordin quite differently from his episcopal colleague Olaf Wallqvist. While the bishop publicly defended the royal

measures

MEASURES

, Nordin became the king's private adviser. In politics Nordin was a royalist from pure conviction. To him a

parliament

PARLIAMENT (Anglo-Lat. parliamentum, Fr. parlement, from parler, to speak)

seemed little better than a mob. He was one of the king's

secret

SECRET (Lat. secretum, hidden, concealed)

managers during the troublesome and dangerous riksdag of 1789, but advised caution and compared the estate of clergy, which at one time held the balance between the jarring orders, to ice which might be walked upon but could not be driven over. He was appointed a member of an ecclesiastical commission for reforming the church in 1787, in which capacity he was virtually minister of public

worship

WORSHIP (i.e. " worth-ship," O. Eng. weor8scipe)

. In 17911792 he became a leading member of the

financial

FINANCIAL

and general committees of the riksdag. After the king's death Nordin shared in the general disgrace of the Gustavians and lived in retirement at the little town of

Hernosand

HERNOSAND

, where he held the post of lector at the gymnasium. But he reappeared prominently on the political scene during the riksdag of 1800, and in 18o5 was consecrated bishop of

Hernosand

HERNOSAND

. Though he lacked the brilliant qualities of his rival Wallqvist, Nordin had the same alertness and penetration, and was infinitely more stable and disinterested. One of the most learned men of his day, he devoted his spare time to history, and discovered that many of the oldest and most cherished Scandinavian MSS. were clever forgeries. Like Jean Hardouin he got to believe that a

great

GREAT

deal of what is called classical literature was compiled by anonymous authors at a much later date, and he used frequently to startle his colleagues, the Gustavian academicians, . by his audacious paradoxes.
He left behind him a colossal collection of MSS., the so-called Nordinsko Samlingarna, which were purchased and presented to Upsala university by Charles XI V. and form the groundwork of the well-known Scriptores rerum Suecicarurn medii aevi. Nordin published during his lifetime Handlingar till uplysning of svenska krigshistorien (Stockholm, 17871788). His academical addresses came out at Stockholm in 1818 under the title Minnen ofver namnkunniga svenska man. His Dagbok did not appear till 1868.
See Sveriges historia (Stockholm, 1877, &c.), vol. v.; C. T. Odhner, Sveriges politiska historia under Gustaf III.'s regering (Stockholm, 1885, &c.) ; R. N. Bain, Gustavus III. vol. 2 (London, 1896).

End of Article: NORDIN, CARL GUSTAF (1749-1812)

If you wish, you can link directly to this article.

<a href="http://jcsm.org/StudyCenter/Encyclopedia/NEW_NUM/NORDIN_CARL_GUSTAF_1749_1812_.html">
NORDIN, CARL GUSTAF (1749-1812)
</a>

(Previous)
NORDICA, LILIAN (1859 )

(Next)
NORDLINGEN

JCSM was founded in 1997 and exists to help the community and bring people into a life-changing and productive relationship with Jesus Christ. JCSM offers over 200,000 free web pages, including its weekly inspirational emails that were sent continuously for over a decade.

Jesus Christ Saves Ministries
P.O. Box 9297
San Diego, CA 92169
1-888-887-0417 or Email