Den vackra och erkända patriarchalismen : den lundensiska högkyrklighetens präst- och mansideal

Sammanfattning: During the second half of the nineteenth century leading theologians within the Church of Sweden (the so-called Lund High Church Movement) tried to defend, preserve, and revitalize the age-old religious and political order that they believed had characterized Swedish society. To this end, they spoke and wrote regularly on the position and responsibilities of the clergy. They also dwelled on the significance of the household. This programme, and in particular the understanding of manliness it communicated and its relation to society at large, is the focus of the present study. The purpose is to give a picture of the clerical paradigm and ideals of Christian manliness current in Sweden in the second half of the nineteenth century, and, moreover, to explain how the Lund theologians’ attempt to defend the social position of the Church of Sweden related to the issue of manliness. Inspired by sociologists as Bourdieu and Connell, I have chosen to draw on theories of manliness and masculinity/-ies, as the inclusion of a combined power–gender perspective goes far in explaining the battle for dominion over the religious sphere that so characterized the period, and indeed the correspondence with contemporary notions of manliness and the emphasis on ideals of Christian manliness in leading Church of Sweden circles. The question of the priest – his identity, mission, and duties – was central to the Lund theologians, and they considered the clergy as the embodiment of hegemonic masculinity in a spiritual context. Though, the ideal clerical manliness was contrasted by countertypes, represented by priests with character failings and lay preachers. The Lund theologians also defended a patriarchal Christian household ideology. In all, the Lund theologians strove to defend the hierarchical and patriarchal gender order embodied in the doctrine of the three estates, a social order which had lost much of its significance.