Jason Lavery

author of "Reforming Finland: The Diocese of Turku in the Age of Gustav Vasa 1523-1560"

January 8, 2018

Professor Jason Lavery is a professor of history at Oklahoma State University and permanent adjunct professor (docent) in the church history of Finland and Scandinavia at Helsinki University. He has published widely on the history of Finland, Scandinavia, Germany and the Baltic Sea region, including "The History of Finland."

In "Reforming Finland: The Diocese of Turku in the Age of Gustave Vasa 1523-1560," Jason Lavery examines the Reformation in the Diocese of Turku during the reign of King Gustav Vasa. This diocese, covering a territory better known then and now as Finland, encompassed the Swedish kingdom east of the Gulf of Bothnia.

The Reformation in Finland was driven by King Gustav Vasa’s state-building program, sometimes referred to as “royal reform” in respect to the church, as well as the spread of Lutheran theology and practice. Both royal and Lutheran reform were mutually reinforcing and dependent upon one another.

URL: https://library.okstate.edu/news/celebratingbooks/2018-honorees/tonia-sharlach

Last Updated: 9 January 2018