The Order of St John in the Nordic Countries.
From the beginning to the Reformation

In the year
2017 the Nordic Countries celebrate the 500 years of the Lutheran Reformation,
which was introduced in Sweden in 1527 and in Denmark in 1536. The Reformation
not only meant the separation of Nordic Churches from Rome, but also the end of
the presence of Monastic and Chivalric Military Orders. The Johannites had
established their first domus around
1160-1164 at Antvorskov in the h island of Själland, which became the center of
the so called Province of Dacia,
which was a part of the Teutonic Langue. From there the Order of the
Hospitallers spread to Sweden and Norway, but not to Finland, perhaps because
this country, called Österland
(simply “the Land in the East”) belonged to the sphere of interest  of the Order of Sancta Maria Teutonica, which
was operating for the diffusion of Christianity in the Eastern Baltic. The
Scandinavian Johannites did not play a relevant military role, being their domus mainly supported by servientes and not milites. In fact, only few names of Hospitaller knights are known.
The main characteristics of the activity plaid by the Hospitaller was
assistential. Their convents would act as homes for the elders and the sicks,
where also wealthy Scandinavians retired in their old days. The domus had also an economical activity,
administrating the possessions which had been given to them through testaments,
mainly land. This economical role was acknowledged by the Grand Magistry,
though the entity of the support given by the Scandinavian Hospitallers was not
always up to the expectations of the Grand Master, especially at the time of
the permanence in Rhodes. In the long chain of the responsiones from the North to Palestine or Rhodes an important
role was plaid by the Italian bankers in Germany. The relations of the Order
with the representatives of the Holy See was excellent, while the same cannot
be said of the Swedish and Danish Crowns, eager to benefit of the wealth of the
Hospitallers. This may be one of the reasons why the Reformation quickly swept
away the presence of the Order of St John from Scandinavia after the year 1527.
The Priory of Dacia ceased to exist around the year 1580-1582.