Skevikarna

After Pietism was accepted as a legitimate expression of Lutheranism by the state church authorities, the Skevikare community eventually disestablished around 1830.

These two former officers in the Swedish Army preached the Pietist spirituality, why they were soon brought before court, having denied some of the doctrines of the Lutheran Church of Sweden.

At winter, they had to anchor outside a desolate coast and dig caves on the shore for the elderly to live in, because of the coldness aboard the ship.

From there they secretly distributed a lot of Pietistic and mystic literature, keeping in contact with other like-minded Christians all over Northern Europe.

[1][citation needed] By the locals they were known also as the Främlingarna ('Strangers'), which they also called themselves, and were described as "hermits" wearing hooded coats and having long, loose hanging hair spread over their shoulders.

When members of their community had died, they usually came to one of Stockholm's graveyards at night, leaving the body on the ground inside the church area's outer wall.

When the priest sat down at home later in the evening, to read the book, he found that the Skevikarna had recorded their exile story, and he later made it into a small booklet.