The first scene of the second act occurs in the early evening of
a Saturday in the summer--probably in June--of 1524. The second
scene is fixed at midnight of the same day, and the third scene
on the following morning, which, in view of the fact that Olof is
to preach, we may assume to be a Sunday.

The first scene of the third act seems to take place four days
later, but Olof was not married until February, 1525,--to
"Christine, a maiden of good family,"--and it was only during
the winter of 1526-27 that the Church reformers were given
free rein by the King, and Olof himself was despatched to the
University of Upsala for the purpose of challenging Peder Galle,
the noted Catholic theologian, to a joint discussion. This was
also the time when the first Swedish version of the New Testament
was completed by Olof and Lars Andersson--an event referred to in
the scene in question.

The exact date of the second scene of the third act is St. John's
Eve, or June 24, 1527, at which time occurred the important
Riksdag at Vesteras, where the King broke the final resistance of
the nobility and the Catholic clergy by threatening to abdicate.
The debate between Olof and Peder Galle took place at the
Riksdag, Galle having evaded it as long as he could.

The date of the fourth act is very uncertain, but it seems safe
to place it in the summer of 1539, when Stockholm was ravaged by
an epidemic of a virulent disease known as "the English sweat."

The first scene of the fifth act is laid on New Year's Eve, 1539,