Absalon Pederssøn Beyer

Memorial stone in Aurland

Absalon Pederssøn Beyer (also in the spelling Pedersson ; also called "Magister Absalon"; * 1528 in Aurland , † April 9, 1575 in Bergen ) was a Norwegian clergyman , historian , writer and teacher and one of the most important humanists in Bergen. He was a Lutheran trained theologian of the first generation and contributed greatly to the introduction of the Reformation in Norway.

Life

Absalon Pederssøn Beyer lost his parents at an early age. When he was six, his uncle sent him to the cathedral school in Bergen, where he stayed until he was 15. It was there that the first Lutheran bishop of Norway, Geble Pederssøn (1537–1557), noticed his talent . He sent him to the University of Copenhagen in 1544 . There he lived with the Lutheran theologian Peder Palladius , Bishop of Zealand. Absalon studied in Copenhagen for five years. In 1549 he moved to Wittenberg and studied for another two years with Philipp Melanchthon . In 1551 he obtained his master's degree in Copenhagen and in 1552 returned to Bergen. In the same year he married Anne Pedersdotter from Trondheim , sister of the judge Søren Pedersson, who had studied with him in Copenhagen.

In 1533 Beyer was appointed lecturer in theology at the Cathedral School in Bergen. Between 1557 and 1564 he was also the principal of the school. Little is known about his lectures, but it is certain that he began lecturing on Melanchthon's Loci on January 12, 1562 . There is also evidence that he completed the lectures on Niels Hemmingsen's book on preaching methods on February 8 of this year . This information can be found in his diary, which has survived and is an important source for the period between 1552 and 1572.

Beyer mastered Latin and Greek. He used drama and edited foreign plays in his classes and is Norway's first known theater director. With his performances of plays, tragedies and comedies, which were open to the population, he made a great contribution to the education of the people.

From 1556 he was also the chaplain of the Bergenhus Castle under Erik Rosenkrantz .

Three writings from his hand have survived: His diary from 1552 to 1572, one of the most important sources of the cultural and social history of the 16th century in Norway. There he describes daily life in Bergen, the only big city in Norway at that time. It contains detailed information about the plague , but also about murder, acts of violence, weddings and celebrations. Until 1561 he wrote a lot in Latin. He then wrote in Danish-Norwegian with a slang touch. He wrote the book Om Norigs Rike (about the Norwegian Empire) probably on behalf of Erik Rosenkrantz in Bergenhus. It is a comprehensive topographical and historical work which, in addition to Norwegian history, also describes the daily life of its time. The third book is a tribute to his patron Geble Pederssøn.

Beyer was a respected man, but he also had many enemies. He was a sharp critic of the rampant lifestyle in Bergen in his day. "Woe to you Bergen, you wicked sister of Sodom and Gomorrah" he wrote in 1568. In the last years of his life, his wife Anne Pedersdotter was accused of sorcery but acquitted. Fifteen years after his death, she was tried again and this time cremated, although the clergy stood up for her innocence.

Web links

• Article in Norsk biografisk leksikon
• Absalon Pederssøn Beyer's writings in the original language