Erik Benzelius the Younger

Erik Benzelius the Elder J.

Erik Benzelius the Younger , sometimes Eric Benzelius the Younger (born January 27, 1675 in Uppsala , † September 23, 1743 in Linköping ) was a Swedish Lutheran theologian and Archbishop of Uppsala . He was also a politician and an important literary historian and naturalist and is considered one of the pioneers of the Swedish Enlightenment .

family

Erik Benzelius belongs to the important Benzelius family of theologians . His father Erik Benzelius the Elder was a theology professor in Uppsala and later Archbishop, his mother Margaretha Odhelia (1653–1693) was a granddaughter of Archbishop Petrus Kenicius . Three of their children were ennobled by the name Benzelstierna and held high secular offices, while Erik and his brothers Jakob and Henrik were successively archbishops and thus the highest dignitaries of the Church of Sweden .

Benzelius married Anna Swedberg (Swedenborg; 1686–1765) in 1703, a daughter of Bishop Jesper Swedberg and sister of Emanuel Swedenborg , whose sponsor Benzelius was. The marriage resulted in ten children, of which Carl Jesper Benzelius (1714–1793) was again bishop and Ulrica Benzelia (1725–1766) married Bishop Petrus Filenius (1704–1780). The son Erik (1705–1767), an official in the mining industry, was also ennobled in 1751 and has since been called Erik Benzelstierna .

Life

Benzelius was tutored by private tutors in Uppsala and studied at the university, among others with Laurentius Norrmannus and Gustaf Lillieblad , until he undertook an extensive study tour through Germany, Holland, England and France from 1697 to 1700. Here he met Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz , Christian Thomasius , Nicolas Malebranche and other leading scholars. After his return he became librarian at Uppsala University Library in 1702 at the instigation of his father . Because of his youth and a lack of academic merits, the appointment was controversial, but in his tenure, which lasted until 1723, he did a great job of organizing and expanding the holdings. He also edited manuscripts, particularly from Sweden's medieval history, but also z. B. by Philon of Alexandria (contributions to the edition of Mangey). He also started an edition of the Codex Argenteus , which could only be completed posthumously (1750). In 1710 he founded a "Collegium curiosorum" to promote the natural sciences, from which the Royal Society of Sciences in Uppsala , the oldest scientific society in Sweden, emerged. In 1740 he was accepted into the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences .

Although Benzelius' interest was not primarily in theology, he was ordained pastor in 1709 and in 1719 earned the degree of Doctor theologiae . It was not until 1723 that he was able to obtain a theological professorship, as his orthodoxy had long been in doubt. At the same time he became a member of the Reichstag and worked as an influential supporter of the "hat party" until his death . Political work also outshone his work as Bishop of Gothenburg (1726–1731) and Linköping (1731–1742). In 1740 and 1742 he was the spokesman for the pastorate at the Reichstag. Its use for population statistics is particularly noteworthy .

After the death of Johannes Steuchius , he was appointed Archbishop of Uppsala in September 1742 , but was unable to take office immediately because of the Reichstag. After returning to Linköping, he fell ill and died before being introduced as archbishop.

Fonts (selection)

• Johannis Chrysostomi Homilia in evang. Johannis V- 19 hactenus inedita… Uppsala 1702.
• Johannis Chrysostomi Homilia de poenitentia, et de Herode atque Joanne Baptista… Uppsala 1705.
• Monumenta historica vetera ecclesiae sveogothica . Uppsala 1709-1713.
• Catalogus centuriae librorum rarissimorum manuscript. & partim impressorum arabicorum, persicorum, turcicorum, graecorum, latinorum ... Uppsala 1706.
• De persona Christi dissertatio . Uppsala 1722.
• Orationes seculares, quarum altera from Erico Benzelio… in academia Upsaliensi de caussis secessionis from ecciesia romanensi, magnis, justis et necessariis, in memoriam reformationis a. 1721 d. 18 martii; altera vero a Georg. Frid. Nichenckio… habita est , Hamburg 1731, pp. 1-14.
• Utkast till swenska folkets historia, ifrån dess första uprinnelse, til och med konung Gustaf den förstas tid . Edited by Carl Jesper Benzelius. Lund 1762.
• Brefwäxling imellan ärke-biskop Eric Benzelius den yngre och dess broder, censor librorum Gustaf Benzelstierna . Edited by Johan Hinric Liden. Linkoping 1791.
• Anecdota Benzeliana. Eric Benzelius the Elder y: s anteckningar i svensk historia . Efter original manuscripts i Linköpings stiftsbibliotek utg.med inledning och personregister af Hjalmar Lundgren. Stockholm 1914 (reprinted by Bromma 1987).
• Letters to his learned friends . Edited by Alvar Erikson; Eva Nilsson Nylander. Gothenburg: Kungl. Vetenkaps- och Vitterhets-Samhället, 1983.

literature

• Hans L. Forssell: Erik Benzelius the yngre. Minnesteckning… Stockholm 1883.
• Claes Annerstedt : Eric dy Benzelius . In: Svenskt biografiskt lexikon vol. 3, 1922, p. 242 online resource .
• Otto Grönlund: Ärkebiskop Erik Benzelius dy och den svenska compliance statistics uppkomst . In: Statsvetenskaplig tidskrift 1949
• Asta Ekenvall: Eric Benzelius dy och GW von Leibniz . Linköping 1954.
• Björn Ryman: Eric Benzelius dy En frihetstida politiker . Stockholm 1978.
• Letters to Erik Benzelius the younger from learned foreigners , Vol. 1-2. Edited by Alvar Erikson. Gothenburg: Vetenskaps- och vitterhets-samhället, 1979/80.
• Björn Ryman: Erik Benzelius den yngre och stiftsbiblioteket . In: Linköpings biblioteks handlingar NS 10, 1984, pp. 57-69.
• Pentti Laasonen: The Reception of German Late Orthodoxy in the North: Ernst Salomon Cyprian and Erik Benzelius the Younger In: Ernst Salomon Cyprian (1673-1745). Edited by Ernst Koch and Johannes Wallmann . Gotha: Research and State Library, 1996, pp. 71–83.

predecessor	Office	successor
Johannes Steuchius	Archbishop of Uppsala 1742–1743	Jakob Benzelius