Birgitte Cathrine Boye (March 7, 1742 – October 17, 1824) was a

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish ance ...

hymnwriter.Wilson, Katharina M. 1991. ''An Encyclopedia of Continental Women Writers'', vol. 1. New York: Garland, pp. 161–164.Jantzen, A. 1888. Birgitte Cathrine Boye. In: Carl Frederik Bricka (ed.), ''Dansk biografisk Lexikon'', vol. 2, pp. 569–570. Copenhagen: Gyldendal.
/ref>

Early life

Birgitte Cathrine Boye was born in Gentofte,

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

as the oldest child of the royal hunting official Jens Johannissen and his wife Dorthe Henriksdatter. At the age of 13, she fell in love with the forest manager Herman Michelsen Herz, whom she married in 1763. In the course of five years, she had four children, but nonetheless studied German, French, and English on her own so that she could read literature in these languages.

Hymnwriter

In 1773, she delivered 20

hymn A hymn is a type of song, and partially synonymous with devotional song, specifically written for the purpose of adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification. The word ''hymn'' ...

s in response to an announcement, and they were well received. In the mid-1700s,

Pietism Pietism (), also known as Pietistic Lutheranism, is a movement within Lutheranism that combines its emphasis on biblical doctrine with an emphasis on individual piety and living a holy Christian life, including a social concern for the needy and ...

had suffered a strong setback in Denmark, which also had an effect on hymnwriting, and lofty poetry came into fashion instead.

Ludvig Harboe Ludvig Harboe (16 August 1709 – 15 June 1783) was a Danish theologian and bishop of the Diocese of Zealand from 1757 until his death. Harboe was born at Broager Peninsula in Sønderborg, Denmark. He was mostly educated in Germany. He att ...

and Ove Høegh-Guldberg were commissioned to write a new hymnal, and in January 1778 they produced the draft for ''Psalme-Bog eller En Samling af gamle og nye Psalmer'' (Hymnal or A Collection of Old and New Hymns), known as Guldberg's hymnal. This hymnal contained 132 hymns from

Kingo's hymnal Kingo's hymnal, officially titled ''Dend Forordnede Ny Kirke-Psalme-Bog'' (The Prescribed New Church Hymnal), is a hymnal that was approved by royal decree for use in all churches in Denmark–Norway in 1699. The hymnal contains 86 hymns by the ...

and 143 from Erik Pontoppidan's hymnal. A full 146 of the hymns were written by Birgitte Cathrine Boye, who made her mark on the new Danish hymnal in this way. She was said to have had "en besynderlig gave til denne hellige poesi" (a peculiar gift for sacred poetry).Møller Jensen, Elisabeth, & Eva Haettner Aurelius. 1993. ''Nordisk kvinnolitteraturhistoria: I Guds namn, 1000-1800''. Höganäs: Wiken, p. 196. Birgitte Cathrine Boye wrote her hymns during a turbulent time in her life: her husband died in 1775, and in 1778 she married again, to the customs inspector and judicial adviser Hans Boye. The hymnal was subject to much criticism, and this criticism was also directed at Boye and her hymns. Many found her hymns to be rather pompous. She accepted the criticism, and declined in 1790 when she was asked to provide hymns for a new hymnal. However, some of her hymns live on, and she became known a female composer of pulpit hymns. Her pulpit hymns are still sung on festival days in many

Nordic countries The Nordic countries (also known as the Nordics or ''Norden''; literal translation, lit. 'the North') are a geographical and cultural region in Northern Europe and the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic. It includes the sovereign states of Denmar ...

. She is represented in the 1985 Norwegian hymnal with one translated hymn and three pulpit hymns published in both

Bokmål Bokmål () (, ; ) is an official written standard for the Norwegian language, alongside Nynorsk. Bokmål is the preferred written standard of Norwegian for 85% to 90% of the population in Norway. Unlike, for instance, the Italian language, there ...

and

Nynorsk Nynorsk () () is one of the two written standards of the Norwegian language, the other being Bokmål. From 12 May 1885, it became the state-sanctioned version of Ivar Aasen's standard Norwegian language ( no, Landsmål) parallel to the Dano-Nor ...

. Birgitte Cathrine Boye also wrote a number of plays, including ''Melicerte'' (1780) and ''Gorm den gamle, et heroisk Sørgespil'' (Gorm the Old: A Heroic Tragedy, 1781).

1985 and 2013 Norwegian hymnals

The

Church of Norway The Church of Norway ( nb, Den norske kirke, nn, Den norske kyrkja, se, Norgga girku, sma, Nöörjen gærhkoe) is an evangelical Lutheran denomination of Protestant Christianity and by far the largest Christian church in Norway. The church b ...

's 1985 hymnal and 2013 hymnal contain three hymns by Boye, translated by

Elias Blix Elias Blix (24 February 1836 – 17 January 1902) was a Norwegian professor, theologian, hymn writer, and a politician for the Liberal Party. Blix wrote numerous hymns and was largely responsible for translating the New Testament into the Norw ...

. *No. 47/48 "En frelser er oss født i dag" / "I dag er fødd ein frelsar stor" (A Savior Is Born Today) *No. 177/178 "Han er oppstanden, store bud" / "Han er oppstaden dyre ord" *No. 215/216 "O lue fra Guds kjærlighet" / "Du loge av Guds kjærleikseld" (Oh Flame of God's Love) In addition, she also translated hymn no. 661 "Jeg er frelst og dyrekjøpt" ('I am saved and redeemed'; originally "Ich bin getauft auf deinen Namen" 'I Am Baptized in Thy Name', written in 1735 by the German Pietist poet Johann Jakob Rambach, 1693–1735).

Early life

Hymnwriter

1985 and 2013 Norwegian hymnals

References

Further reading