Christen Schmidt (22 February 1727 – 6 October 1804) was a

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

bishop. He was born in

Kongsvinger Kongsvinger () is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Glåmdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Kongsvinger. Other settlements in the municipality include Aust ...

as a son of vicar Hans Jacob Schmidt and Alethe S. Lemmich. He enrolled as a student in 1745 and graduated with the

cand.theol. Candidatus theologiæ (male), Candidata theologiæ (female), abbreviated cand. theol. is an academic degree with a long tradition, awarded after a six-year higher education in theology in Iceland, Denmark, and Norway. In Norway, the title has re ...

degree in May 1748. After some years as a private tutor and a priest at sea, he was appointed as vicar of Nebbelunde, Denmark in July 1759. In September 1769 he became vicar of Asminderød and

Fredensborg Palace Fredensborg Palace ( da, Fredensborg Slot; ) is a palace located on the eastern shore of Lake Esrum (Danish, ''Esrum Sø'') in Fredensborg on the island of Zealand (''Sjælland'') in Denmark. It is the Danish Royal Family’s spring and autumn ...

. He became connected to the Danish Royal Court in July 1772, having been opposed to Johan Friedrich Struensee's rule. In December 1773 he became Bishop of the

Diocese of Oslo Oslo bishopric is the Church of Norway's bishopric for the municipalities of Oslo, Asker and Bærum. It is one of Norway's five traditional bishoprics and was founded around the year 1070. History Oslo was established as a diocese in 1068. It ...

. Here he was known to be orthodox. He supported the

death penalty Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...

in 1777. He was married twice. First to his cousin Petronelle Lemmich, from June 1759 to her death in September 1798. They had the son

Frederik Schmidt Frederik Schmidt (27 May 1771 – 16 February 1840) was a Denmark, Danish-Norway, Norwegian priest, politician, doctor of theology, poet and diarist. Biography Schmidt was born in Asminderød, Denmark, to Christen Schmidt (1727–1804) and Petro ...

, a constitutional founding father. His second marriage was to merchant's daughter Ingeborg Catharina Birkenbusch (1778–1856), from November 1803 to his own death.

References

1835 births 1889 deaths University of Copenhagen alumni Bishops of Oslo 18th-century Lutheran bishops 19th-century Lutheran bishops People from Kongsvinger {{bishop-stub