Hans Tausen
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Hans Tausen (Tavsen) (1494 – 11 November 1561) was the leading Lutheran theologian of the Danish Reformation in Denmark. He served as Bishop of Ribe and published the first translation of the
Pentateuch The Torah (; hbo, ''Tōrā'', "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. In that sense, Torah means the ...
into Danish in 1535.


Background

Hans Tausen was born at Birkende on
Funen Funen ( da, Fyn, ), with an area of , is the third-largest island of Denmark, after Zealand and Vendsyssel-Thy. It is the 165th-largest island in the world. It is located in the central part of the country and has a population of 469,947 as o ...
in Denmark. Very little is known about his childhood and youth, but apparently he was a pupil at the grammar schools at Odense and
Slagelse Slagelse () is a town on Zealand, Denmark. The town is the seat of Slagelse Municipality, and is the biggest town of the municipality. It is located 15 km east of Korsør, 16 km north-east of Skælskør, 33 km south-east of Kalundborg and 14 km ...
, finally settling down as a
friar A friar is a member of one of the mendicant orders founded in the twelfth or thirteenth century; the term distinguishes the mendicants' itinerant apostolic character, exercised broadly under the jurisdiction of a superior general, from the ...
in the monastery of the Order of Saint John of
Antvorskov Antvorskov Monastery (Danish: ''Antvorskov Kloster'') was the principal Scandinavian monastery of the Catholic Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, located about one kilometer south of the town of Slagelse on Zealand, Denmark. It served as the Sca ...
near Slagelse. After studying at
Rostock Rostock (), officially the Hanseatic and University City of Rostock (german: link=no, Hanse- und Universitätsstadt Rostock), is the largest city in the German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and lies in the Mecklenburgian part of the state ...
, where he got the degree of a
Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...
and also after being ordained as a priest, he studied for a short time at the
University of Copenhagen The University of Copenhagen ( da, Københavns Universitet, KU) is a prestigious public university, public research university in Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in ...
, and was then again sent abroad by his
prior Prior (or prioress) is an ecclesiastical title for a superior in some religious orders. The word is derived from the Latin for "earlier" or "first". Its earlier generic usage referred to any monastic superior. In abbeys, a prior would be low ...
, visiting, among other places, the newly founded University of Leuven in
Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to ...
and making the acquaintance of the Dutch humanists. He was already a good linguist, understanding both Latin and Hebrew. Subsequently, he translated the books of
Moses Moses hbo, מֹשֶׁה, Mōše; also known as Moshe or Moshe Rabbeinu ( Mishnaic Hebrew: מֹשֶׁה רַבֵּינוּ, ); syr, ܡܘܫܐ, Mūše; ar, موسى, Mūsā; grc, Mωϋσῆς, Mōÿsēs () is considered the most important pr ...
from the original.


Career

In May 1523 Tausen went to
Wittenberg Wittenberg ( , ; Low Saxon: ''Wittenbarg''; meaning ''White Mountain''; officially Lutherstadt Wittenberg (''Luther City Wittenberg'')), is the fourth largest town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Wittenberg is situated on the River Elbe, north of ...
, where he met
Martin Luther Martin Luther (; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, theologian, author, hymnwriter, and professor, and Augustinian friar. He is the seminal figure of the Protestant Reformation and the namesake of Lutherani ...
and studied for a year and a half, when he was recalled to Antvorskov. In consequence of his professed attachment to the doctrines of Martin Luther he was transferred, in the spring of 1525, to the monastery of the Order of Saint John at Viborg in
Jutland Jutland ( da, Jylland ; german: Jütland ; ang, Ēota land ), known anciently as the Cimbric or Cimbrian Peninsula ( la, Cimbricus Chersonesus; da, den Kimbriske Halvø, links=no or ; german: Kimbrische Halbinsel, links=no), is a peninsula of ...
, where he continued to preach the Lutheran belief, and eventually was allowed to use the pulpit of the Saint Johns Church. Tausen's preaching was so revolutionary that he no longer felt safe within the Order of Saint John, so he discarded his
religious habit A religious habit is a distinctive set of religious clothing worn by members of a religious order. Traditionally some plain garb recognizable as a religious habit has also been worn by those leading the religious eremitic and anchoritic life, ...
and placed himself under the protection of the burgesses of Viborg. At first he preached in the parish church of St John, but this soon growing too small for him he addressed the people in the market-place from the church tower. When the
Franciscans , image = FrancescoCoA PioM.svg , image_size = 200px , caption = A cross, Christ's arm and Saint Francis's arm, a universal symbol of the Franciscans , abbreviation = OFM , predecessor = , ...
refused to allow him to preach in their large church, the mob broke in by force. A compromise was at last arranged, whereby the friars were to preach in the forenoon and Tausen in the afternoon. The bishop sent armed men to the church to arrest Tausen, but the burghers, who had brought their weapons with them, drove back the bishop's men. In October 1526 King Frederick I, during his visit to
Aalborg Aalborg (, , ) is Denmark's List of cities in Denmark by population, fourth largest town (behind Copenhagen, Aarhus, and Odense) with a population of 119,862 (1 July 2022) in the town proper and an Urban area, urban population of 143,598 (1 July ...
, took Hans Tausen under his protection, appointed him one of his chaplains, and charged him to continue for a time to preach the Holy Gospel to the citizens of Viborg, who were to be responsible for his safety, thus identifying himself with the new doctrines in direct contravention of the plain letter of his coronation oath. Tausen found a fellow-worker and reformer in
Jørgen Sadolin Jørgen Jensen Sadolin (c. 1490 – 29 December 1559 in Odense) was a Danish reformer, the son of Jens Christensen, a curate and subsequently a canon of Viborg Cathedral, and consequently, in all probability, born out of wedlock, as his Catholic op ...
(c. 1490– 1559), whose sister, Dorothea Jensdatter Sadolin (c. 1510–1537), he married, to the great scandal of the Roman Catholics. He was the first Danish priest to take a wife. He was also the first of the reformers who used the Danish language instead of Latin in the church services, the ''Even song'' he introduced at Viborg being of great beauty. Tausen was certainly the most practically gifted of all the new native teachers. But he was stronger as a preacher and an agitator than as a writer, the pamphlets which he now issued from the press of the German printer
Hans Vingaard Hans may refer to: __NOTOC__ People * Hans (name), a masculine given name * Hans Raj Hans, Indian singer and politician ** Navraj Hans, Indian singer, actor, entrepreneur, cricket player and performer, son of Hans Raj Hans ** Yuvraj Hans, Punjab ...
, who settled down at Viborg, being little more than adaptations of Luther's Opuscula. He continued to preach in the church of the Franciscan monastery, while Sadolin, whom he had consecrated a priest, officiated at the church of the Dominicans, who had already fled from the town. The Franciscans only yielded to violence persistently applied by the soldiers whom their opponents quartered upon them. In 1529 Tausen's mission at Viborg came to an end. King Frederick now recommended him to Copenhagen to preach at the church of St Nicholas, but here he found an able and intrepid opponent in Bishop Rønne. Serious disturbances thereupon ensued; and the Protestants, getting the worst of the argument, silenced their gainsayers by insulting the bishops and priests in the streets and profaning and devastating the Catholic churches. A Herredag, or Assembly of Nobles, was held at Copenhagen on 2 July 1530, ostensibly to mediate between the two conflicting confessions, but the king, from policy, and the nobility, from covetousness of the estates of the prelates, made no attempt to prevent the excesses of the Protestant rabble, openly encouraged by Tausen. On the other hand, the preachers failed to obtain the repeal of the Odense recess of 1527 which had subjected them to the spiritual jurisdiction of the prelates. On the death of King Frederick, Tausen, at the instance of Rønne, was, at the Herredag of 1533, convicted of blasphemy and condemned to expulsion from the diocese of Sjælland, whereupon the mob rose in arms against the bishop, who would have been murdered but for the intervention of Tausen, who conducted him home in safety. Rønne thereupon, from gratitude, permitted Tausen to preach in all his churches on condition that he moderated his tone. On the final triumph of the Reformation Tausen was appointed Bishop of Ribe (1542), an office he held for twenty years.


Memorials

* Hans Tausen's Church at
Islands Brygge Islands Brygge (English: Iceland's Quay) is a harbourfront area in central Copenhagen, Denmark, located on the north-western coast of Amager. The neighbourhood is noted for its waterfront park Havneparken, which is one of the most popular ar ...
was inaugurated on 30 November 1924. *A modern monument in memory of Hans Tausen was erected in 2004, this time in Viborg, in commemoration of the town's 475th year since its reformation. The monument was made by the Danish artist Bjørn Nørgaard.


Note

* This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain
''Tausen, Hans''
The Encyclopedia Americana (1920)


References


Other sources

* Engelstoft & Dahl (ed.): ''Dansk Biografisk Leksikon'' (The Danish Dictionary of Biography), Copenhagen 1942 * Suhr, ''Tausens Levnet'' (Ribe, 1836); ''Danmarks Riges Historie'', vol. III (Copenhagen, 1897–1905). * Dreyer, Rasmus HC: “Hans Tausen mellem Luther og Zwingli. Studier i Hans Tausens teologi og den tidlige danske reformation” (Odense: Syddansk University Press 2020) * Deryer, Rasmus HC: An Apologia for Luther: The myth of the Danish Luther: Danish reformer Hans Tausen and 'A short answer' (1528/29). In: Peter Obitz (ed.): "The Myth of the Reformation", Göttingen 2013, p. 211–232.


External links


Hans Tausen's Church website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tausen, Hans 1494 births 1561 deaths People from Kerteminde Municipality People from Ribe Danish Lutheran bishops 16th-century Lutheran bishops Protestant Reformers 16th-century Danish translators Translators of the Bible into Danish Translators from Hebrew Translators to Danish Burials at Ribe Cathedral 16th-century Danish people