Ludvig Hanssøn Munthe (August 2, 1593 – December 3, 1649) was the Bishop of the Diocese of

Bjørgvin Bergen (), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipality in Vestland county on the west coast of Norway. , its population is roughly 285,900. Bergen is the second-largest city in Norway. The municipality covers and is on the peninsula of ...

from 1636 to 1649.

Life and work

Munthe was born in

Tikøb Tikøb is a small town and parish located 8 km west of Helsingør and six km north of Fredensborg, between Lake Esrum to the southwest and Gurre Lake to the east. in Helsingør Municipality, some 40 km north of Copenhagen, Denmark. Hist ...

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 ...

. He was the son of the parish priest Hans Ludvigssøn Munthe (1560–1601) and Anne Catharina de Fine (1566–1601). Munthe came from a family of priests. Both of his parents died from the plague in 1601, and Ludvig was educated at his uncle's residence in

Lund Lund (, , ) is a city in the southern Swedish provinces of Sweden, province of Scania, across the Øresund, Öresund strait from Copenhagen. The town had 91,940 inhabitants out of a municipal total of 121,510 . It is the seat of Lund Municipali ...

. In 1613 he was admitted to 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 ...

, where he received his bachelor's degree in 1616 and master's degree in 1619. He became a teacher at Lund Cathedral School in 1616, but resigned shortly after to privately teach several of the sons of the nobleman Otto Lindenov. This involved two long trips abroad. He spent six years at German universities and became familiar with contemporary theological and religious orientations. In 1624 he was appointed parish priest at Nordre Borreby in

Scania Scania, also known by its native name of Skåne (, ), is the southernmost of the historical provinces of Sweden, provinces (''landskap'') of Sweden. Located in the south tip of the geographical region of Götaland, the province is roughly conte ...

, and in 1634 senior court priest (''hoffpredikant'') at the court for King

Christian IV Christian IV (12 April 1577 – 28 February 1648) was King of Denmark and Norway and Duke of Holstein and Schleswig from 1588 until his death in 1648. His reign of 59 years, 330 days is the longest of Danish monarchs and Scandinavian monar ...

. In 1636, Munthe was named Bishop of Bergen and he arrived in the town in March 1637. He was the first member of the Munthe family to arrive in Norway, when he took the office of his diocese. As bishop, he worked intensely to develop schooling and popular education through the liturgy and religious life. After the town fire of 1640, he rebuilt

Bergen Cathedral School Bergen Cathedral School (Norwegian: ''Bergen Katedralskole'', Latin: ''Schola Cathedralis Bergensis'', formerly known as Bergens lærdeskole and Bergen latinskole and colloquially known as Katten) is an upper secondary school in Bergen, Norway. Loc ...

and expanded preaching and teaching activities. Bishop Munthe published an exposition of the catechism in 1644. Munthe's views represented the widespread Lutheran orthodoxy of his time. Some of his effort was directed against "pagan and papist customs" in the form of carnival customs and processions. He criticized popular customs, including the use of images of the saints and the pilgrimage to

Røldal Røldal is a village in the municipality of Ullensvang in Vestland county, Norway. The village lies in the Røldal valley along the Storelva river on the north end of the lake Røldalsvatnet. Røldal is located about southeast of the town of O ...

Family and descendants

In 1624, Munthe married Ingeborg Sørensdatter Friis, daughter of the court scribe Søren Friis. They were the parents of twelve children. Munthe died at Bergen in 1649; his wife died in 1654. Munthe's daughter Elisabeth Munthe ( 1630 – c. 1649) was the wife of Christen Paus, mayor of Bergen. His daughter Birgitte Munthe (1634–1708) married Christopher Morgenstierne (1619–1679). His daughter Abel Munthe (1628–1676), who was married to university professor Peder Lem (1617–1663), was the grandmother of

Ludvig Holberg Ludvig Holberg, Baron of Holberg (3 December 1684 – 28 January 1754) was a writer, essayist, philosopher, historian and playwright born in Bergen, Norway, during the time of the Dano-Norwegian dual monarchy. He was influenced by Humanism, ...

Life and work

Family and descendants

See also

References

Further reading