Schola Osloensis, known in

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 ...

as Oslo Katedralskole (''Oslo Cathedral School'') and more commonly as "Katta",Oslo katedralskole , About the school
is a selective

upper secondary school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

located in

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

. The school offers the college preparatory (literal translation: ''specialization for studies'') of the Norwegian school system. Oslo Cathedral School is one of four schools in Norway that can trace its origins directly to the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

. It is generally regarded as one of Norway's most prestigious schools, which celebrated its 850th anniversary in 2003. The school's motto is the Latin phrase '' la,

Non scholae, sed vitae discimus ''Non scholæ sed vitæ'' is a list of Latin phrases (N), Latin phrase. Its longer form is ''non scholæ sed vitæ discimus'', which means "We do not learn for school, but for life". The ''scholae'' and ''vitae'' are first declension, first-decl ...

, label=none'' which translates to ''"We do not learn for the sake of the school, but for the sake of life''".

History

According to tradition, the school was founded in 1153 by

papal The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...

delegate

Cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to: Animals * Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae **''Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, the ...

Nicholas Breakspeare Pope Adrian IV ( la, Adrianus IV; born Nicholas Breakspear (or Brekespear); 1 September 1159, also Hadrian IV), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 4 December 1154 to his death in 1159. He is the only Englishman t ...

and administered by the Cathedral of Saint Hallvard.Oslo katedralskole , Historie
From its foundation until the 18th century, the school was used primarily to educate priests. Thus, the school's teaching traditions were those of the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

. As with most of Europe at the time, lessons were based on an educational curriculum known as the

Liberal Arts Liberal arts education (from Latin "free" and "art or principled practice") is the traditional academic course in Western higher education. ''Liberal arts'' takes the term ''art'' in the sense of a learned skill rather than specifically the ...

. This curriculum consisted of seven different subjects the students were required to learn, and was organized in two groups:

Trivium The trivium is the lower division of the seven liberal arts and comprises grammar, logic, and rhetoric. The trivium is implicit in ''De nuptiis Philologiae et Mercurii'' ("On the Marriage of Philology and Mercury") by Martianus Capella, but the ...

and

Quadrivium From the time of Plato through the Middle Ages, the ''quadrivium'' (plural: quadrivia) was a grouping of four subjects or arts—arithmetic, geometry, music, and astronomy—that formed a second curricular stage following preparatory work in the ...

. The Trivium (Latin for ''three ways''), taught first, comprised

grammar In linguistics, the grammar of a natural language is its set of structure, structural constraints on speakers' or writers' composition of clause (linguistics), clauses, phrases, and words. The term can also refer to the study of such constraint ...

logic Logic is the study of correct reasoning. It includes both formal and informal logic. Formal logic is the science of deductively valid inferences or of logical truths. It is a formal science investigating how conclusions follow from premises ...

, and

rhetoric Rhetoric () is the art of persuasion, which along with grammar and logic (or dialectic), is one of the three ancient arts of discourse. Rhetoric aims to study the techniques writers or speakers utilize to inform, persuade, or motivate parti ...

. After Trivium followed the Quadrivium (Latin for ''four ways''):

geometry Geometry (; ) is, with arithmetic, one of the oldest branches of mathematics. It is concerned with properties of space such as the distance, shape, size, and relative position of figures. A mathematician who works in the field of geometry is c ...

arithmetic Arithmetic () is an elementary part of mathematics that consists of the study of the properties of the traditional operations on numbers— addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, exponentiation, and extraction of roots. In the 19th ...

music Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspect ...

, and

astronomy Astronomy () is a natural science that studies astronomical object, celestial objects and phenomena. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and chronology of the Universe, evolution. Objects of interest ...

. The language used was

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

and remained so until the 18th century. Unlike most other Norwegian state schools, Latin is still taught at the school today. The 17th century is known in the school's history as "Det lærde århundre"Ernst Bjerke
En historikk
(See "Historie") (in Norwegian), Oslo Katedralskole, retrieved December 11, 2012 (literal translation: ''the learned century'') because some of the school's teachers were among the most educated scholars in Norway at the time. After a great fire destroyed much of

in 1624, the city was relocated and reconstructed, forcing the school to change its location. After a new gymnasium was opened in Christiania (Oslo's name until 1878), students were offered lessons in extracurricular subjects, including

philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...

, and

metaphysics Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that studies the fundamental nature of reality, the first principles of being, identity and change, space and time, causality, necessity, and possibility. It includes questions about the nature of conscio ...

During the end of the 18th century, several reforms were implemented in Norwegian Latin-schools.

Norwegian language Norwegian ( no, norsk, links=no ) is a North Germanic language spoken mainly in Norway, where it is an official language. Along with Swedish and Danish, Norwegian forms a dialect continuum of more or less mutually intelligible local and regio ...

started to be used more within the classroom;

natural science Natural science is one of the branches of science concerned with the description, understanding and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation and experimentation. Mechanisms such as peer review and repeatab ...

lessons were given more priority; and

school libraries A school library (or a school library media center) is a library within a school where students, staff, and often, parents of a public or private school have access to a variety of resources. The goal of the school library media center is to e ...

were established. Disciplinary punishment was uncommon and used only as a last resort. Ideas from the contemporary

Age of Enlightenment The Age of Enlightenment or the Enlightenment; german: Aufklärung, "Enlightenment"; it, L'Illuminismo, "Enlightenment"; pl, Oświecenie, "Enlightenment"; pt, Iluminismo, "Enlightenment"; es, La Ilustración, "Enlightenment" was an intel ...

were also implemented, one of them being the encouragement of students to do their best. The tradition of Latin being mandatory was abolished in 1869 - students were then given the choice between a three-year-long school run with Latin or with natural sciences. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the

German occupants German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

employed parts of the school building, though teaching continued as usual. However, several of the teachers were involved in resistance activities against the Germans. One of the central figures of this resistance was caught while escaping to

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

. He subsequently committed suicide in prison to avoid being coerced into revealing the resistance's activities. Patrick Thomas Stark, appointed in 2020, is the current headmaster of the school.

Previous Headmasters

Niels Treschow Niels Nicolas Treschow (5 September 1751 – 22 September 1833) was a Norwegian philosopher, educator and politician. Biography Treschow was born in Strømsø, now part of Drammen in Buskerud. He was the son of Peter Treschow (1718-1773) ...

Jacob Rosted Jacob Rosted (23 October 1750 – 8 October 1833) was a Norwegian people, Norwegian educator, editor, and librarian. Jacob Rosted born in Høland in Akershus, Norway. He was from a clerical family; his father was a vicar and his uncle was a ...

Hartvig Nissen Ole Hartvig Nissen (17 April 1815 – 4 February 1874) was a Norwegian philologist and educator. He founded Nissen's Girls' School in Christiania in 1849. In 1865 he became director-general in the Ministry of Education, while remaining one of t ...

* Ludvig Vibe *

Eva Blomfeldt Eva or EVA may refer to: * Eva (name), a feminine given name Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters * Eva (Dynamite Entertainment), a comic book character by Dynamite Entertainment * Eva (''Devil May Cry''), Dante's mother in ...

Notable alumni

Caspar Wessel Caspar Wessel (8 June 1745, Vestby – 25 March 1818, Copenhagen) was a Danish–Norwegian mathematician and cartographer. In 1799, Wessel was the first person to describe the geometrical interpretation of complex numbers as points in the complex ...

(1745-1818),

mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, structure, space, models, and change. History On ...

Niels Henrik Abel Niels Henrik Abel ( , ; 5 August 1802 – 6 April 1829) was a Norwegian mathematician who made pioneering contributions in a variety of fields. His most famous single result is the first complete proof demonstrating the impossibility of solvin ...

(1802-1829), mathematician *

Henrik Wergeland Henrik Arnold Thaulow Wergeland (17 June 1808 – 12 July 1845) was a Norwegian writer, most celebrated for his poetry but also a prolific playwright, polemicist, historian, and linguist. He is often described as a leading pioneer in the develop ...

(1808-1845), poet *

Johan Sverdrup Johan Sverdrup (30 July 1816 – 17 February 1892) was a Norwegian politician from the Liberal Party. He was the first prime minister of Norway after the introduction of parliamentarism and served as the 4th prime minister of Norway. Sverdrup was ...

(1816-1892),

prime minister of Norway The prime minister of Norway ( no, statsminister, which directly translates to "minister of state") is the head of government and chief executive of Norway. The prime minister and Cabinet (consisting of all the most senior government department ...

* Johannes Irgens (1869 - 1939),

minister of foreign affairs A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between cou ...

Otto Bahr Halvorsen Otto Bahr Halvorsen (28 May 1872 – 23 May 1923) was a Norwegian lawyer and politician from the Conservative Party, who served as the 14th prime minister of Norway from 1920 to 1921 and again in 1923 up until his death in office. Background ...

(1872-1923), prime minister of Norway *

Edvard Munch Edvard Munch ( , ; 12 December 1863 – 23 January 1944) was a Norwegian painter. His best known work, ''The Scream'' (1893), has become one of Western art's most iconic images. His childhood was overshadowed by illness, bereavement and the dr ...

(1863-1944), painter *

Otto Ruge Otto Ruge (9 January 1882 – 15 August 1961) was a Norwegian general. Ruge was Commander-in-chief of the Royal Norwegian Armed Forces after Nazi Germany's assault on Norway in April 1940. Early career Ruge grew up in Kristiania (Oslo) i ...

(1882-1961),

general A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...

, commander-in-chief of the

Norwegian Armed Forces The Norwegian Armed Forces ( no, Forsvaret, , The Defence) is the military organization responsible for the defence of Norway. It consists of five branches, the Norwegian Army, the Royal Norwegian Navy, which includes the Coast Guard, the Royal ...

Arne Sunde Arne Toralf Sunde (6 December 1883 – 30 July 1972) was a Norwegian politician, Olympic shooter and army officer. He is best known for his participation in the 1940 Norwegian Campaign, his participation in Nygaardsvold's Cabinet during its 19 ...

(1883-1972),

president of the United Nations Security Council The presidency of the United Nations Security Council is responsible for leading the United Nations Security Council. It rotates among the 15 member-states of the council monthly. The head of the country's delegation is known as the President of t ...

1949 and 1950 * Rolf Nordhagen (1894-1979), botanist *

Trygve Haavelmo Trygve Magnus Haavelmo (13 December 1911 – 28 July 1999), born in Skedsmo, Norway, was an economist whose research interests centered on econometrics. He received the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences in 1989. Biography After attendi ...

(1911-1999), professor in economics, recipient of the 1989

Nobel Prize in Economics The Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, officially the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel ( sv, Sveriges riksbanks pris i ekonomisk vetenskap till Alfred Nobels minne), is an economics award administered ...

Astrid Nøklebye Heiberg Astrid Nøklebye Heiberg (14 April 1936 – 2 April 2020) was a Norway, Norwegian politician for the Conservative Party of Norway, Conservative Party, and a professor of medicine. She was the state secretary to the Minister of Social Affairs 1981 ...

(1936-2020), former minister of administration and consumer affairs, former president of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies *

Harald V Harald V ( no, Harald den femte, ; born 21 February 1937) is King of Norway. He acceded to the throne on 17 January 1991. Harald was the third child and only son of King Olav V of Norway and Princess Märtha of Sweden. He was second in the lin ...

(1937-), king of Norway *

Johan Jørgen Holst Johan Jørgen Holst (29 November 1937 – 13 January 1994) was a Norwegian politician representing Labour, best known for his involvement with the Oslo Accords. Holst was Minister of Defence from 1987 to 1989 and from 1990 to April 1993. He t ...

(1937-1994), minister of foreign affairs and minister of defense *

Egil Kraggerud Egil Kraggerud (born 7 July 1939) is a Norwegian philologist. He was born in Hemnes as a son of dentist John Kraggerud (1903–1991) and teacher Borghild Johanne Westeren (1904–1988). He took the examen artium at Oslo Cathedral School in 1957, a ...

(1939-), philologist *

Jon Elster Jon Elster (; born 22 February 1940, Oslo) is a Norwegian philosopher and political theorist who holds the Robert K. Merton professorship of Social Science at Columbia University. He received his PhD in social science from the École Normale Supe ...

(1940-), philosopher and social scientist, professor at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

and

Collège de France The Collège de France (), formerly known as the ''Collège Royal'' or as the ''Collège impérial'' founded in 1530 by François I, is a higher education and research establishment (''grand établissement'') in France. It is located in Paris ne ...

Arne Treholt Arne Treholt (born 13 December 1942) is a Norwegian-born, Russia-based convicted felon and former KGB agent who was convicted of treason and espionage on behalf of the Soviet Union against Norway during the Cold War and sentenced to 20 years in p ...

(1942-), diplomat, convicted of espionage in 1985 *

Mads Gilbert Mads Fredrik Gilbert (born 2 June 1947) is a Norwegian physician, humanitarian, activist, and politician for the Red Party. He is a specialist in anesthesiology and head of the emergency medicine department at the University Hospital of North No ...

(1947-), doctor and humanitarian worker *

Jostein Gaarder Jostein Gaarder (; born 8 August 1952) is a Norwegian intellectual and author of several novels, short stories, and children's books. Gaarder often writes from the perspective of children, exploring their sense of wonder about the world. He often ...

(1952-), author *

Erik Solheim Erik Solheim (born 18 January 1955) is a Norwegian diplomat and former politician. He served in the Norwegian government from 2005 to 2012 as Minister of International Development and Minister of the Environment, and as Under-Secretary-General of ...

(1955-), diplomat, former minister of the environment and international development *

Jens Stoltenberg Jens Stoltenberg (born 16 March 1959) is a Norwegian politician who has been serving as the 13th secretary general of NATO since 2014. A member of the Norwegian Labour Party, he previously served as the 34th prime minister of Norway from 2000 to ...

(1959-), secretary general of NATO (from October 1, 2014), former prime minister of Norway *

Kjetil Try Kjetil Dyrendahl Try (born 24 July 1959) is a Norwegian advertising agency executive and crime fiction writer. Personal life Try grew up at Manglerud in Oslo. He has played ice hockey for the club Manglerud Star, and participated in the 1983 film ...

(1959-), advertising agency executive and crime fiction writer *

Erling Kagge Erling Kagge (born January 15, 1963) is a Norwegian explorer, publisher, author, lawyer, art collector, entrepreneur and politician. Three Poles Challenge Erling Kagge is the first person to reach the North Pole, South Pole and the summit of ...

(1963-), explorer and publisher *

Espen Barth Eide Espen Barth Eide (born 1 May 1964, in Oslo) is a Norwegian politician and political scientist. He is currently serving as the Minister of Climate and the Environment in Jonas Gahr Støre's government. He has been a been a member of the Norwegian ...

(1964-), former minister of foreign affairs, minister of climate and environment * Thomas Seltzer (1969-), musician (Turbonegro), TV talk show host *

Anders Danielsen Lie Anders Danielsen Lie (born 1 January 1979) is a Norwegian actor, musician and medical doctor. Education Danielsen Lie studied Ancient Greek (1997-1998), musicology (2001-2003) and medicine (1999-2007) at the University of Oslo. Career Acting ...

(1979-), actor, musician, physician *

Bjørnar Moxnes Bjørnar Moxnes (born 19 December 1981) is a Norwegian politician and activist representing the left-wing political party Rødt in Stortinget. Moxnes opposes the European Union, characterizing Norway's participation in the EEA as undemocratic. Mo ...

(1981-), leader of the Red Party

References

External links

Oslo katedralskole's web siteInformation in EnglishThe student council's web page (Norwegian)Oslo katedralskole's history (Norwegian)

Dei skjulte bokskattane

he hidden book-treasures He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...

{{Authority control Secondary schools in Norway Cathedral schools Schools in Oslo 1153 establishments in Europe 12th-century establishments in Norway Educational institutions established in the 12th century Oslo Municipality

History

Previous Headmasters

Notable alumni

See also

References

External links