Sven Lagerbring (originally Sven Bring; after being knighted, he wrote his name as ''Sven Lager Bring''; 24 February 1707 – 5 December 1787) was a Swedish professor and historian. He has been described as "the first Swedish historian in the modern sense."

Biography

Sven Bring was born in Klinta,

Bosjökloster Bosjökloster ( en, Bosjö Abbey) is a castle located on the shore of Lake Ringsjön in Höör Municipality, Scania, Sweden. History It was originally a nunnery, founded in 1080 by the Benedictine Order. The oldest preserved document that ...

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 ...

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 was the son of

vicar A vicar (; Latin: ''vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English pref ...

and Abela Olufsdotter Klinthea. He began his studies in 1720 at

Lund University , motto = Ad utrumque , mottoeng = Prepared for both , established = , type = Public research university , budget = SEK 9 billion where he became assistant professor of law in 1731, then spent a few years in

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

as a teacher for the von Fersen family, during which time he had the opportunity to conduct research in the National Archives. In 1741 he became a

registrar A registrar is an official keeper of records made in a register. The term may refer to: Education * Registrar (education), an official in an academic institution who handles student records * Registrar of the University of Oxford, one of the sen ...

in Lund and in 1742 professor of history there, succeeding Kilian Stobæus. In 1751 Lagerbring became

juris doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

, in 1755 a member of Queen Louisa Ulrika's Academy of Letters, History and Antiquities, and in 1770 permanently on leave from his professorship for scientific work. In 1769 he was knighted under the name of and in 1770 received the title of chancellor (). Lagerbring was the rector of Lund University in 1748, 1755, and 1769. His influences at the university included professors ,

Kilian Stobæus Kilian Stobæus (6 February 1690 – 17 February 1742) was a Swedish physician, natural scientist, and historian. He offered a young Carl Linnaeus tutoring and lodging, as well as the use of his library, which included many books about botany. H ...

, and G. Papke. Via

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...

, Lagerbring had been moved towards historical research. His law teacher had been the meticulous and source-critical , which influenced his approach to history. During his time as a private instructor for

Axel von Fersen the Elder 250px, Fredrik Axel von Fersen Count Fredrik Axel von Fersen (5 April 171924 April 1794) was a Swedish statesman and soldier. He served as Lord Marshal of the Riksdag of the Estates, and although he worked closely with King Gustav III before and ...

, the later leader of the

Hat Party The Hats ( sv, hattarna) were a Swedish political faction active during the Age of Liberty (1719–1772). Their name derives from the tricorne hat worn by officers and gentlemen. They vied for power with the opposing Caps party. The Hats, who rul ...

, the formation of the Hats was in full swing and the increasing party struggles between the two parties at the time also influenced his writing. During his first professorship, his works covered a wide range of subjects, including history and its auxiliary sciences, as well as

theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

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 ...

and more. Among his more important works are (1745), which, in the spirit of the times, raises the question of the purpose of history for examination, and most notably (1763), which for the first time critically examined the historical source value of Icelandic literature, and (1763), which deals with the tasks and methods of historiography, and demonstrates many of the ideas that guided Lagerbring in his historical authorship. Lagerbring also published a large number of local history studies from Scania. In the

disputation In the scholastic system of education of the Middle Ages, disputations (in Latin: ''disputationes'', singular: ''disputatio'') offered a formalized method of debate designed to uncover and establish truths in theology and in sciences. Fixed ru ...

series (36 dissertations in two volumes, 1744–1751), mainly a publication of medieval sources on the history of Scania, extracts from

King Valdemar II Valdemar (28 June 1170 – 28 March 1241), later remembered as Valdemar the Victorious (), was the King of Denmark (being Valdemar II) from 1202 until his death in 1241. Background He was the second son of King Valdemar I of Denmark and Sophi ...

's Danish book of land taxation, and were printed for the first time. A similar source publication was also Lagerbring's (three volumes, 1749–1758). Lagerbring also worked on the history of education and planned a large work, , of which, however, only a portion dealing with antiquity was printed in 1748. Alongside

Olof von Dalin Olof von Dalin (29 August 1708 – 12 August 1763) was a Swedish nobleman, poet, historian and courtier. He was an influential literary figure of the Swedish Enlightenment. Background Olof Dalin was born in the parish of Vinberg in Halland. Hi ...

, Lagerbring initiated the more modern, critical research in Swedish history, and he undoubtedly ranks higher than Dalin in this respect. Lagerbring's main work is (four volumes, 1769–1783; the last volume, concerning the period 1460–1463, was first printed in 1907 by

Lauritz Weibull Lauritz Ulrik Absalon Weibull (2 April 1873 – 2 December 1960) was a Swedish professor and historian. Biography He was born in Lund, Sweden, as the son of history professor Martin Weibull and the brother of historian Curt Weibull. He enr ...

). A shorter summary of Swedish history is (1775; in a new and somewhat expanded edition 1778–1780), to which was added an account of the organization and administration of the Swedish state, etc., which was outstanding for its time, thus giving the present a much needed handbook of Swedish

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

. Unlike Dalin, Lagerbring drew a sharp distinction between source and literature, and emphasized, among other things, the higher source value of contemporary sources. As evidence of his critical ability, he raised doubts about the authenticity of the papal bull of

Pope Agapetus II Pope Agapetus II (died 8 November 955) was the bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States from 10 May 946 to his death. A nominee of the princeps of Rome, Alberic II of Spoleto, his pontificate occurred during the period known as the ''Saeculu ...

, and was also on the trail of the Hamburg-Bremen Church's document forgeries. Lagerbring's main teacher was the Danish historian

Hans Gram Hans Gram may refer to: * Hans Christian Gram (1853–1938), Danish scientist who invented Gram staining * Hans Gram (composer) (1754-1804), Danish-American composer and musician * Hans Gram (historian) Hans Gram (28 October 1685– 19 February ...

. Lagerbring had several points of contact with contemporary scholars such as

Jakob Langebek Jakob Langebek (23 January 1710 - 16 August 1775) was a Danish historian, linguist, lexicographer, and archivist. Langebek, Jacob, 1710-75 ''Danish biographical Lexikon'' Retrieved December 1, 2020 Biography He was born at Skjoldborg Parish in ...

Peter Frederik Suhm Peter Frederik Suhm (18 October 1728 – 7 September 1798), was a Danish historian. Biography Suhm studied at the University of Copenhagen from 1746 to 1751, and one of his teachers was Ludvig Holberg. In 1749 he translated a comedy of Plautu ...

Gerhard Schøning Gerhard Schøning (2 May 1722 – 18 July 1780) was a Norwegian historian. His ''Reise som giennem en Deel af Norge i de Aar 1773, 1774, 1775 paa Hans Majestets Kongens Bekostning'' documenting travel through Trondheim, Gudbrandsdal and Hedmark, N ...

, and . Like Langebek, he became skilled at tracking down and gaining access to material held in private collections. Due to his style being less nationalistic and having less of a ''

causerie Causerie (from French, "talk, chat") is a literary style of short informal essays mostly unknown in the English-speaking world. A causerie is generally short, light and humorous and is often published as a newspaper column (although it is not defin ...

'' tone, Lagerbring's work did not receive the appreciation it deserved at the time and in the near future. Only later did Lagerbring's contributions come to be appreciated on their merits. Lagerbring was keenly interested in the

archaeology Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

and history of his ancestral province; he published, among other things, a large collection of , containing a large number of disputations with forthcoming publications of deeds in them, and in general he promoted the study of the ancient history of Scania in various ways. The university libraries in Lund and

Uppsala Uppsala (, or all ending in , ; archaically spelled ''Upsala'') is the county seat of Uppsala County and the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, fourth-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmö. It had 177,074 inha ...

and the diocesan library in

Linköping Linköping () is a city in southern Sweden, with around 105,000 inhabitants as of 2021. It is the seat of Linköping Municipality and the capital of Östergötland County. Linköping is also the episcopal see of the Diocese of Linköping (Church ...

hold several unpublished manuscripts by Lagerbring, such as lecture outlines, transcripts of deeds and more. His autobiography, which was begun, has been printed by Lauritz Weibull in , published on the occasion of Lund University's celebration of the 200th anniversary of Lagerbring's birth in 1907. Lagerbring has certainly not been surpassed by any previous Swedish historian in critically astute scholarship; in many places he has set out guidelines which the scholarly work of a later period has followed. His style differs markedly from that of the Enlightenment. It is characterized by a peculiar humor, with incisive, meaningful turns of phrase, not infrequently with a certain archaic touch. He was the head of the

Royal Physiographic Society in Lund The Royal Physiographic Society in Lund ( sv, Kungliga Fysiografiska Sällskapet i Lund), is one of the Royal Academies in Sweden. It was founded in Lund, on December 2, 1772, and received a Royal Charter by Gustav III, on March 6, 1778.

in 1778–1779. As a professor, Lagerbring was highly respected; as ''

inspektor Inspektor or inspehtori, Swedish and Finnish for inspector, is the largely honorary chairman of student nations in Lund and Uppsala universities in Sweden and University of Helsinki in Finland. The inspektor has a supervisory role in their nat ...

'' of the Blekingska Nation, he exerted a patriarchal, benevolent influence among the students. On 20 March 1786 Lagerbring became a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of History and Antiquities. He died in Lund in 1787 and is buried in a chapel in

Mörarp Mörarp is a locality situated in Helsingborg Municipality Helsingborg Municipality (''Helsingborgs kommun'') is a municipality in Scania County in Sweden. Its seat is located in the city of Helsingborg, which is Sweden's eighth largest city. Th ...

Church.

Family

Lagerbring married Maria Beata Lagercreutz in 1745; the couple had six children, four of whom died during his lifetime. His son (1751–1822) was a count and government official.

Memorials and legacy

A bust of Lagerbring, made by the artist , has stood on the University Square in Lund since 1907. The day of Lagerbring's death, 5 December, has carried the name ''Sven'' in ''The Swedish Almanac'' since 1901, in his honor.

Biography

Family

Memorials and legacy

References

Further reading