Haquin Spegel (Haqvin) (14 June 1645 – 17 April 1714), born ''Håkan Spegel'' in

Ronneby Ronneby is a urban areas of Sweden, locality and the seat of Ronneby Municipality in Blekinge County, Sweden with 12,029 inhabitants in 2010. Ronneby is regarded as the heart of "the Garden of Sweden", and in 2005 the park "Brunnsparken" in Ronne ...

Blekinge Blekinge (, old da, Bleking) is one of the traditional Swedish provinces (), situated in the southern coast of the geographic region of Götaland, in southern Sweden. It borders Småland, Scania and the Baltic Sea. It is the country's sec ...

(today in

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 countries, Nordic c ...

), was a religious author and hymn writer who held several bishop's seats.

Life

In 1675, the King

Charles XI of Sweden Charles XI or Carl ( sv, Karl XI; ) was King of Sweden from 1660 until his death, in a period of Swedish history known as the Swedish Empire (1611–1721). He was the only son of King Charles X Gustav of Sweden and Hedwig Eleonora of Holstein- ...

appointed him as court chaplain. During the wars in the following years, he followed the King, and became a close confidant of his. He kept a diary during the whole time, which has proven to be valuable as research material. In 1680 he wed Queen

Ulrika Eleonora Ulrika Eleonora or Ulrica Eleanor (23 January 1688 – 24 November 1741), known as Ulrika Eleonora the Younger, was Queen of Sweden, reigning in her own right from 5 December 1718 until her abdication on 29 February 1720 in favour of her husband ...

and the King. He spent the following five years mainly on the island of

Gotland Gotland (, ; ''Gutland'' in Gutnish), also historically spelled Gottland or Gothland (), is Sweden's largest island. It is also a province, county, municipality, and diocese. The province includes the islands of Fårö and Gotska Sandön to ...

as a superintendent over the

Diocese of Visby The Diocese of Visby ( sv, Visby stift) is a division of the Church of Sweden consisting of the island of Gotland. Its seat is Visby Cathedral located in the largest town on Gotland, Visby. The Bishop of Visby is also responsible for the episc ...

. He managed to write the ''Rudera Gothlandica'' during this time (published first 1901). In 1685 he was appointed

Bishop of Linköping Bishops of the Diocese of Linköping, Sweden. Before the reformation * Herbert? * Rikard? * 1139–1160s Gisle * 1170–1171 Stenar * 1187–1195/96 Kol * Johannes? * 1216–1220 Karl Magnusson * 1220–1236 Bengt Magnusson * 1236–1258 Lar ...

in eastern Sweden. In 1693 he was transferred to the seat in Diocese of Skara, central Sweden, where he remained until 1711. On the death of the

Archbishop of Uppsala The Archbishop of Uppsala (spelled Upsala until the early 20th century) has been the primate (bishop), primate of Sweden in an unbroken succession since 1164, first during the Roman Catholic Church, Catholic era, and from the 1530s and onward un ...

, Spegel was elected his successor, although he only held this position for three years. During that time he wrote an influential epos called ''God's work and rest'' about God's creation as written about in the Bible.

Other notability

It is said that he worked for education of the people, and wanted every peasant in Sweden to be able to read. He was also known as a

hymnist A hymnwriter (or hymn writer, hymnist, hymnodist, hymnographer, etc.) is someone who writes the text, music, or both of hymns. In the Judeo-Christian tradition, the composition of hymns dates back to before the time of David, who composed many of ...

and poet.

External links

Reference:
Svenskt Litteraturhistoria i Sammandrag (1904)

In

Nordisk familjebok ''Nordisk familjebok'' (, "Nordic Family Book") is a Swedish encyclopedia that was published in print from between 1876 and 1993, and that is now fully available in digital form via Project Runeberg at Linköping University. Despite their co ...

(1917) {{DEFAULTSORT:Spegel, Haquin 1645 births 1714 deaths People from Ronneby Municipality Bishops of Skara Lutheran bishops of Linköping Lutheran archbishops of Uppsala 17th-century Lutheran bishops 18th-century Lutheran archbishops Swedish-language writers Swedish Lutheran hymnwriters 18th-century Swedish writers 17th-century Swedish writers