Peder Hansen Resen (17 June 1625 – 1 June 1688) was the Danish

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the st ...

, legal scholar and the president's residence in the city. He was the son of Bishop Hans Hansen Resen.

Youth and education

After private tuition, he was in 1641 placed in the Vor Frue Skole, where he in 1643 passed to the university. In 1645 he took theological certificate (teologisk attestats) and spent a year at the Vor Frue Skole. Then in May 1647, accompanied by Rasmus Bartholin, he set off on a trip abroad, first to The

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

where Resen made a four-year stay in

Leiden Leiden (; in English and archaic Dutch also Leyden) is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. The municipality of Leiden has a population of 119,713, but the city forms one densely connected agglomeration w ...

, and concentrated on philology and jurisprudence. There he met up in 1651 with his three brothers, of whom Elias was drowned on an excursion to

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

. Soon after that, Resen traveled to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

and spent several months in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

. He went on to

Orléans Orléans (;"Orleans"
(US) and Corfitz Trolle and his steward Conrad Hesse through France and

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

. Returning through southern France to

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian census, the Province of ...

, Resen in 1652 parted from his companions, bound for

Padua Padua ( ; it, Padova ; vec, Pàdova) is a city and ''comune'' in Veneto, northern Italy. Padua is on the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice. It is the capital of the province of Padua. It is also the economic and communications hub of the ...

, where he studied jurisprudence for a year and won a reputation; he had an audience with the Doge and the council of

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

. He went also to

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

and

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adm ...

. On the way back, he learned in Rome of his father's death, and in

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico ...

that his mother had also died. From Padua, where he received in September 1653 a law doctorate, he journeyed on to

Trento Trento ( or ; Ladin and lmo, Trent; german: Trient ; cim, Tria; , ), also anglicized as Trent, is a city on the Adige River in Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol in Italy. It is the capital of the autonomous province of Trento. In the 16th centu ...

Augsburg Augsburg (; bar , Augschburg , links=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swabian_German , label=Swabian German, , ) is a city in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany, around west of Bavarian capital Munich. It is a university town and regional seat of the ' ...

Regensburg Regensburg or is a city in eastern Bavaria, at the confluence of the Danube, Naab and Regen rivers. It is capital of the Upper Palatinate subregion of the state in the south of Germany. With more than 150,000 inhabitants, Regensburg is the ...

, through

Saxony Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a ...

, Brunswick and

Lüneburg Lüneburg (officially the ''Hanseatic City of Lüneburg'', German: ''Hansestadt Lüneburg'', , Low German ''Lümborg'', Latin ''Luneburgum'' or ''Lunaburgum'', Old High German ''Luneburc'', Old Saxon ''Hliuni'', Polabian ''Glain''), also called ...

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; nds, label=Hamburg German, Low Saxon, Hamborg ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (german: Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg; nds, label=Low Saxon, Friee un Hansestadt Hamborg),. is the List of cities in Germany by popul ...

and finally to

Lübeck Lübeck (; Low German also ), officially the Hanseatic City of Lübeck (german: Hansestadt Lübeck), is a city in Northern Germany. With around 217,000 inhabitants, Lübeck is the second-largest city on the German Baltic coast and in the state ...

and

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan a ...

, where he arrived in November.

Office and marriage

As a young scholar of great hope and a member of a family who had a prestigious name in the academic world, Resen was obvious to a professorship at the university. As such 1657 became vacant staff, therefore, he as a professor and ethics rose in 1662 to the legal professorship. As was common back then to use the excellent efforts of several offices at once, also found Resens abilities multifunctional use. 1664 made him the king to the mayor of Copenhagen, 1669, he became an assessor in the Supreme Court, and in 1672 became the office of president in residence of the city entrusted to him; In addition, he served 1672 – 1676 in State College. 1677, he was Counselor, 1684 Counselor, and 1680, he Weapons letter. The legislative history of Danish law, he took part as a member of the 3rd revisionskommission ( 1680–1681 ). Audit Commission (1680–1681). After several years of growing infirmity of gout, he died in Copenhagen 1 June 1688. From 1683 he had been released from its obligations outside the academic senate, as he was permitted to transfer them to the master Jens Bircherod. Resen had, on 8 July 1655 in Copenhagen, married Anna Meier, with whom he lived in a childless marriage; she was born on 26 February 1625 in

Itzehoe Itzehoe (; nds, Itzhoe) is a town in the German state of Schleswig-Holstein. As the capital of the district Steinburg, Itzehoe is located on the Stör, a navigable tributary of the Elbe, 51 km (31.7 mi) northwest of Hamburg and 24 ...

, where her father, Heine Meier, was a respected businessman and was the widow of Michael von Uppenbusch (d. 1645 as a customs official in

Glückstadt Glückstadt (; da, Lykstad) is a town in the Steinburg district of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is located on the right bank of the Lower Elbe at the confluence of the small Rhin river, about northwest of Altona. Glückstadt is part of th ...

) and Poul Duus (d. 1654). She survived Resen and a half years and died in Copenhagen on the night of 5th or 6 December 1689.

Historian

The hopes attached to Resen, he fully satisfied, he was an ornament to the Danish folk high school, and in scientific history in Denmark mentioned his name with honor beside

Wormer Wormer is a town in the Dutch province of North Holland. It is a part of the municipality of Wormerland, and lies about 13 km northwest of Amsterdam. The town is situated in the Zaan district, on the eastern side of the river Zaan, across ...

's and Bartholiner's names. As a professor, he was probably the first who lectured on Danish law; a theme of his lectures, he mentions himself – besides Chronologia juris civilis an ecclesiastici and Fundamenta juris civilis a Canonici – Jurisprudentia Romano Danica or "correct knowledge of laws of both the Roman and Danish law book ", and it is known that he thought of publishing his lecture on Danish lawyer. Resen's living historical interest drew him most to the reading of the old national laws, of which he published several, so in 1675 the Norwegian hirdskrå and Danish vederlagsret with Danish and Latin translation, and later various ancient city courts (1683), Erik Krabbe's German translation of Jyske Law (1684, with a detailed preface, containing intelligence of the Dannebrog, Erik Krabbe and his family and more) and

Christian II of Denmark Christian II (1 July 1481 – 25 January 1559) was a Scandinavian monarch under the Kalmar Union who reigned as King of Denmark and Norway, from 1513 until 1523, and Sweden from 1520 until 1521. From 1513 to 1523, he was concurrently Duke ...

's laws (1684). As he was a pioneer in the release of these old monuments, so it Resen also credited with being the first who did Snorri's Edda and

Völuspá ''Vǫluspá'' (also ''Völuspá'', ''Vǫlospá'' or ''Vǫluspǫ́''; Old Norse: 'Prophecy of the völva, a seeress'; reconstructed Old Norse: ) is the best known poem of the ''Poetic Edda''. It tells the story of the creation of the world and ...

and

Hávamál ''Hávamál'' ( ; Old Norse: ,Unnormalised spelling in the :Title: Final stanza: ../ref> classical pron. , Modern Icelandic pron. , ‘Words of he High One��) is presented as a single poem in the Icelandic , a collection of Old Norse poems f ...

available in printed form (1665 and 1673), all equipped with Latin translation, Edda, together with the Danish . Display of Völuspá was significantly Gudmund André's work, and the same holds good Lexicon Islandicum as Resen released in 1683. There is not much of Resen own in the great historical work of King Frederik II's Krønnike, which he published in 1680, mainly leaning on an abandoned work of Claus Christophersen Lyschander, but only the fact that he paid for such writings printed, are all honor worth. Another historical work, which still has value, is the body of Inscriptions Hafnienses, he let press in 1668 and dedicated Chancellor Peter Reedtz; it also contains intelligence about

Tycho Brahe Tycho Brahe ( ; born Tyge Ottesen Brahe; generally called Tycho (14 December 154624 October 1601) was a Danish astronomer, known for his comprehensive astronomical observations, generally considered to be the most accurate of his time. He was ...

and his presence on

Hven Ven ( da, Hven, older Swedish spelling Hven) is a small Swedish island in the Øresund strait, between Scania and Zealand (Denmark). It is part of Landskrona Municipality, Scania County. The island has 371 inhabitants and an area of . During ...

Atlas Danicus

But Resens masterpiece, the way he used his most forces, and what is the general awareness especially attached to his name, his great Atlas Danicus. His intention was to give a description of Denmark, containing details of any place's history and monuments. Already in 1666 he published his first call to delete clergy to do reporting to him for use in plant production, it was as important antiques States, he had attention so, but in subsequent requests to the clergy of its assistance (in 1681 and 1686), he requested furthermore information about its physical peculiarities, its flora and fauna and so on. On the basis of the following incoming links, each of which has re-preserved, and its own collections drew Resen its atlas, which he also introduced a quantity of papers and letters, in Danish, and you get an idea of the immense work that was applied herein, when one hears that the material for the parade 30 folios. Moreover, he let up briefly, prospectuses in bird's eye view and other pictures that were stuck in copper or carved in wood. Making such a voluminous work published author realized enough was insurmountable, and he had therefore in his final years John Brown Man and other make extracts therefrom in Latin for tightness. As the samples he had (in 1675 and 1677) been printed descriptions of Samsoe and Copenhagen; more unfortunately never came out, although Resen had different incentives to works published, which in 1685 was so imminent that set up a commission to review it. After his death, his widow, who, in consequence of his legacies pålå to attend atlas available, step there, as she handed master Christian Aarsleb the printing, but when she soon after died, and Aarsleb 1692 were village priest, was released to nothing. The standard work together with most of the copper plates ended up in the Copenhagen University, with which it burned in 1728 by Copenhagen fire. Resens Derivative Work, and the many notes, in total 39 folios disappeared, but there existed a copy of Volume 7 folios as of Resen had been prepared for the press. The transcript had been made on order of Privy

Vincents Lerche St. Vincent's may refer to: Schools * St. Vincent's Academy, in Savannah, Georgia * St. Vincent's C.B.S., a secondary school in Dublin, Ireland * St Vincent's College, Potts Point, Australia, a Roman Catholic, secondary, boarding and day school ...

. After the fire Lerche realized that his copy had been invaluable, and he kept it to himself, as did his son, who inherited it. But when her son was on his deathbed, bequeathed his works to the king and was thus available to the architect Lauritz de Thurah which itself was about to write a great work of Copenhagen. He received the transcript on loan and had even made a copy of this. King's copy burned under Christiansborg Palace fire in 1794 and only Thurah was back. This was donated to the Royal Library where it is today. During the 1900s (from the first edition of

Bornholm Bornholm () is a Danish island in the Baltic Sea, to the east of the rest of Denmark, south of Sweden, northeast of Germany and north of Poland. Strategically located, Bornholm has been fought over for centuries. It has usually been ruled by ...

's description in 1925 the last volume describing Vestsjællands towns in 1996) were mostly of the manuscript, printed in both the original Latin version and in the Danish version, in addition to the many copper panels who had survived the fire (some were lost) also appeared in separate works.

Resen's book collection

Resen was, from his youth, a lover and connoisseur of books. How much he was prepared to sacrifice to satisfy his literary passion, he tells himself an example from his trip abroad when he saw the precious library of the monastery Collegium S. Laurentii in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

and in vain offered 100 dollars to get permission to leave the library's print catalog. From about 1659 total Resen always books; and he bought them at auction – his brother, Dr. Paul Resen's library was the first to be auctioned were in Copenhagen (1661) – and he got them by writing to bishops and other scholars in Denmark,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, 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 ...

and

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its ...

, for example, Jacob and Peter Bircherod Seven, and he left "a great person and scholar" go to

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

to buy books, as he himself notes, he was insatiable in his mind when he told them not bekommen. He managed to create an extraordinarily rich collection of Danish and Norse literature, which he, together with what else he had collected, especially by foreign legal literature, gave the university library in which these subjects were slightly underrepresented; also a quantity of manuscripts found in the collection over which he in 1686 published a list bearing his curriculum vitae and portraits. But even this rare collection that neither before nor since has been his equal, perished in 1728. His grandfather's significant collection of manuscripts he had also bestowed the university library. Of Copenhagen lavsskråer and other papers to the capital's history, he arranged a large manuscript collection, which is partly still exist.

Order of the Dannebrog, Grand Cross

References

Sources

Books

{{DEFAULTSORT:Resen, Peder Hansen 1625 births 1688 deaths 17th-century Danish historians Noble Knights of the Order of the Dannebrog