Absalon Pederssøn Beyer (c. 1528 – 9 April 1575) was a Norwegian author, lecturer and Lutheran clergyman. Beyer contributed greatly to the spiritual

Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major Theology, theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the p ...

in Norway. He is best known today for his diary or annal of contemporary events. ''Absalon Pederssøns dagbok 1552–1572'', his diary from the years between 1552 and 1572 is one of the most important source of the information of the cultural and social history of Bergen during this period. Absalon Pederssøn Beyer was born at

Aurland Aurland () is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in the Counties of Norway, county of Vestland, Norway. It is located on the south side of the Sognefjorden in the Districts of Norway, traditional district of Sogn. The administrativ ...

in the county of

Vestland Vestland is a Counties of Norway, county in Norway. The county is located in Western Norway, and its administrative centre is Bergen, where the executive and political leadership is based. The County governor (Norway), County Governor is based in ...

, Norway. He received his education in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

. In 1549, he went to

Wittenberg Wittenberg, officially Lutherstadt Wittenberg, is the fourth-largest town in the state of Saxony-Anhalt, in the Germany, Federal Republic of Germany. It is situated on the River Elbe, north of Leipzig and south-west of the reunified German ...

, where he studied for 2 years with

Philip Melanchthon Philip Melanchthon (born Philipp Schwartzerdt; 16 February 1497 – 19 April 1560) was a German Lutheran reformer, collaborator with Martin Luther, the first systematic theologian of the Protestant Reformation, an intellectual leader of the L ...

, one of the leaders of the Protestant

. In 1553, Beyer was appointed lecturer in theology at the Bergen Cathedral School. Between 1557 and 1564 he was also the school's head teacher or reading teacher. From 1566 he was also a priest at

Bergenhus Bergenhus is a borough of the city of Bergen in Vestland county, Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of ...

. Beyer had a working knowledge of both the

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

and

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

languages. In 1566, he let his students perform ''The Fall of Adam'' in church. This is thought to be the first public theatrical performance in Norway. Beyer wrote historic-topographic works including ''Om Norigs Rige'' and ''Bergens kapitelsbok''. He died in 1575. His widow, Anne Pedersdotter, was accused of witchcraft and was burned in 1590 even though loyal clergymen asserted her innocence.Nils Gilje (2003) ''Heksen og humanisten : Anne Pedersdatter og Absalon Pederssøn Beyer : en historie om magi og trolldom i Bergen på 1500-tallet'' (Bergens historiske forenings)

References

Other sources

* Bang, Anton Christian (1883) ''Den norske kirkes historie'' (Oslo: Cammermeyer) * Bang, Anton Christian (1884) ''Gjengangere Fra Hedenskabet Og Katholicismen Blandt Vort Folk Efter Reformationen'' (Oslo: Cammermeyer) * Wiers-Jenssen, Hans (1917) ''Anne Pedersdotter; a drama in four acts'' (Boston: Little, Brown, and Co.)

External links

Dokumentasjonsprosjektet: Beyer
People educated at the Bergen Cathedral School Norwegian Lutheran theologians 16th-century Norwegian historians Year of birth uncertain 1575 deaths People from Aurland 16th-century Norwegian clergy 16th-century Lutheran theologians {{Norway-writer-stub