Haquin Spegel (Haqvin) (born Kåkan Spegel; 14 June 1645 – 17 April 1714) was a Swedish religious author and hymn writer who held several bishop's seats.

Biography

Spegel was born on 14 June 1645, in

Ronneby Ronneby is a 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 Ronneby was voted Sweden's m ...

. In 1675, the King

Charles XI of Sweden Charles XI or Carl (; ) was List of Swedish monarchs, King of Sweden from 1660 until his death, in a period of History of Sweden, Swedish history known as the Swedish Empire (1611–1721). He was the only son of King Charles X Gustav of Sweden ...

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), also known as Ulrika Eleonora the Younger, was Queen of Sweden from 5 December 1718 until her abdication on 29 February 1720 in favour of Frederick, her husband. Upon his ...

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 Provinces of Sweden, province/Counties of Sweden, county (Swedish län), Municipalities of Sweden, municipality, a ...

as a superintendent over the

Diocese of Visby The Diocese of Visby () 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 episcopal oversight of ...

. 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 * 1170–1171 * 1187–1195/96 Kol * John * 1216–1220 Karl Magnusson * 1220–1236 * 1236–1258 * 1258–1283 Henrik * 1258–1286 ...

in eastern Sweden. In 1693, he was transferred to the seat in

Diocese of Skara The Diocese of Skara () is the oldest existing diocese in Sweden. It was originally a Latin bishopric of the Roman Catholic church, but since the Protestant Reformation has been a Lutheran diocese within the Church of Sweden, with its seat in S ...

, 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 of Sweden in an unbroken succession since 1164, first during the Catholic era, and from the 1530s and onward under the Lutheran church. Historical ove ...

, 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 is traditionally ...

and poet.

References

*
Svenskt Litteraturhistoria i Sammandrag (1904)
*

In

Nordisk familjebok (, 'Nordic Family Book') is a Swedish language, 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. The public domain edit ...

(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 Swedish Lutheran bishops 18th-century Lutheran archbishops Swedish-language writers Swedish Lutheran hymnwriters 18th-century Swedish writers 17th-century Swedish writers