Vitus Pedersen Bering (6 October 1617 – 20 May 1675) was a Danish poet and historian. He served as Danish Historiographer Royal and was the great-uncle of the explorer

Vitus Bering Vitus Jonassen Bering ( , , ; baptised 5 August 1681 – 19 December 1741),All dates are here given in the Julian calendar, which was in use throughout Russia at the time. also known as Ivan Ivanovich Bering (), was a Danish-born Russia ...

(1681–1741).

Early life and education

Vitus Pedersen Bering was born in

Viborg, Denmark Viborg () is a city in central Jutland, Denmark, the capital of both Viborg municipality and Region Midtjylland. Viborg is also the seat of the Western High Court, the Courts of Denmark, High Court for the Jutland peninsula. Viborg Municipality ...

. Bering was the son of the city mayor Peder Pedersen Bering and Maren Vitusdatter Brun. He graduated from

Viborg Katedralskole Viborg Katedralskole is a public gymnasium (secondary education school) and IB World School in Viborg, Denmark. The school is located at Gammel Skivevej 2 in Viborg and supports about 1000 students. History The Katedralskole was established a ...

in 1635. He soon attracted attention for his poems in

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 ...

and was called to serve as steward for Otte Thott, son of Scania county governor Tage Thott (1580–1658). He subsequently conducted a seven-year foreign trip to

Leiden Leiden ( ; ; in English language, English and Archaism, archaic Dutch language, Dutch also Leyden) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Nethe ...

(1639),

Orléans Orléans (,"Orleans"
(US) and Siena Siena ( , ; traditionally spelled Sienna in English; ) is a city in Tuscany, in central Italy, and the capital of the province of Siena. It is the twelfth most populated city in the region by number of inhabitants, with a population of 52,991 ...

(1642),

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

and

Padua Padua ( ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Veneto, northern Italy, and the capital of the province of Padua. The city lies on the banks of the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice and southeast of Vicenza, and has a population of 20 ...

(1647) and

Strasbourg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...

and

Basel Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...

(1648).

Career

After their return to Denmark, he took a

Master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

at the

University of Copenhagen The University of Copenhagen (, KU) is a public university, public research university in Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in Scandinavia, after Uppsala University. ...

in 1649. He immediately assumed a position as at the

. Later that same year he was appointed to professor in history at

Sorø Academy Sorø Academy ( Danish: ''Sorø Akademi'') is a boarding school and gymnasium located in the small town of Sorø, Denmark. It traces its history back to the 12th century when Bishop Absalon founded a monastery at the site, which was confiscated by ...

and Historiographer Royal. In late 1651, he was granted permission to resign as professor. His patron, Tage Thott, made arrangements for a residence at Skabersjö Castle in Scania. The king granted him the former archbishop's house Lundegård at

Lund Lund (, ;"Lund"
(US) and ) is a city in the provinces of Sweden, province of Scania, southern Swed ...

. The Danish loss of Scania to Sweden as a result of the

Treaty of Roskilde The Treaty of Roskilde was negotiated at Høje Taastrup Church and was concluded on 26 February ( OS) or 8 March 1658 ( NS) during the Second Northern War between Frederick III of Denmark–Norway and Karl X Gustav of Sweden in the Danish ci ...

in 1658 made Bering a Swedish subject. With support from Corfitz Ulfeldt (1606–1664) he negotiated with 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 ...

for a position as Swedish Historiographer. The king approved his proposal in 1659 but Bering managed to sell his estate to Peder Winstrup (1605–1679), Bishop of the

Diocese of Lund The Diocese of Lund () is a diocese within the Church of Sweden which corresponds to the provinces of Blekinge and Skåne. There are 217 parishes within the diocese, the most significant number in any of the dioceses of the Church of Sweden. Th ...

. in 1660 and chose instead to leave Scania. He was well-received in Denmark and became a member of the Treasury college () on 11 November 1660. In ca. 1669, he was also appointed Supreme Court justice. He also kept the position as historiographer.

Works

Bering was tasked with writing a general history of Denmark, a work on the reign of King

Christian IV of Denmark Christian IV (12 April 1577 – 28 February 1648) was King of Denmark and King of Norway, Norway and List of rulers of Schleswig-Holstein, Duke of Holstein and Schleswig from 1588 until his death in 1648. His reign of 59 years and 330 days is th ...

and a work on recent events such as the assault on Copenhagen in 1659 and the institution of Absolutism in 1660. Neither of these were published prior to his death. His only publication was a critical work on England, (1667), a defense of the Danish king's policy. His work on the assault on Copenhagen was published posthumously in 1676. His largest work, , an account of Danish history in Latin reaching back to 1448, was not published until 1698. It was in the style used in the works attributed to 2nd-century Roman historian

Publius Annius Florus Three main sets of works are attributed to Florus (a Roman cognomen): ''Virgilius orator an poeta'', the ''Epitome of Roman History'' and a collection of 14 short poems (66 lines in all). As to whether these were composed by the same person, or ...

. Historically, it is of little interest, being merely a stylistical treatment of older sources. It was, however, praised in its own time. Bering was also a popular writer of

Occasional poetry Occasional poetry is poetry composed for a particular occasion. In the history of literature, it is often studied in connection with orality, performance, and patronage. Term As a term of literary criticism, "occasional poetry" describes the work ...

. Few of Bering's poems have survived. They represent the transition in Danish Baroque poetry from

Anders Bording Anders Christensen Bording (21 January 1619 – 24 May 1677) was a Danish poet and journalist. He was born in Ribe. He is notable for his epigram An epigram is a brief, interesting, memorable, sometimes surprising or satirical statement. The ...

(1619–1677) to

Thomas Kingo Thomas Hansen Kingo (15 December 1634 – 14 October 1703) was a Danish bishop, poet and hymnwriter born in Slangerup, near Copenhagen. His work marked the high point of Danish baroque poetry. Early life and education His parents were Hans ...

(1634–1703) both of whom were among his personal friends.

Personal life

Bering married Anne Nielsdatter, daughter of Niels Pedersen Aurilesius (1601–1634), rector of the University of Copenhagen, on 13 June 1652. She died in 1657. On 15 September 1663, he then married Gertrud Jørgensdatter, daughter of Jørgen Hansen (1613–1673) and Kirstine Knudsdatter (died 1702). In 1666, King Christian V granted him the

Klampenborg Klampenborg is a northern suburb of Copenhagen, Denmark. It is located in Gentofte Municipality, Gentofte municipality, directly on Øresund, between Taarbæk and Skovshoved. Like other neighbourhoods along the Øresund coast, Klampenborg is an ...

area north of Copenhagen for life. Bering constructed a small country house on the land and named it Christiansholm after the king. The king also granted him another country estate, probably Farumgård, shortly prior to his death in 1675. His great-nephew cartographer and sailor Vitus Jonassen Bering (1681–1741) entered Russian service, and made himself a name as an explorer, commanding the First Kamchatka Expedition and

Great Northern Expedition The Great Northern Expedition () or Second Kamchatka Expedition () was a major Russian Arctic expedition between roughly 1733 and 1743, which mapped most of the Arctic coast of Siberia and much of the Arctic coast of North America, greatly red ...

, where he perished at 60 years of age. Their similar names and the lack of the latter man's reliable portraits has led to a lot of confusion, and, until the explorer's remains were recovered in 1991, the portrait of his uncle was believed to belong to him.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bering, Vitus 1617 births 1675 deaths People from Viborg Municipality University of Copenhagen alumni Academic staff of the University of Copenhagen 17th-century Danish historians 17th-century Danish poets 17th-century writers in Latin Danish male poets 17th-century male writers Scholars from Denmark–Norway