Peder Hansen Resen

Youth and education

After being carefully prepared by private teachers, he was in 1641 placed in Our Lady's School (Vor Frue Skole), where he in 1643 passed to the university. In 1645 he took theological attestats (teologisk attestats) and had since a year hear at Our Lady School until he was in May 1647 accompanied by Rasmus Bartholin went on a trip abroad, who first went to The Netherlands where Resen did a four-year stay in Leiden, and lay down after philology and jurisprudence. Here he met in 1651 with his three brothers, of which Elias was drowned on an excursion to Amsterdam. Soon after Resen traveled to France and spent several months in Paris, where he is in concert with a master's Laurids Boarding industrious visited as well as learned men bookshops and libraries. From here he went to Orleans and now trains with Corfits Trolle and his steward Conrad Hesse on one not without danger travel through France and Spain, and only the fear of being intercepted by the "Turks" discouraged them from putting across from Gibraltar to Africa. Back road went through southern France to Genoa, where Resen 1652 parted from his traveling companions to go to Padua, where he studied jurisprudence about a year and won great prestige among the students who chose him to Consiliarius nationis germanica jurisconsultorum and university vicesyndikus; as such He had an audience with Dogen and the council of Venice, acquired a hitherto missing privilege of the university and could, if he had wished, have achieved Order of St. Marcus. His portrait was stuck in copper per annum, the German jurists, expense, and his name and arms placed on a stone wall in the university. A planned trip to the Orient he gave at the direction of his father's illness and contented himself with a trip to Rome and Naples. On the way back he was in Rome announced on his father's death, and in Florence reached the word about his mother's decease him. Of Padua, where he contended that his academic honors and received the Doctor of Laws in September 1653 he guided his path of Trento, Augsburg, Regensburg, through Saxony, Brunswick and Lüneburg to Hamburg and finally to Lübeck to Copenhagen, where he arrived in November 1653 .

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 8 July 1655 in Copenhagen married Anna Meier, with whom he lived in a childless marriage, she was born 26 February 1625 in Itzehoe, 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) 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'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'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 and Hávamál 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 and his presence on Hven.

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