Oslo katedralskole
Encyclopedia
Norwegian language
Norwegian is a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Norway, where it is the official language. Together with Swedish and Danish, Norwegian forms a continuum of more or less mutually intelligible local and regional variants .These Scandinavian languages together with the Faroese language...
as Oslo katedralskole (Oslo Cathedral School) and more commonly as "Katta" is an upper secondary school located in Oslo
Oslo
Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...
, Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
. The school offers the college preparatory studiespesialisering (literally: specialization for studies) of the Norwegian school system. Oslo Cathedral School is one of four schools in Norway which can trace its origins directly to the Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
and is generally regarded as one of the most prestigious schools in Norway. It celebrated its 850-year anniversary in 2003..
The school's motto is the Latin phrase Non scholae, sed vitae discimus
Non scholae, sed vitae discimus
Non scholae, sed vitae discimus is a Latin phrase meaning We do not learn for the school, but for life, meaning that one should not gain knowledge and skill to please a teacher or master, but because of the benefits they will gain in their life....
(We do not learn for the sake of the school, but for the sake of life), in contrast to the former motto; Non vitae, sed scholae discimus (We do not learn for the sake of life, but for the sake of the school).
History
According to tradition, the school was founded in 1153 by papal delegate CardinalCardinal (Catholicism)
A cardinal is a senior ecclesiastical official, usually an ordained bishop, and ecclesiastical prince of the Catholic Church. They are collectively known as the College of Cardinals, which as a body elects a new pope. The duties of the cardinals include attending the meetings of the College and...
Nicholas Breakspeare, and administered by the Cathedral of Saint Hallvard. From its foundation and until the 18th century the school was primarily a school for educating priests. Thus, the school's teaching traditions was from the start that of the Roman Catholic Church
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
. As with most of Europe at the time, lessons were based on an educational curriculum known as the Liberal arts
Liberal arts
The term liberal arts refers to those subjects which in classical antiquity were considered essential for a free citizen to study. Grammar, Rhetoric and Logic were the core liberal arts. In medieval times these subjects were extended to include mathematics, geometry, music and astronomy...
. This curriculum consisted of seven different subjects the students were required to learn, and they were ordered in two groups: Trivium and Quadrivium
Quadrivium
The quadrivium comprised the four subjects, or arts, taught in medieval universities, after teaching the trivium. The word is Latin, meaning "the four ways" , and its use for the 4 subjects has been attributed to Boethius or Cassiodorus in the 6th century...
. The Trivium (Latin for three ways) comprising the three subjects that were taught first, grammar
Grammar
In linguistics, grammar is the set of structural rules that govern the composition of clauses, phrases, and words in any given natural language. The term refers also to the study of such rules, and this field includes morphology, syntax, and phonology, often complemented by phonetics, semantics,...
, logic
Logic
In philosophy, Logic is the formal systematic study of the principles of valid inference and correct reasoning. Logic is used in most intellectual activities, but is studied primarily in the disciplines of philosophy, mathematics, semantics, and computer science...
, and rhetoric
Rhetoric
Rhetoric is the art of discourse, an art that aims to improve the facility of speakers or writers who attempt to inform, persuade, or motivate particular audiences in specific situations. As a subject of formal study and a productive civic practice, rhetoric has played a central role in the Western...
. After Trivium followed the Quadrivium (Latin for four ways), being geometry
Geometry
Geometry arose as the field of knowledge dealing with spatial relationships. Geometry was one of the two fields of pre-modern mathematics, the other being the study of numbers ....
, arithmetic
Arithmetic
Arithmetic or arithmetics is the oldest and most elementary branch of mathematics, used by almost everyone, for tasks ranging from simple day-to-day counting to advanced science and business calculations. It involves the study of quantity, especially as the result of combining numbers...
, music
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
, and astronomy
Astronomy
Astronomy is a natural science that deals with the study of celestial objects and phenomena that originate outside the atmosphere of Earth...
. The language used was Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
and remained so until the 18th century. Unlike most other Norwegian public schools, Latin is still being taught at the school today.
The 17th century is in known as "Det lærde århundre" (literally the learned century), due to the fact that some of the school's teachers were some of the most educated scholars at the time. After a great fire destroyed much of Oslo
Oslo
Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...
in 1624, the city was relocated and reconstructed, forcing the school to change location. After a new gymnasium
Gymnasium (school)
A gymnasium is a type of school providing secondary education in some parts of Europe, comparable to English grammar schools or sixth form colleges and U.S. college preparatory high schools. The word γυμνάσιον was used in Ancient Greece, meaning a locality for both physical and intellectual...
was opened in Christiania
Oslo
Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...
(Oslo's name until 1878), students were offered lessons in extracurricular subjects, including astronomy
Astronomy
Astronomy is a natural science that deals with the study of celestial objects and phenomena that originate outside the atmosphere of Earth...
, philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
, physics
Physics
Physics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...
and metaphysics
Metaphysics
Metaphysics is a branch of philosophy concerned with explaining the fundamental nature of being and the world, although the term is not easily defined. Traditionally, metaphysics attempts to answer two basic questions in the broadest possible terms:...
.
During the end of the 18th century, several reforms were implemented in Norwegian Latin-schools. The students' mother tongue was finally given room in the lessons, Natural science
Natural science
The natural sciences are branches of science that seek to elucidate the rules that govern the natural world by using empirical and scientific methods...
was given more priority and school libraries
School library
A school library is a library within a school where students, staff, and often, parents of a public or private school have access to a variety of resources...
were established. Disciplinary punishment was only to be used if it could not be avoided and ideas from the contemporary Age of Enlightenment
Age of Enlightenment
The Age of Enlightenment was an elite cultural movement of intellectuals in 18th century Europe that sought to mobilize the power of reason in order to reform society and advance knowledge. It promoted intellectual interchange and opposed intolerance and abuses in church and state...
were also implemented, one of them being the encouragement of students to do their best
The tradition of Latin being mandatory was abolished in 1869 and students were given the opportunity between a three year long school run with either Latin or natural sciences.
During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, parts of the school building were employed by the German occupants, though teaching continued as usual. Several of the teachers were however involved in resistance activities against the Germans. One of the central figures of this resistance was caught while escaping to Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
and subsequently committed suicide in prison to avoid being coerced into revealing the resistance's activities.
Bjørn Croff has been headmaster since 2010.
Notable alumni of international interest
- Caspar WesselCaspar WesselCaspar Wessel was a Norwegian-Danish mathematician and cartographer. In 1799, Wessel was the first person to describe the complex numbers. He was the younger brother of poet and playwright Johan Herman Wessel....
(1745-1818), Mathematician - Niels Henrik AbelNiels Henrik AbelNiels Henrik Abel was a Norwegian mathematician who proved the impossibility of solving the quintic equation in radicals.-Early life:...
(1802-1829), Mathematician - Henrik WergelandHenrik WergelandHenrik Arnold Thaulow Wergeland was a Norwegian writer, most celebrated for his poetry but also a prolific playwright, polemicist, historian, and linguist...
(1808-1845), Poet - Johan SverdrupJohan SverdrupJohan Sverdrup was a Norwegian politician from the Liberal Party. He was the first Prime Minister of Norway after the introduction of parliamentarism. Sverdrup was Prime Minister from 1884 to 1889.- Early years :...
(1816-1892), Prime Minister of Norway - Johannes IrgensJohannes IrgensJohannes Irgens was a Norwegian barrister, diplomat and politician, noted for his service as minister of foreign affairs of Norway from 1910 to 1913.-Personal life:...
(1869 - 1939), Norway's Minister of Foreign Affairs - Otto Bahr HalvorsenOtto Bahr HalvorsenOtto Bahr Halvorsen was a Norwegian politician from the Conservative Party. He was Prime Minister of Norway from 1920 to 1921 and again in 1923 when he died in office....
(1872-1923), Prime Minister of Norway - Edvard MunchEdvard MunchEdvard Munch was a Norwegian Symbolist painter, printmaker and an important forerunner of expressionist art. His best-known composition, The Scream, is part of a series The Frieze of Life, in which Munch explored the themes of love, fear, death, melancholia, and anxiety.- Childhood :Edvard Munch...
(1863-1944), Painter - Otto RugeOtto RugeOtto Ruge was a Norwegian general. He was Commander-in-chief of the Royal Norwegian Armed Forces after Nazi Germany's assault on Norway in April 1940.-Background:...
(1882-1961), General, Commander-in-chief of Norwegian Armed Forces 1940 - Trygve HaavelmoTrygve HaavelmoTrygve Magnus Haavelmo , born in Skedsmo, Norway, was an influential economist with main research interests centered on the fields of econometrics and economics theory. During World War II he worked with Nortraship in the Statistical Department in New York City. He received his Ph.D...
(1911-1999), Professor in Economics, recipient of the 1989 Nobel Prize in Economics - Astrid Nøklebye HeibergAstrid Nøklebye HeibergAstrid Nøklebye Heiberg is a Norwegian politician for the Conservative Party, and a professor of medicine. She was the state secretary to the Minister of Social Affairs 1981-1985, and Minister of Administration and Consumer Affairs in 1986.Heiberg was vice-chairwoman of the Conservative Party from...
(1936-), Former Minister of Minister of Administration and Consumer Affairs, former President of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies - Harald V (1937-), King of Norway
- Johan Jørgen HolstJohan Jørgen HolstJohan Jørgen Holst was a Norwegian politician representing Labour, best known for his involvement with the Oslo Accords....
(1937 - 1994), Norway's Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of Defense - Jon ElsterJon ElsterJon Elster is a Norwegian social and political theorist who has authored works in the philosophy of social science and rational choice theory...
(1940-), Philosopher and social scientist, professor at Columbia UniversityColumbia UniversityColumbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
and Collège de FranceCollège de FranceThe Collège de France is a higher education and research establishment located in Paris, France, in the 5th arrondissement, or Latin Quarter, across the street from the historical campus of La Sorbonne at the intersection of Rue Saint-Jacques and Rue des Écoles... - Arne TreholtArne TreholtArne Treholt is a former Norwegian Labour Party politician and diplomat convicted of high treason and espionage on behalf of the Soviet Union and Iraq during the Cold War. Treholt's espionage is generally seen as the most serious spy case in the modern history of Norway...
(1942-), Diplomat and traitor, convicted of espionage in 1985 - Mads GilbertMads GilbertMads Fredrik Gilbert is a Norwegian doctor, solidarity worker and a member of the socialist party Red. He received his PhD at the University of Iowa in Iowa City, Iowa...
(1947-), Doctor and controversial humanitarian worker - Jostein GaarderJostein GaarderJostein Gaarder /ˈju:staɪn ˈgɔːrdər/ is a Norwegian intellectual and author of several novels, short stories and children's books. Gaarder often writes from the perspective of children, exploring their sense of wonder about the world. He often uses metafiction in his works, writing stories within...
(1952-), Author - Erik SolheimErik SolheimErik Solheim is a Norwegian politician for the Socialist Left Party . He holds two posts in the current Norwegian cabinet, and carries the title Minister of the Environment and Minister of Development Cooperation...
(1955-), Norway's Minister of the Environment and International Development - Jens StoltenbergJens Stoltenbergis a Norwegian politician, leader of the Norwegian Labour Party and the current Prime Minister of Norway. Having assumed office on 17 October 2005, Stoltenberg previously served as Prime Minister from 2000 to 2001....
(1959-), Prime Minister of Norway - Espen Barth EideEspen Barth EideEspen Barth Eide is Norway's Minister of Defense. He is a political scientist and a politician for the Labor Party.Eide went to high school at the Oslo Cathedral School, and graduated from the University of Oslo with the cand.polit. degree in 1993...
(1964-), Norway's Minister of Defense - Arne SundeArne SundeArne Toralf Sunde was a Norwegian politician, Olympic shooter and army officer. He is best known for his participation in the 1940 Norwegian Campaign, his participation in Nygaardsvold's Cabinet during its 1940–1945 exile in London and three years as an United Nations ambassador...
(1883-1972), President of the United Nations Security CouncilPresident of the United Nations Security CouncilThe President of the United Nations Security Council is the presiding officer of that body. The president is the head of the delegation from the Security Council member state that holds the rotating presidency.-Selection:...
1949 and 1950