Peder Winstrup
Encyclopedia
Peder Winstrup (30 April 1605 – 28 December 1679) was Bishop of Lund
in Scania
during a period spanning both Danish
and Swedish
sovereignty of the region.
Winstrup was born in Copenhagen
and was a son of Peder Jensen Winstrup, Bishop of Sjaelland and professor of Theology at the University of Copenhagen. After his father's death in 1614, his mother married his successor as bishop. Peder Winstrup the younger studied at the universities of Rostock, Wittenberg, Leipzig and Jena in Germany and graduated from the University of Copenhagen in 1633. In 1635 he was appointed royal chaplain in the household of King Christian IV. He was awarded a doctorate in Theology in 1636 and made bishop of Lund in 1638.
After Scania and the other provinces included in his diocese had been ceded to Sweden through the Treaty of Roskilde
in 1658, Winstrup's loyalty shifted to his new sovereign, Charles X Gustav of Sweden
, and he was ennobled under the name Himmelstjerna, a name he never actually used. In 1658, he suggested that a new university should be founded in Lund, but received little response from the King. When the Swedish authorities moved to found a university a few years later, at least some of the initiative lay with a subordinate priest in the diocese, Bernhardus Oelreich, and Winstrup turned to oppose the idea. After the University of Lund was established in 1668, Oelreich was appointed the prokansler ("pro-chancellor"), despite the statutes giving this position to the Bishop. Winstrup was nevertheless appointed to this position in 1671. Despite rumours accusing him for lack of loyalty to the Swedish crown, he remained bishop until his death in 1679.
Lund
-Main sights:During the 12th and 13th centuries, when the town was the seat of the archbishop, many churches and monasteries were built. At its peak, Lund had 27 churches, but most of them were demolished as result of the Reformation in 1536. Several medieval buildings remain, including Lund...
in Scania
Scania
Scania is the southernmost of the 25 traditional non-administrative provinces of Sweden, constituting a peninsula on the southern tip of the Scandinavian peninsula, and some adjacent islands. The modern administrative subdivision Skåne County is almost, but not totally, congruent with the...
during a period spanning both Danish
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
and Swedish
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....
sovereignty of the region.
Winstrup was born in Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
and was a son of Peder Jensen Winstrup, Bishop of Sjaelland and professor of Theology at the University of Copenhagen. After his father's death in 1614, his mother married his successor as bishop. Peder Winstrup the younger studied at the universities of Rostock, Wittenberg, Leipzig and Jena in Germany and graduated from the University of Copenhagen in 1633. In 1635 he was appointed royal chaplain in the household of King Christian IV. He was awarded a doctorate in Theology in 1636 and made bishop of Lund in 1638.
After Scania and the other provinces included in his diocese had been ceded to Sweden through the Treaty of Roskilde
Treaty of Roskilde
The Treaty of Roskilde was concluded on 26 February or 8 March 1658 during the Second Northern War between Frederick III of Denmark–Norway and Charles X Gustav of Sweden in the Danish city of Roskilde...
in 1658, Winstrup's loyalty shifted to his new sovereign, Charles X Gustav of Sweden
Charles X Gustav of Sweden
Charles X Gustav also Carl Gustav, was King of Sweden from 1654 until his death. He was the son of John Casimir, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken-Kleeburg and Catherine of Sweden. After his father's death he also succeeded him as Pfalzgraf. He was married to Hedwig Eleonora of Holstein-Gottorp, who...
, and he was ennobled under the name Himmelstjerna, a name he never actually used. In 1658, he suggested that a new university should be founded in Lund, but received little response from the King. When the Swedish authorities moved to found a university a few years later, at least some of the initiative lay with a subordinate priest in the diocese, Bernhardus Oelreich, and Winstrup turned to oppose the idea. After the University of Lund was established in 1668, Oelreich was appointed the prokansler ("pro-chancellor"), despite the statutes giving this position to the Bishop. Winstrup was nevertheless appointed to this position in 1671. Despite rumours accusing him for lack of loyalty to the Swedish crown, he remained bishop until his death in 1679.