Jørgen Jensen Sadolin (c. 1490 – 29 December 1559 in

Odense Odense ( , , ) is the third largest city in Denmark (after Copenhagen and Aarhus) and the largest city on the island of Funen. As of 1 January 2025, the city proper had a population of 185,480 while Odense Municipality had a population of 210, ...

) was a Danish reformer and first protestant bishop of the

Diocese of Funen The Diocese of Funen () is a diocese within the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Denmark. St. Canute's Cathedral in Odense serves as the seat of its bishop. Tine Lindhardt has been the bishop of the diocese since 2012. History The Roman Catholic ...

Early life and origins

He was the son of Jens Christensen, a curate and subsequently a canon of

Viborg Cathedral Viborg Cathedral, Our Lady Cathedral () is the site of one of Denmark's most important historic churches located in the town of Viborg, Denmark, Viborg in northern Jutland. The modern building is a 19th-century construction based on Lund Cathedra ...

, and likely born out of wedlock, as his

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

opponents frequently took care to remind him. He himself never used the name Sadolin, which seems to have been invented subsequently by his son Hans, and points to the fact that the family were originally saddle-makers.

Career

First records of Sadolin come are dated to 1 December 1525, when

Frederick I Frederick I or Friedrich I may refer to: * Frederick of Utrecht or Frederick I (815/16–834/38), Bishop of Utrecht. * Frederick I, Duke of Upper Lorraine (942–978) * Frederick I, Duke of Swabia (1050–1105) * Frederick I ...

permitted him to settle at Viborg to teach young persons of the poorer classes "whatever might be profitable." On this occasion he is described as "magister" and no doubt got his degree abroad, where he seems to have been won for the

Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major Theology, theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the p ...

. He sided with

Hans Tausen Hans Tausen (Tavsen) (1494 – 11 November 1561) nicknamed the “Danish Luther” was the leading Lutheran theologian of the Danish Reformation in Denmark. He served as Bishop of Ribe and published the first translation of the Pentateuch in ...

when the latter first began to preach the gospel at Viborg and Tausen, though himself only in priest's orders, shortly before he left the place, ordained Sadolin (1529). Amongst "the free priests" who attended the herredag of Copenhagen in 1530 Sadolin occupied a prominent place. Frederick subsequently transferred him to

Funen Funen (, ), is the third-largest List of islands of Denmark, island of Denmark, after Zealand and North Jutlandic Island, Vendsyssel-Thy, with an area of . It is the List of islands by area, 165th-largest island in the world. It is located in th ...

, where he acted, according to his own expression, as "adjutor in verbo" to the Bishop of Odense. At the diocesan council on 27 May 1532, during the absence of the bishop, he presented to the assembled priests a translation of '' Luther's catechism'', with Luther's name omitted, preceded earnestly in favour of a better system of education and a more practical application of the Christian life, which occupies a conspicuous place in the literature of the

Danish Reformation Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A Danish person, also called a "Dane", can be a national or citizen of Denmark (see Demographics of Denmark) * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, ...

. In the following year Sadolin published the first Danish translation of the ''

Confession of Augsburg The Augsburg Confession (), also known as the Augustan Confession or the Augustana from its Latin name, ''Confessio Augustana'', is the primary confession of faith of the Lutheran Church and one of the most important documents of the Protestant ...

''. On 2 September 1537 he was consecrated by Johann Bugenhagen as the superintendent, or first evangelical bishop, of

. As bishop he was remarkable for the success with which he provided the necessary means for the support of churches, schools and hospitals in his widespread diocese, which had been deprived of its usual sources of income by the wholesale confiscation of church property. Towards the Catholics he adopted a firm, but moderate and reasonable, tone, and his indulgence towards the monks in St Knud's cloister drew down upon him a fierce attack from the Puritan clergyman of Odense, who absurdly accused him of being a crypto-Catholic. He gave the funeral oration over

Christian III Christian III (12 August 1503 – 1 January 1559) reigned as King of Denmark from 1534 and King of Norway from 1537 until his death in 1559. During his reign, Christian formed close ties between the church and the crown. He established ...

in St John's Church at Odense in February 1559, though now very infirm and blind, and died at the end of the same year.

References

* 1490s births 1559 deaths Danish Lutheran bishops People from Odense 16th-century Lutheran bishops 16th-century Danish Lutheran clergy 17th-century Danish Lutheran clergy {{Denmark-Lutheran-bishop-stub