Kort Rogge
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Kort Rogge ( 1425 — 5 April 1501), also known as Rogge Kyle, Konrad Rogge, Cort Rogge, Conradus Roggo gothus and Conradus Roggo de Holmis, was a Swedish
bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...
, member of the Privy Council of Sweden, and Renaissance humanist.


Background and studies

The first mention of Kort Rogge's father in archival sources is from 1423. He had moved to
Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...
from Westphalia, and is listed as a master mason in the 1430s. He appears to have maintained close business links to
Gdańsk Gdańsk is a city on the Baltic Sea, Baltic coast of northern Poland, and the capital of the Pomeranian Voivodeship. With a population of 486,492, Data for territorial unit 2261000. it is Poland's sixth-largest city and principal seaport. Gdań ...
. Kort Rogge's mother Dorotea, née Horn, was a burgher in Stockholm and is mentioned as a house-owner in 1467, more than ten years after her husband's death. Kort Rogge would later refer to himself as a "citizen of Stockholm" and appears to have maintained close ties to his native city throughout his life. Rogge studied at Leipzig University between 1446 and 1449, and became a canon in
Uppsala Uppsala ( ; ; archaically spelled ''Upsala'') is the capital of Uppsala County and the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, fourth-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmö. It had 177,074 inhabitants in 2019. Loc ...
upon his return. Already in 1450, however, he left Sweden again, to study mainly
canon law Canon law (from , , a 'straight measuring rod, ruler') is a set of ordinances and regulations made by ecclesiastical jurisdiction, ecclesiastical authority (church leadership) for the government of a Christian organization or church and its membe ...
at the University of Perugia. He received a doctorate in canon law from the university in 1460 and then returned to Sweden.


Career

After his return to Sweden, Rogge entered the chapter of
Uppsala Cathedral Uppsala Cathedral () is a cathedral located between the University Hall (Uppsala University), University Hall of Uppsala University and the Fyris river in the centre of Uppsala, Sweden. A church of the Church of Sweden, the national church, in t ...
. During the following decades, he actively, and sometimes with harsh means, sought to promote his own interests and further his career. In 1469, he was chosen by King Charles VIII of Sweden to represent him, together with the
chancellor Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...
Clas Rytting, at peace negotiations with Denmark in
Lübeck Lübeck (; or ; Latin: ), officially the Hanseatic League, Hanseatic City of Lübeck (), is a city in Northern Germany. With around 220,000 inhabitants, it is the second-largest city on the German Baltic Sea, Baltic coast and the second-larg ...
. While in Lübeck, he seems to have commissioned an altarpiece for Bälinge Church by Johannes Stenrat. During the 1470s, Rogge systematically increased his engagement with the Diocese of Strängnäs and he was made bishop of the diocese in 1479. As a bishop of Strängnäs, he was also a member of the Privy Council of Sweden. Among his duties within the council was also that of maintaining a rudimentary archive of the state. Rogge has been described as an "energic" bishop of Strängnäs. He initiated a number of reforms, including the introduction of printed books in the Diocese and several refurbishments and construction works at Strängnäs Cathedral. Under his time in office, large construction works changed the appearance of the cathedral and it still largely retains the look it was given under Rogge's time. He also built a
brick A brick is a type of construction material used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a unit primarily composed of clay. But is now also used informally to denote building un ...
residence for the bishop adjacent to the cathedral, today called ''Roggeborgen''. He also undertook construction works at his estate Tynnelsö Castle. Furthermore, he ordered two large altarpieces from the atelier of Jan Borman in
Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...
for the cathedral, one of which still constitutes the main altar of the cathedral.


Humanism

Rogge brought with him a book collection from Italy, which was focused on literature, law and history, and from which theological writings were conspicuously absent. He later donated the library to the cathedral, and it is today housed in his former residence in Strängnäs, ''Roggeborgen''. A
speech Speech is the use of the human voice as a medium for language. Spoken language combines vowel and consonant sounds to form units of meaning like words, which belong to a language's lexicon. There are many different intentional speech acts, suc ...
given by Rogge upon his promotion to doctor and preserved to posterity through his manuscript, has been called the first example of Renaissance humanism within Swedish literature; however, an earlier example of similar kind by another Swedish author does exist.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rogge, Kort 15th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Sweden Leipzig University alumni 1501 deaths 15th-century births Bishops of Strängnäs University of Perugia alumni Renaissance humanists