Peter Andreas Munch (15 December 1810 – 25 May 1863), usually known as P. A. Munch, was a Norwegian historian, known for his work on the

medieval history In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

of Norway. Munch's scholarship included Norwegian

archaeology Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

geography Geography (from Ancient Greek ; combining 'Earth' and 'write', literally 'Earth writing') is the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. Geography is an all-encompassing discipline that seeks an understanding o ...

ethnography Ethnography is a branch of anthropology and the systematic study of individual cultures. It explores cultural phenomena from the point of view of the subject of the study. Ethnography is also a type of social research that involves examining ...

linguistics Linguistics is the scientific study of language. The areas of linguistic analysis are syntax (rules governing the structure of sentences), semantics (meaning), Morphology (linguistics), morphology (structure of words), phonetics (speech sounds ...

, and

jurisprudence Jurisprudence, also known as theory of law or philosophy of law, is the examination in a general perspective of what law is and what it ought to be. It investigates issues such as the definition of law; legal validity; legal norms and values ...

. He was also noted for his Norse

legendary saga A legendary saga or ''fornaldarsaga'' (literally, "story/history of the ancient era") is a Norse saga that, unlike the Icelanders' sagas, takes place before the settlement of Iceland.The article ''Fornaldarsagor'' in ''Nationalencyklopedin'' (1991 ...

translations.

Background

Munch was born in Christiania (now Oslo). He was the son of Edvard Storm Munch and Johanne Sophie Hofgaard. Munch was the uncle of the famous painter

Edvard Munch Edvard Munch ( ; ; 12 December 1863 – 23 January 1944) was a Norwegian painter. His 1893 work ''The Scream'' has become one of Western art's most acclaimed images. His childhood was overshadowed by illness, bereavement and the dread of inher ...

. He grew up at Gjerpen parsonage, where his father was parish priest of the

Church of Norway The Church of Norway (, , , ) is an Lutheranism, evangelical Lutheran denomination of Protestant Christianity and by far the largest Christian church in Norway. Christianity became the state religion of Norway around 1020, and was established a ...

. He was schooled in the city of

Skien Skien () is a municipality in Telemark county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Grenland, although historically it belonged to Grenmar/Skiensfjorden, while Grenland referred the Norsjø area and Bø. The administrative ...

. He attended the Royal Frederick University. Munch first studied law and took his state examination in 1834, but then turned to historical and philological studies.

Career

Munch's first great achievement, with Rudolph Keyser, was their three volumes of ''Norges Gamle Love'' (Norway's old laws), edited after a two-year research visit to Copenhagen. In 1837, he became lecturer in history at the University of Oslo and in 1841 became a professor of history. In 1857, after producing numerous publications, he received a large grant for archives research in Rome and lived there from 1859 to 1861. Munch served as Norway's national archivist from 1861 to 1863. He was one of the first non-

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 ...

s to be allowed into the archives of the

Vatican Vatican may refer to: Geography * Vatican City, an independent city-state surrounded by Rome, Italy * Vatican Hill, in Rome, namesake of Vatican City * Ager Vaticanus, an alluvial plain in Rome * Vatican, an unincorporated community in the ...

. He took extensive notes from the volumes of papal letters, and sometimes drew accurate facsimiles of the texts. His research there was useful in his main work, ''Det norske Folks Historie'' (''History of the Norwegian People''), in eight volumes, and he sent his notes home to the Royal Archives in Christiania. Among the theories he is remembered for is the theory on immigration to Norway, in which he developed work done by Rudolf Keyser. On a trip back to Rome to fetch his family, who had remained there for a while, he died from a stroke, and was buried in the Protestant Cemetery, Rome.

''The Chronicles of Mann and the Sudreys''

In this work, Munch translated the 3rd Chronicle of the Chronicles of Mann from a Codex transferred to the British Museum (formerly owned in 1620 by one Sir Robert Cotton). The manuscript is the only known copy of this Codex (and thought to be the only one). In any event, Munch translated runic characters and added historical notes to lend light upon the writings, and using previous works on the history of Scottish and Icelandic Isles to aid in the presentation of the translated material. He also edited ''Chronica regvm Manniae et insvlarvm'': The chronicle of Man and the Sudreys (1874) with Alexander Goss.

Controversial views about the Finno-Ugric peoples

Munch claimed in his article on Finnish nationality (''Om Finlands Nationalitet og dens Forhold til den svenske'') in 1855, that Finns and Hungarians must have a human race of their own.L. A. Puntila: Suomen ruotsalaisuuden liikkeen synty : aatehistoriallinen tutkimus, Otava, 1944, pp. 55-60

Selected works

*''Norges, Sveriges og Danmarks Historie til Skolebrug'' (1838) *''Norges Historie i kort Udtog for de første Begyndere'' (1839) *''Nordens gamle Gude- og Helte-Sagn i kortfattet Fremstilling'' (1840) *''Verdenshistoriens vigtigste Begivenheder'' (1840) *''De nyeste Tiders Historie'' (1842) *''Fortegnelse over de mest befarede Landeveie og Reiserouter saavel mellem Stæderne, som Landdistricterne i Norge'' (1846) *''Det oldnorske Sprogs eller Norrønasprogets Grammatik'' (with C. R. Unger, 1847) *''Underholdende Tildragelser af Norges Historie'' (1847) *''Nordmændenes Gudelære i Hedenold'' (1847) *''Det gotiske Sprogs Formlære'' (1848) *''Kortfattet Fremstilling af den ældste norske Runeskrift'' (1848) *''Om Skandinavismen'' (1849) *''Historisk-geographisk Beskrivelse over Kongeriget Norge (Noregsveldi) i Middelalderen'' (1849) *''Det norske Folks Historie'' (1852–1863) *''Om den saakaldte nyere historiske Skole i Norge'' (1853) *''Nordmændenes ældste Gude- og Helte-Sagn'' (1854) *''The Chronicle of Man and the Sudreys'' (1860)

References

External links

*
Peter Andreas Munch profile

* ttp://www.nb.no/nbsok/search?action=search&mediatype=bøker&format=Digitalt%20tilgjengelig&searchString=creator:%22munch,p.a.%22 Digitized books by Munchin the National Library of Norway {{DEFAULTSORT:Munch, Peter Andreas 1810 births 1863 deaths 19th-century Norwegian historians Old Norse studies scholars Germanic studies scholars Writers on Germanic paganism Writers from Oslo People from Skien Norwegian literary historians Directors-general of the National Archives of Norway University of Oslo alumni Academic staff of the University of Oslo Royal Norwegian Society of Sciences and Letters Edvard Munch Members of the Göttingen Academy of Sciences and Humanities