KINGO, THOMAS [SSNE 1538]
- Surname
- KINGO
- First name
- THOMAS
- Title/rank
- BISHOP OF ODENSE
- Nationality
- SCOT
- Region
- SLANGERUP (by heritage CRAIL, FIFE)
- Social status
- GENTRY
- Education
- UNIVERSITY
- Religion
- LUTHERAN
Text source
Thomas Kingo was born in 1634, the son of the Scotsman John (Hans) Kingo, a silk weaver who worked in Slangerup, and his consort Karen Sorensdatter. Thomas became a student in 1654, and finished his studies of Divinity in 1658. He later returned to university and graduated as 'Magister' in 1669. He became a Doctor of Divinity by decree in 1682. In his working life, Thomas served as chaplain to the parson of Slangerup, Peder Worm, who died in 1668. Kingo succeeded Worm after his death and was later appointed bishop of Odense in 1677. He eventually died in 1703. Kingo wrote several hymns which are still sung in Denmark and Norway today which have been described thus in Denmark's official handbook; "Kingo's morning and evening and penitential Hymns, characterized by the great Baroque tension between earthly vanity and change on the one hand and celestial immutability on the other have remained, like his Easter hymns, an essential element of Danish devotion to this day". A moving document is Leonora Christine's 'Jammersminde' (memories of woe), a princess' memories of 22 years imprisonment for her loyalty to a husband turned traitor. Written in the late 1660s and early 1670s, it remained unknown for 200 years, and was first published in 1869. As a human document it is without parallel in Danish or European literature. He gave a chandelier to the church of Slangerup 1701. Kingo married Cecilie Lambertsdatter Balkenborg in 1669, the widow of Peder Worm. She died the following year and in 1671 he married Johanne Lauritsdatter of Lund (1618-94, widow of bailie Christen Petersennn).Kingo's third marriage, in 1694, was to Brigitte Balslevee (1665-1744). With Maren Thulesdatter, Kingo had an illigitimate child around 1651-2.
Bent Rying et. al. (eds.), Denmark, an official handbook (Copenhagen, 1970), p.609; T. C. Smout, Scottish Trade on the Eve of Union (Edinburgh & London, 1963), p.91; T. Riis, Should Auld Acquaintance Be Forgot (Odense, 1988), II, pp.65-66; Steve Murdoch, Network North: Scottish Kin, Commercial and Covert Associations in Northern Europe 1603-1746 (Brill, Leiden, 2006), pp.115-116.
Service record
- DENMARK-NORWAY, ODENSE
- Arrived 1654-01-01
- Departed 1703-12-31
- Capacity BISHOP, HYMN WRITER, purpose ECCLESIASTICAL, MUSICIAN