Jens Lauritz Arup

Who was Jens Lauritz Arup?

Jens Lauritz Arup was a Norwegian bishop and politician. He was born in Kristiansand, where his father was a sexton and a school teacher. In 1811 Arup was sent to Copenhagen to study, but had to end his studies due to lack of funds. After returning to Norway he worked for a while as a teacher, until he could take his theological exam at the University in Christiania. In the following years he worked in Ullensaker, Drammen and Bragernes. He was made Bishop of Christiania in 1846, and remained in the position until 1874.

Arup was also involved in politics, and in 1836 he was elected into the Norwegian Parliament for Drammen constituency, where he was reelected in 1839, 1842 and 1845. He was later appointed temporarily councillor of state in interim for the Norwegian government in Sweden in the years 1852–53, 1857 and 1861. Both as a bishop and a politician he was a proponent of religious toleration for Protestant dissenters, and helped pass legislation towards this goal in 1845. He was also in favour of greater liberty from the state for the Norwegian church. In 1860, Arup crowned Charles XV of Sweden king of Norway in Nidarosdomen in Trondeim.