PEDERSEN, CHRISTIERN. - Danish humanist and theologian, born around 1480 in Helsing, died there on 16 January 1554. He studied at the University of Greifswald in 1496 and subsequently became a canon in the archbishopric of Lund.
In Paris he published a Latin-Danish dictionary and the first printed edition of the *Gesta Danorum* by Saxo Grammaticus in 1514, based on a manuscript later lost. Upon returning to his homeland, he began various historical works in Lund and became close to King Christian II, even following him into exile. After converting to Lutheranism, he began a Danish translation of the Bible. He accompanied Christian II in the expedition to Norway, but after the former king’s imprisonment, he obtained the protection of Frederick I and was permitted to reside in Malmö and establish a printing press there. In 1536, Christian III commissioned him to translate the entire Bible; this work, known as the Christian III Bible, completed in 1543 and revised by various theologians, was published in 1550.