Henrik Gerner (bishop)

Bishop Henrik Gerner (9 December 1629 – 14 May 1700) was a Dane who studied theology and travelled extensively in England.

From 1656, at the age of 27, he became the parish priest for Birkerød (north of Copenhagen) and in 1693 until his death, he was appointed bishop of Viborg.

In 1659, during the Second Northern War, he was briefly imprisoned, tortured, held in chains and sentenced to death,[1] by Swedish authorities for plotting the recapture of Kronborg - the sentence was not carried out after the Danish king Frederick III threatened reprisals.

A man of lively literary interests, he published two works in Latin in 1662 promoting a form of social ethics.

A granite bust of Gerner created by the sculptor Johannes Kragh was installed opposite Birkerød Church in 1917.