Munch, Peter Andreas

Born Dec. 15, 1810, in Christiania (Oslo); died May 25, 1863, in Rome. Norwegian historian.

Munch became a professor at the University of Christiania in 1841 and archivist of the State Archives in 1861. His principal work is History of the Norwegian People (to 1397). Critically using a large number of sources, some of which he was the first to introduce for scholarly consideration, Munch reconstructed the most ancient period of the history of Norway. His conception of medieval Norwegian history ascribed fundamental importance to the struggle between the “hereditary aristocracy” and royal authority; in this he followed his teacher J. Keyser. As the ideologist of the radical circles of the Norwegian bourgeoisie, Munch actively supported the dissolution of the Swedish-Norwegian union.