Jørgen Bertelsen Taulov is my 9^th great-grandfather he was born on the 6^th of April 1606 in Taulov near Kolding, where his father Bertel Iversen was a Vicar. His mother Ellen Jørgensdatter was a Vicar’s daughter from Udby on Funen. He did not have the name Taulov when he was christened; he took it later from his hometown when he was at the university.

The name Jørgen is the same as the English name George, it has been inherited from grandfather to grandson for 400 years in our family, the eldist known Jørgen was Jørgen Taulov's grandfather Jørgen Lauridsen 1537-1602. See the list here.

He experienced a lot in his time, and below is a brief review of the portion of his life as I have ferreted out.

Little George was, six years old, sent to school in Middelfart, and we must probably assume that he has lived in Middelfart, while he went to school there, because it is several kilometers away from Kolding on the island Funen. In 1617 he started in the grammar school in Kolding, where he was for 4 years and then he, 16 years old, went to Roskilde to get High School Certificate in Roskilde Cathedral school. He graduated in 1625, and was then enrolled at the University under the name Georgius Bartholinus Colding. It was quite normal that the name was "Latinized" when started at the university.

Two years later he was back in Kolding, where he was employed as teacher at his old school, but there was war in Jutland, the emperor's troops had occupied Holstein and Jutland. George was robbed of all his property by the foreign troops, and he fled to Copenhagen on a ship. The agony was not over, by Æbelø (Apple island) north of Funen, the ship was attacked by pirates, and if George had more possessions it disappeared here.

In spring, on the 10^th of May 1628 he was employed as teacher at Roskilde Cathedral School where he was for three years. While he was in Copenhagen and Roskilde, he again studied at the university and took the Bachelor degree. Roskilde Cathedral School awarded him a travel grant and on the 3^th of June 1631, he sailed out from Elsinore on the royal ship “De tre Løver” (The Three Lions). He came to the Netherlands, more precisely Friesland, where he enrolled at the University of Franeker under the name Georgius Bartholinus Thaulenius. He was there about a year, and visited in that time also the Dutch cities Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague, and others.

Jørgen, however, was attacked by fever, and he had to go home in a hurry. He stayed in Kolding with the family for six weeks, after which he traveled towards Copenhagen. He got no further than to Funen, where the bishop, Hans Mikkelsen, appointed him Headmaster at Nyborg High school; it was on the 26^th of May 1632.

He did not have a long career here, the Danish Constitution Council appointed him to go on an educational journey as a steward for the young nobleman Niels Wind. It was very common for young noblemen to be sent abroad with an older experienced person, to get an international education and to learn language.

They traveled from Denmark, 22^nd of August 1633 to visit Holland, England, France, Switzerland and Italy. The trip was over land, and on the 4^th of September 1633 they arrived in Amsterdam riding on an elephant, the story does not show anything about how far they had ridden on it. They were enrolled at the University of Leyden, where they were half a year, and then they traveled to England. It was a short stay in England, they arrived in London on the 12^th of June 1634, and already on the 24^th of June they were in Paris, where they after a few days then moved on to Orleans.

They came to Angers where they were enrolled at the then famous Riding school. The Riding school was very popular among young European aristocrats, for here they could learn the "elegant chivalrous sports", while they learned the French language. They stayed there for a year, and after a brief reunion with Paris they came to Geneva on the 1^st of November 1635.

The trip went on to Italy where they came to the University of Padua in December. In Padua, they have probably lived with the Danish-born doctor Johan Rhode, who taught at the university. Johan Rhode was known to open his doors for Danish and other European study travelers, and he also provided them with letters of introduction to influential Romans, if they were going to Rome. Jørgen Taulov and Niels Wind traveled to Rome in April 1636 to attend the Easter celebration, which in the Catholic capital was a fantastic experience, even for a few Reformed Danes. There was even then, tourist guides, or foreign leaders, and one of the most famous was one of the Pope's Swiss Guards, Giovanni Alto, which as secondary job for more than 50 years poured out of his historical knowledge of Rome, to the many visitors. Giovanni Alto wrote records of most of those he had helped; it turned into four books, which today is in the Vatican library. Jørgen Taulov and Niels Wind are mentioned in the books.

The journey continued to Naples and back via Livorno, Marseilles and Lyon to Paris where they arrived on the 28^th of June 1636. They stayed in Paris for a year and then traveled through England to the Netherlands, where they returned to the University of Leyden on the 27^th of August 1637.

In February next year they were back in Denmark after almost five years of travel around Europe, Jørgen Taulov kept a diary of the trip, but it is apparently sadly lost, there are only a few excerpts left in other books.

Back in Odense Jørgen Taulov was appointed Deputy Principal at the high school, and the year after on the 21^st of May 1639, he became the University appointed Magister. On the 7^th of June 1639 he was appointed professor of ethics and Latin at Odense School, a position he retained, almost until he died.

Now it was an appropriate time to get married, Jørgen asks the bishop to ask Karen Willumsdatter if she would marry him, and she agreed. Karen was the widow of Lord Mayor Jørgen Nielsen; they were betrothed three weeks later and married on the 3^rd of November 1639. The marriage was as far as I know childless, and Karen died on the 14^th of August 1651.

After Karen's death Jørgen married Margrethe Jeremiasdatter on the 10th of October 1652, she was a daughter of the castle manager at Koldinghus, Jeremias Wulff. The couple was married in Saint Nikolai church in Kolding. Margrethe was my 9^th Great-Grandmother. They got three children, Bertel was born on the 2^nd of September 1653, Anne Catherine, who was my 8^th Great-Grandmother in 1654 and finally Karen was born in 1655. Margrethe Jeremiasdatter Wulff died on the 5^th of January 1656, possibly shortly after the birth of their daughter Karen.

The 5^th of April 1657 Jørgen married Karen Hansdatter, who was the widow of Professor Jens Winding and daughter of Lord Mayor Hans Bruun. This marriage was childless, and Karen Hansdatter died on the 26^th of November 1662.

Two years after he married Else Mule, widow of merchant and Alderman Herman Hahn. There were no children in this marriage, but Else Mule had 2 adult children, Suzanne, aged 19 and Jørgen aged 17.

Stepson Jørgen Hahn followed in his stepfather's footsteps since he was appointed assistant professor at the gymnasium, and on the 11^th of May 1673, he was Deputy Principal. Two years later, Jørgen Hahn married his step-sister Anne Cathrine and they were my 8^th Great-Grandparents.

As Jørgen Taulov got older, Jørgen Hahn took over more and more of his work at school and in 1678 he took over the professorship.

Jørgen Bertelsen Taulov died on the 14^th of May 1680, 74 years old, and he had served the public for more than 53 years. He was buried in a vault in Saint Knud's Church in Odense and on the gravestone was this epitaph, in Latin of course: