Sogneprest i Avaldsnes, født i Danmark
Christen Bentsen Skaaning var sogneprest i Olavskirken i over 40 år ( fra 1635 - 1679 ). Han hadde ti barn, og de slo seg ned i nærheten og kom til å prege samfunnet omkring kirken. To av guttene ble lensmenn, og en ble til og med prest i Avaldsnes etter faren.Signaturen på maleriet viser at det er av skotten Andrew Smith - best kjent for prekestolen og annet arbeid i Stavanger Domkirke. Bildet er malt i 1663. På boka som presten holder, står det : «Jesus crucifixus» ( Jesus korsfestet). Olavskyrkja på Avaldsnes stod til nedfalls på denne tida etter å ha blitt brent av hanseatene. Bøndene reparerte bl.a. prekestolen,
men det gikk ikke likere enn at under en preken falt både prestolen og presten Christen i gulvet med et brak!
Fea Wikipedia får vi følgende:
Christen Bentsen Schaaning (or Skaaning) (c. 1616-1679) was a priest at Avaldsnes in Norway from 1635-1679. He was probably born in Scania which was then ruled by Denmark-Norway.
On the 1. July 1630, Christirnus Benedicti Scanus was taken up as a student. Before he came to Avaldsnes he was priest on a ship. Christen was reportedly a priest who earned the respect of the people, and he was present at many royal celebrations. One time, he asked the King for funds to repair his church which had gone into decline. To add to his incomes, he got involved with Herring-trade, even though it was outlawed.
[edit]Family
He had a large family of 10 children who settled around different villages in Karmøy, resulting in many further descendants. In his second marriage he was married to Kirsten Lauritsdatter of the noble Galtung-family, sister to famous admiral Lauritz Galtung. Christen's oldest son, Bernt, even became a priest after his father, however, he had "en slem Vane hengiven til Drik" ("a bad habit devoted to drinking"), which gave him a tarnished reputation.
