Monday, October 31, 2011

The Lunge Family

Roskilde domkirke




















There are few families with such an outstanding position in the
history of Danish nobility like the "old Lunger".  This was not only
due to their riches and social reputation or their many important men
from 1350 till 1450 - this is also due to that the last female Lunge-
descendants became the ancestresses of several large and respected
Danish families, Bille, Brahe, Krabbe, the new Lunge family and through
these indirectly to all the Danish nobility from the 16th and 17th century.
There was a good reason, why  fru Lisbet Bryske chose the Lunge-family
as the starting-point in her family books, for it is really an exception to meet
a genealogical  table from the 16th century without  the wellknown coat
of arms of the Lunges.

The Lunge family was from the earliest time connected to Sjælland. The male
line died out ab. year 1480, but the name was annected via a  Spindelinje
( female line), a line from the family Dyre. (jvf. D.A.A. 1891. S. 155)

First mentioned member of the Lunge family was Oluf Lunge, (+ bef. 1302)
He issued in 1268 with Oluf Rostok, Oluf Ranesen, Mag. Rane and more
men in Næstved a witness about a pawn -letter for St. Clare kloster in Roskilde;
he was in 1282 the conciliator in a feud between Sorø kloster and hr. Peder
Olufsen of "Tiufstorp"; he had in 1285 authority by the dean in Roskilde, mag.
Rane, to convey a farm in Allinde to St. Clare kloster, which had belonged to
the dean's brother hr. Oluf Rostock; he was in 1287 the bailiff of the bishop of
Roskilde in Bjernede and Fodby, and he conveyed and pawned estate to St.
Clare kloster ; he had in 1288 to convey some estate to the kloster for frøken
Agnes, daughter of king Erik Plovpenning, who calls him his friend; he sealed
in 1290 and witnessed a signature with the civilian Niels Hermansen.
Oluf Lunge was dead in 1302, while his widow still lived.

Their children were:
1. Oluf Olufsen Lunge, born bef. 1302, + after 1321
2. Johannes Olufsen Lunge, + after 1341
3. Margrethe Lunge, + after 1335.


Oluf Olufsen Lunge, Born bef. 1302, + after 1321
married to N.N.
pawned 1302 estate in Ølby and Vidskølle to St.Clare Kloster for a
debt, which he and his mother and brother owed for his two sisters'
admission to the kloster; he sealed in 1316 the witness of a signature
with Oluf Fleming; he got the same year via law the estate in Kjelleklinte,
Saltofte etc. which was pawed to him by Anders Nielsen and hr.
Svenning Truelsen; he was in 1321 the co-issuer of a witness of Sjællands
Landsthing.

Children:
1. Jacob Olufsen Lunge, + betw. 31 May 1384 and 29 June 1387
2. Oluf Olufsen Lunge, + bef. 7 Oct. 1386,
3. Ellene Lunge, + aft. 1383,
4. Olufsdatter Lunge,
5. Cecilie Olufsdatter Lunge,
6. Elsebe Olufsdatter Lunge 

Lunge, Jacob Olufsen, – ab.1385, Rigsraad, was one of king Valdemar's

and Queen Margrethe's most trusted and brilliant men. His ancestors were
probably Patriciens in Roskilde, at least they were connected to this city.
One of them was in 1287 bailiff of the bishop at Bjernede and Fodbygård,
and Jacob Olufsen had the estate of the bishopric in Fodby as a vasalry.
He was connected to Roskilde in many ways. He rented much estate from
St. Clare kloster, and he was closely related to the Gynceke-sons at
Falkendale, who was one of the most respected families in Roskilde, but he
himself was connected to the highest nobility through family ties. The bishop
Niels Jepsen Ulfeldt called him "gener noster". His father Oluf Lunge is
mentioned in the first part of the 14th century  and the last time probably in
1339, and at the same time Jens Olufsen and Oluf Lunge came forward,
rising the Lunge name to the highest esteem.

Already in 1342 Jacob Olufsen is mentioned among king Valdemar's
most trusted men, since he was one of the king's men at the peace-
agreement with king Magnus at Helsingborg, and from that time his
name is met during the next 40 years in most state-documents and
in a number of private documents. The king made him chief at Als,
but the mutual trust among them seemed to be no more than
between the king and the nobility. During the Jutland rebellion in
1357 the king suspected him for being in collusion with the rebels
and let - after the rebels had conquered the castle in Randers - in
his indignation both J.O.and several other magnates sent into prison.
He confiscated their properties and took their vasalries from them,
but it seems that a reconciliation came soon after without having reduced
the reputation of J.O.

After the king's death he was elected as the kingdom's representative
in order to negotiate with the Scanias about the election of Valdemar's
successor, but it seems that J.O. was one of the first, who felt the wise
Queen Margrethe's efforts to restrict the growing power of the nobility.
In 1376 he lost one of his most important vasalries, Kalundborg castle,
and the next year the queen redeemed Holbæk castle, which he had as
a pawn, but he was allowed to keep it as an ordinary vasalry.From his
other vasalries are only known Trudsholm in Jutland which he still had
in 1377.

Hr. J.O.,who still lived in May 1384, was a very rich man. There is
only an imperfect knowledge about his properties, but from an exchange
among his children in 1387 is seen that he at his death owned Højstrup and
Rygård manor, and main farms in Skovsø and Valby and a large number
of farms at Zealand,but this was probably  not everything. Among other
estate he had been the owner of Hegnet (Salling) which he sold in 1382.

J.O was married several times. The family books call his wives:
1) Maren Myndel of Nielstrup and Adserstrup. 2) Elsebe Sandberg.
3) Mette Limbek, widow after hr. Niels Hack. But these informations are
not correct, for it is sure that one of his wives was called Sophie, although
the informations have a little to do with the truth, since Niels Hack of
Assendrup calls Jacob's son Ove Lunge his sister's son in a letter.

From his many children are for sure known 7 sons and 2
daughters, there is information about Anders, Folmer and Niels.

Jacob Olufsen Lunge died between 31 May 1384 and 29 June 1387

Dansk Biografisk Lexicon
Thiset.




Lunge, Anders Jacobsen, o.1363-1429, Rigshofmester, was a son
of Jacob Olufsen L. His name is already mentioned in 1376 in a
document  (of Huitfeldt), where the Scania nobility elected Oluf king,
Anders was said to be a knight already then and a prominent man.
He says in 1424 that he is 61 years of age - so he was only 13 years
in 1376  - it seems to be no injustice to Huitfeldt to say that  he must
have added the name Lunge himself in his letter from 1376. The
knight mentioned in the letter is not Anders Jacobsen Lunge, but
A. J. Grim.  A.J.L. is mentioned the first time in a document from 1382.

In his younger years he wrote himself of Skafterup and Broby, two
now disappeared Zealand manors. The last manor Broby he sold to
Sorø kloster. He later resided - after he (bef. 1399) had married
Ingeborg Nielsdatter (Panter), widow after hr. Peder Ovesen Neb of
Egede, - for some years in Gunderslevlille, but after his wife had
inherited Egede after her children from  first marriage, A.J wrote
himself to Egede.

After his father he had inherited a brother's part in Rygård, but
he sold it to his brother Folmer, and he bought Gjerdrup and Ordrup
at Zealand and Ordrup in Thy -  and finally fru Ingeborg inherited
after her rich family a large Jutland estate, amongst these Knivholt
and Bøgested and parts of Asdal and Skovgård. So A.J. was one
of the richest men in the country. He estimated in 1424 his landed
property a value of 4000 Gylden. And he soon achieved an important
role in public life.

In 1388 he was still a væbner , but in 1390 he became a knight.
In 1397 he was a rigsråd and also a chief at Kalmar.He had this
office a year before and fought with success as the leader of
civilians from Kalmar against the Fetaljebrothers, but on his way
home he lost one of his ships at Gulland; it was captured by some
Preussian ships, which had been sent out in the same business as
himself.

As for vasalries he had in 1398 and 1403 Helsingborg castle and
in 1419 and 1423 Ravnsborg and Tranekjær, which are 2 of 4
castles he had as a vasalry in 1424. In  412 he was a hofmester,
the hightest temporal office of the kingdom, which he possibly got
in 1409 after Hr Jens Due, and it seems he kept it until his death in
1429. His name is of course met very often in letters and documents
of that period; he was one of 2 temporal delegates to the church
assembly in Constanz 1415-16 and is the first in the row of
temporal magnates, who in 1424 gave witness about Sønderjylland's
position to Denmark. But there is no information about his personality
or his way of work.


After the death of his first wife - she still lived 1411 - he married
(before 1416) Elline Evertsdatter Moltke, who survived him and
later married hr. Frederik Wardenberg. Since he inherited Egede
after his first wife, he probably had one or several children with
her, but he was childless at his death, and since his brother Folmer
only left daughters, the family quickly lost its ruling position, which it
had had for a short time in the Danish nobility.

Dansk Biografisk Lexicon
Thiset.


Lunge, Folmer Jacobsen, –o.1412, Rigsraad,was a son of Jacob
Olufsen Lunge and had in 1387, when he exchanged the family estate
with his brothers, the manor Højstrup in Stevns herred. At this time
he was both a knight and a member of the rigsråd, and in the following
years he was one of Queen Margrethe's most important advicers, he was
one of few, who at the Union meeting in Kalmar in July 1397 issued
the witness about the agreed decisions. He was also used as a diplomatic
delegate, in 1402 he was in Preussia and was handed over from the
Højmester the swindler, who had given himself out to be Margrethe's
deceased son Oluf ; two years later he mediated in Visby with the
Preussians, who had taken Gulland. His family manor Højstrup he had
pawned and later (in 1406) conveyed to the queen; his own main farms
were Rythe (Rygaard) and Tvede.

F.L is still mentioned in March 1411 in the Kolding-agreement, but in
March 1413 his wife Elisabeth Hansdatter (Podebusk) is a widow.

Dansk Biografisk Lexicon

Kr. Erslev.


Lunge, Niels Jacobsen, –1402–, bishop, a son of Jacob Olufsen
Lunge, is mentioned as a cannon in Roskilde in 1387 and still in 1401.
In January 1402 he was by papal provision appointed bishop in
Strengnæs, while the pope transferred the former bishop, the Swede
Peder Johansson, to Gardar in Greenland. Already a half year later
this decision was changed since the pope discovered that it had all been
decided against bishop Peder's wish, and that Gardar bishopric was not
free. Bishop Peder kept his Swedish bishopric and N.J.L. stayed in
Denmark, where he still several years later calls himself bishop of
Strengnæs. His later life is unknown.  

Dansk Biografisk Lexicon
Kr. Erslev, Dronn. Margrethe S. 255. 483.

Kr. Erslev.

Friday, August 12, 2011

Rane Jonsen

Gjorslev
Dansk Biografisk Lexicon:
Jonsen, Rane, –1294.  The væbner Rane Jonsen, who had a close connection to the Hvide-family,
had a high office in the royalty - as "Camerarius" at king Erik Glipping. He was the king's only companion in the night of the 22. november 1286, when the conspirators broke into Finderup lade. "Although naked and unarmed he fought the killers" says a writing from that time, but according to the folk ballad he had instead of locking the door only "placed two straws".  "han hug i borde og balk" (he hug his sword in the table") and  protected his master as a skalk (as a traitor). The public opinion was that Rane was the helper of the conspirators, and in the Danehof (the Danish court meeting) at Nyborg (castle) at Pentecost 1287 was Rane condemned an outlaw like the other king killers. He probably fled together with them to Norway; he was among those who was given protection by the Norwegian king Erik Præstehader (Priesthater), and he took part in the expeditions of the outlaws to Denmark. In 1294 he was careless, he came to Roskilde and was caught there and put on the wheel outside the town. The Danish folk ballads deals much with Rane Jonsen. A ballad tells how he when outlaw seizes a bride, another song from the Middle Ages sings about his capture and execution.

Johannes C. H. R. Steenstrup.

What happened:

"The king was hunting in the area west of Viborg. When it was growing dark, he went with a small entourage - among these Rane Jonsen - to the village Finderup and he found a primitive lodging for the night in the church barn. There was still candle light in the room, when some men with covered faces knocked down the door, forced their way in and turned out the lights. Rane Jonsen was confused and fought them although  he was naked and unarmed. But when the oproar was over and the masked men were out in the dark again, king Erik lay dead by 56 stabs of which one was under the belt. It will never be solved, who the masked men were. Except one unknown knight among the magnates, who were condemned the next year - among those Rane Jonsen and rigets Marsk (the marsk of the kingdom) Stig Andersen. Marsk Stig belonged to the Jutland part of the Hvide-family and many from this family were among the condemned. But also the Halland side-line of the royal family were among the condemned: Jacob of Nørrehalland and Peder Jacobsen and Niels."


The information from encyclopedia:
Rane Jonsen was the owner of Gjorslev (Stevns Herred, Sjælland.), he was Kong Erik Glippings Kammermester (actually a finance-minister), took part in the regicide in Finderup in 1286 and was in 1287 with the other king killers condemned outlaw at the Danehof in Nyborg in 1287, had the same year a protection-letter from the Norwegian king, was 1294 captured in Niels Broks Gård in Roskilde and put on the wheel near Roskilde; from his forbidden Jutland estates was established a vasalry.

Danish Folk Ballad:
Ranild bade saddle his charger gray,
‘Twas told me oft before,
“I’ll be the Algrave’s guest today,
“Tho’ friends I have no more.”

Ranild rode up to his castle gate
‘Twas told him oft before
Where ermine-clad the Algrave sate,
Tho’ friends he had no more.

“Hail noble Algrave, here I come,
‘Twas told thee oft before
“To fetch my trothplight Kirstin home,
“Tho’ friends I have no more.”

Then up and spake her mother dear,
“‘Twas told thee oft before,
“For thee is bride no longer here,
“For friends thou hast no more.”

“I’ll either with the maid return,
“‘Twas told you oft before
“Or else your house and chattels burn,
“Tho’ friends I have no more.”

“Nay set not thou the house on flame,
“‘Twas told thee oft before,
“E’en take the bride thou ‘rt come to claim,
“Tho’ friends thou hast no more.”

In mantle wrapt the gentle maid,
‘Twas told her oft before,
On Ranild’s good gray horse was laid,
Tho’ friends he had no more.

No other bridal bed had they,
‘Twas told her oft before,
Than bush, and field, and new made hay,
For friends he had no more.

“The wood has ears, the mead can see,
“‘Twas told thee oft before,
“A wretched outlaw’d pair are we,
“For friends I have no more.”

“And had you not King Erick slain,
“‘Twas told you oft before,
“We still might in the land remain,
“But friends we have no more.”

“Stay, Kirstin, stay, such words forbear,
“‘Twas told thee oft before,
“Where strangers are, take greater care,
“For friends we have no ore.”

With that he slapp’d her cheek so red,
“‘Twas told thee oft before,
“It was not I, smote Erick dead,
“Tho’ friends I have no more.”
From the same source, Rane Jonsen meets his end:
Report is rife in all the land
Ranild at last is caught;
He surely had never gone from Hielm,
His doom had he bethought;
A death of torture he must die,
As he has long been taught.

Ranild he stepp’d within the door,
‘Good evening’ bade the king,
And all the guard of gentlemen,
Who round him stood in ring;
“Christ! may no son of loyal Dane
“Such trouble on him bring!

“But, O King Erick, noble liege,
“Remember you no more;
“The best was I of all the swains
“Your father’s livery wore;
“And you through wood and flowery mead
“In arms so often bore?”

“Full well I know thou servedst here
“For clothes and food and pay;
“And, like a vile and treacherous knave,
“My father didst betray;
“For which the stake thy carcase bears,
“If I but reign a day.”

“My hands and feet hack from my limbs,
“Tear from my head these eyes;
“With racking tortures martyr me,
“The worst you can devise;
“So much the wrong I’ve done your house
“For vengeance on me cries.”

“Thine eyes put out, that will we not,
“Nor lop thy hands or feet;
“But with a traitor’s hardest death
“The worst of traitors treat;
“And on our father’s murderer take
“Such vengeance as is meet.”

As forth from Roskilde he was led,
He wrung his hands anew,
And tears to see him go to die
Wept ladies not a few;
He turn’d him round, and bade them all
A thousand times Adieu.

They led him forth to where the rack
Stood ghastly on the plain;
“O Christ, from such a martyring death
“Protect each honest Dane!
“Had I but stay’d at Hielm this year,
“And there in safety lain!

“Now were there here one faithful friend,
“Who home for me would go,
“And would my sorrowing wife Christine,
“Her path of duty show!
“O Christ, look on my children dear!
“O comfort thou their woe!

“And you, I pray, good Christian folk,
“Who here are standing round,
“A pater noster read for me,
“That grace for me be found;
“And that this night I reach the land,
“Where heavenly joys abound.”

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

The Portuguese Connection, Berengaria and her family

The Danish kings Eric IV, Abel and Christopher I  had Portuguese grandparents via their mother, queen Berengaria, who was a Portuguese infanta and the fifth daughter of Portuguese King Sancho I and Dulce of Aragon.She was the member of a large family, and she had ten siblings. Her mother died in 1198, when Berengaria was about three years of age - and her father died in 1212. In various annals and ballads she is known as Bringenilæ, Bengerd, Bengjerd and related forms. In 1211, at the age of sixteen she was at the French court together with her brother Ferrante (Ferdinand). King Philip II August (another of Berengaria's and Ferdinand's cousins) had arranged a marriage for Ferdinand to Jeanne of Flanders, which made him count of Flanders. Here, at the French court, was Berengaria introduced to King Valdemar, whose sister Ingeborg was married to King Philip. It seems that the marriage between Valdemar and Berengaria might have been Ferdinand's wish of connecting Valdemar Sejr to the alliance against France, which Ferdinand in the summer 1213 entered together with King John  of England and the German emperor Otto IV. It was probably because of Berengaria that Valdemar entered another connection to the Portuguese royalty, when his eldest son Valdemar the Young in 1229 was married to Berengaria's niece, Alfonso 2.'s daughter Eleonora.  Berengaria was married to King Valdemar in May 1214. They were married for seven years until her death in childbed in 1221, and they had four surviving children:

Erik IV of Denmark (1216-1250) King of the Danes (1241-1250).
Sophie (1217-1247), married John I; Margrave of Brandenburg.
 Abel of Denmark (1218-1252), King of the Danes (1250-1252).
Christopher I of Denmark (1219-1259), King of the Danes (1252-1259)


Berengaria, beautiful and haughty versus Dagmar, soft and pious.
 It was an almost impossible task for Berengaria to follow in the footsteps of the popular Dagmar of Bohemia, King Valdemar's first wife. Dagmar was blonde and with Nordic looks - and Berengaria was the opposite, a dark-eyed, raven haired beauty. In 1214, when she got married to Valdemar, she was a young woman of nineteen - and she arrived in a Danish court and a strange country , which must have seemed immensely foreign to a girl from the warm southern Europe and the more refined French court. The Danes did not exactly welcome her with open arms. They made up folk songs about her and blamed her for the high taxes, which seems awkward. She had probably not much to do with Valdemar's decisions about taxation, except that she might have been blamed for the costy wedding and her possible luxurious habits around clothes and jewels. Or else she was noted for having made donations to churches and convents, but it must have been difficult for her to win peoples trust and sympathy. Old folk ballads says that Dagmar on her deathbed had begged Valdemar to marry Kirsten, the daughter of Karl von Rise and not the "beautiful flower" Berengaria. Although this is merely legend and there's no historical prove of this. The tradition about Berengaria and Dagmar was written down in the 1500s which makes it rather doubtful. Valdemar's two queens play a prominent role in Danish ballads and myths - Dagmar as the soft, pious and popular ideal wife and Berengaria (Bengjerd) as the beautiful and haughty woman.

Concrete knowledge about Berengaria
The concrete knowledge about Berengaria's life is minimal and at random. The popes Innocens 3. and Honorius 3. confirmed her morning gift, which is unusual. The size of the morning gift, which the bridegroom gives in order to secure his wife's possible widowhood, is not known. Berengaria was the first Danish queen known to have worn a crown, which is mentioned in the inventory of her possessions (1225). Her personal possessions were kept apart from the ransom in 1225 for King Valdemar and his eldest son after their capture at Lyø two years earlier, and among these possessions was her crown. It is the first time a crown of a Danish queen is mentioned in documents. In 1221 Berengaria, after giving birth to three future kings, died in childbirth. Queen Berengaria is buried in St. Bendt's Church in Ringsted, on one side of Valdemar II, with Queen Dagmar buried on the other side of the King.When queen Berengaria's grave was opened in 1885, they found her thick plait of hair, her finely formed skull and finely built body bones, proving the legends about her reported beauty. A portrait drawing was made to show how she might have looked.

Berengaria's Father
Sancho I, nicknamed the Populator, was second monarch of Portugal. Sancho belonged to the Portuguese branch of the House of Burgundy, a cadet branch of the Capetian dynasty. He was born on 11 November 1154 in Coimbra and died on 26 March 1212 in the same city. He was the second but only surviving legitimate son and fourth child of Afonso (Alfonso) I Henriques of Portugal by his wife, Maud of Savoy. Sancho succeeded his father in 1185. He used the title King of the Algarve and/or King of Silves between 1189 and 1191. In 1170 he was knighted by his father, King Afonso I, and from then on he became his second in command, both administratively and militarily. With the death of Afonso I in 1185, Sancho I became the second king of Portugal. Coimbra was the centre of his kingdom; Sancho I dedicated much of his reign to political and administrative organization of the new kingdom. He accumulated a national treasure, supported new industries and the middle class of merchants. Moreover, he created several new towns and villages (like Guarda in 1199) and took great care in populating remote areas in the northern Christian regions of Portugal, notably with  Flemings and Burgundians – hence the nickname "the Populator". The king was also known for his love of knowledge and literature. Sancho I wrote several books of poems and used the royal treasure to send Portuguese students to European universities.

Berengaria's Mother
Dulce of Aragon (or of Barcelona) (1160–1198) was the wife of King Sancho I of Portugal. She was the eldest daughter of Ramon Berenguer IV, Count of Barcelona and his wife, Queen Petronila of Aragon.Dulce was married to Prince Sancho in 1174, an event that renewed the alliance between Portugal and her native Aragon. The union was arranged by her brother, King Afonso II of Aragon. With her husband's ascent to the throne in 1185, she became Queen consort


Sancho and Dulce's children were:
Teresa, (1178/1181-1250) married to King Alfonso IX of Leon.
Raymond (c.1180-1189)
Sancha ( a. 1182-13 March 1229) Abbess of Lorvao in Penacova.
Constance (c. 1182-3 August 1202)
Afonso II (23 April 1185-25 March 1223) Succeeded Sancho I of Portugal as 3rd King of Portugal.
Peter (23 February 1187-2 June 1258) Count of Urgell and Lord of the Balearic islands, lived in Leon and married Countess Aurembiaix of Urgell.
Ferdinand (24 March 1188- 4 March 1233) Lived in France and married Jeanne of Flanders
Henry (1189-1189)
Branca (c. 1195-1240) Lady of Guadalajara.
Berengária (c.1195- 1221) Married to King Valdemar II of Denmark
Mafalda (c. 1198-1256) married to King Henry I of Castile By Maria Aires  ( -1180?)had Sancho a natural son and daughter: Martim/Henrique Sanches (c. 1200-1229) and Urraca Sanches (c. 1200-1256) - and by Maria Pais Ribereira (Ribeirinha) (c.1170-1258) had Sancho 6 natural children: Rodrigo, Gil, Nuno, Teresa, Constanca and Maior Sanches.


Berengarias sisters and brothers:
Teresa/Theresa was the oldest daughter of Sancho and Dulce.  She was about 14- 16? years old, when Berengaria was born and might have been like a mother to three year old Berengaria, when their mother died in 1198. Theresa was born October 4, 1178 and died June 18 1250. She was also known as Tarasia of Portugal and later as the infanta-rainha (English: Princess-Queen). She was married to Alfonso IX of Leon and the mother of three children: two daughters and a son who died young. Her marriage to Alfonso was declared invalid because they were first cousins, and she returned to her familial home of Lorvao, Portugal, where she founded a Benedictine monastery. She converted the monastery into a large Cistercian convent with over 300 nuns.  Alfonso's second marriage was also annulled, because his second wife Berengaria of Castile was his first cousin  - and later was a dispute among the children as to who would inherit the throne after Alfonso's death in 1230. Teresa stepped in and allowed Ferdinand II of Castile, Berengaria's eldest son, to take the throne of Leon. She returned to Lorvao and finally took her convent wovs after years of living as a nun. She died in the convent on June 18, 1250 of natural causes. On December 13, 1705, Teresa was beatified by Pope Clement II's papal bull Sollicitudo Pastoralis Offici, along with her sister Sancha of Portugal. Her Catholic feast day is June 17.

Infanta Sancha of Portugal , was a Portuguese princess, second daughter of King Sancho and Dulce. She was born on an unknown date, prior to 1182 and died in the Monastery of Celas, on March 13, 1229. Her body was moved to Lorvao Abbey, which she had founded and became the first abbess of. She was also the feudal Lady of Alenquer. On December 13, 1705 Sancha was beatified by Pope Clement XI's papal bull Sollicitudo Pastoralis Offici, along with her sister Theresa of Portugal.




Afonso II and his wife Urraca of Castile (her mother a Plantagenet)
Afonso II  (English Alphonzo), or Affonso , Alfonso or Alphonso or Alphonsus , nicknamed "the Fat" (Portuguese o Gordo), third king of Portugal, was born in Coimbra on 23 April 1185 and died on 25 March 1223 in the same city. He was the second but eldest surviving son of Sancho I of Portugal by his wife Dulce, Infanta of Aragon. Afonso succeeded his father in 1212.Since military issues were not a government priority, Afonso established the state's administration and centralized power on himself. He designed the first set of Portuguese written laws. These were mainly concerned with private property, civil justice, and minting. Afonso also sent ambassadors to European kingdoms outside the Iberian Peninsula  and began amicable commercial relations with most of them. The Church:  Afonso II endeavoured to weaken the power of the clergy and to apply a portion of the enormous revenues of the Roman Catholic Church to purposes of national utility. These actions led to a serious diplomatic conflict between the pope and Portugal. After being excommunicated for his audacities by Pope Honorius III, Afonso II promised to make amends to the church, but he died in 1223 before making any serious attempts to do so.
Afonso was married to Urraca of Castile (1186, 28 May 1187 - 3 November 1220) who was a daughter of Alfonso VIII of Castile and Eleonora of England. Her maternal grandparents were Henry II of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine. She was originally considered as a prospective bride for Louis VIII of France, but Eleanor of Aquitaine objected to her name (Urraca means magpie in Spanish) preferring the Spanish name of Urraca's sister Blanche, (Blanca) In 1206 Urraca married Afonso II of Portugal. They were the parents of five children. (Sancho II, Afonso III, Eleanor, Ferdinand and Vicente. The daughter Eleanor was married to Valdemar III the Young of Denmark.)  




Two years younger than Afonso, Peter I (Portuguese: Pedro) was born in Coimbra, February 23, 1187 and died on the Balearic Islands, June 2, 1258.  He was the second son of King Sancho and Dulce, and would eventually become Count of Urgell and Lord of the Balearic Islands.  After the death of his father, Peter took the side of his sisters Mafalda, Sancha and Theresa, in their quarrel with his elder brother, now King Afonso II, over inheritance of the castles of Seia, Alenquer and Montemor-o-Novo, Peter got the protection of his sister Theresa, then Queen of Leon, from whose territory he launched several inconclusive attacks on the Portuguese border province of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, but eventually had to concede defeat and perpetual exile from Portugal. Peter then left León to become a mercenary in the service of Yusuf II, the Almohad Caliph of Morocco. Subsequently, Peter moved to Aragon, his mother's homeland, where he became involved in the schemes and campaigns of his relative , the young and ambitious King James I .
In 1229 Peter married Countess Aurembiaix of Urgell, who had long been exiled from Urgell by the ururper Guerau IV de Cabrera, and who had been James I's mistress. With Peter as her husband and co-ruler, James helped Aurembiaix regain Urgell under the Aragonese overlordship - after she and Peter agreed to hand over to the King the city of Lleida. In 1230, Peter helped the Bishop of Tarragone to conquer the Balearic island of Ibiza from the Moors. Following Aurembiaix's death in 1231, Peter continued as Count of Urgell in a titular capacity, but this position was disputed by his overlord James I. In 1236 they came to an agreement by which Peter gave up Urgell. In exchange, Peter got the newly-conquered Balearic islands of Majorca, Ibiza and Formentera as well as some important castles.Peter ruled these Balearic possessions until his death, in 1258. As he left no legitimate issue, they then reverted to the Aragonese Crown, later becoming the core of Kingdom of Majorca ruled by a minor branch of the Aragonese Royal Family. Peter left two illegitimate sons, Rodrigo and Fernando.

Ferdinand of Portugal, Count of Flanders, the brother with whom Berengaria went to the French court. He was born in Coimbra, March 24, 1188  and died in Noyon, July 27, 1233; (Portuguese: Fernando, Old French Ferrand), fourth son of Sancho and Dulce. He was Count of Flanders by marriage to Countess Joan/Jeanne of Flanders, eldest daughter of Baldwin/Balduin IX of Flanders. Ferdinand married Joan on January 1212 in Paris.While on their way to Flanders the newlyweds were captured by Joan's first cousin Louis (the future Louis VIII of France), eldest son of Philip Augustus and Joan's aunt, Isabella of Flanders. Louis' aim was to acquire his dead mother's dowry, a large piece of Flemish territory including Artois, which Joan's father had taken back by force after Isabella's death. Released after this concession, Joan and Ferdinand soon joined the old allies of her father, king John of England, and Emperor Otto IV, in an alliance against France. They were decisively defeated at Bouvines in July 1214, where Ferdinand was taken prisoner. Ferdinand was to remain in French hands for the next 12 years, while Joan ruled alone. He was set free in January 1227 by Blanca of Castile after Louis VIII's death. Ferdinand died in Noyon on July 27, 1233. From his marriage to countess Joan was a daughter, born in 1231, but she died in 1235.

Infanta Branca of Portugal (c. 1192- died in Guadalajara, November 17, 1240), English: Blanche; was a Portuguese princess, eighth child of King Sancho and Dulce. She was the feudal Lady of Guadalajara. Branca was co-founder of, and a nun at the Dominican convent at Coimbra. She is buried in Santa Cruz de Coimbra. 


Infanta Mafalda of Portugal (c. 1197 –died in Rio tinto, Amarante, May 1, 1256); was a Portuguese princess, later Queen consort of Castile for a brief period. She was the second youngest daughter of King Sancho I of Portugal and Dulce.In 1215, Mafalda married Henry I of Castile. As he was very young, the marriage was not consummated, and it was dissolved in 1216. After that she became a nun in Arouca and died in Rio tinto (Amarante)  on May 1, 1256. On June 27, 1793 she was Beatified. 



Sources: Wikipedia (English, German, Danish,) Dansk Kvindebiografisk Lexicon)

grethe bachmann  ©copyright

Sunday, April 3, 2011

Ælfgifu/Aelfgifu of Northampton (c. 990 - after 1040) , consort of King Cnut of England and Denmark.,

 












Ælfgifu of Northampton (c. 990 – after 1040) was an Anglo-Saxon noblewoman who became the first consort of King Cnut of England and Denmark, and mother of King Harold I of England (1035–1040). She served as regent of Norway from 1030 to 1035. She is not to be confused with her rival Emma of Normandy, whose name could be rendered as Ælfgifu in Old English, nor with King Ætehlred's first wife, Ælfgifu of York.

Ælfgifu was born into an important noble family based in the Midlands ( Mercia). She was a daughter of Ælfhelm, ealdorman of southern Northumbria, who was killed in 1006. John of Worcester names his wife Wulfrun, but it is possible that he had her confused with the Wulfrun, who was Ælfhelm's mother and possibly patron of the community at Wolverhampton. Another noteworthy figure who belonged to this family was Ælfhelm's brother (hence Ælfgifu's uncle)Wulfric Spot, a wealthy nobleman and patron of Burton Abbey. her cognomen of Northampton attached to her in Manuscript D of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle in order to distinguish her from Emma of Normandy, and consequently adopted by later historians such as John of Worcester. It would seem to indicate that she was a prominent landholder in the area.

Ælfgifu's date of birth is unknown. Any conjectures are largely based on the date of her father's death (1006), the approximate date of her betrothal to Cnut (1004 x 1016, see below) and the time by which she had borne him sons, whose ages are themselves difficult to establish. To remain on the safe side, it can be assumed that she was born sometime between the (mid-)980's and (mid-)990's.

In 1013 Swein Forkbeard (Sven Tveskæg),King of Denmark, invaded northern England. The northern peoples, many of them of Scandinavian descent, immediately submitted to him. He then married his young son Cnut to Ælfgifu to seal their loyalty. Swein went on to conquer the whole of England and was accepted as King, but he died in February 1014 after a reign of only five weeks. Æthelred then sent an army which forced Cnut to flee back to Denmark, leaving his wife and their baby son,Svein (Svend Alfifasen) the future King of Norway, behind with her family. They were anxious to make their peace with Æthelred, but unwilling to hand Ælfgifu and her son over to Æthelred to be murdered, so they sent the mother and child with King Swein's body to Denmark. There she became pregnant again and in 1015 or 1016 she gave birth to Harold Harefoot (Harald Harefod).

Her two sons were to figure prominently in the empire which their father built in northern Europe, though not without opposition. After his conquest of England in 1016, Cnut married emma of Normandy, the widow of King Æthelred It was then regarded as acceptable to put aside one wife and take another, a which might be described as "serial monogamy".Emma's sons, Edward and Ælfred by Æthelred and Harthacnut (Hardicanute) by Cnut, were also claimants to the throne of her husband. Exactly how the second marriage affected Ælfgifu's status as Cnut's first consort is unknown, but there is no evidence to suggest that she was repudiated.

Cnut sent Ælfgifu with their eldest son Svein to rule Norway, in 1030. Their rule was, however, so harsh that the Norwegians rebelled against them. They were driven out, in 1034 or 1035, while Svein died of wounds in Denmark shortly after, probably in 1036. In Norway, where she was known as Álfífa in Old Norse, this period entered history as 'Álfífa's time' (Álfífuǫld), remembered for her severe rule and heavy taxation. In the Norwegian Ágrip, for instance, the following verse is attributed to her contemporary, the skald Sigvatr (Sigvard:
Ælfgyfu’s time
long will the young man remember,
when they at home ate ox’s food,
and like the goats, ate rind.
Cnut died at Shaftesbury in 1035. Symeon of durham and Adam of Bremen suggest that Cnut had reserved the English throne for Harold, while the Encomium Emmae Reginae claims that he done so for Harthacnut. In any event, on Cnut's death, Ælfgifu was determined that her second son Harold should be the next English king. She had returned to England (at least) by 1036, while Emma's son Harthacnut was away in Denmark, at war with the Norwegian king Magnus I, and the Swedes under their king Anund Jacob. Emma's other sons, Ælfred and Edward, stayed in Normandy. With help from her supporters, Ælfgifu was able to secure the throne for her son. In the view of Frank Stenton, she was probably the real ruler of England for part, if not the whole, of his reign. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (versions C, D and E) describes how Harold and his men forcefully laid claim on the treasury house in Winchester, where Cnut was buried and Emma had taken up residence: That Ælfgifu was such a key figure in these political machinations is spelled out in messages which reached the German court. Immo, a chaplain and cathedral canon at the court of Worms, reported to the bishop of Worms that Anglo-Saxon messengers (legati Anglorum) had come to Worms and there informed Gunhild, daughter of Cnut and Emma, about the latest developments.
It is unfortunate that most of the sources are extremely biased in favour of Emma and her sons. While in the previous letter, which can hardly be called neutral, Ælfgifu is accused of using deception, lavish feasts and bribery in order to wheedle support, Emma's encomiast attributes to her even more seriously dishonest methods. Apart from claiming that Harold was only accepted as a temporary regent, he makes Ælfgifu an accomplice in the murder of Ælfred Ætheling by suggesting that she was responsible for sending a forged letter to Normandy inviting Ælfred to England.

Another way in which the legitimacy of Harold's succession was disputed in the wake of the succession crisis was by focusing on his and his brother's parentage:
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle: Harold's claim that he was the son of Cnut and Ælfgifu is either distrusted or simply denied.
Encomium Emmae Reginae: heard that Harold was secretly a servant's son
John of Worcester: heard tales in which the fathers of Svein and Harold were respectively a priest and a shoemaker. 
Adam of Bremen  states that Svein and Harold were sons to Cnut and a concubina (but that Cnut nevertheless reserved England for Harold, Denmark for Harthacnut).

Ælfgifu fell into obscurity after Harold's death in 1040, and the crowning of Harthacnut, the legitimate heir to Cnut and also the King of Denmark. It is unknown when she died. 

Source: Wikipedia
grethe bachmann   ©copyright
 ___________________________________________________________________________________
Primary sources:


 Secondary literature

  • 'Ælfgifu 1', 'Ælfhelm 17', 'Wulfrun', 'Wulfric 52', Prosopography of Anglo-Saxon England.
  • Campbell, M.W. "Queen Emma and Ælfgifu of Northampton. Canute the Great's women." Medieval Scandinavia 4 (1971): 60–79.
  • Rognoni, L., "Presenza e azione di Ælfgifu di Northampton, regina madre e reggente nell'Impero del Nord di Canuto il Grande (1013–1040)" (in Italian) [1]
  • Stenton, Frank. Anglo-Saxon England. Oxford, 1971. 397–8.
  • Stevenson, W.H. "An alleged son of King Harold Harefoot." English Historical Review 28 (1913): 112–7.

Sunday, March 6, 2011

Christoffer I, ab. 1219-1259, ~ Margrethe Sambiria, - 1282

 









Dansk Biografisk Lexicon
Project Runeberg
1887-1905

Christoffer I, ab.1219-59, King, a son of king Valdemar Sejr
and Berengaria. In his youth (fx in 1245) C. is mentioned as
the lord of Lolland and Falster; he had during his brother Erik
Plovpenning's rule for a period joined hertug Abel against
the king, but a reconciliation was however made. After
Abel was killed 29 June 1252 C. was celebrated king and was
crowned on Christmas day the same year in Lund's cathedral,
although Abel's eldest son Valdemar -while his father lived  -
had been acknowledged as heir to the throne. In this way
began a feud between the two lines of the royal family, which
continued through generations and still was nourished by all
the other feud-topics of that time.  C. reconciled in 1254 with
Abel's family by endowing Valdemar with Schleswig, but when
the young hertug (duke) died 3 years later, C. took back the
vasalry and the feud started again. Another feud came to, a feud
with the church. The intelligent, power-craving and ruthless bishop
in Roskilde Jacob Erlandsen took over the archbishopric in 1254,
fully prepared to carry through the church's newly gained special
position opposite the secular power. When Danehof  was held
in Nyborg in 1256, Jacob Erlandsen summoned a church meeting
in Vejle, where they agreed that if any bishop was harmed and
if the king supposedly was to blame, then the whole country should
be under interdict. C.now behaved violently towards the bishops;
and at the same time the poorest among the peasants started to
riot, a war broke out with Norway, and king Hakon Hakonsen
placed his fleet outside Copenhagen (1257); then C. decided to
reconcile with this enemy and even united with Hakon in a alliance.
C.'s violent behaviour towards the church reached its peak, when
he was furious with the archbishop, who denied to crown his son
Erik, and in February 1259 he let Jacob Erlandsen put into prison.
The interdict had now to be imposed on Denmark; some bishops
rebelled against the king and joined prince Jarimar of Rügen and
Erik (Abelsen), and a Wendic army came to Copenhagen. C.
took up the fight with great energy, but 29. May 1259 he suddenly
died in Ribe. There was a suspicion that he had been poisoned,
and abbot Arnfast of Ry was said to be the murderer, but there
are no proofs of this accusation. C. was buried in Ribe cathedral.

C.s short rule was a fatal and very unrest period, and the
king, who was an obstinate, but brave and active prince, held
on to the Crown's rights, and he was probably not able to fight
the big fight; some of his actions however indicate a diplomatic
cleverness and ability to give in in the last moment. C., who
was praised for his chastity, was in 1248 married to the stout
daughter of the Pommeranian hertug Sambor, Margrethe
Sambiria (with the byname Sprænghest ), she died in 1282.
They had the children Erik Glipping, (Klipping) Valdemar,
Niels and Mechtild, married to margraf Albert III of
Brandenburg.

Johannes C. H. R. Steenstrup. 

Margrethe Sambiria, –1282, queen, was a daughter of the
East-Pommeranian prince Sambor, a brother of Svantopolk
the Great; her mother 's name was Mechtilde who came from
Mecklenburg. In 1248 was Margrethe married to Valdemar
Sejr's youngest son Christoffer, and in 1252 she was crowned
together with him. The marriage is mentioned as a very happy
one, and she and her husband had several children, among
these 3 sons, from whom only Erik Glipping became a grown
man. While Christoffer lived, M. is only mentioned on
rare occasions, but it is seen that she together with her father
tried to mediate between the king and archbishop Jacob
Erlandsen. After her husband's sudden death (29 May 1259)
she played a larger role, since she was a guardian and ruler  for
her only nine year old son Erik. She lost every hope of resisting
Christoffer's enemies when the peasants from Zealand were
beaten by the Rügen-prince Jarimar at Næstved, and M. had
to buy the peace  by several concessions ; the imprisoned
archbishop was given his freedom, Erik Abelsøn was endowed
with Sønderjylland. M. soon entered the politics of her late
husband; in spite of protests from the archisbop she let the
Jutland bishops crown Erik in Viborg, and in 1261 she lead
an army into the hertugdømme (duchy). Her progress was
only shortlived however, the Holsteiners arrived, and at
Lohede (28. July) they gained the victory over the Danes;
the young king and his mother fell into the hands of the
enemies. But now showed M.her untiring energy, from
her prison in Hamburg she called for the help from Albert
of  Braunschwig; he suceeded in getting her out of prison,
and they returned to Denmark together. Hertug Albert was
appointed the vice-regent of Denmark, and M noticed
gladly, how violently he behaved against the opponents of
the royal house; she even fell in love with the young hertug,
so is it said in the Braunschwig-Chronicle. In 1263 Albert
left Denmark, but the next year could M. fetch her own
son  back, and he was declared of age in 1266.

At this time M. had for life bwwn given Estonia to be in her
ownership as a widow. She was still the ruler of the kingdom
for a long time, and her energy was probably due to that the
archbishop-feud ended in a good way - and also that
hertugdømmet (duchy) after Erik Abelsøn's death 1272 again
came back to the Crown. Later she is more retired, and she
died in December 1282 during a stay in Rostock; in the
nearby Cisterciense-Abbey in Doberan, to which her father
had a friendly relationship, she found her last rest, and here is
still seen a strange wooden sculpture of her, which before was
a cover over her sarcophagus.

Her byname Sprænghest (jumping horse) suited well to all the
energy M, showed while she was a widow; in legends she is
also called Sorte Grethe (Black Grethe), but here is she mixed
with her great namesake, Margrethe Valdemarsdatter.
According to some it was M. who built a part of Danevirke,
called Margrethevolden, which however is not very possible.
M. gave some estate to the Holy Cross Kloster in Rostock;
soon after her death it was told that she had founded the
kloster and given it a splinter of the Holy Cross, which she
personally had received from the pope, and which during
her way home had saved her and her entourage in a storm
at the sea; everything was told in a document, which was
said to be from the queen herself, but the authenticity of
this document is uncertain.

Script, rer. Prussicarum I, 690 f.
Videnskab. Selsk. Skr., Hist. phil. Afd., 5. R. IV, 377 ff.
Aarb. f. nord. Oldkynd. 1877, S. 55 ff.; 1881, S. 50 ff.

Kr. Erslev.

Monday, January 17, 2011

Axel Pedersen Thott and Seven Axelsons

 










Dansk Biografisk Lexicon
Carl Fr. Bricka
Project Runeberg


Thott, Axel Pedersen, –ab.1446, rigsråd, was a son of væbner Peder Axelsen of Herlev in Gers herred and Juliane Pedersdatter Grubbe and is mentioned as a væbner maybe in 1390, but anyway in 1394; he probably became a Ridder (knight) at Erik af Pommern's coronation in 1397. He is already mentioned in queen Margrethe's rule in public business and was probably already then a member of the rigsråd (state council); he played however a more important role in Erik of Pommern's sole rule. He was in 1417 among the men, who had to judge between the king and Roskilde bishopric about the rights of Copenhagen, and was in 1423 at king Sigismund on the occassion of the feud about Schleswig, and the next year he was in Flensborg as one of king Erik's attorneys in the same affair. In 1428 he is mentioned as the navy chief during the war with the Hanseatics and took following part several times in negotiations in this as well as with the Swedes after the rebellion of Engelbrecht, which furthermore had affected him in another way.

A. P. had latest in 1410 got Lunde bishopric's castle Elleholm as a pawn, which was redeemed from him a long time after. Among royal vasalries he had in 1414 Helsingborg, in 1415 Varberg and in 1419 besides the latest mentioned castle also Falkenberg, Skanør and Falsterbo. It seems that he had Skanør and Falsterbo already in 1416; but his name is especially connected to Varberg, since he kept this vasalry until his death. In  1434 Engelbrecth attacked Halland, and the villagers of Nørrehalland assisted him, so A. P. had to make an agreement with him. Engelbrecht then had to govern the vasalry and collect the taxes, but pay the half of it to A.P, who later punished the citizens of Ny Varberg, since they had deserted the king - but he had in Engelbrecht's second rebellion in 1346 to see the Swedes in his vasalry once more.

When the Danish rigsråds in 1439 had given notice to terminate allegiance to Erik af Pommern, A.P. kept on for some time to support the dethroned king, who had shown him his favour in many ways; thus he had given him a manor in Malmø; not until in 1441 A.P gave up his servance to the king, if he was not rescued at  Varberg before Midsummer's Day .It seems that  A. P. already in October 1440 was on friendly terms with the new king, who calls him his råd (councillor); and he did not keep the due date he had made himself with king Erik: In January 1441 he let king Christoffer give him the vasalry Varberg and two herreds (districts), which had been connected to Falkenberg, plus Gers herred and Væ herred. He obviously did not wish to bring a large sacrifice to the case of  the dethroned king, and he was now king Christoffer's trusted man at Varberg in the following years, until he in the period between 24 November 1446 and 25 January 1447 died at an advanced age.

He had inherited  Herlev from his father; in 1413 he was pawned with the main farm Grubbe-Ordrup in Voldborg herred and bought later various parts of it, but had to fight long feuds about it with others, who claimed it too. He was also pawned with Vallø. A. P. became in 2 marriages father of the 9 «Axelssønner», of whom several played an important role in the history of the North. With his first wife, a daughter of Axel Kjeldsen Krognos and Catharina Eriksdatter Puke, he had the sons Peder, Oluf, Aage and Kjeld. With his second wife, Ingeborg, who was a daughter of the Swedish Ivar Nilsson and Margrethe Thordsdatter Bonde, whom he married in 1418, he had the sons Erik, Iver, Anders, Philippus and Laurens; she died in the period 1458-66.

Danmarks Adels Aarbog 1900, S. 416 ff.
P. v. Möller, Bidrag t. Hallands hist. I, 101 ff.
William Christensen.

Thott, Aage Axelsen,
–1477, rigsråd, son of Axel Pedersen T. and his first wife, is mentioned as a grown man in 1421. Later he is described as "of Hjuleberg», a main farm in Halland, which came to the family via his mother. He was høvedsmand (chief) at Falkenberg maybe 1426, but anyway in 1433 and likewise the following year, where he under Engelbrecht's attack on Halland fought back an atttack from one of  E.'s under-chiefs, but since he dared not await a new storm, he sailed away after having set fire to the castle. It is doubtful however, if he owned the vasalry himself or was just governing it as the king's bailiff.  A.A probably hesitated just as long as his father to acknowledge Christoffer of Bavaria, and the reason might be that he was not accoladed until 1449, probably at the coronation of Christian I.  His father had in 1441 achieved a promise from king Christoffer that one of his sons could keep Varberg in 6 years after his death, and according to this the sons arranged in 1447 that the brothers A. and Iver were to manage the vasalry. It is not known whether Iver took part in the government of the vasalry, but A. was mentioned several times as vasal at Varberg, which he was pawned with; likewise he and his wife had in 1450 a pawn letter for life of Årstad and Halmstad herreds, which he already then had in custody.

A. A. had become rigsråd already before 1448; but it is especially after this year he is mentioned in public affairs. He is seen in the relation to the other Nordic kingdoms, thus he was in 1449 twice in Norway to work for the election of Christian I, in 1450 he took part in the  Halmstad-meeting and was the same year with the king in Norway on his coronation-tour; likewise he took part in meetings with the Swedes in Rønneby in 1453 and maybe 1454 and in Vadstena in 1455. In 1462 he was together with his brothers Oluf and Erik involved in a feud about Øsel bishopric and supported with an army one of the candidates of the bishopric. In 1466 he was again at a meeting with the Swedes in Jønkøbing, but the same year a meeting took place in Nykøping, which became of great importance for the relation between Christan I and the Axel-sons.

A. A. had for a long period bought property in both Sweden and Denmark, his wife Merete was Swedish, a daughter of Bengt Uddson of the so-called Vinstorpa-family; one of his daughters had already in 1455 married the Swedish marsk Thord Carlsson Bonde,who was killed the year after, and another daughter, Ingeborg was (probably shortly after the Nykøping-meeting) engaged to the later famous Sten Sture the Elder.  A. A. himself was after the Nykøping-meeting under suspicion of the king, who seemingly had tried to have him ousted by favouring the accuses from the inhabitants of his vasalries. However it seemed to be a failed attempt, and A.A. got an  honourable testimonial from his villagers about his rule, and in February 1467 the king endowed for life his wife with Hammergård and Hammerø south of Kongsbakke. A.A. was probably at that point still the owner of his vasalries and is mentioned in February 1467 as the høvedsmand (chief) of Varberg, but in May the same year he obviously did not own Varberg anymore, and it is not known, why he lost this vasalry.  It seems that he kept Årstad and Halmstad herred, and he could still reside at Hjuleberg, like he in May 1469 was present at a meeting in Copenhagen; but he mentions already in January 1468 that some of his estate have been confiscated, like his position obviously had become rather difficult. At last was Hjuleberg in 1469 destroyed by the king, and in the same year all A.A.'s estate was taken by the Crown. A.A. then went to Sweden, he is found in Stockholm in 1470 and in Finland in 1472.

At the Fredsmødet (peace-meeting)  in Kalmar in 1442 he had however, like many others, been given back his estate, and as for his vasalries, it was decided that he for the time being should have Halmstad and Årstad herred and Falkenberg town as pawns again, until a verdict was made, whether they belonged to him or the king, likewise it had to be judged who had the rights of Varberg. At the Kalmar-meeting in 1473 the Danish delegates promised to get Varberg back to A.A. until the verdict was made; he probably declared that he could not separate himself from his brothers and brother-children, but he achieved a letter of Varberg vasalry the same year. And since the verdict had still not been made, A.A. kept the vasalries until his death , like he in his last years again is mentioned as a rigsråd. He died in 1477, probably in May, and before 2. July; his wife and his co-heirs kept Årstad and Halmstad herred as pawns, while the king in 1477 redeemed Varberg from the heirs. Fru Merete lived still in 1479 , but was dead 12 October 1481.

Like A.A. obviously held more on to Erik af Pommern than his brother Oluf, he also showed ab. 1470 greater loyalty to Christian I than his younger half-brothers. Although there are some dark points in those years, it is clear that he was the most Danish among the Axel-sons who lived after 1464, and he avoided probably as long as possible to break with the king. He also showed himself in a positive light as a ruler of his vasalries, and the inhabitants praised him repeatedly in his relations to them.

Danmarks Adels Aarbog 1900, S. 420 f.; 1901, S. 566.
P. v. Möller, Bidrag t. Hallands hist. I, 141 ff.
William Christensen.

Thott, Erik Axelsen, –1481,Swedish rigsforstander, (vice-regent) was a son of the above mentioned Axel Pedersen T. and Ingeborg Ivarsdatter. He resided already in his younger years in Sweden and is mentioned in 1441 as a ridder and as the servant of the marsk Carl Knutsson. In 1444 he is written of Lagnø in Sødermanland, which he had got via his first wife, a daughter of Matts Ødglislesson Lilja, in 1447 he was a herredshøvding (chief of a district) in Lysings herred  (district) in Østergøtland and after Carl Knutssons accession to the throne he was rigsråd. In 1450 he took part as a Swedish delegate in the Halmstad-meeting, which held some unfavourable conditions for king Carl, but the same year he was one of the judges of Magnus Gren, whose successor he became as a vasal at Åbo, although he did not keep the vasalry for long -  on the contrary he is mentioned as a vasal at Nykøping 1451-66. In 1453 he once again took part in judging some of Christian I's Swedish supporters, but when the Uppsala-bishop Jøns Bengtsson rebelled against king Carl in the beginning of 1457, the king did not trust E.A. more than putting him in prison at Nykøbing. Soon after he was free again, and when king Carl had left by ship, archbishop Jøns and E.A. were together elected rigsforstandere in March 1457.

Not long after was Christian I accepted king in Sweden, E.A. who had gone to Finland to work for Christian's accept there, still called himself rigsforstander a short time after Christian in June 1457 was elected king, but thereafter he had to be content with the office as hofmester (master of court) in Sweden ( a position he has from 1457 and still in 1466);  likewise he was rewarded with Viborg vasalry by the king, which he kept from 1457 until his death in 1463. When Christian disagreed with archbishop Jøns Bengtsson and sent him to prison, E.A. was several times among those, who acknowledged  this step, and also after bishop Kettil Carlsson's rebellion and king Carl's return in 1464 he stayed for a period on Christian I's side. When Christian then reconciled with archbishop Jøns and bishop Kettil, E.A. fought at New Year's time 1465 together with those against king Carl and forced him to give up his rule in January 1465,  whereafter he accompanied the dethroned king to Finland, where the king had been given several vasalries.

But E.A soon disagreed with the archbishop, who now (for a period together with bishop Kettil) ruled Sweden as a rigsforstander without wanting to share his power with E.A. like in 1457, and E.A. came closer to his brother Iver in the Swedish Selvstændighedsparti (Indenpendent-party). E.A. had since 1456 been married to Eline, a daughter of Gustav Algotsson Sture, she was a cousin of Sten Sture the Elder's father and a widow after Carl Knutsson's halfbrother Knut Stensson Bjelke, who died in 1451. In the autumn of 1466 was held a Union-meeting in Nykøping, where Iver Axelsen took part as the king's representative; but he married however Carl Knutsson's daughter Magdalena, and the present Swedish rigsråds, among those E.A. decided that Carl Knutsson should get back his estate; those who had bought this estate from Christian I, were referred to seek compensation  from the king. A decision like that of course made Christian I furious, and it did not get better, when the Swedish participants from Nykøping went to Stockholm and forced the archbishop to give up his rigsforstanderskab ( rule) and transfer Stockholm castle to E.A., who now became rigsforstander and was considered this on 18 October.

When Christian I after this confiscated the late Philippus Axelsen's pawn-vasalry Tranekær, the final break came between the king and hr. Philippus' left full brothers, of whom E.A. and Iver sent the king termination- letters. E.A. did not find a full acknowledgement in Sweden, which was ravaged by tough party-fights.
In the summer of 1467 he was also under siege in Stockholm, partly by Danish troops under the lead of Claus Rønnov and archbishop Jøns Bengtsson and partly by the archbishop's Swedish friends. But Iver Axelsen came to his brother's assistance from Gulland; so the siege was given up and the Danes had to sail back again, and Carl Knutsson was then in 1467 called back and became king for the third time, while E.A. gave up the rule as rigsforstander and withdrew to Finland, where he was a vasal not only at Viborg but also - in 1466 and 1468 - at Åbo. His estate in Denmark was together with his full brothers' estate passed by judgment to Christian I - the exact date is not known - and he is in the following period still mentioned as an opponent of Christian I. He gave Sten Sture a good support in his first time as rigsforstander, and he took part as a  Swedish delegate in the agreement-meetings in Kalmar in 1472 and 1474. But in his later years he stayed especially in Finland, where he was høvedsmand (chief) at the important border-castle Viborg, and he played an important role at Tavastehus, like in the Swedish relations to the Order in Lifland and to the Russians; as a defense against the Russians he established St. Olofsborg, later called Nyslott. He died at Viborg 1481, latest 28. March, after having transferred the castle-laws of Viborg. Tavastehus and St. Olofsborg to his brothers Iver and Laurens. His second wife still lived in 1493, but was dead in 1496.

Styffe, Bidrag t. Skandinaviens hist. III-IV.
P. v. Möller, Bidrag t. Hallands hist. I, 116 ff.
William Christensen.


Thott, Iver Axelsen, –1487, Danish and later Swedish rigsraad, was a full brother of the above mentioned Erik Axelsen T. He might have been a væbner in 1442, but was mentioned in 144 as a ridder and of Knabstrup (in Merløse herred), a manor he probably got via his wife Margrethe Poulsdatter Laxmand. In 1447 the Axel-sons arranged that I. and the elder half brother Aage should manage their later father's vasalry in Varberg together; but it is not known, if this arrangement came to be for I.'s part. He was a Danish rigsråd from 1449, where he in 1453 together with Claus Rønnov made an agreement with Carl Knutsson in Vadstena and in Stockholm, like he in 1454 got the authority to take part in a new meeting with the Swedes in Rønneby and in 1455 negotiated with them in Vadstena.  In 1452 he had an unfortunate contact with the Swedes during king Carl's attack into Skåne, since his manor in Herlev (inherited from his father) was burnt down by them; according to a later story he showed his patriotism by, for the time being, reconciling with archbishop Tuve Nielsen of Lund (with whom he had had a feud) in order to defend the country against the enemy together with the archbishop. The story might be unreliable and does not fit well with I.A.'s behaviour later on, when he put his own and his family's interests above those of his mother country.

In 1464 the brother Philippus Axelsen died, he had been the successor of the elder half brother Oluf
as the governor of Gulland, and hr. I. who the same year had taken part in a Danish delegation to Preussia, took over Gulland, (temporarily as king Christian's man), which had been Oluf's pawn. What made I.A. begin to get closer to the Swedish Selvstændighedsparti (Independent-party) is not known; but he started on a line which might open great possibiliteis for him in Sweden, but at the same time brought his position in Denmark at risc; he was not like his brother Erik discontent because he did not achieve a new important position in Sweden, since he never had one before. But it is certain that a papal dispensation was made for I.A. in October 1465 - (who was now a widower, not only after Margrethe Laxmand, but also after a later wife, Marine, a daughter of Torbern Bille) - when he married his relative king Carl Knutsson's daughter Magdalene. In the following autumn at the Union-meeting in Nykøping, where I.A. took part as a Danish delegate, the wedding took place, and at the same time I.'s daughter Beate married the then supporter of the Swedish selvstændighedsparti, Arvid Trolle. At this point was also made the decision with the Swedes - partly caused by I.A. - about Carl Knutsson's estate, and the following insertion of Erik Axelsen as a rigsforstander, both events must have awoken Christian I's fury against the Axel-sons.

Possibly because of that the king took Tranekær from Philippus' heirs; but this caused again that Erik and I.A. sent the king their letters of notice. Hr. I., who was now an independent ruler at Gulland for 20 years, assisted Erik in Stockholm in the summer 1467, but possibly were both theirs as well as the third brother Lauren's estate in Denmark  judged to the crown. From properties I.A. had besides Herlev, Lillø also in Gers herred and vasalries Sølvitsborg and Gers and Villands herred and Væ by, all pawned to him. The king now put a siege on  Sølvitsborg and  Lillø, and in September the crew at Sølvitsborg had to give up the castle. Lillø stood firm in the winter 1467-68, and I.A. succeeded in 1468 in rescueing the farm, but at the Lent the same year the king became master of Lillø, which he let demolish.  The attempts, which were made in order to get an agreement between the king and hr. I (at meetings in Halmstad in 1468 and in Lübeck in 1469) did not succeed.

They had a meeting in March 1468 in Sweden( in Ørebro), where the present rigsråds promised that when king Carl died they would have his son-in-law I.A. (who probably was Swedish rigsråd already) for their authorized høvedsmand (chief),  until the whole rigsråd was assembled and could agree about a new regent. In October 1469, when Carl Knutsson's Swedish opponents again raised, I.A.'s wife Magdalena and son-in-law Arvid Trolle and more were taken prisoners in Vadstena by Erik Carlsson Vasa, but the imprisonment probably did not last for long. Carl Knutsson died the following year; upon his deathbed he had given Sten Sture the management of the kingdom without considering the promise, which had been given to I.A. 2 years before. For the time being there was no enmity between I.A. and Sten Sture, of whom the first mentioned gradually had got several  Swedish vasalries, like Stäkeborg. Gulland was not dependent of Sweden, the Hanseatics complained about the piracy from the Gullanders, and Carl Knutsson had before his death replied that he had no power of this island, which I.A. kept for Christian I's hand, until he was paid what king Christian owed him and his brothers' children, and then he would give the island to the Danish king.

At the  Fredsmødet (Peace-meeting) in  Kalmar 1472 between Denmark and Sweden it was among other things decided that I.A. temporarily should have Gers herred, Væ and Villands herred back, until it could be judged, if those vasalries belonged to him or the king, and a similar judgement had to be done about Sølvitsborg, but I. should however not have this vasalry before a decision of the judgement was made. I.A. was present as a Swedish attorney on the following Kalmar-meetings in 1473, 1474 and 1476,  but in spite of the repeated promises from the Danes in 1473 and 1474 it is obvious that the judgment, which was planned in 1472, was never made. In 1476 I.A. declared to king Christian himself that he until now had kept Visborg to the hands of the king and Denmark's crown and also wished to continue this in the future, a declaration which did not have any practical importance for the time being.

I.A. had reason for keeping a good relation to Denmark since he gradually had got enemies in many places. Like his brother Erik he had intervened in the affairs of the Lifland Order, but this was of little importance, since the Swedish government did the same shortly after. The fury of the Hanseatics were awoken by him already in the late ruling period of Carl Knutsson, since the people he sent from Gulland made the shipping riscy. This had not improved since then, and for a time his piracy especially hit the Dutch, but this was of little importance as long I.A.was on good terms with Sten Sture. But I.A.'s brother Erik died in 1481 after having transferred the laws of the castle from his large Finnish vasalries to the brothers I. and Laurens. Sten Sture was probably very discontent with a power expand like this for I.A. and his brother - he made an attempt to get the vasalries back to the Crown, and the negotiations led finally in 1483 after Lauren's death to an agreement between I.A. and Sten Sture, where the first gave Erik Axelsen's Finnish vasalries (Viborg, Tavastehus and St.Olofsborg) to Sten Sture and in return got Borgholm at Øland for life - and likewise Raseborg vasalry, which Laurens Axelsen had had himself,  and which his children now was given the right to keep for some years after I.A.'s death.

A couple of months later I.A. was as a Swedish delegate present at the Union-meeting in Kalmar; where the Kalmar Recess was adopted, like he in 1482 and 1484 took part in meetings between Danes and Swedes in the same city.  But in 1484 I.A. tried at a meeting in Stockholm to have Sten Sture ousted as rigsforstander and his son-in-law Arvid Trolle appointed instead. His piracy however still caused some discontent among seafarers, who complained to the Swedish government; and since the high-handed way in which I.A. ruled his Swedish vasalries also awoke the anger of Sten Sture, and an attempt to solve the feud in a peaceful way did not succeed, since I.A. did not want to attend the negotations with the rigsforstander, then Sten Sture finally in 1487 started a siege of Borgholm, where his opponent resided, like he at the same time put a close on Stäkeborg and Raseborg.

When I.A. for so song could stay in his independence at Gulland, it was naturally because neither Denmark nor Sweden dared use the utmost precautions against him in the fear of that he thereby would join the other country completely and bring it the important advantage, which the supremacy of the important Baltic Sea would give. Sten Sture had however begun an attack,  and it soon showed how uncertain I.A.'s position was under these circumstances. Not long after the beginning of the siege of Borgholm, he succeeded in February 1487 at night to escape to Visby in a boat and left his wife at Borgholm, but since he doubted if he alone could fight Sten Sture, he went to king Hans and promised him Gulland.  A Danish fleet now went to Gulland, and the castle and the island came into the hands of the king without difficulties, in June king Hans was paid tribute in Visby by the inhabitants, and I.A. swore an oath of allegiance and was forgiven again. The crew at Stäkeborg had probably in May given up the castle to Sten Sture, and also Raseborg gave in, and after Visborg's surrender king Hans had an agreement with Sten Sture who promised to work for him , while the king in return promised that I.A. had to give Sten Sture Øland and Borgholm. I.A. tried to avoid this commitment, but the king forced him to fullfil it, and I.A. took with his wife Magdalene (who had stayed at Borgholm until the surrender) up residence at Lillø.

He was now a defeated man, he had lost his independent position at Gulland, where king Hans had placed another vasal, he had also lost his Swedish vasalries, and if he got back his earlier Danish pawn-vasalries is not known, there was no mentioning about him being a member of the Danish rigsråd again. He did not survive his defeat for long: He died 1 october 1487, and 8 years later in 1495 (ab. 24 August) his wife followed him to the grave. The special position he had for about 20 years as an independent prince at Gulland is a witness about that he was highly gifted, but his power depended first of all on the contrast between Denmark and Sweden; it had no natural basis, which is obvious by how fast it was broken in 1487.

Styffe, Bidrag t. Skandinaviens hist. III-IV. P. v. Möller, Bidrag t. Hallands hist. I, 127 ff. William Christensen.


Thott, Laurens Axelsen, –1483, Danish and later Swedish rigsråd, he was son of (afak the youngest surviving) of above mentioned Axel Pedersen T. and his 2 wife. In 1447 after his father's death he was still under age, but is mentioned in 1459 as a ridder. He had in 1462 pawned Grubbe-Ordrup in Voldborg herred from his brother Philippus and became (date not known) the owner of Næsbygård, the present Næsbyholm in Tybjerg herred; in 1465 he is mentioned as a vasal at Stege and the same year a single time as rigsråd. In July 1466 he was present at a thing in Copenhagen, but when the Nykøping-meeting in autumn the same year meant a break between Christian I and some of the Axel-sons, L.A. shared fate with his brothers Erik and Iver. He took up residence in Sweden, while his Danish estate went to the Crown, and he lost among others his pawn Skelskør town. In the Kalmar-meeting in 1472 it was decided that all, who had lost their estate in the kingdoms should get it back again, except the royal estate they had pawned - L.A. should get back Skelskør, until at judgement from the rigsråds of 3 kingdoms had decided, to whom the town belonged. These decisions, which was repeated in 1474, meant that Næsbygård later was inherited by L.A.'s children, but it did not mean that he returned to Denmark. He especially resided in Finland, where he 1468 became vasal at Raseborg, but he is also mentioned as a member of the Swedish rigsråd. His brother Erik had shortly before his death  (1481) transferred the castle-laws of his Finnish vasalries Viborg, Tavastehus and St. Olofsborg to Iver and L.A., and Sten Sture's attempt to get hold of these vasalries did not succeed, while L.A., who was now mentioned as høvedsmand at Viborg, was alive. He died in 1483 (between 1. February and 20 June.)

In Sweden had L.A. from his brother Erik transferred the farm Åsta in Sødermanland. He was married twice, first to the Danish-born Karen Jonsdatter Viffert, who drowned in 1468 at Raseborg and then to Catarina, who was a daughter of the Swedish Erik Nipertz and a widow after Erik Nilsson (Oxenstjerna).She outlived L.A. 

Danmarks Adels Aarbog 1900, S. 429 f. Styffe, Bidrag t. Skandinaviens hist. III-IV. P. v. Möller, Bidrag t. Hallands hist. I, 139 f.
William Christensen.

Thott, Oluf Axelsen, –1464, marsk, was a son of the above mentioned Axel Pedersen T. and his first wife and was in 1414 matriculated at Leipzig University. In 1419 hr. Henning Podebusk promised to lay out one half of Vallø with adjoining estate to him, while hr. Henning at the same time pawned the other half to his father (which Axel Pedersen later transferred to O. A.), and O. A. was already then married or engaged to Karen, a daughter of the former owner of Vallø, hr. Jens Eskilsen Falk, and a sister of Henning Podebusk's wife. O. A. was among those, who co-sealed the king's letter to the Swedes  in Stockholm in 1434, and is mentioned the following year as a rigsråd.  In the last ruling period of Erik af Pommern however, arose obviously a strong tension between O. A. and the king. In 1439 the king says that the rigsråd should have granted safe passage from  O. A., but they had not done this, and the king did not consider himself safe on life and estate;  later stories mention how O. A. once, when he met the king's mistress Cecilie, had beaten her and told her in frank words that she once would separate the king from Denmark.

O A. is also, contrarily to his father, among the rigsråds, who in 1438 addressed Christoffer of Bavaria, and he was one of the issuers of the termination-letter in 1439. And he achieved quickly considerable favours during the new government. He was probably knighted at king Christoffer's coronation in Sweden in 1441. In 1442 he is a vasal at Vordingborg, and became vasal in Christoffer of Bavaria's rule at Ålholm, a position, he still had in September 1448. And in 1443 he was a marsk and kept this office until after the king's death, although another owner of the office is mentioned in 1449. O. A. was among those, who king Christoffer in his will inserted as one of his executors, and a German chronicle - -which holds an unreliable tale that O.A. during the king-less period, when no one would give queen Dorothea access to any castle in the kingdom , had taken care of her and given her residence - - adds that " he rode with 300 horses in the country, because he was a Marsk."

In 1448 the new Swedish king, Carl Knutsson, did a raid on Gulland. But king Erik at Visborg took connection to Christian I, and soon after Easter 1449 king Erik's former enemy O. A. arrived with several Danish ships to the island; he could not force his way into Visby Harbour, which was blocked by the Swedes, but came via a secret access in connection with the castle, which now got a Danish crew, while king Erik sailed away. In the middle of July 1449 O. A., who at this point calls himself høvedsmand (chief) at Visborg, made an agreement with the Swedish høvedsmand at Gulland, Magnus Gren of that each part could keep what they had, until a judgment was made by Danish and Swedish rigsråds, if the island belonged to Denmark or Sweden. Soon after Christian I arrived with the Danish main force, and although O.A. maybe told the Swedes that he would let himself be killed in front of the king, before this should break the agreeement, the Danish yet tried to attack Visby to gain the power. This attempt did possibly not succeed,  but there was still  made a new agreement, according to which the question - as earlier decided  - should be done by a judgment, but until then the Danish must rule the whole island, and the Swedes had to leave it at once.  This judgment was never made however, and the Danes were now again in the possession of Gulland. To reach this goal it seems that neither Christian I or O.A. were very  particular, but the case might look different, if there was a full report from the Danish side.

O. A. was until his death vasal at Gulland, which he got as a pawn (date not known), and as a consequence of the island's situation in the middle of the Baltic he played an important role in Denmark's relation with Sweden, and almost more with the Hanseatics. Already in the end of 1451 he harrassed the Swedish coasts, and in 1452 he was together with Magnus Gren the leader of a Danish fleet,  which made an unsuccessfull attack on Stockholm and the eastern Sweden,  and in 1457, after the rebellion of archbishop Jøns Bengtsson, he arrived with a fleet to Stockholm long before Christian I. himself. In his position as a vasal at Gulland not only his conduct towards the shipwrecked people called for discontent by the Hanseatics, it was the same enmity he achieved, since he always tried to prevent all trade with Sweden, so the Swedish kingdom was soon in a hostile relation to Denmark. The agreement between Christian I and the Hanseatics in Flensborg in 1455 held also a special decision that the king had to make O.A. stop his piracy; but since the Hanseatics at the same time, according to the king, promised to stop all trade with Sweden and Preussia, it is not a surprise that O.A. and other Danish magnates are seen with several ships at Estonia's coast to prevent this trade. Years later, in 1462, he took part together with his brothers Aage and Erik, in a feud about Øsel stift (district) when with an armed force he assisted one of the candidates of the bishopric.

Besides Gulland O. A. had at his death also Stevns and Bjeverskov herred as a pawn. His most important property was Vallø, to which he is still written in his last years, but he had already in the estate given up his right of the manor Hjuleberg to his brother Aage. In 1451 he got as a pawn Skullerupholm in Voldborg herred from Steen Basse's widow,  fru Eline Johansdatter Bjørn, whose guardian he was,  like he also got Lykkesholm in Vinding herred transferred from her; but he was in a feud with others about these two estates and had to give up some of it.

O. A. died at Gulland 16. Sept. 1464. With his first wife, the above mentioned Karen Jensdatter Falk, he had a daughter Birgitte. Of fru Karen's relation to O. A. is told in family books that "he did not like her ways", and after her death he was unmarried for 22 years, which is probbaly not true; he was married in 1430 to Johanne Nielsdatter Brock of Vemmetofte, who probably lived in 1445, but was dead in 1456. After her he married  Anne Jensdatter Present, who at her husband's death took over the rule of Gulland together with his halfbrother Philippus, but she left the island already the following year. From her and O.A.'s children is the most wellknown the daughter Birgitte, who later married Niels Eriksen Rosenkrantz . Fru Anne Jensdatter lived 1485, but was dead 28. March 1487.

Danmarks Adels Aarbog 1900, S. 418 f. P. v. Möller, Bidrag t. Hallands hist. I, 109 ff. 115.
William Christensen.


Thott, Peder Axelsen, –1463, dean of the chapter  was a son of above mentioned Axel Pedersen T.and his first mentioned wife. In 1413 he was matriculated at Leipzig- and i winter 1418-19 at Heidelberg-University, and in 1423 he was, while he was a canon in Lund and decan in  Linkøping, dean of the chapter in Lund. In 1430 he is mentioned a couple of times as a rigsråd. In 1437, when he studied in Bologna, he caused by making various accuse against the prior in Dalby that the pope himself gave him the prior's office, if the accuse in an investigation showed to be the truth. A legal investigation was not carried through however, but  P. A. took the office anyway, and although the pope in 1438 re-installed the former prior,  P. A.is still seen as «Commender» or prior in Dalby until his death.

When his conduct at this occassion shows him as a violent and ruthless charcacter, it is confirmed by what else is known about him. He could not get on with anyone of  Peder Lykke's successors at Lund archbishopric; archbishop Hans Laxmand complained that P.A. rode with a shield and a sword - and that his servants wore crossbows, and P.A.'s relation to the archbishop Tuve Nielsen was not much better. He seems also to have been on bad terms with other members of the chapter.  King Christoffer af Bavaria was once angry with P.A:, but it was a little better in Christian I's rule, although he showed little interest in getting P.A. a bishopric, but he never became a bishop, and it seems that the king's sympathy for him was little. In the  1450s Christian recommended him, but at the same time also another to the pope as the candidate of Nidaros archbishopric, after Henrik Kalteisen's resignation, and when bishop Henneke of Odense died in 1459, P.A. tried to become his successor; he declared himself that he had been rightfully chosen by the chapter and that the king had spoken for him ( which seems to be doubtful) , and in 1461 he considered going to Rome to make the pope vote for him. But it is not certain if this journey took place, the pope had already in 1460 voted in favour of another, Mogens Krafse.  P. A. had to be content with the empty title of  ret Electus i Odense, like  he now in his old days called himself the pompous name archdean of the chapter in Lund, a name, which he probably was the first to use. He did not survive his defeat to Mogens Krafse for long, he died 7. June 1463.

Danmarks Adels Aarbog 1900, S. 418. P. v. Möller.
Bidrag t. Hallands hist. I, 115 f
William Christensen


Thott, Philippus Axelsen, -1464, rigsråd, was a son of above mentioned Axel Pedersen T. and his second wife and was like the above mentioned brother Laurens under age  still in 1447. In 1456 he was at the king's court and got Tranekær at Langeland as a pawn. He was possibly knighted at Christian I's coronation in Sweden 1457. When rigsråd in 1462, he had, caused by a new loan he gave the king, the pawn-sum raised at Tranekær and was promised to keep the vasalry unpaid for 6 years.  In August 1464 he was among the Danish commanders who, after Christian I had left Sweden, capitulated at Stockholm; on his way from there he arrived on Gulland together with his brother Erik and several Danish magnates, and when the vasal here, a third brother Oluf, died at the same time ( 16 Sept. 1464) the magnates inserted Ph.A. and hr. Oluf's widow Anne as rulers of the island. But Ph.A died already on 4. November 1464 at Gulland.

He was (earliest in 1455) married to Ermegård, a daughter of Eggert Frille . When Ph. A. died, Eggert Frille became the guardian of his daughter's children and appeared on their behalf as the manager of Tranekær vasalry,  but soon after (latest in May 1467) the king forcefully took the vasalry. The date is not known, but it was after the meeting in Nykøping in 1466. It seems that also Ph.A.'s estate was confiscated, but this was according to the decisions at the Kalmar-meeting in 1472 given back to the heirs. It took a long time though before the question about Tranekær was done, but at last the Crown paid the pawn-sum to Ph.A.'s heirs, of whom fru Ermegård about two years after Ph.'s death had married Bent Torbernsen Bille. She also outlived her second husband, who died in 1494; she died in the time between 13. April 1503 and 23. June 1504. 

Danmarks Adels Aarbog 1900, S. 429.
P. v. Möller, Bidrag t. Hallands hist. I, 119 f. 130. 139.
William Christensen,


Dansk Biografisk Lexicon
Carl Fr. Bricka
Project Runeberg


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