Anne Meinstrup (1475–1535) was a politically active Danish noblewoman,

lady-in-waiting A lady-in-waiting or court lady is a female personal assistant at a court, attending on a royal woman or a high-ranking noblewoman. Historically, in Europe, a lady-in-waiting was often a noblewoman but of lower rank than the woman to whom sh ...

and county administrator. Daughter of noble

riksråd Riksrådet (in Norwegian and Swedish), Rigsrådet (in Danish) or (English: the Council of the Realm and the Council of the State – sometimes translated as the "Privy Council") is the name of the councils of the Scandinavian countries that rule ...

Henrik Meinstrup (d.1496) and Margrethe Christiansdatter Daa (d. 1497), she was married to noble

Holger Eriksen Rosenkrantz til Boller (d. 1496) in 1491 and the noble Jørgen Ahlefeldt til Søgaard in

Southern Jutland Southern Jutland ( da, Sønderjylland; German: Südjütland) is the name for the region south of the Kongeå in Jutland, Denmark and north of the Eider (river) in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. The region north of the Kongeå is called da, Nørr ...

, (d. 1500) in 1497. She was made head lady-in-waiting of first

Christina of Saxony Christina of Saxony (born Torgau, 25 December 1461 – died Odense, 8 December 1521), was Queen of Denmark, Norway and Sweden as the wife of King John. Life Early life Christina was engaged to John, King of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, in 14 ...

in 1503 and in 1516 of the next queen

Isabella of Austria Isabella of Austria (18 July 1501 – 19 January 1526), also known as Elizabeth, was Queen of Denmark, Norway and Sweden as the wife of King Christian II. She was the daughter of King Philip I and Queen Joanna of Castile and the sister of Emp ...

. In 1507–17, she was county administrator of Højstrup. In 1517, after the death of

Dyveke Sigbritsdatter Dyveke Sigbritsdatter or ''Dyveke Willomsdatter'', (1490 – 21 September 1517), in Denmark normally known as "''Dyveke''" (in modern Dutch "''duifje''" means "little dove"), was the mistress to Christian II of Denmark. Dyveke was a commoner, ...

, she was replaced as chief lady in waiting to the queen by

Sigbrit Willoms Sigbrit Villoms (also spelled Villums), (possible date of death 1532), was a Danish-Norwegian politician from Amsterdam, mother to the mistress of King Christian II of Denmark, Dyveke Sigbritsdatter, and advisor and de facto minister of finance fo ...

, mother of Dyveke. She criticized the relationship between king

Christian II of Denmark Christian II (1 July 1481 – 25 January 1559) was a Scandinavian monarch under the Kalmar Union who reigned as King of Denmark and Norway, from 1513 until 1523, and Sweden from 1520 until 1521. From 1513 to 1523, he was concurrently Duke ...

and Dyveke, and lived in exile in

Lübeck Lübeck (; Low German also ), officially the Hanseatic City of Lübeck (german: Hansestadt Lübeck), is a city in Northern Germany. With around 217,000 inhabitants, Lübeck is the second-largest city on the German Baltic coast and in the stat ...

in 1517–23. In 1526–33, she was again the first lady-in-waiting of the queen, this time to

Sophie of Pomerania Sophie of Pomerania (1498–1568) was Queen of Denmark and Norway as the spouse of Frederick I. She is known for her independent rule over her fiefs Lolland and Falster, the castles in Kiel and Plön, and several villages in Holstein as queen ...

. She was an influential person in Denmark. In 1511, she was rumoured to have an affair with a court noble. During the

Count's Feud The Count's Feud ( da, Grevens Fejde), also called the Count's War, was a war of succession that raged in Denmark in 1534–36 and brought about the Reformation in Denmark. In the international context, it was part of the European wars of relig ...

1534–36, she was an ally of Count

Christopher of Oldenburg Christopher, Count of Oldenburg (German: ''Christoph, Graf von Oldenburg'') (c. 1504 – 4 August 1566) was German count and regent in eastern Denmark between 1534–36 during the Count's War, Count's Feud (Danish: ''Grevens Fejde'') which was ...

, who granted her the county of Højstrup and Sæbygaard i Løve Herred (1534). Her son, however, belonged to the opposite side. At the public council of

Ringsted Ringsted is a city located centrally in the Danish island of Zealand. It is the seat of a municipality of the same name. Ringsted is situated approximately 60 km from Copenhagen. Tourism and transport Ringsted is one of Denmark's busiest ...

Landsting 20 January 1535, she was summoned as one of the delegates by the count. After a sharp speech, she was lynched by the Count's soldiers. During the war, her murder was frequently used in the propaganda. At the amnesty in Copenhagen of 1536, her murderers were excluded from the amnesty and executed.

References

Dansk biografisk Lexikon / XI. Bind. Maar - Müllner
(in Danish)
Dansk Kvindebiografisk Leksikon
(in Danish) {{DEFAULTSORT:Meinstrup, Anne Court of Christian II of Denmark 1475 births 1535 deaths Danish ladies-in-waiting Danish nobility 16th-century Danish people Lynching deaths Danish murder victims People murdered in Denmark 16th-century Danish women People of the Count's Feud