Axel Gyldenstierne (born c. 1542, died 13 July 1603 at

Sandviken Sandviken is a locality and the seat of Sandviken Municipality in Gävleborg County, Sweden with 39,234 inhabitants in 2019. It is situated about 25 km west of Gävle and lies approximately 190 km north of Stockholm. The rail journey t ...

Gotland Gotland (, ; ''Gutland'' in Gutnish), also historically spelled Gottland or Gothland (), is Sweden's largest island. It is also a province, county, municipality, and diocese. The province includes the islands of Fårö and Gotska Sandön to the ...

) was a Danish-Norwegian official and Governor-general of Norway from 1588 until 1601.

Northern Seven Years' War

He is first mentioned in the records during the

Northern Seven Years' War The Northern Seven Years' War (also known as the ''Nordic Seven Years' War'', the ''First Northern War'' or the ''Seven Years War in Scandinavia'') was fought between the Kingdom of Sweden and a coalition of Denmark–Norway, Lübeck, and Polan ...

(1563–70), when he served at King Frederik II’s court, as well as in field operations. He was a member of the king's retinue at the peace treaty negotiations at

Roskilde Roskilde ( , ) is a city west of Copenhagen on the Danish island of Zealand. With a population of 51,916 (), the city is a business and educational centre for the region and the 10th largest city in Denmark. It is governed by the administrative ...

and served as the government's messenger to peace mediators in

Szczecin Szczecin (, , german: Stettin ; sv, Stettin ; Latin: ''Sedinum'' or ''Stetinum'') is the capital and largest city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in northwestern Poland. Located near the Baltic Sea and the German border, it is a major s ...

. His records were a significant contribution to the recorded Danish history of this war. The Treaty of Stettin was concluded on 13 December 1570, ending the Northern Seven Years' War between the

Swedish Empire The Swedish Empire was a European great power that exercised territorial control over much of the Baltic region during the 17th and early 18th centuries ( sv, Stormaktstiden, "the Era of Great Power"). The beginning of the empire is usually ta ...

and Denmark-Norway (in alliance with

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 ...

and Poland-Lithuania). The treaty was favorable for Denmark, assuring Danish hegemony in

Northern Europe The northern region of Europe has several definitions. A restrictive definition may describe Northern Europe as being roughly north of the southern coast of the Baltic Sea, which is about 54th parallel north, 54°N, or may be based on other g ...

for a short period.

Danish National Council

After the war he was awarded feudal lordships in

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

and

Skåne Scania, also known by its native name of Skåne (, ), is the southernmost of the historical provinces (''landskap'') of Sweden. Located in the south tip of the geographical region of Götaland, the province is roughly conterminous with Skåne C ...

. From 1579 he served as a judge in

; from 1581, he was a member of the Danish National Council and in 1585 he and

Christoffer Valkendorf Christoffer Valkendorff (1 September 152517 January 1601) was a Danish-Norwegian statesman and landowner. His early years in the service of Frederick II brought him both to Norway, Ösel and Livland. He later served both as Treasurer and ''Stad ...

were responsible for the national government in the king's absence.

Service in Norway

When King Fredrik II died in 1588

Christian IV Christian IV (12 April 1577 – 28 February 1648) was King of Denmark and Norway and Duke of Holstein and Schleswig from 1588 until his death in 1648. His reign of 59 years, 330 days is the longest of Danish monarchs and Scandinavian monar ...

's regents (Christian IV was inducted as a child king), appointed Gyldenstierne to serve as Governor-general of Norway and feudal overlord of

Akershus Akershus () is a traditional region and current electoral district in Norway, with Oslo as its main city and traditional capital. It is named after the Akershus Fortress in Oslo. From the middle ages to 1919, Akershus was a fief and main county ...

. He worked in close consultation with the regents, traveling annually to

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

to confer with them and participate in Danish meetings. During his time as governor-general he established a ministry of justice, upgraded

Akershus fortress Akershus Fortress ( no, Akershus Festning, ) or Akershus Castle ( no, Akershus slott ) is a medieval castle in the Norwegian capital Oslo that was built to protect and provide a royal residence for the city. Since the Middle Ages the fortress h ...

, raised taxes, and limited the ingress of Sweden in the north. While there, Gyldenstierne played a central role at the wedding of

James VI of Scotland James VI and I (James Charles Stuart; 19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625) was King of Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the Scottish and English crowns on 24 March 1603 until hi ...

and Princess

Anne of Denmark Anne of Denmark (; 12 December 1574 – 2 March 1619) was the wife of King James VI and I; as such, she was Queen of Scotland The monarchy of the United Kingdom, commonly referred to as the British monarchy, is the constitutional fo ...

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

. Anne and James were formally married at the

Old Bishop's Palace in Oslo The Old Bishop's Palace in Oslo (''Oslo Bispeborg'') was the residence of the Roman Catholic bishops of Oslo. The estate is located in what is now called Gamlebyen (old town) in Oslo, Norway. Various remnants of the medieval bishop's original pal ...

on 23 November 1589, "with all the splendour possible at that time and place". So that both bride and groom could understand, Leith minister David Lindsay conducted the ceremony in French, describing Anne as "a Princess both godly and beautiful...she giveth great contentment to his Majesty". On 15 December 1589 James VI decided to reward Steen Brahe and Gyldenstierne for their good service in attending Anne of Denmark and organising the reception and lodging of his retinue with a gift of silver plate. The cupboard of silver had been a gift from Queen Elizabeth.''Calendar State Papers Scotland'', vol. 10 (Edinburgh, 1936), pp. 160-162: Annie I. Cameron, ''Calendar State Papers Scotland: 1593-1595'', vol. 11 (Edinburgh, 1936), p. 130. Gyldenstierne also organized the Norwegian tribute to Christian IV in June 1591. He also played a personal role in encouraging

Peder Claussøn Friis Peder Claussøn Friis (1 April 1545 – 15 October 1614) was a Norwegian clergyman, author and historian. He is most associated with his translation of ''Snorre Sturlessøns Norske Kongers Chronica''. Peder Claussen Friis grew up in Audnedal i ...

, a historian, linguist and scientist, to translate the

Norse saga is a series of science fantasy role-playing video games by Square Enix. The series originated on the Game Boy in 1989 as the creation of Akitoshi Kawazu at Square. It has since continued across multiple platforms, from the Super NES to the Play ...

s which tell of the lives of Scandinavian kings from

old Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and t ...

to Danish-Norwegian. The translations came into the possession of Ole Worm, who first printed them in 1633.

Retirement

Gyldenstierne left on his own initiative in 1601, and received two fiefs in

Blekinge Blekinge (, old da, Bleking) is one of the traditional Swedish provinces (), situated in the southern coast of the geographic region of Götaland, in southern Sweden. It borders Småland, Scania and the Baltic Sea. It is the country's second ...

. He participated in a trip to Russia, 1602–03, as an escort for the Danish king's brother, Prince Hans, who was to marry Tsar

Boris Godunov Borís Fyodorovich Godunóv (; russian: Борис Фёдорович Годунов; 1552 ) ruled the Tsardom of Russia as ''de facto'' regent from c. 1585 to 1598 and then as the first non-Rurikid tsar from 1598 to 1605. After the end of his ...

's daughter Ksenia (Xenia), but fell ill and died before the marriage could take place. Gyldenstierne died during the journey back home.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gyldenstjerne, Axel 1540s births 1603 deaths 16th-century Danish nobility Governors-general of Norway 16th-century Danish people 16th-century Norwegian people Gyldenstierne family