Christian or Christen Mule (died 1589) was a

merchant A merchant is a person who trades in commodities produced by other people, especially one who trades with foreign countries. Historically, a merchant is anyone who is involved in business or trade. Merchants have operated for as long as indust ...

and

Mayor of Oslo The Mayor of Oslo is the chief executive of the Oslo. The Mayor's office administers all city services, public property, most public agencies, and enforces all city and state laws within Oslo city. List of mayors of oslo This is a list of ...

, Norway. He was probably a member of the family Mule from Denmark. Mule's parents have not been identified, but claims that he was the illegitimate son of the unpopular bishop

Hans Mule Hans may refer to: __NOTOC__ People * Hans (name), a masculine given name * Hans Raj Hans, Indian singer and politician ** Navraj Hans, Indian singer, actor, entrepreneur, cricket player and performer, son of Hans Raj Hans ** Yuvraj Hans, Punjabi a ...

, this were disputed by Edvard Bull the elder. Christian was the father of Thomas, Severin (Soren), Kristen, Bertel, and possibly Niels Mule.

Mayor

The first mention of Mule is in 1555, when he is already a central figure in Oslo. He was an advocate for Oslo to the

king King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

in connection with the equipment of a warship. He appeared to have close ties to the Governor-general of Norway,

Christen Munk Christen Munk (1520 – July 5, 1579) was a Danish born, Governor-general of Norway and county governor. Biography He came from Danish nobility and was the son of Hans Munk (died 1535) and Maren Christensdatter Spend (died 1543). He started h ...

, and was appointed mayor of Oslo by him in 1567. In 1579, king Frederick II gave the site of the ruins of the old Bishop's residence in Oslo to Mule, and Mule erected a new building there. Accommodation of prominent guests was a key aspect of belonging to the city's elite. The highlight in this respect was undoubtedly when the retired mayor hosted on 23 November 1589 the wedding of

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 sister

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 ...

and James of Scotland.David Stevenson, ''Scotland's Last Royal Wedding'' (Edinburgh, 1997), pp. 36, 92. Mule shared the mayoral office first with Niels Stub and later with Oluf Eriksson Glad, and is noted as mayor for the last time in 1585. One of Mule's sons Niels Kristensson Mule was

Bailiff A bailiff (from Middle English baillif, Old French ''baillis'', ''bail'' "custody") is a manager, overseer or custodian – a legal officer to whom some degree of authority or jurisdiction is given. Bailiffs are of various kinds and their offi ...

from 1572 to 1578. Another son, Bertel Mule was mayor of Oslo from 1605 to 1610, when he was appointed lawspeaker of the

Uplands Upland or Uplands may refer to: Geography *Hill, an area of higher land, generally *Highland, an area of higher land divided into low and high points *Upland and lowland, conditional descriptions of a plain based on elevation above sea level *I ...

. He is the only example known of a father and son in the mayoral chair in Oslo before the fire in 1624.

Seven Years' War

The favors that Mule received were largely motivated by his work during the siege 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 ...

in 1567 during the

Nordic 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 ...

. Mule probably played a key role in the city's citizen militias and the funding of the defense of Akershus. Among other things, Mule's debt of 1000 krone to a Swede transferred to the Crown and after the war a loan to the lord of 250 krone. He took large losses when the city was burnt during the

siege A siege is a military blockade of a city, or fortress, with the intent of conquering by attrition warfare, attrition, or a well-prepared assault. This derives from la, sedere, lit=to sit. Siege warfare is a form of constant, low-intensity con ...

, and estimated the damage to house and property alone at 7000 krone.

Trading

Details of Mule's trading activities are limited but it is known that he bought salt for 30 krone in 1557 and, in partnership with several others, bought hides and skin for 436 valleys and 20 shillings. During and after the war he claimed to have lost three large ships, respectively 100, 200 and 300 lasts. Mule was involved in the import of German beer. During the war he got a tariff exemption on imports of up to 2 lasts (24 barrels) tystøl. A few years later he asked the King for favor for his four sons, in the form of duty-free import of 6.4 lester Rostockerøl for each man.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mule, Christen Mayors of Oslo People from Oslo Norwegian merchants People of the Northern Seven Years' War 1589 deaths Year of birth unknown