Gert or Gerhard Rantzau (1558-1627) was a German nobleman in Danish service, soldier and Captain of the Palace and Castle of

Kronborg Kronborg is a castle and stronghold in the town of Helsingør, Denmark. Immortalized as Elsinore in William Shakespeare's play ''Hamlet'', Kronborg is one of the most important Renaissance castles in Northern Europe and was inscribed on the UNE ...

and Flensburg. He was a son of

Heinrich Rantzau Heinrich Rantzau or Ranzow (Ranzovius) (11 March 1526 – 31 December 1598) was a German humanist writer and statesman, a prolific astrologer and an associate of Tycho Brahe. He was son of Johan Rantzau. He was Governor of the Danish royal sh ...

, the King of Denmark's Lieutenant in

Holstein Holstein (; nds, label=Northern Low Saxon, Holsteen; da, Holsten; Latin and historical en, Holsatia, italic=yes) is the region between the rivers Elbe and Eider. It is the southern half of Schleswig-Holstein, the northernmost state of German ...

. His older brother was

Breide Rantzau Breide Rantzau (13 October 1556 10 January 1618) was a German nobleman in Danish-Norwegian service. He served as ''stadtholder'' of Copenhagen from 1602. Early life He was born on 13 October 1556 at Segeberg, the son of Heinrich Rantzau, and th ...

. In the winter of 1581-2 he was sent to Spain as an ambassador to

Philip II Philip II may refer to: * Philip II of Macedon (382–336 BC) * Philip II (emperor) (238–249), Roman emperor * Philip II, Prince of Taranto (1329–1374) * Philip II, Duke of Burgundy (1342–1404) * Philip II, Duke of Savoy (1438-1497) * Philip ...

, offering troops and ships to fight in the Netherlands. Daniel Rogers, an English diplomat, wrote of him in 1588, "Gerard Rantzow is son to the King's Lieutenant, which Gerard is Constable of the Castle of Kronborg and Captain of the King's Guard, whose like I have not seen for his years in many kingdoms: for being but of the age of 31 years, he has seen the most part of Europe, of Greece, and of Egypt: and speaks 6 languages very well, and is a comely and able gentleman of great spirit." Roger wrote that Rantzau offer to raise soldiers to fight for Queen Elizabeth. Rogers wrote a similar note for

Cecil Cecil may refer to: People with the name * Cecil (given name), a given name (including a list of people and fictional characters with the name) * Cecil (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name) Places Canada *Cecil, Alberta, ...

mentioning that Gert Rantzau had been in favour with the late king, Frederick II of Denmark, that he had been in Constantinople and Spain, and visited the English court. Rantzau like many aristocrats collected signatures. He used the blank leaves of a psalm book for the autographs of James VI of Scotland and

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 from their marriage on 20 August 1589 and Queen of England and Ireland from the union of the Scottish and Eng ...

who stayed at Kronborg in 1590. She signed "Anna Royne d'ecosse" and wrote in French that "Everything was in the hands of God." She wrote the same motto in the autograph book of another guest at Kronborg, Dietrich Bevernest. Rantzau wrote to the former Scottish ambassador Sir Patrick Vans of Barnbarroch in August 1588 recommending two young travellers in Denmark and Sweden and mentioning Andrew Keith, Lord Dingwall. In 1590 he became Captain of the Castle of Flensburg, where the Scottish diplomat John Skene visited him and his wife on 1 August 1590.David Scott Gehring, ''Diplomatic Intelligence on the Holy Roman Empire and Denmark during the Reigns of Elizabeth I and James VI: Three Treatises'', Camden Fifth Series, 49 (Cambridge, 2016), pp. 164, 168.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rantzau, Gert 16th-century German people 17th-century German people 1558 births 1627 deaths

Gert Gert is a mainly masculine given name ( short form of Gerrit, Gerard, etc.) with some female bearers (short for Gertrude). Since 1993 no one in Sweden has been baptised as Gert according to the Swedish Bureau of Census, so the name is becomin ...

Ambassadors of Denmark to Spain Kronborg