Gude Axelsen Giedde ( sv, Gude Axelsson Gedda) (1510-1590) was a Norwegian

military officer An officer is a person who holds a position of authority as a member of an armed force or uniformed service. Broadly speaking, "officer" means a commissioned officer, a non-commissioned officer, or a warrant officer. However, absent context ...

, Lutheran prelate, and provost in Kville,

Bohuslän Bohuslän (; da, Bohuslen; no, Båhuslen) is a Swedish province in Götaland, on the northernmost part of the country's west coast. It is bordered by Dalsland to the northeast, Västergötland to the southeast, the Skagerrak arm of the North Sea ...

, then part of Norway.

Biography

Gude Axelsen Giedde was born in 1510 in Trondheim, Norway, as a son of Axel Giedde and Margareta Pedersdotter. His father, who was a lieutenant in Trondheim, is said to have lost his nobility due to marriage with a

commoner A commoner, also known as the ''common man'', ''commoners'', the ''common people'' or the ''masses'', was in earlier use an ordinary person in a community or nation who did not have any significant social status, especially a member of neither ...

, a daughter of 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 ...

. Gude married Johanna Pedersdotter, with whom he had at least three sons. It has been speculated that he was the great-grandson of :sv:Erengisle Gädda of the Swedish noble family Gädda from

Småland Småland () is a historical province () in southern Sweden. Småland borders Blekinge, Scania, Halland, Västergötland, Östergötland and the island Öland in the Baltic Sea. The name Småland literally means ''Small Lands''. The Latinized fo ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

, but this remains unattested. In any case, his family descendants were ennobled in the name of Gedda (n:o 2168) by King

Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden Gustav IV Adolf or Gustav IV Adolph (1 November 1778 – 7 February 1837) was King of Sweden from 1792 until he was deposed in a coup in 1809. He was also the last Swedish monarch to be the ruler of Finland. The occupation of Finland in 1808–09 ...

in 1797; he became the asserted primogenitor of this family. In his youth he studied at the University of Wittenberg in Wittenberg, Holy Roman Empire, and became a follower and friend of Martin Luther with whom he often corresponded. When Giedde returned to Norway he became an officer. As a devoted adherent of Lutheranism, for his personal security during the tumultuous time of the Protestant Reformation, he is said to ridden his horse equipped with a sword and pistols. His sword was inherited down to his grandson Peder Jenssen, who however lost it in a fire. The Danish-Norwegian King Christian III was concerned about imposing the Protestant Reformation in his dominions and therefore needed clergy profoundly introduced in the Lutheran teachings. Giedde thus left his military career in order to become a priest. In 1534 he was appointed vicar in Kville, Bohuslen, then belonging to Norway, becoming the region's first Lutheran priest, succeeding the Catholic monk Gudmund. When Pehr Kalm visited

Fjällbacka Fjällbacka is a Urban areas in Sweden, locality situated in Tanum Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden with 859 inhabitants in 2010. Fjällbacka is mostly known as a summer tourist resort, with a long history, and as the setting for man ...

in 1742, he was told the story about how Gudmund went under and died due to the "Gudmund skerry" in the sea outside the port of

. Giedde remained vicar there until 1573, when he was appointed religious provost in Viken.Ragnar Kvillmark: Fyra gårdar, fyra släkter i Norra Bohuslän, s 18 Due to his old age he had become blind when he was visited in Kville by King James VI of Scotland. He died in 1590 in Kville, in today's Tanum Municipality,

References

{{authority control 16th-century Norwegian Lutheran clergy Clergy from Trondheim 1510 births 1590 deaths 16th-century Norwegian military personnel University of Wittenberg alumni