: ''For the royal illegitimate sons in Denmark-Norway, see Gyldenløve.'' Coatofarms-Gyldenloeve no

Gyldenløve ( English: lit. ''Golden Lion'') is the modern name of a medieval and now extinct family of the

Norwegian nobility Aristocracy of Norway refers to Modern history, modern and Medieval Ages, medieval Aristocracy (class), aristocracy in Norway. Additionally, there have been economical, political, and military elites thatrelating to the main lines of History of N ...

. During the Late Middle Ages Gyldenløve was one of the most important families in Norway's social and political life. The family's most prominent member was

Nils Henriksson Nils Henriksson (or Niels Henrikssøn, circa 1455–1523) was a Norway, Norwegian knight, landowner, National Counselor and Lord High Steward of Norway who married Inger, Lady of Austraat, Ingerd Ottesdatter (''fru Inger til Austrått''). He was ...

(died 1523), Lord High Steward of Norway, whose wife was Lady

Inger Ottesdotter Rømer Ingerd Ottesdotter (Rømer) (c. 1475–1555) was her era's wealthiest landowner in Norway. She was the ultimate heiress of the noble Rømer family and a political intriguer. Lady Ingerd is noted for having orchestrated her powerful sons-in-la ...

, heiress of Austrått. The couple's only surviving children were girls. All other

agnatic Patrilineality, also known as the male line, the spear side or agnatic kinship, is a common kinship system in which an individual's family membership derives from and is recorded through their father's lineage. It generally involves the inheritanc ...

lines of the old family are presumed extinct even earlier. The last male was Nils Henriksson's illegitimate child Henrik Nilsson Gyldenløve. Like other Norwegian noble families, the Gyldenløve family did not originally have a family name. However, based on the family's coat of arms, which shows a lion, believed to represent their verified royal descent from the

House of Sverre The House of Sverre ( no, Sverreætten) was a royal house or dynasty which ruled, at various times in history, the Kingdom of Norway, hereunder the kingdom's realms, and the Kingdom of Scotland. The house was founded with King Sverre Sigurdsson ...

, some of the members of the very last generations used the name Gyldenløve as a family name. Today, the same practice is customary among historians and genealogists, in order to identify families and their members.

Literature

* Gjerset, Knut. ''The History of the Norwegian People'' MacMillan, 1915. * Larson, Karen. ''A History of Norway'' Princeton University Press, 1948. {{DEFAULTSORT:Gyldenlove (noble family) Norwegian noble families Norwegian-language surnames House of Sverre