Hans Hansen Lilienskiold (c.1650 – 1703) was a Norwegian jurist, government official, civil servant, and land owner. He was a member of the Lilienskiold noble family and served as County Governor of

Finnmark Finnmark (; se, Finnmárku ; fkv, Finmarku; fi, Ruija ; russian: Финнмарк) was a county in the northern part of Norway, and it is scheduled to become a county again in 2024. On 1 January 2020, Finnmark was merged with the neighbouri ...

. He is particularly remembered as an author for his works on the topography and culture of

Biography

Lilienskiold was born in

Bergen Bergen (), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipality in Vestland county on the west coast of Norway. , its population is roughly 285,900. Bergen is the second-largest city in Norway. The municipality covers and is on the peninsula of ...

, Norway. He was the eldest of six in the family of Hans Hansen (Smidt) Lillienskiold (ca. 1610–1681) and Margrethe Jonasdatter (ca. 1624–1654). Hans Hansen Smidt had been born in Tønder, Denmark. He became a lawyer in Bergen in 1650 and later held various government commissions. He was County Governor of

Bergenhus len Bergenhus len was an administrative division of the Kingdom of Norway that existed from 1503 to 1662, with the Bergenhus Fortress in Bergen as its administrative center Norwegian administrative division. The ''len'' was changed to an ''amt'' (distr ...

(1667-1669) and Mayor of Bergen (1679-1681). Hans Hansen Smidt was ennobled with the surname ''Lillienschiold'' in 1676. He became quite wealthy and owned various properties including Losna-ætta on Losna in

Sogn Sogn is a traditional district in Western Norway ''(Vestlandet)''. It is located in the county of Vestland, surrounding the Sognefjord, the largest/longest fjord in Norway. The district of Sogn consists of the municipalities of Aurland, Balestra ...

and part of Giskegodset in

Sunnmøre Sunnmøre (, en, South- Møre) is the southernmost traditional district of the western Norwegian county of Møre og Romsdal. Its main city is Ålesund. The region comprises the municipalities ( no, kommuner) of Giske, Hareid, Herøy, Norddal ...

. His family also became related to the noble family Svanenhielm through the marriage of his granddaughter Cecilia Christine Lillienschiold (1687-1749) to Morten de Svanenhielm (1690-1749) of Svanøy. Hans Hansen Lilienskiold was enrolled at the

University of Copenhagen The University of Copenhagen ( da, Københavns Universitet, KU) is a prestigious public university, public research university in Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in ...

in 1668. Later he toured various cities including

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as wel ...

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, and

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

on a journey lasting three and a half years. In 1672, he became a secretary at the Danish-Norwegian Counsellor in

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

. In 1673, Lilienskiold was appointed deputy judge of the

Bergen District Court Bergen District Court ( no, Bergen tingrett) was a district court in Vestland county, Norway. The court was based in the city of Bergen at the Bergen Courthouse at Tårnplads 2 in Bergen. The court existed until 2021. It had jurisdiction over the ...

and the

Gulating Court of Appeal The Gulating Court of Appeal ( no, Gulating lagmannsrett) is one of six Court of appeal (Norway), courts of appeal in the Norway, Kingdom of Norway. The Court is located in the city of Bergen (city), Bergen. The court has jurisdiction over the cou ...

(1673-1684). After the death of his father in 1681, Lilienskiold acquired the farm Hop on Askøy and farm Sletten in

Lindås Lindås is a former municipality in the Nordhordland district in the old Hordaland county, Norway. It existed from 1838 until its dissolution on 1 January 2020 when it was merged into the new Alver Municipality. The administrative centre of the ...

. He served as County Governor of

from 1684. He was appointed district governor of

Møre og Romsdal Møre og Romsdal (; en, Møre and Romsdal) is a county in the northernmost part of Western Norway. It borders the counties of Trøndelag, Innlandet, and Vestland. The county administration is located in the town of Molde, while Ålesund is the ...

in 1702 never to accede because of illness. He died on January 12, 1703, in

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 ...

. Lilienskiold wrote two volumes of travel records from his journey through Europe, two volumes of general history and three volumes of topographical and cultural depictions of Finnmark. His most notable work was titled ''Speculum Boreale'' (1699) which contained an early historical description of the Sami residents of Finnmark. The work also contained colored ink and watercolor drawings of landscapes, towns and people in the county.

Selected works

*''Reisejournal 1668–1670'' *''Reisejournal 1670 over en reise til Italia, Frankrike, Nederland og England'' *''Finnmarkens beskrivelse'' *''Trolldom og ugudelighet i 1600-tallets Finnmark''

References

External links

Lilienskiold's ''Speculum Boreale''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lilienskiold, Hans Hansen 1650 births 1703 deaths Lawyers from Bergen University of Copenhagen alumni Civil servants from Bergen Norwegian landowners Norwegian judges Norwegian non-fiction writers County governors of Norway