Henrik Ramel or Ramelius (died 1610), Danish politician, ambassador, and member of the council of regents.

Career

He was the son of a Pomeranian nobleman Gert Ramel and Margrethe Massow. After study in Padua in 1568, and travel in Europe and Asia, he entered the service of the Polish King

Stephen Báthory Stephen Báthory ( hu, Báthory István; pl, Stefan Batory; ; 27 September 1533 – 12 December 1586) was Voivode of Transylvania (1571–1576), Prince of Transylvania (1576–1586), King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania (1576–1586) ...

and then of Duke Johan Frederik of Pomerania. But he, like the noble Mecklenburg Belou family, joined the service of Denmark in 1581, where a Mecklenburg princess,

Sophie of Mecklenburg-Güstrow Sophie of Mecklenburg-Güstrow (''Sophia''; 4 September 1557 – 14 October 1631) was Queen of Denmark and Norway by marriage to Frederick II of Denmark. She was the mother of King Christian IV of Denmark and Anne of Denmark. She was Regent of Schl ...

was Frederick II's queen. Ramel was secretary of the German Chancery, and attended ambassadors to Denmark. The English diplomat Daniel Rogers described him as the young king's overseer and steward, and a chief counsellor to Sophie, and the mouthpiece of the four governors.

Embassy to Scotland

Henrik Ramel, Manderup Parsberg, Henrik Belou and Nicolaus Theophilus were ambassadors to Scotland in 1585.

James VI James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambiguat ...

appointed Sir James Melville of Halhill,

William Schaw William Schaw (c. 1550–1602) was Master of Works to James VI of Scotland for building castles and palaces, and is claimed to have been an important figure in the development of Freemasonry in Scotland. Biography William Schaw was the second ...

, and the Laird of Segie to be their companions. Melville described the events of the embassy. At

Dunfermline Palace Dunfermline Palace is a ruined former Scottish royal palace and important tourist attraction in Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland. It is currently, along with other buildings of the adjacent Dunfermline Abbey, under the care of Historic Environment ...

they discussed the disputed ownership of the Orkney Islands. It was also rumoured they discussed the king's marriage. They were not treated in the usual manner but had to pay their own expenses, and when they were to travel to St Andrews the promised horses were late. At St Andrews they suffered some abuse organised by supporters of the pro-French faction. A leading courtier,

James Stewart, Earl of Arran Captain James Stewart, Earl of Arran (died 1595) was created Earl of Arran by the young King James VI, who wrested the title from James Hamilton, 3rd Earl of Arran. He rose to become Lord Chancellor of Scotland and was eventually murdered in ...

, who had served in Sweden was a ringleader. The English ambassador Edward Wotton helped them because England and Denmark were allies, and told them privately that James VI had criticised Danish customs and their king Frederick II. According to Melville, the Danish envoys considered leaving Scotland, but he persuaded them to continue and spoke to James VI in their favour. When the mission was concluded, the ambassadors were supposed to receive gifts of gold chains but these were not ready. The town council of Edinburgh sent letters asking that the ambassadors should be given better treatment. In July 1590 he met the Scottish ambassador John Skene at

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, and on 24 July Skene and his company dined with Ramel and his wife Abel Rantzau at

Haderslev Haderslev (; german: Hadersleben ) is a Danish town in the Region of Southern Denmark with a population of 22,011 (1 January 2022).Joachim Frederick, Elector of Brandenburg Joachim Frederick (27 January 1546 – 18 July 1608), of the House of Hohenzollern, was Prince-elector of the Margraviate of Brandenburg from 1598 until his death. Biography Joachim Frederick was born in Cölln to John George, Elector of Branden ...

to arrange the marriage 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 ...

to Anna Cathrine and signed the marriage contract. In August 1598 he wrote a letter of courtesy to James VI in response to a Scottish embassy which had requested a promise of military support to James in the event of the death of

Elizabeth I of England Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen". Eli ...

Missions to England

Ramel came to London in January 1605 and during the visit of Anna of Denmark's brother, the

Duke of Holstein The Duchy of Holstein (german: Herzogtum Holstein, da, Hertugdømmet Holsten) was the northernmost state of the Holy Roman Empire, located in the present German state of Schleswig-Holstein. It originated when King Christian I of Denmark had hi ...

, he was lodged at Denmark House on the

Strand Strand may refer to: Topography *The flat area of land bordering a body of water, a: ** Beach ** Shoreline * Strand swamp, a type of swamp habitat in Florida Places Africa * Strand, Western Cape, a seaside town in South Africa * Strand Street ...

. He accepted the Order of the Garter for Christian IV in September. He left in October, after raising the issue of Orkney. Orkney had been part of the dowry of

Margaret of Denmark, Queen of Scotland Margaret of Denmark (23 June 1456 – 14 July 1486) was Queen of Scotland from 1469 to 1486 by marriage to King James III. She was the daughter of Christian I, King of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, and Dorothea of Brandenburg. Life Margaret wa ...

, wife of James II of Scotland. Denmark now wished to redeem the islands with a cash payment. He received no answer on this question. He was in London again during the visit of Christian IV in June 1606, and King James gave him a gift of silver gilt plate. In May 1607 he came to Gdansk and spoke to the resident British diplomat Dr William Bruce, hoping for English support. He died in April 1610.

Marriages

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 ...

attended the wedding of Henrik Ramel and Abel Rantzau (d. 1596) at

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 ...

on 1 February 1590, and gave the bride 6 gold rose nobles. Daniel Rogers said the marriage was planned by Frederick II to link Ramel firmly to Danish interest. Some sources place the wedding in February 1589. They had a son in 1590.David Scott Gehring, ''Diplomatic Intelligence on the Holy Roman Empire and Denmark during the Reigns of Elizabeth I and James VI'', Camden Fifth Series, 49 (2016), p. 147, 167-8. In 1599 he married Else Henriksdatter Brahe (d. 1619), daughter of Henrik Brahe.

External links

'RAMEL, HENRIK' (SSNE 360)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ramel, Henrik 16th-century Danish people 17th-century Danish people Ambassadors of Denmark to Scotland 1610 deaths