Holbæk Museum - Klosterstræde 16 - Vorderhaus

The May family (also spelled Maj) was a prominent Danish family that belonged to the

clergy Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...

and thus the legally privileged elite in Denmark-Norway. It was descended from the priest

Søren Nielsen May Søren Nielsen May (born in Helsingborg, died 16 September 1679 in Holbæk), also spelled Søren Nielsen Maj, was a Danish priest, who was parish priest and provost in Holbæk. He was an uncle of the statesman Peder Griffenfeld Count Peder G ...

(died 1679), a native of then-Danish

Helsingborg Helsingborg (, , , ) is a city and the seat of Helsingborg Municipality, Scania (Skåne), Sweden. It is the second-largest city in Scania (after Malmö) and ninth-largest in Sweden, with a population of 113,816 (2020). Helsingborg is the cent ...

Scania Scania, also known by its native name of Skåne (, ), is the southernmost of the historical provinces of Sweden, provinces (''landskap'') of Sweden. Located in the south tip of the geographical region of Götaland, the province is roughly conte ...

, and Catharina Motzfeldt, the daughter of the

noble A noble is a member of the nobility. Noble may also refer to: Places Antarctica * Noble Glacier, King George Island * Noble Nunatak, Marie Byrd Land * Noble Peak, Wiencke Island * Noble Rocks, Graham Land Australia * Noble Island, Great B ...

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 ...

wine merchant

Peter Motzfeldt Peter Motzfeldt (3 August 1777 – 1 April 1854) was a Norwegian Military Officer and Government Minister. He served as a member of the Constitutional Assembly at Eidsvoll in 1814. Background Motzfeldt was born at Orkdal in Sør-Trøndelag, Nor ...

. Catharina Motzfeldt's sister was the mother of

Peder Griffenfeld Count Peder Griffenfeld (before ennoblement Peder Schumacher) (24 August 1635 – 12 March 1699) was a Danish statesman and royal favourite. He became the principal adviser to King Christian V of Denmark from 1670 and the ''de facto'' ruler of ...

, the de facto ruler of Denmark-Norway in the early 1670s, and the May family, along with Griffenfeld's other close relatives, thus rose to significant prominence with their nephew's rise to power. Søren May and Catharina Motzfeldt had ten children. Their daughter Maren May was married to the Bishop of

Christianssand Kristiansand is a seaside resort city and municipality in Agder county, Norway. The city is the fifth-largest and the municipality the sixth-largest in Norway, with a population of around 112,000 as of January 2020, following the incorporation ...

Ludvig Stoud Ludvig Stoud (25 April 1649–28 August 1705) was a Danish-Norwegian theologian and priest. He served as a bishop of the Diocese of Christianssand from 1699 until his death in 1705. He spent much time and effort as Bishop trying to eradica ...

; Else May was married to the priest Poul Munkgaard; Gundel May was married to the priest Herman Arentsen, a son of

Arent Berntsen Arent Berntsen (12 May 1610 in Bergen – 29 December 1680 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; ...

; Cathrine Marie May was married to the priest Rasmus Andersen Montoppidan; Ellen May was married to the judge Poul Pedersen Fabritius; Bertel Sørensen May (died 1711) was priest in Tystrup and Haldagerlille. The Søren May House in

Holbæk Holbæk () is a town in Denmark and the seat of Holbæk municipality with a population of 29,608 (1 January 2022).Satans mønter i Holbæk
sn.dk

References

{{reflist Danish families