Mogens Gøye (surname also spelled Gøje
at Lollands-Herregaarde.dk or Gjøe) (ca. 1470 – 6 April 1544) was a

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...

statesman and

Steward of the Realm Steward of the Realm ( Danish: Rigshofmester) was an office at the Royal Danish Court. With the coronation of Eric VII of Denmark it became an important office, taking over the role of the Seneschal (Danish: Drost) as the de facto prime minister of ...

, whose enormous wealth earned him the derogatory nickname "the King of

Northern Jutland Northern Jutland ( da, Nørrejylland) is a historical region in Denmark, defined as Jutland north of the Kongeå (with the region south of the Kongeå called Southern Jutland (''Sønderjylland'')). As with other historical regions of Denmark, Nort ...

". Gøye was the Royal councillor of Danish Kings

John I John I may refer to: People * John I (bishop of Jerusalem) * John Chrysostom (349 – c. 407), Patriarch of Constantinople * John of Antioch (died 441) * Pope John I, Pope from 523 to 526 * John I (exarch) (died 615), Exarch of Ravenna * John I o ...

, the feuding

Christian II Christian II (1 July 1481 – 25 January 1559) was a Scandinavian monarch under the Kalmar Union who reigned as King of Denmark and Norway, from 1513 until 1523, and Sweden from 1520 until 1521. From 1513 to 1523, he was concurrently Duke ...

and

Frederick I Frederick I may refer to: * Frederick of Utrecht or Frederick I (815/16–834/38), Bishop of Utrecht. * Frederick I, Duke of Upper Lorraine (942–978) * Frederick I, Duke of Swabia (1050–1105) * Frederick I, Count of Zoller ...

, and

Christian III Christian III (12 August 1503 – 1 January 1559) reigned as King of Denmark from 1534 and King of Norway from 1537 until his death in 1559. During his reign, Christian formed close ties between the church and the crown. He established ...

. He was a key supporter of the

Reformation in Denmark-Norway and Holstein The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

. Often lauded by elder Danish historians as a knightly,

social liberal Social liberalism (german: Sozialliberalismus, es, socioliberalismo, nl, Sociaalliberalisme), also known as new liberalism in the United Kingdom, modern liberalism, or simply liberalism in the contemporary United States, left-liberalism ...

upper-class idealist, Gøye is today viewed as a realist statesman understanding the need of a government and a moderate political attitude of the

nobility Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy (class), aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below Royal family, royalty. Nobility has often been an Estates of the realm, estate of the realm with many e ...

. He was the son of ''marsk''

Eskild Gøye Eskil is a masculine given name mainly in use in Scandinavia. In Danish and Norwegian it may be spelled Eskild. The name may refer to: *Saint Eskil, 11th century Anglo-Saxon monk and missionary * Eskil Brodd (1885–1969), Swedish diver * Eskil Br� ...

, and brother of Royal councillor

Henrik Gøye Henrik is a male given name of Germanic origin, primarily used in Scandinavia, Estonia, Hungary and Slovenia. In Poland, the name is spelt Henryk but pronounced similarly. Equivalents in other languages are Henry (English), Heiki (Estonian), Heikk ...

.Mogens Gøye
at Gyldendals Encyklopædi Mogens Gøye was the father of

Birgitte Gøye Birgitte Gøye (1511 - 26 July 1574) was a Danish county administrator, lady in waiting, landholder and noble, co-founder and principal of Herlufsholm School. Biography She was the daughter of Mogens Gøye and Mette Bydelsbak and the sister of ...

, who married admiral

Herluf Trolle Herluf Trolle (14 January 1516 – 25 June 1565) was a Danish naval hero, Admiral of the Fleet and co-founder of Herlufsholm School (''Herlufsholm Skole og Gods''), a private boarding school at Næstved on the island of Zealand in Denmark. ...

and co-founded

Herlufsholm School Herlufsholm School ( da, Herlufsholm Skole og Gods) is a private day and boarding school by the River Suså in Næstved, about south of Copenhagen. Herlufsholm was founded in 1565 as a boarding school for "sons of noble and other honest men" on ...

. He was the grandfather of statesman

Peder Oxe Peter is a common masculine given name. It is derived directly from Greek , ''Petros'' (an invented, masculine form of Greek ''petra,'' the word for "rock" or "stone"), which itself was a translation of Aramaic ''Kefa'' ("stone, rock"), the new na ...

Biography

Belonging to a very wealthy and influential

Jutland Jutland ( da, Jylland ; german: Jütland ; ang, Ēota land ), known anciently as the Cimbric or Cimbrian Peninsula ( la, Cimbricus Chersonesus; da, den Kimbriske Halvø, links=no or ; german: Kimbrische Halbinsel, links=no), is a peninsula of ...

magnate family and educated abroad, Mogens Gøye was already an outstanding man in the times of King

(Hans). He amassed large tracts of lands through inheritance, marriage, and large-scale buys, and became one of the richest men in Danish history. He was

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the Christian denomination, church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood ...

in 1501, and became a member of the Royal '' Rigsraadet'' council of King John I in 1503. Bricka, Carl Frederik, ''Dansk Biografisk Lexikon'', vol. VI erson - H. Hansen 1892. Entry: "Gjøe, Mogens", pp.75-84
Available online
/ref> During the reign of

, Gøye was a leading Royal councillor, and performed diplomatic and special assignments for the King. In 1514, he was chosen as the substitute replacement of Christian II at the King's marriage to

Isabella of Austria Isabella of Austria (18 July 1501 – 19 January 1526), also known as Elizabeth, was Queen of Denmark, Norway and Sweden as the wife of King Christian II. She was the daughter of King Philip I and Queen Joanna of Castile and the sister of Emp ...

in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. After the marriage, Gøye was appointed the ''marsk'' of Denmark. In 1516, he sold the house to Christian II, in which the King's mistress Dyveke and her mother

Sigbrit Willoms Sigbrit Villoms (also spelled Villums), (possible date of death 1532), was a Danish-Norwegian politician from Amsterdam, mother to the mistress of King Christian II of Denmark, Dyveke Sigbritsdatter, and advisor and de facto minister of finance fo ...

were to reside, and in 1517 he arrested

Torben Oxe Torben Oxe (died 29 November 1517) was a Danish nobleman and a member of an aristocratic family. Oxe was the son of Johan Oxe of Tordsø and Inger Torbensdatter Bille. Both his father and grandfather had served as Danish Councillors (''dansk rigs ...

, the suspected assassin of Dyveke. Though a representative of the great landowners himself, and an avid opponent of the

bourgeois The bourgeoisie ( , ) is a social class, equivalent to the middle or upper middle class. They are distinguished from, and traditionally contrasted with, the proletariat by their affluence, and their great cultural and financial capital. They ...

influence of Sigbrit, Gøye and Christian II seemed to maintain loyalty towards one another. Gøye even accepted some of the Royal reform plans, while trying to moderate them and to damp the dissatisfaction of his social peers. Sigbrit coined Gøye's derogatory nickname "the King of

", attempting to cast his loyalty to the Christian II in doubt. Gøye initially supported Christian II during the 1522 nobility and clerical rebellion, but left him in March 1523 apparently under threat, accepting the accession of

. During the reign of Frederick I, Gøye had his real golden age. He was made

in 1523, a post he retained until his death in 1544.Danske rigshofmestre
at RoskildeHistorie.dk Gøye again acted as a balancing force, curbing the vengeful attitudes of the nobility towards the

peasant A peasant is a pre-industrial agricultural laborer or a farmer with limited land-ownership, especially one living in the Middle Ages under feudalism and paying rent, tax, fees, or services to a landlord. In Europe, three classes of peasants ...

supporters of Christian II."Gads Historie Leksikon", 3rd edition, Copenhagen, 2006. Entry: ''Gøye, Mogens'', Paul Ulff-Møller, p.241 He was instrumental in averting a peasant rebellion in Viborg in 1531. In religious matters he became an eager

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

, openly supporting the work of

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...

reformer

Hans Tausen Hans Tausen (Tavsen) (1494 – 11 November 1561) was the leading Lutheran theologian of the Danish Reformation in Denmark. He served as Bishop of Ribe and published the first translation of the Pentateuch into Danish in 1535. Background Ha ...

, in opposition to most of ''Rigsrådet'', which earned him hostility from the

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

clergy. In spite of all efforts, he did not succeed in damping the social clash of interests. After the death of Frederick in 1533, Mogens Gøye tried in vain to get Frederick's Lutheran son Prince Christian,

Duke of Schleswig-Holstein The following is a list of rulers (usually dukes) who ruled both Schleswig and Holstein, starting from the first Holstein count who received Schleswig, until both territories were annexed by the Kingdom of Prussia in 1866; and afterwards, titular ...

elected king under the name

Christian III of Denmark Christian III (12 August 1503 – 1 January 1559) reigned as King of Denmark from 1534 and King of Norway from 1537 until his death in 1559. During his reign, Christian formed close ties between the church and the crown. He established ...

. At the outbreak of the ensuing

Count's Feud The Count's Feud ( da, Grevens Fejde), also called the Count's War, was a war of succession that raged in Denmark in 1534–36 and brought about the Reformation in Denmark. In the international context, it was part of the European wars of religi ...

civil war, Gøye forced through the nobility's

Election of Christian III The election of Christian III as king of Denmark on 4 July 1534 was a landmark event for all of Denmark and also Norway. It took place in St. Søren's Church ( da, Sankt Sørens Kirke) in the town of Rye in eastern Jutland, where the Jutlandic ...

in Jutland in 1534, and was a most loyal supporter of Christian III for the rest of the war. After the victory of Christian III and the

in 1536-1537, Gøye continued as Steward during the new government, but he was weakened by ill health, and was gradually overshadowed by

Johan Friis Johan Friis (20 February 1494 – 5 December 1570) was a Danish statesman. He served as Chancellor under King Christian III of Denmark. Biography He was born at Lundbygård manor as the son of Jesper Friis til Lundbygård and Anne Johansda ...

Biography

References

Further reading