John Cunningham ( da, Hans Kønig, i=no; – 9 December 1651) was a Scottish nobleman, explorer,
Dano-Norwegian naval captain, and
Governor of Finnmark.
Biography
In 1605, Cunningham became captain of the 60-ton Danish naval ship . Along with the 70-ton and the 20-ton , the ships were directed by the Danish King,
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 re-establish contact with the
Norse settlements in Greenland
The history of Greenland is a history of life under extreme Arctic conditions: currently, an ice sheet covers about eighty percent of the island, restricting human activity largely to the coasts.
The first humans are thought to have arrived in G ...
, the first of
three annual expeditions sent between 1605 and 1607. Cunningham served as the chief commander, following the piloting of
James Hall and commanding
Godske Lindenov
Godske Christoffersen Lindenov or Lindenow (d. 1612 Copenhagen) was a Denmark, Danish naval officer and Arctic explorer. He was a commander on one of King Christian IV's expeditions to Greenland.
Early life
He was of the noble family Lindenov of L ...
in the ''Løven'' and
John Knight in the ''Katten''.
During the Lindenov expedition of 1606, Cunningham served as the captain of the ''Løven'' under Lindenov's command. In 1615, Cunningham was among the commanders aboard the naval expedition under
Gabriel Kruse sent to
Spitsbergen to demand tolls from foreign whalers. There, Cunningham encountered
Robert Fotherby,
Thomas Edge, and
Adriaen Block
Adriaen (Arjan) Block (c. 1567 – buried April 27, 1627) was a Dutch private trader, privateer, and ship's captain who is best known for exploring the coastal and river valley areas between present-day New Jersey and Massachusetts during four v ...
. The following year, he captained the ''Gabriel'' as part of the naval expedition under Jørgen Daa sent to rid the coasts of Norway, the
Faeroes
The Faroe Islands ( ), or simply the Faroes ( fo, Føroyar ; da, Færøerne ), are a North Atlantic island group and an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark.
They are located north-northwest of Scotland, and about halfway betwee ...
, and Iceland of illegal whalers and pirates.
In 1619, Cunningham was made
Governor of Finnmark in the far north, a post he retained until his death in 1651. There, he presided over 52 witch trials, nine of which afflicted the
Sami population.
References
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Cunningham, John
17th-century explorers
17th-century Scottish people
1570s births
1651 deaths
Danish military personnel
Explorers of the Arctic
Royal Dano-Norwegian Navy personnel
Scottish explorers
Year of birth uncertain