Ove Gjedde (27 December 1594 – 19 December 1660) was a Danish nobleman and Admiral of the Realm (''Rigsadmiral''). He established the Danish colony at Tharangambadi (Danish: ''Trankebar'') and constructed Fort Dansborg as the base for Danish settlement. He was a member of the interim government that followed the death of 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 ...

and which imposed restrictions (''Haandfæstning'') on his successor King Frederick III.

Early years

Gjedde was born at Tomarps (''Tomarps Kungsgård'') at

Åstorp Åstorp (old da, Aastrup) is a bimunicipal locality and the seat of Åstorp Municipality in Scania County, Sweden with 9,488 inhabitants in 2010. It is also partly located in Ängelholm Municipality. Overview Åstorp is a railway junction locate ...

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

. He was the son of Brostrup Gjedde and Dorthe Pallesdatter Ulfeldt. He studied at

Sorø Academy Sorø Academy ( Danish, ''Sorø Akademi'') is a boarding school and gymnasium located in the small town of Sorø, Denmark. It traces its history back to the 12th century when Bishop Absalon founded a monastery at the site, which was confiscated b ...

. He completed a tour to Germany and the Netherlands. Returning in 1616, he was appointed secretary of the Danish Chancellor.Jørgen Marcussen.
Ove Gjedde - Admiral, 1594-1660
(in Danish)

Career

Karel_van_III_Mander_-_Rigsadmiral_Ove_Gjedde_-_KMS605_-_Statens_Museum_for_Kunst

In March 1618, Gjedde commanded an expedition to

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

and

Ceylon Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

to establish a Danish colony that could be used as a base for the China and East Indies trade of the Danish East India Company. His fleet consisted of the Danish naval ships '' Elefanten'' and ''

David David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...

'', the yacht ''

Øresund Øresund or Öresund (, ; da, Øresund ; sv, Öresund ), commonly known in English as the Sound, is a strait which forms the Danish–Swedish border, separating Zealand (Denmark) from Scania (Sweden). The strait has a length of ; its width ...

'', and the merchant ships ''Kiøbenhavn'' and ''Christian''. He established Fort Dansborg at Tranquebar, which would remain a Danish colony for 200 years. Gjedde returned in March 1622 and was appointed lord of Brunla len (now in

Akershus Akershus () is a traditional region and current electoral district in Norway, with Oslo as its main city and traditional capital. It is named after the Akershus Fortress in Oslo. From the middle ages to 1919, Akershus was a fief and main cou ...

). In 1637, he received Tønsberg len (now

Vestfold Vestfold is a traditional region, a former county and a current electoral district in Eastern Norway. In 2020 the county became part of the much larger county of Vestfold og Telemark. Located on the western shore of the Oslofjord, it bordered ...

). Gjedde acquired land properties in Norway, and was a central participant in the mining industry, and also became a partner in the silver mining venture of Kongsberg Sølvverk, which was founded in 1623 and formally established by royal resolution in the spring of 1624 when king Christian IV himself came to inspect the newly discovered silver deposits in Sandsvær. When the silver mine company was transformed into a private partnership in 1628, Ove Gjedde got a 25% share and from 1630 he was its director. In 1657, he established the iron foundry Ulefos Jernværk at Ulefoss in Nome, together with his brother in law

Preben von Ahnen Preben von Ahnen (18 September 1606 – 15 November 1675) was a Norwegian civil servant and landowner. Preben von Ahnen was born on the island of Rügen, off the Pomeranian coast in the Baltic Sea. He was a son of Pomeranian nobleman Staffen ...

. In 1628, he was appointed Lieutenant Colonel of Akershus Regiment. He participated in the

Torstenson War The Torstenson war, Hannibal controversy or Hannibal War ( no, Hannibalsfeiden) was a short period of conflict between Sweden and Denmark–Norway from 1643 to 1645 towards the end of the Thirty Years' War. The names refer to Swedish general ...

(1643–1645) as an admiral and in 1645 he was made Admiral of the Realm (''Rigsadmiral''). In 1648 he was granted the

fiefdom A fief (; la, feudum) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a form of f ...

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 ...

Castle.

Later years

After the peace in Roskilde, Denmark lost Scania to Sweden. When king

Charles X Gustav of Sweden Charles X Gustav, also Carl Gustav ( sv, Karl X Gustav; 8 November 1622 – 13 February 1660), was King of Sweden from 1654 until his death. He was the son of John Casimir, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken-Kleeburg and Catherine of Sweden. Afte ...

broke the peace of 1658, Ove Gjedde was taken prisoner, during a visit to Helsingborg. He was first sent to prison in Helsingborg castle, and later sent to

Malmö Malmö (, ; da, Malmø ) is the largest city in the Swedish county (län) of Scania (Skåne). It is the third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the sixth-largest city in the Nordic region, with a municipal popul ...

. In 1660 he was released during prisoner exchanges between Sweden and Denmark. At the time Gjedde was an old and physically weak man, but although he had already commissioned a grave monument in

, because this had now become Swedish, when he died he was buried in the crypt of

Roskilde Cathedral Roskilde Cathedral ( da, Roskilde Domkirke), in the city of Roskilde on the island of Zealand (Denmark), Zealand (''Sjælland'') in eastern Denmark, is a cathedral of the Lutheranism, Lutheran Church of Denmark. The cathedral is the most importan ...

. The legend says that, "''His bones after the Roskilde peace never found rest, after Scania became Swedish''" ( da, hans ben efter Roskildefreden fandt aldrig hvile, efter Skåne var blevet svensk). Gjedde died at Copenhagen in 1660.

Personal life

In 1622, Gjedde married Dorothy Knudsdatter Urne (1600-1667), daughter of Knud Axelsen Urne til Årsmarke (1564–1622) and Margrethe Eilersdatter Grubbe til Alslev (1568–1654). His wife was a sister of

Christoffer Urne Christoffer Knudsson Urne til Knuthenborg, Årsmarke (27 October 1593 – 27 September 1663) was a Danish civil servant. He served as Governor-general of Norway from 1629 to 1642. Biography He was born at Halsted Priory on the island of Lolla ...

(1593–1663) who served as Steward of Norway. They were the parents of several children including Knud Ovessøn Gjedde and Brostrup Gjedde both of whom served as County governors in Norway. * Dorte Gjedde (1625-?) - daughter * Brostrup Gjedde (1628–1668) - son * Margrethe Gjedde (16??-1706) - daughter * Merete Gjedde (16??-1689) - daughter * Regitze Sophie Gjedde (1634-1653) - daughter * Knud Ovessøn Gjedde (1635-1708) - son * Frederick Eiler Gjedde (1641-1717) - son

References

External links