Thomas Fasting (25 February 1769 – 21 November 1841) was a Norwegian Naval officer and government minister. Fasting was born at

Lista Lista is a former municipality located in the old Vest-Agder county in Norway. The municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 1965. The administrative centre was the village of Vanse where Vanse Church is located. Lista municipa ...

in Lister, Norway. He was the son of Lieutenant Colonel Soren Christian Fasting (1729–1782) and Benedicte Tyrholm (1734–1774). He started serving in the

Royal Dano-Norwegian Navy The history of the Danish navy began with the founding of a joint Dano-Norwegian navy on 10 August 1510, when King John appointed his vassal Henrik Krummedige to become "chief captain and head of all our captains, men and servants whom we now h ...

in 1785. He became captain of the warship «Ærøe» in 1795, stationed in the Danish West Indies. He was also fighting in the Battle of Copenhagen in 1801. In the

Gunboat War The Gunboat War (, ; 1807–1814) was a naval conflict between Denmark–Norway and the British during the Napoleonic Wars. The war's name is derived from the Danish tactic of employing small gunboats against the materially superior Royal Nav ...

from 1807 to 1814, he was commander of

Fredrikstad Fortress Fredrikstad fortress (''Fredrikstad festning'') was a fortification in Fredrikstad, Norway. It was the base of the Østfold Regiment, with defence related responsibilities for the east side of Oslofjord. History Fredrikstad Fortress was construct ...

and later captain of the warship ''Dantzich''. Fasting was given command of the

Royal Norwegian Navy The Royal Norwegian Navy ( no, Sjøforsvaret, , Sea defence) is the branch of the Norwegian Armed Forces responsible for naval operations of Norway. , the Royal Norwegian Navy consists of approximately 3,700 personnel (9,450 in mobilized state, 3 ...

after the union with

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

ended in the spring of 1814, and was the commander of the navy during the war with Sweden. By fall of that year, he was a member of the interim government. In 1815, he was appointed minister in the Department of the Navy, and for the next 24 years he was Secretary of the Naval administrative. He served as a member of the Council of State Division in

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

for six periods between 1817 and 1836. He was Minister of the Navy in eight periods between 1815 and 1839, as well as head of the Ministry of the Army in 1828 and 1832. Fasting was the first individual ever convicted in an

impeachment Impeachment is the process by which a legislative body or other legally constituted tribunal initiates charges against a public official for misconduct. It may be understood as a unique process involving both political and legal elements. In ...

trial by the Norwegian

Constitutional Court of the Realm In Norway, impeachment, also known as the Constitutional Court of the Realm ( no, Riksrett), is a judicial process with the power to convict Members of Parliament, Members of the Council of State, and Supreme Court Justices for criminal acts perfor ...

(''Riksrett'') in 1821.

References

1769 births 1841 deaths People from Farsund Norwegian military personnel of the Napoleonic Wars Royal Norwegian Navy personnel Royal Dano-Norwegian Navy personnel Government ministers of Norway Defence ministers of Norway {{Norway-politician-1760s-stub