Balzer Jacobsen was Lawman (prime minister) of the

Faroe Islands The Faroe Islands ( ), or simply the Faroes ( fo, Føroyar ; da, Færøerne ), are a North Atlantic archipelago, island group and an autonomous territory of the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. They are located north-northwest of Scotlan ...

from 1655 to 1661. Balzer Jacobsen was Danish, and was put in place by King

Frederik III Frederick III ( da, Frederik; 18 March 1609 – 9 February 1670) was King of Denmark and Norway from 1648 until his death in 1670. He also governed under the name Frederick II as diocesan administrator (colloquially referred to as prince-bi ...

against the will of the Faroese

Løgting The Løgting (pronounced ; da, Lagtinget) is the unicameral parliament of the Faroe Islands, an autonomous territory within the Danish Realm. The name literally means "''Law Thing''"—that is, a law assembly—and derives from Old Norse '' ...

. Jacobsen was first and foremost of Christoffer Gabel's men, who was

vogt During the Middle Ages, an (sometimes given as modern English: advocate; German: ; French: ) was an office-holder who was legally delegated to perform some of the secular responsibilities of a major feudal lord, or for an institution such as ...

(overseer) of the Faroe Islands. Gabel also had a monopoly on trade to and from the islands during this period. In 1661, Jógvan Poulsen regained control as Lawman and Jacobsen withdrew to

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 = Kingdom of Denmark , establishe ...

, but the real power in the Faroe Islands still lay with the land owners. This period of Faroese history is known in Faroese as ''Gablatíðin'', and was difficult due to the trade monopoly and wishes from

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 ...

about the crown's absolute control of 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 ...

References

*''Løgtingið 150 - Hátíðarrit''. Tórshavn 2002, Bind 2, S. 366. (Avsnitt ''Føroya løgmenn fram til 1816'')
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Year of birth missing Year of death missing Faroese people of Danish descent Lawmen of the Faroe Islands 17th-century Danish people {{Denmark-politician-stub