Henrik Bjelke (13 January 1615 – 16 March 1683) was a Norwegian-Danish military officer who served as Admiral of the Realm of Denmark-Norway from 1662 to 1679. He was in command of the

Royal Dano-Norwegian Navy The history of the Danish navy began with the founding of a joint Denmark-Norway, Dano-Norwegian navy on 10 August 1510, when John, King of Denmark, King John appointed his vassal Henrich Krummedige, Henrik Krummedige to become "chief captain and ...

from 1657 to 1679. He owned the estates Næsbyholm, Bavelse, and

Tersløsegaard Tersløsegaard is a manor house located close to Dianalund, Sorø Municipality some 60 kilometres southwest of Copenhagen, Denmark. It was owned by Ludvig Holberg from 1745 to 1756. He left it to Sorø Academy and it has now been converted into a ...

south of

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

Early life and education

Bjelke was born at Elingård Manor on

Onsøy Onsøy is a peninsula and a former municipality in Østfold county, Norway. The administrative centre was Gressvik. History The parish of ''Onsø'' was established as a municipality January 1, 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). A part of Onsøy w ...

Østfold Østfold () is a county in Eastern Norway, which from 1 January 2020 to 31 December 2023 was part of Viken. Østfold borders Akershus and southwestern Sweden (Västra Götaland County and Värmland), while Buskerud and Vestfold are on the other ...

, Norway. He was the son of

Chancellor of Norway The Chancellor of Norway (modern Norwegian: ''Norges rikes kansler'', "Chancellor of Norway's Realm") was the most important aide of the King of Norway during the Middle Ages, and during the Union with Denmark. He issued laws and regulations, an ...

Jens Bjelke and Sophie Brockenhuus. He was the brother of

Ove Bjelke Ove Bjelke (26 October 1611 – 29 March 1674) was a Norwegian nobleman, feudal lord and statesman. He served as Chancellor of Norway (1660–1674). Biography He was born in Trondheim; the son of Jens Bjelke (1580–1659) and Sophie Broc ...

(1611–1674) and

Jørgen Bjelke Jørgen Bjelke (2 June 1621 – 17 June 1696) was a Dano-Norwegian or Norwegian officer and nobleman. He was born at Elingaard Manor on Onsøy near Fredrikstad, in Østfold County, Norway, and died in Kalundborg, Denmark. Early and personal lif ...

(1621–1696), both of whom also held prominent positions. Although while still very young, he enrolled and registered in 1633 in the

University of Padua The University of Padua (, UNIPD) is an Italian public research university in Padua, Italy. It was founded in 1222 by a group of students and teachers from the University of Bologna, who previously settled in Vicenza; thus, it is the second-oldest ...

in Italy.

Career

Bielke became a soldier under

Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange Frederick Henry (; 29 January 1584 – 14 March 1647) was the sovereign prince of Orange and stadtholder of Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel in the Dutch Republic from his older half-brother's death on 23 April 1625 until his ...

. He resigned from the service of Frederick Henry when he learned of the invasion of

Jutland Jutland (; , ''Jyske Halvø'' or ''Cimbriske Halvø''; , ''Kimbrische Halbinsel'' or ''Jütische Halbinsel'') is a peninsula of Northern Europe that forms the continental portion of Denmark and part of northern Germany (Schleswig-Holstein). It ...

under the command of Swedish Field Marshall

Lennart Torstenson Lennart Torstensson (17 August 1603 – 7 April 1651), Swedish List of Swedish field marshals, Field Marshal and later Governor-General of Pomerania, Västergötland, Dalsland, Värmland and Halland. He adapted the use of artillery on the battlef ...

in 1644 and went to Denmark. In March of that year King Christian IV of Denmark-Norway sent him to Norway where he served under Governor-general of Norway Hannibal Sehested. After the peace agreements of the

Second Treaty of Brömsebro (1645) The Second Treaty of Brömsebro (or the Peace of Brömsebro) was signed on 13 August 1645, and ended the Torstenson War, a local conflict that began in 1643 (and was part of the larger Thirty Years' War) between Sweden and Denmark–Norway. Ne ...

, he left to journey abroad and was for a time with Corfitz Ulfeldt in the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

but then went into the service of General Peter Melander Graf von Holzappel in

Westfalia Westfalia is the designation of various specially converted Volkswagen camper vans. Westfalia is named after the company, Westfalia-Werke, the contractor that built the vans, headquartered in the town of Rheda-Wiedenbrück, located in the Westph ...

. In 1648 he returned to Denmark and was made administrator of

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

. In 1653 he was promoted to captain and in 1654 he was sent to Iceland against English pirates. During the

Dano-Swedish War (1658–60) Dano-Swedish War may refer to: * Dano-Swedish War (1470–1471), Danish invasion of Sweden by sea * Dano-Swedish War (1501–1512), military conflict between Denmark and Sweden within the Kalmar Union * Dano-Swedish War (1512–1520), Danish invasi ...

along with

Niels Juel Niels Juel (8 May 1629 – 8 April 1697) was a Danish naval officer. He served as supreme commander of the Dano-Norwegian Navy during the late 17th century and oversaw development of the Danish-Norwegian Navy. Background Niels Juel was born ...

, he achieved a famous victory over the Swedish fleet under the command of Klas Hansson Bjelkenstjerna during the

Battle of Møn The Battle of Møn, also known as the Battle of Fehmarn, took place 31 May–1 June 1677, as part of the Scanian War. A smaller Swedish squadron under Admiral Erik Sjöblad attempted to sail from Gothenburg to join the main Swedish fleet in the ...

off the island of

Møn Møn () is an island in south-eastern Denmark. Until 1 January 2007, it was a municipality in its own right but it is now part of the municipality of Vordingborg Municipality, Vordingborg, after merging with the former municipalities of Langeb ...

on 12 September 1657. He earned a seat on the Danish Privy Council in 1666 and was promoted to Riksadmiral in 1662.

Property

In 1663, he purchased Næsbyholm, Bavelse, and

on southern

Zealand Zealand ( ) is the largest and most populous islands of Denmark, island in Denmark proper (thus excluding Greenland and Disko Island, which are larger in size) at 7,031 km2 (2715 sq. mi.). Zealand had a population of 2,319,705 on 1 Januar ...

. In 1663, Frederick III also granted a property north of Copenhagen to Bjelke and his wife Edel Ulfeldt for life. Five years later, the king created a deed which ceded the property to Edel Ulfeldt and her descendants. It mentions the name "Edelgave" as the name of a future manor house at the site. Bjelke expanded the estate with several new tenant farms prior to its elevation to manor house in 1682. He also constructed a new half-timbered, three-winged main building. Bjelke also inherited Elingård in Norway. His son, Christoffer, inherited Austråt after his uncle's death in 1674.

Legacy

Henrik Bjelke married Edel Christoffersdatter Ulfeldt (15 March 1630 - 10 January 1676), a daughter of Christoffer Ulfeldt of Svenstorp (1583–1653) and Maren Urup (died c. 1651), on 20 December 1649. He was the father of Christian Frederik Bielke and Christoffer Bielke. Bjelke died on 16 March 1683 in Copenhagen. He was buried at Næsby Church in

Glumsø Glumsø is a railway town, with a population of 2,249 (1.January 2025), located on the southern part of Zealand in Denmark. Until 1.January 2007 it was the seat of Suså Municipality. Glumsø Station is located in Glumsø, serving the Sydbanen li ...

. Bjelkes Allé in Copenhagen is named after him.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bjelke, Henrik 1615 births 1683 deaths People from Fredrikstad 17th-century Royal Dano-Norwegian Navy officers Royal Dano-Norwegian Navy admirals Norwegian admirals 17th-century Danish landowners 17th-century Norwegian military personnel Danish people of the Thirty Years' War Norwegian people of the Thirty Years' War H