Søren Norby, selfstyled as Severin Norbi (died 1530) was a

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish ance ...

leading

naval officer An officer is a person who holds a position of authority as a member of an armed force or uniformed service. Broadly speaking, "officer" means a commissioned officer, a non-commissioned officer, or a warrant officer. However, absent cont ...

in the fleets of Danish kings

Hans I John ( Danish, Norwegian and sv, Hans; né ''Johannes'') (2 February 1455 – 20 February 1513) was a Scandinavian monarch under the Kalmar Union. He was king of Denmark (1481–1513), Norway (1483–1513) and as John II ( sv, Johan II) ...

and

Christian II Christian II (1 July 1481 – 25 January 1559) was a Scandinavian monarch under the Kalmar Union who reigned as King of Denmark and Norway, from 1513 until 1523, and Sweden from 1520 until 1521. From 1513 to 1523, he was concurrently Du ...

. He commandeered the greatest ship of the Danish fleet in naval wars against Sweden and

Lübeck Lübeck (; Low German also ), officially the Hanseatic City of Lübeck (german: Hansestadt Lübeck), is a city in Northern Germany. With around 217,000 inhabitants, Lübeck is the second-largest city on the German Baltic coast and in the stat ...

. Norby governed various land possessions in

Scandinavia Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Swe ...

, ruling

Gotland Gotland (, ; ''Gutland'' in Gutnish), also historically spelled Gottland or Gothland (), is Sweden's largest island. It is also a province, county, municipality, and diocese. The province includes the islands of Fårö and Gotska Sandön to th ...

from 1517 to 1525. His rebellion against

Frederick I of Denmark Frederick I ( Danish and ; ; ; 7 October 1471 – 10 April 1533) was King of Denmark and Norway. He was the last Roman Catholic monarch to reign over Denmark and Norway, when subsequent monarchs embraced Lutheranism after the Protestant Refor ...

in 1525 was defeated, and he fled Denmark, ending his life in the employ of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor. Norby had two children with unknown women; a son named Olov and a daughter, of whom little is known.

Biography

Norby was of poor

Funen Funen ( da, Fyn, ), with an area of , is the third-largest island of Denmark, after Zealand and Vendsyssel-Thy. It is the 165th-largest island in the world. It is located in the central part of the country and has a population of 469,947 as o ...

nobility, probably born between the late 1460s and the early 1480s. The first mention of Norby is as a sailor for

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used b ...

regent Svante Nilsson Sture during peace time in 1504. In 1507, he was a

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

for Hans I of Denmark and pillaged

Åland Åland ( fi, Ahvenanmaa: ; ; ) is an Federacy, autonomous and Demilitarized zone, demilitarised region of Finland since 1920 by a decision of the League of Nations. It is the smallest region of Finland by area and population, with a size of 1 ...

. Norby commandeered the largest ship of Hans' fleet during the war against Sweden and

from 1507 to 1512, and served alongside

Jens Holgersen Ulfstand Jens may refer to: * Jens (given name), a list of people with the name * Jens (surname), a list of people * Jens, Switzerland, a municipality * 1719 Jens, an asteroid See also * Jensen (disambiguation) * Jenssi Joensuu (; krl, Jovensuu; ) i ...

. In 1510, Norby received a letter of marque from Hans, allowing him to commit

piracy Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and other valuable goods. Those who conduct acts of piracy are called pirates, v ...

on all enemy vessels.Søren Nørby, , Marinehistorisk Tidsskrift, vol. 3 / 2009. For his success in the war, Norby was rewarded with

Börringe Priory Börringekloster Castle ( sv, Börringeklosters slott), formerly Börringe Priory ( sv, Börringekloster) is a castle built in 1763 on the ruins of a medieval Benedictine priory at Svedala in Scania, Sweden. Börringe Priory The priory was f ...

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 Skå ...

and also owned Haraldsborg near

Roskilde Roskilde ( , ) is a city west of Copenhagen on the Danish island of Zealand. With a population of 51,916 (), the city is a business and educational centre for the region and the 10th largest city in Denmark. It is governed by the administrative ...

. Bricka, Carl Frederik, ''Dansk Biografisk Lexikon'', vol. XII ünch - Peirup 1898. A. Heise, "Søren (Severin) Norby"
pp.310-318
/ref> Under new King

Christian II of Denmark Christian II (1 July 1481 – 25 January 1559) was a Scandinavian monarch under the Kalmar Union who reigned as King of Denmark and Norway, from 1513 until 1523, and Sweden from 1520 until 1521. From 1513 to 1523, he was concurrently Du ...

, Norby was sent as leader of a fleet to aid Charles II of Burgundy against

Geldern Geldern ( nl, Gelderen, archaic English: ''Guelder(s)'') is a city in the federal German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It is part of the district of Kleve, which is part of the Düsseldorf administrative region. Geography Location Geldern l ...

in 1514. He was granted

seignory In English law, seignory or seigniory, spelled ''signiory'' in Early Modern English (; french: seigneur, lit=lord; la, senior, lit=elder), is the lordship (authority) remaining to a grantor after the grant of an estate in fee simple. '' Nulle ter ...

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its ...

from 1515 to 1517, and in 1517 he was granted

Visborg Visborg (Wisborg) refers to a fortress in the town of Visby on the Swedish island of Gotland. Successive fortresses were built in Visby (''borg'' means fortress or castle), though Visborg is usually in reference to the castle built here by King ...

, which was made a life-time grant in exchange for Börringe Priory and Haraldsborg in 1518. During Christian II's war to win the throne of Sweden against Lübeck and Sweden from 1517 to 1520, Norby was the leader of the Danish fleet, and attacked both military and merchant vessels from his strategic position at Visborg. Norby was officially allowed to continue with piracy in 1518. He captured, and was subsequently granted,

Borgholm Borgholm () is a city and the seat of Borgholm Municipality, Kalmar County, Sweden with 4,401 inhabitants in 2020. It is located on the island of Öland in the Baltic Sea, at the Kalmar Strait-side of Öland, north of Färjestaden. Borgholm i ...

Öland Öland (, ; ; sometimes written ''Øland'' in other Scandinavian languages, and often ''Oland'' internationally; la, Oelandia) is the second-largest Swedish island and the smallest of the traditional provinces of Sweden. Öland has an area ...

in 1519,Søren Norby
at Gyldendals Åbne Encyklopædi and his

blockade A blockade is the act of actively preventing a country or region from receiving or sending out food, supplies, weapons, or communications, and sometimes people, by military force. A blockade differs from an embargo or sanction, which ar ...

of Stockholm helped Christian II secure the Swedish throne in 1520. Norby helped make arrests during the

Stockholm Bloodbath The Stockholm Bloodbath ( sv, Stockholms blodbad; da, Det Stockholmske Blodbad) was a trial that led to a series of executions in Stockholm between 7 and 9 November 1520. The event is also known as the Stockholm massacre. The events occurred a ...

, but is said to have rescued many Swedes by sailing them out of Stockholm. He was then granted

Kalmar Castle Kalmar Castle ( sv, Kalmar slott) is a castle in the city Kalmar in the province of Småland in Sweden. History During the twelfth century a round defensive tower was built on Kalmarsund and a harbour constructed. At the end of the thirteen ...

. Norby was tasked with finding a sea route to the

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Great ...

via

Greenland Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland is ...

, but had to abandon his plans due to the rise of

Gustav Vasa Gustav I, born Gustav Eriksson of the Vasa noble family and later known as Gustav Vasa (12 May 1496 – 29 September 1560), was King of Sweden from 1523 until his death in 1560, previously self-recognised Protector of the Realm ('' Riksför ...

who was crowned King of Sweden in 1521. In the following years, Norby lost his possession of Öland, but conquered

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bo ...

and

Norrbotten Norrbotten (), known in English as North Bothnia, is a Swedish province (''landskap'') in northernmost Sweden. It borders south to Västerbotten, west to Swedish Lapland, and east to Finland. Administration The traditional provinces of Swe ...

. When Christian II abdicated under great pressure in April 1523, Norby was the only seignory who stayed loyal to him. Norby lost Kalmar and Finland that year, and fortified himself at Visborg. He was isolated and began

minting Minting is a village and civil parish in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. The village is situated south from the A158 road. The population (including Gautby) at the 2011 census was 286. Minting Priory was located here. Mi ...

his own coins in order to pay his men, bearing the name insignia ''Severin Norbi''. He negotiated with both the new Danish king

Frederick I Frederick I may refer to: * Frederick of Utrecht or Frederick I (815/16–834/38), Bishop of Utrecht. * Frederick I, Duke of Upper Lorraine (942–978) * Frederick I, Duke of Swabia (1050–1105) * Frederick I, Count of Zol ...

, Sweden, and Lübeck to keep his possession of Visborg. After diplomatic machinations, Norby eventually stayed at Visborg, and he launched a rebellion in

Blekinge Blekinge (, old da, Bleking) is one of the traditional Swedish provinces (), situated in the southern coast of the geographic region of Götaland, in southern Sweden. It borders Småland, Scania and the Baltic Sea. It is the country's second- ...

in April 1525, in the name of Christian II. Frederick I's general

Johan Rantzau Johan (also Johann) Rantzau (12 November 1492 – 12 December 1565) was a German- Danish general and statesman known for his role in the Count's Feud. His military leadership ensured the succession of Christian III to the throne, which br ...

defeated Norby, and he reached a settlement with Denmark, in which Norby exchanged Visborg for land in Blekinge. During the surrender of Visborg, Norby was double crossed by Frederick I's advisor

Otte Krumpen Otte Krumpen (1473–1569)E.Ebg. in Westrin, Th. (ed.): ''Nordisk familjebok'', Stockholm, vol. XV (1911), p. 84. was a Danish bureaucrat, who was Marshal of Denmark from 1554 to 1567, and held seignory over various land holdings throughout ...

and left for capture by Lübeck. However, he was promptly released as his men rejected leaving Visborg without him, and they then resettled in Blekinge as agreed. While in Blekinge, Norby continued his piracy against Lübeck and Sweden, and carried on supporting Christian II against Frederick I. His three enemies finally united to attack him in August 1526. Norby escaped to

Livonia Livonia ( liv, Līvõmō, et, Liivimaa, fi, Liivinmaa, German and Scandinavian languages: ', archaic German: ''Liefland'', nl, Lijfland, Latvian and lt, Livonija, pl, Inflanty, archaic English: ''Livland'', ''Liwlandia''; russian: Ли ...

, and travelled to

Vasili III of Russia Vasili III Ivanovich (russian: Василий III Иванович, 25 March 14793 December 1533) was the Grand Prince of Moscow from 1505 to 1533. He was the son of Ivan III Vasiliyevich and Sophia Paleologue and was christened with the name ...

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

. With the help of King

Ferdinand I of Bohemia Ferdinand I ( es, Fernando I; 10 March 1503 – 25 July 1564) was Holy Roman Emperor from 1556, King of Bohemia, Hungary, and Croatia from 1526, and Archduke of Austria from 1521 until his death in 1564.Milan Kruhek: Cetin, grad izbornog s ...

, Norby travelled to

Mechelen Mechelen (; french: Malines ; traditional English name: MechlinMechelen has been known in English as ''Mechlin'', from where the adjective ''Mechlinian'' is derived. This name may still be used, especially in a traditional or historical contex ...

where he was reunited with Christian II around November 1528. As Christian II's position was too weak to attempt a reconquest of Denmark, Norby travelled to join Charles II of Burgundy, now known as Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, in 1529. He wrote to Christian II of his partaking in the Siege of Florence in February 1530, where he died shortly thereafter.

Biography

References

Further reading