Ove Gjedde

Ove Gjedde
Portrait of Admiral of the Realm Ove Gjedde, by Karel van Mander III

1st Governor of Tranquebar
In office 11 October 1620 – 13 February 1621
Monarch	Christian IV
Preceded by	none
Succeeded by	Roland Crappé

Personal details
Born	27 December 1594 Tomarps Kungsgård Castle, Scania
Died	19 December 1660 Copenhagen
Nationality	Danish
Spouse	Dorothy Knudsdatter Urne
Children	Dorte Gjedde Brostrup Gjedde Margrethe Gjedde Merete Gjedde Regitze Sophie Gjedde Knud Ovessøn Gjedde Frederick Eiler Gjedde
Parent(s)	Brostrup Giedde Dorthe Pallesdatter Ulfeldt
Military service
Allegiance	Denmark-Norway 1616–1645
Rank	Admiral Lieutenant Colonel
Battles/wars	Torstenson War

Ove Gjedde^[a] (27 December 1594 – 19 December 1660) was a Danish nobleman and Admiral of the Realm (Danish: Rigsadmiral). He established the Danish colony at Tranquebar (Danish: Trankebar) and constructed Fort Dansborg as the base for the Danish settlement. He was a member of the interim government that followed the death of King Christian IV, which imposed restrictions by the Haandfæstningon his successor King Frederick III.^[1]

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Early years

Gjedde was born at Tomarps (Swedish: Tomarps Kungsgård) at Åstorp in Scania.^[2] He was the son of Brostrup Gjedde and Dorthe Pallesdatter Ulfeldt and studied at Sorø Academy. He completed a tour of Germany and the Netherlands, returning in 1616 when he was appointed secretary of the Danish Chancellery.^[3]^[4]

Career

In March 1618, Gjedde commanded an expedition to India and Ceylon 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, the yacht Øresund, and the merchant ships Kiøbenhavn and Christian.^[5] He established Fort Dansborg at Tranquebar in 1620,^[6] which would remain a Danish colony for 200 years. Gjedde returned in March 1622 and was appointed lord of Brunla len (now in Akershus). In 1637, he received Tønsberg len (now Vestfold).^[7]

Gjedde acquired land properties in Norway, 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.^[7]

In 1628, he was appointed Lieutenant Colonel of Akershus Regiment. He participated in the Torstenson War (1643–1645) as an admiral and in 1645 he was made Admiral of the Realm (Rigsadmiral). In 1648 he was granted the fiefdom of Helsingborg Castle.^[8]

Later years

After the peace in Roskilde, Denmark lost Scania to Sweden. When king Charles X Gustav of Sweden 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. 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 Helsingborg, because this had now become Swedish, when he died he was buried in the crypt of Roskilde Cathedral. The legend says that, "His bones after the Roskilde peace never found rest, after Scania became Swedish" (Danish: hans ben efter Roskildefreden fandt aldrig hvile, efter Skåne var blevet svensk). Gjedde died at Copenhagen in 1660.^[3]

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 (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.^[7]^[9]^[10]

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

Notes

^ Also spelled Ove Gedde and Ove Giedde

References

^ "Haandfæstning". guideservicedanmark.dk. Retrieved January 1, 2019.
^ "Historia". Tomarps Kungsgård. Retrieved January 1, 2019.
^ ^a ^b Jørgen Marcussen. Ove Gjedde - Admiral, 1594-1660 (in Danish)
^ Erik Opsahl. "Ove Gjedde". Store norske leksikon. Retrieved January 1, 2019.
^ Charukesi Ramadurai. Trankebar
^ Datta, Rangan (15 June 2022). "Tranquebar — A piece of Denmark on the coast of the Bay of Bengal". The Telegraph. My Kolkata. Retrieved 12 October 2023.
^ ^a ^b ^c Rian, Øystein. "Ove Gjedde". In Helle, Knut (ed.). Norsk biografisk leksikon (in Norwegian). Oslo: Kunnskapsforlaget. Retrieved 6 January 2014.
^ Th. Topsøe-Jensen. "Ove Gjedde". Dansk Biografisk Leksikon, Gyldendal. Retrieved January 1, 2019.
^ "Gedde" (in Danish). RoskildeHistorie.dk. Retrieved 2018-12-05.
^ Ranveig Gausdal. "Christoffer Urne". Norsk biografisk leksikon. Retrieved January 1, 2019.