Dansk Biografisk Lexicon
Carl Fr. Bricka
Project Runeberg
Thott, Axel Pedersen, –ab.1446, rigsråd, was a son of væbner Peder Axelsen of Herlev in Gers herred and Juliane Pedersdatter Grubbe and is mentioned as a væbner maybe in 1390, but anyway in 1394; he probably became a Ridder (knight) at Erik af Pommern's coronation in 1397. He is already mentioned in queen Margrethe's rule in public business and was probably already then a member of the rigsråd (state council); he played however a more important role in Erik of Pommern's sole rule. He was in 1417 among the men, who had to judge between the king and Roskilde bishopric about the rights of Copenhagen, and was in 1423 at king Sigismund on the occassion of the feud about Schleswig, and the next year he was in Flensborg as one of king Erik's attorneys in the same affair. In 1428 he is mentioned as the navy chief during the war with the Hanseatics and took following part several times in negotiations in this as well as with the Swedes after the rebellion of Engelbrecht, which furthermore had affected him in another way.
A. P. had latest in 1410 got Lunde bishopric's castle Elleholm as a pawn, which was redeemed from him a long time after. Among royal vasalries he had in 1414 Helsingborg, in 1415 Varberg and in 1419 besides the latest mentioned castle also Falkenberg, Skanør and Falsterbo. It seems that he had Skanør and Falsterbo already in 1416; but his name is especially connected to Varberg, since he kept this vasalry until his death. In 1434 Engelbrecth attacked Halland, and the villagers of Nørrehalland assisted him, so A. P. had to make an agreement with him. Engelbrecht then had to govern the vasalry and collect the taxes, but pay the half of it to A.P, who later punished the citizens of Ny Varberg, since they had deserted the king - but he had in Engelbrecht's second rebellion in 1346 to see the Swedes in his vasalry once more.
When the Danish rigsråds in 1439 had given notice to terminate allegiance to Erik af Pommern, A.P. kept on for some time to support the dethroned king, who had shown him his favour in many ways; thus he had given him a manor in Malmø; not until in 1441 A.P gave up his servance to the king, if he was not rescued at Varberg before Midsummer's Day .It seems that A. P. already in October 1440 was on friendly terms with the new king, who calls him his råd (councillor); and he did not keep the due date he had made himself with king Erik: In January 1441 he let king Christoffer give him the vasalry Varberg and two herreds (districts), which had been connected to Falkenberg, plus Gers herred and Væ herred. He obviously did not wish to bring a large sacrifice to the case of the dethroned king, and he was now king Christoffer's trusted man at Varberg in the following years, until he in the period between 24 November 1446 and 25 January 1447 died at an advanced age.
He had inherited Herlev from his father; in 1413 he was pawned with the main farm Grubbe-Ordrup in Voldborg herred and bought later various parts of it, but had to fight long feuds about it with others, who claimed it too. He was also pawned with Vallø. A. P. became in 2 marriages father of the 9 «Axelssønner», of whom several played an important role in the history of the North. With his first wife, a daughter of Axel Kjeldsen Krognos and Catharina Eriksdatter Puke, he had the sons Peder, Oluf, Aage and Kjeld. With his second wife, Ingeborg, who was a daughter of the Swedish Ivar Nilsson and Margrethe Thordsdatter Bonde, whom he married in 1418, he had the sons Erik, Iver, Anders, Philippus and Laurens; she died in the period 1458-66.
Danmarks Adels Aarbog 1900, S. 416 ff.
P. v. Möller, Bidrag t. Hallands hist. I, 101 ff.
William Christensen.
Thott, Aage Axelsen, –1477, rigsråd, son of Axel Pedersen T. and his first wife, is mentioned as a grown man in 1421. Later he is described as "of Hjuleberg», a main farm in Halland, which came to the family via his mother. He was høvedsmand (chief) at Falkenberg maybe 1426, but anyway in 1433 and likewise the following year, where he under Engelbrecht's attack on Halland fought back an atttack from one of E.'s under-chiefs, but since he dared not await a new storm, he sailed away after having set fire to the castle. It is doubtful however, if he owned the vasalry himself or was just governing it as the king's bailiff. A.A probably hesitated just as long as his father to acknowledge Christoffer of Bavaria, and the reason might be that he was not accoladed until 1449, probably at the coronation of Christian I. His father had in 1441 achieved a promise from king Christoffer that one of his sons could keep Varberg in 6 years after his death, and according to this the sons arranged in 1447 that the brothers A. and Iver were to manage the vasalry. It is not known whether Iver took part in the government of the vasalry, but A. was mentioned several times as vasal at Varberg, which he was pawned with; likewise he and his wife had in 1450 a pawn letter for life of Årstad and Halmstad herreds, which he already then had in custody.
A. A. had become rigsråd already before 1448; but it is especially after this year he is mentioned in public affairs. He is seen in the relation to the other Nordic kingdoms, thus he was in 1449 twice in Norway to work for the election of Christian I, in 1450 he took part in the Halmstad-meeting and was the same year with the king in Norway on his coronation-tour; likewise he took part in meetings with the Swedes in Rønneby in 1453 and maybe 1454 and in Vadstena in 1455. In 1462 he was together with his brothers Oluf and Erik involved in a feud about Øsel bishopric and supported with an army one of the candidates of the bishopric. In 1466 he was again at a meeting with the Swedes in Jønkøbing, but the same year a meeting took place in Nykøping, which became of great importance for the relation between Christan I and the Axel-sons.
A. A. had for a long period bought property in both Sweden and Denmark, his wife Merete was Swedish, a daughter of Bengt Uddson of the so-called Vinstorpa-family; one of his daughters had already in 1455 married the Swedish marsk Thord Carlsson Bonde,who was killed the year after, and another daughter, Ingeborg was (probably shortly after the Nykøping-meeting) engaged to the later famous Sten Sture the Elder. A. A. himself was after the Nykøping-meeting under suspicion of the king, who seemingly had tried to have him ousted by favouring the accuses from the inhabitants of his vasalries. However it seemed to be a failed attempt, and A.A. got an honourable testimonial from his villagers about his rule, and in February 1467 the king endowed for life his wife with Hammergård and Hammerø south of Kongsbakke. A.A. was probably at that point still the owner of his vasalries and is mentioned in February 1467 as the høvedsmand (chief) of Varberg, but in May the same year he obviously did not own Varberg anymore, and it is not known, why he lost this vasalry. It seems that he kept Årstad and Halmstad herred, and he could still reside at Hjuleberg, like he in May 1469 was present at a meeting in Copenhagen; but he mentions already in January 1468 that some of his estate have been confiscated, like his position obviously had become rather difficult. At last was Hjuleberg in 1469 destroyed by the king, and in the same year all A.A.'s estate was taken by the Crown. A.A. then went to Sweden, he is found in Stockholm in 1470 and in Finland in 1472.
At the Fredsmødet (peace-meeting) in Kalmar in 1442 he had however, like many others, been given back his estate, and as for his vasalries, it was decided that he for the time being should have Halmstad and Årstad herred and Falkenberg town as pawns again, until a verdict was made, whether they belonged to him or the king, likewise it had to be judged who had the rights of Varberg. At the Kalmar-meeting in 1473 the Danish delegates promised to get Varberg back to A.A. until the verdict was made; he probably declared that he could not separate himself from his brothers and brother-children, but he achieved a letter of Varberg vasalry the same year. And since the verdict had still not been made, A.A. kept the vasalries until his death , like he in his last years again is mentioned as a rigsråd. He died in 1477, probably in May, and before 2. July; his wife and his co-heirs kept Årstad and Halmstad herred as pawns, while the king in 1477 redeemed Varberg from the heirs. Fru Merete lived still in 1479 , but was dead 12 October 1481.
Like A.A. obviously held more on to Erik af Pommern than his brother Oluf, he also showed ab. 1470 greater loyalty to Christian I than his younger half-brothers. Although there are some dark points in those years, it is clear that he was the most Danish among the Axel-sons who lived after 1464, and he avoided probably as long as possible to break with the king. He also showed himself in a positive light as a ruler of his vasalries, and the inhabitants praised him repeatedly in his relations to them.
Danmarks Adels Aarbog 1900, S. 420 f.; 1901, S. 566.
P. v. Möller, Bidrag t. Hallands hist. I, 141 ff.
William Christensen.
Thott, Erik Axelsen, –1481,Swedish rigsforstander, (vice-regent) was a son of the above mentioned Axel Pedersen T. and Ingeborg Ivarsdatter. He resided already in his younger years in Sweden and is mentioned in 1441 as a ridder and as the servant of the marsk Carl Knutsson. In 1444 he is written of Lagnø in Sødermanland, which he had got via his first wife, a daughter of Matts Ødglislesson Lilja, in 1447 he was a herredshøvding (chief of a district) in Lysings herred (district) in Østergøtland and after Carl Knutssons accession to the throne he was rigsråd. In 1450 he took part as a Swedish delegate in the Halmstad-meeting, which held some unfavourable conditions for king Carl, but the same year he was one of the judges of Magnus Gren, whose successor he became as a vasal at Åbo, although he did not keep the vasalry for long - on the contrary he is mentioned as a vasal at Nykøping 1451-66. In 1453 he once again took part in judging some of Christian I's Swedish supporters, but when the Uppsala-bishop Jøns Bengtsson rebelled against king Carl in the beginning of 1457, the king did not trust E.A. more than putting him in prison at Nykøbing. Soon after he was free again, and when king Carl had left by ship, archbishop Jøns and E.A. were together elected rigsforstandere in March 1457.
Not long after was Christian I accepted king in Sweden, E.A. who had gone to Finland to work for Christian's accept there, still called himself rigsforstander a short time after Christian in June 1457 was elected king, but thereafter he had to be content with the office as hofmester (master of court) in Sweden ( a position he has from 1457 and still in 1466); likewise he was rewarded with Viborg vasalry by the king, which he kept from 1457 until his death in 1463. When Christian disagreed with archbishop Jøns Bengtsson and sent him to prison, E.A. was several times among those, who acknowledged this step, and also after bishop Kettil Carlsson's rebellion and king Carl's return in 1464 he stayed for a period on Christian I's side. When Christian then reconciled with archbishop Jøns and bishop Kettil, E.A. fought at New Year's time 1465 together with those against king Carl and forced him to give up his rule in January 1465, whereafter he accompanied the dethroned king to Finland, where the king had been given several vasalries.
But E.A soon disagreed with the archbishop, who now (for a period together with bishop Kettil) ruled Sweden as a rigsforstander without wanting to share his power with E.A. like in 1457, and E.A. came closer to his brother Iver in the Swedish Selvstændighedsparti (Indenpendent-party). E.A. had since 1456 been married to Eline, a daughter of Gustav Algotsson Sture, she was a cousin of Sten Sture the Elder's father and a widow after Carl Knutsson's halfbrother Knut Stensson Bjelke, who died in 1451. In the autumn of 1466 was held a Union-meeting in Nykøping, where Iver Axelsen took part as the king's representative; but he married however Carl Knutsson's daughter Magdalena, and the present Swedish rigsråds, among those E.A. decided that Carl Knutsson should get back his estate; those who had bought this estate from Christian I, were referred to seek compensation from the king. A decision like that of course made Christian I furious, and it did not get better, when the Swedish participants from Nykøping went to Stockholm and forced the archbishop to give up his rigsforstanderskab ( rule) and transfer Stockholm castle to E.A., who now became rigsforstander and was considered this on 18 October.
When Christian I after this confiscated the late Philippus Axelsen's pawn-vasalry Tranekær, the final break came between the king and hr. Philippus' left full brothers, of whom E.A. and Iver sent the king termination- letters. E.A. did not find a full acknowledgement in Sweden, which was ravaged by tough party-fights.
In the summer of 1467 he was also under siege in Stockholm, partly by Danish troops under the lead of Claus Rønnov and archbishop Jøns Bengtsson and partly by the archbishop's Swedish friends. But Iver Axelsen came to his brother's assistance from Gulland; so the siege was given up and the Danes had to sail back again, and Carl Knutsson was then in 1467 called back and became king for the third time, while E.A. gave up the rule as rigsforstander and withdrew to Finland, where he was a vasal not only at Viborg but also - in 1466 and 1468 - at Åbo. His estate in Denmark was together with his full brothers' estate passed by judgment to Christian I - the exact date is not known - and he is in the following period still mentioned as an opponent of Christian I. He gave Sten Sture a good support in his first time as rigsforstander, and he took part as a Swedish delegate in the agreement-meetings in Kalmar in 1472 and 1474. But in his later years he stayed especially in Finland, where he was høvedsmand (chief) at the important border-castle Viborg, and he played an important role at Tavastehus, like in the Swedish relations to the Order in Lifland and to the Russians; as a defense against the Russians he established St. Olofsborg, later called Nyslott. He died at Viborg 1481, latest 28. March, after having transferred the castle-laws of Viborg. Tavastehus and St. Olofsborg to his brothers Iver and Laurens. His second wife still lived in 1493, but was dead in 1496.
Styffe, Bidrag t. Skandinaviens hist. III-IV.
P. v. Möller, Bidrag t. Hallands hist. I, 116 ff.
William Christensen.
Thott, Iver Axelsen, –1487, Danish and later Swedish rigsraad, was a full brother of the above mentioned Erik Axelsen T. He might have been a væbner in 1442, but was mentioned in 144 as a ridder and of Knabstrup (in Merløse herred), a manor he probably got via his wife Margrethe Poulsdatter Laxmand. In 1447 the Axel-sons arranged that I. and the elder half brother Aage should manage their later father's vasalry in Varberg together; but it is not known, if this arrangement came to be for I.'s part. He was a Danish rigsråd from 1449, where he in 1453 together with Claus Rønnov made an agreement with Carl Knutsson in Vadstena and in Stockholm, like he in 1454 got the authority to take part in a new meeting with the Swedes in Rønneby and in 1455 negotiated with them in Vadstena. In 1452 he had an unfortunate contact with the Swedes during king Carl's attack into Skåne, since his manor in Herlev (inherited from his father) was burnt down by them; according to a later story he showed his patriotism by, for the time being, reconciling with archbishop Tuve Nielsen of Lund (with whom he had had a feud) in order to defend the country against the enemy together with the archbishop. The story might be unreliable and does not fit well with I.A.'s behaviour later on, when he put his own and his family's interests above those of his mother country.
In 1464 the brother Philippus Axelsen died, he had been the successor of the elder half brother Oluf
as the governor of Gulland, and hr. I. who the same year had taken part in a Danish delegation to Preussia, took over Gulland, (temporarily as king Christian's man), which had been Oluf's pawn. What made I.A. begin to get closer to the Swedish Selvstændighedsparti (Independent-party) is not known; but he started on a line which might open great possibiliteis for him in Sweden, but at the same time brought his position in Denmark at risc; he was not like his brother Erik discontent because he did not achieve a new important position in Sweden, since he never had one before. But it is certain that a papal dispensation was made for I.A. in October 1465 - (who was now a widower, not only after Margrethe Laxmand, but also after a later wife, Marine, a daughter of Torbern Bille) - when he married his relative king Carl Knutsson's daughter Magdalene. In the following autumn at the Union-meeting in Nykøping, where I.A. took part as a Danish delegate, the wedding took place, and at the same time I.'s daughter Beate married the then supporter of the Swedish selvstændighedsparti, Arvid Trolle. At this point was also made the decision with the Swedes - partly caused by I.A. - about Carl Knutsson's estate, and the following insertion of Erik Axelsen as a rigsforstander, both events must have awoken Christian I's fury against the Axel-sons.
Possibly because of that the king took Tranekær from Philippus' heirs; but this caused again that Erik and I.A. sent the king their letters of notice. Hr. I., who was now an independent ruler at Gulland for 20 years, assisted Erik in Stockholm in the summer 1467, but possibly were both theirs as well as the third brother Lauren's estate in Denmark judged to the crown. From properties I.A. had besides Herlev, Lillø also in Gers herred and vasalries Sølvitsborg and Gers and Villands herred and Væ by, all pawned to him. The king now put a siege on Sølvitsborg and Lillø, and in September the crew at Sølvitsborg had to give up the castle. Lillø stood firm in the winter 1467-68, and I.A. succeeded in 1468 in rescueing the farm, but at the Lent the same year the king became master of Lillø, which he let demolish. The attempts, which were made in order to get an agreement between the king and hr. I (at meetings in Halmstad in 1468 and in Lübeck in 1469) did not succeed.
They had a meeting in March 1468 in Sweden( in Ørebro), where the present rigsråds promised that when king Carl died they would have his son-in-law I.A. (who probably was Swedish rigsråd already) for their authorized høvedsmand (chief), until the whole rigsråd was assembled and could agree about a new regent. In October 1469, when Carl Knutsson's Swedish opponents again raised, I.A.'s wife Magdalena and son-in-law Arvid Trolle and more were taken prisoners in Vadstena by Erik Carlsson Vasa, but the imprisonment probably did not last for long. Carl Knutsson died the following year; upon his deathbed he had given Sten Sture the management of the kingdom without considering the promise, which had been given to I.A. 2 years before. For the time being there was no enmity between I.A. and Sten Sture, of whom the first mentioned gradually had got several Swedish vasalries, like Stäkeborg. Gulland was not dependent of Sweden, the Hanseatics complained about the piracy from the Gullanders, and Carl Knutsson had before his death replied that he had no power of this island, which I.A. kept for Christian I's hand, until he was paid what king Christian owed him and his brothers' children, and then he would give the island to the Danish king.
At the Fredsmødet (Peace-meeting) in Kalmar 1472 between Denmark and Sweden it was among other things decided that I.A. temporarily should have Gers herred, Væ and Villands herred back, until it could be judged, if those vasalries belonged to him or the king, and a similar judgement had to be done about Sølvitsborg, but I. should however not have this vasalry before a decision of the judgement was made. I.A. was present as a Swedish attorney on the following Kalmar-meetings in 1473, 1474 and 1476, but in spite of the repeated promises from the Danes in 1473 and 1474 it is obvious that the judgment, which was planned in 1472, was never made. In 1476 I.A. declared to king Christian himself that he until now had kept Visborg to the hands of the king and Denmark's crown and also wished to continue this in the future, a declaration which did not have any practical importance for the time being.
I.A. had reason for keeping a good relation to Denmark since he gradually had got enemies in many places. Like his brother Erik he had intervened in the affairs of the Lifland Order, but this was of little importance, since the Swedish government did the same shortly after. The fury of the Hanseatics were awoken by him already in the late ruling period of Carl Knutsson, since the people he sent from Gulland made the shipping riscy. This had not improved since then, and for a time his piracy especially hit the Dutch, but this was of little importance as long I.A.was on good terms with Sten Sture. But I.A.'s brother Erik died in 1481 after having transferred the laws of the castle from his large Finnish vasalries to the brothers I. and Laurens. Sten Sture was probably very discontent with a power expand like this for I.A. and his brother - he made an attempt to get the vasalries back to the Crown, and the negotiations led finally in 1483 after Lauren's death to an agreement between I.A. and Sten Sture, where the first gave Erik Axelsen's Finnish vasalries (Viborg, Tavastehus and St.Olofsborg) to Sten Sture and in return got Borgholm at Øland for life - and likewise Raseborg vasalry, which Laurens Axelsen had had himself, and which his children now was given the right to keep for some years after I.A.'s death.
A couple of months later I.A. was as a Swedish delegate present at the Union-meeting in Kalmar; where the Kalmar Recess was adopted, like he in 1482 and 1484 took part in meetings between Danes and Swedes in the same city. But in 1484 I.A. tried at a meeting in Stockholm to have Sten Sture ousted as rigsforstander and his son-in-law Arvid Trolle appointed instead. His piracy however still caused some discontent among seafarers, who complained to the Swedish government; and since the high-handed way in which I.A. ruled his Swedish vasalries also awoke the anger of Sten Sture, and an attempt to solve the feud in a peaceful way did not succeed, since I.A. did not want to attend the negotations with the rigsforstander, then Sten Sture finally in 1487 started a siege of Borgholm, where his opponent resided, like he at the same time put a close on Stäkeborg and Raseborg.
When I.A. for so song could stay in his independence at Gulland, it was naturally because neither Denmark nor Sweden dared use the utmost precautions against him in the fear of that he thereby would join the other country completely and bring it the important advantage, which the supremacy of the important Baltic Sea would give. Sten Sture had however begun an attack, and it soon showed how uncertain I.A.'s position was under these circumstances. Not long after the beginning of the siege of Borgholm, he succeeded in February 1487 at night to escape to Visby in a boat and left his wife at Borgholm, but since he doubted if he alone could fight Sten Sture, he went to king Hans and promised him Gulland. A Danish fleet now went to Gulland, and the castle and the island came into the hands of the king without difficulties, in June king Hans was paid tribute in Visby by the inhabitants, and I.A. swore an oath of allegiance and was forgiven again. The crew at Stäkeborg had probably in May given up the castle to Sten Sture, and also Raseborg gave in, and after Visborg's surrender king Hans had an agreement with Sten Sture who promised to work for him , while the king in return promised that I.A. had to give Sten Sture Øland and Borgholm. I.A. tried to avoid this commitment, but the king forced him to fullfil it, and I.A. took with his wife Magdalene (who had stayed at Borgholm until the surrender) up residence at Lillø.
He was now a defeated man, he had lost his independent position at Gulland, where king Hans had placed another vasal, he had also lost his Swedish vasalries, and if he got back his earlier Danish pawn-vasalries is not known, there was no mentioning about him being a member of the Danish rigsråd again. He did not survive his defeat for long: He died 1 october 1487, and 8 years later in 1495 (ab. 24 August) his wife followed him to the grave. The special position he had for about 20 years as an independent prince at Gulland is a witness about that he was highly gifted, but his power depended first of all on the contrast between Denmark and Sweden; it had no natural basis, which is obvious by how fast it was broken in 1487.
Styffe, Bidrag t. Skandinaviens hist. III-IV. P. v. Möller, Bidrag t. Hallands hist. I, 127 ff. William Christensen.
Thott, Laurens Axelsen, –1483, Danish and later Swedish rigsråd, he was son of (afak the youngest surviving) of above mentioned Axel Pedersen T. and his 2 wife. In 1447 after his father's death he was still under age, but is mentioned in 1459 as a ridder. He had in 1462 pawned Grubbe-Ordrup in Voldborg herred from his brother Philippus and became (date not known) the owner of Næsbygård, the present Næsbyholm in Tybjerg herred; in 1465 he is mentioned as a vasal at Stege and the same year a single time as rigsråd. In July 1466 he was present at a thing in Copenhagen, but when the Nykøping-meeting in autumn the same year meant a break between Christian I and some of the Axel-sons, L.A. shared fate with his brothers Erik and Iver. He took up residence in Sweden, while his Danish estate went to the Crown, and he lost among others his pawn Skelskør town. In the Kalmar-meeting in 1472 it was decided that all, who had lost their estate in the kingdoms should get it back again, except the royal estate they had pawned - L.A. should get back Skelskør, until at judgement from the rigsråds of 3 kingdoms had decided, to whom the town belonged. These decisions, which was repeated in 1474, meant that Næsbygård later was inherited by L.A.'s children, but it did not mean that he returned to Denmark. He especially resided in Finland, where he 1468 became vasal at Raseborg, but he is also mentioned as a member of the Swedish rigsråd. His brother Erik had shortly before his death (1481) transferred the castle-laws of his Finnish vasalries Viborg, Tavastehus and St. Olofsborg to Iver and L.A., and Sten Sture's attempt to get hold of these vasalries did not succeed, while L.A., who was now mentioned as høvedsmand at Viborg, was alive. He died in 1483 (between 1. February and 20 June.)
In Sweden had L.A. from his brother Erik transferred the farm Åsta in Sødermanland. He was married twice, first to the Danish-born Karen Jonsdatter Viffert, who drowned in 1468 at Raseborg and then to Catarina, who was a daughter of the Swedish Erik Nipertz and a widow after Erik Nilsson (Oxenstjerna).She outlived L.A.
Danmarks Adels Aarbog 1900, S. 429 f. Styffe, Bidrag t. Skandinaviens hist. III-IV. P. v. Möller, Bidrag t. Hallands hist. I, 139 f.
William Christensen.
Thott, Oluf Axelsen, –1464, marsk, was a son of the above mentioned Axel Pedersen T. and his first wife and was in 1414 matriculated at Leipzig University. In 1419 hr. Henning Podebusk promised to lay out one half of Vallø with adjoining estate to him, while hr. Henning at the same time pawned the other half to his father (which Axel Pedersen later transferred to O. A.), and O. A. was already then married or engaged to Karen, a daughter of the former owner of Vallø, hr. Jens Eskilsen Falk, and a sister of Henning Podebusk's wife. O. A. was among those, who co-sealed the king's letter to the Swedes in Stockholm in 1434, and is mentioned the following year as a rigsråd. In the last ruling period of Erik af Pommern however, arose obviously a strong tension between O. A. and the king. In 1439 the king says that the rigsråd should have granted safe passage from O. A., but they had not done this, and the king did not consider himself safe on life and estate; later stories mention how O. A. once, when he met the king's mistress Cecilie, had beaten her and told her in frank words that she once would separate the king from Denmark.
O A. is also, contrarily to his father, among the rigsråds, who in 1438 addressed Christoffer of Bavaria, and he was one of the issuers of the termination-letter in 1439. And he achieved quickly considerable favours during the new government. He was probably knighted at king Christoffer's coronation in Sweden in 1441. In 1442 he is a vasal at Vordingborg, and became vasal in Christoffer of Bavaria's rule at Ålholm, a position, he still had in September 1448. And in 1443 he was a marsk and kept this office until after the king's death, although another owner of the office is mentioned in 1449. O. A. was among those, who king Christoffer in his will inserted as one of his executors, and a German chronicle - -which holds an unreliable tale that O.A. during the king-less period, when no one would give queen Dorothea access to any castle in the kingdom , had taken care of her and given her residence - - adds that " he rode with 300 horses in the country, because he was a Marsk."
In 1448 the new Swedish king, Carl Knutsson, did a raid on Gulland. But king Erik at Visborg took connection to Christian I, and soon after Easter 1449 king Erik's former enemy O. A. arrived with several Danish ships to the island; he could not force his way into Visby Harbour, which was blocked by the Swedes, but came via a secret access in connection with the castle, which now got a Danish crew, while king Erik sailed away. In the middle of July 1449 O. A., who at this point calls himself høvedsmand (chief) at Visborg, made an agreement with the Swedish høvedsmand at Gulland, Magnus Gren of that each part could keep what they had, until a judgment was made by Danish and Swedish rigsråds, if the island belonged to Denmark or Sweden. Soon after Christian I arrived with the Danish main force, and although O.A. maybe told the Swedes that he would let himself be killed in front of the king, before this should break the agreeement, the Danish yet tried to attack Visby to gain the power. This attempt did possibly not succeed, but there was still made a new agreement, according to which the question - as earlier decided - should be done by a judgment, but until then the Danish must rule the whole island, and the Swedes had to leave it at once. This judgment was never made however, and the Danes were now again in the possession of Gulland. To reach this goal it seems that neither Christian I or O.A. were very particular, but the case might look different, if there was a full report from the Danish side.
O. A. was until his death vasal at Gulland, which he got as a pawn (date not known), and as a consequence of the island's situation in the middle of the Baltic he played an important role in Denmark's relation with Sweden, and almost more with the Hanseatics. Already in the end of 1451 he harrassed the Swedish coasts, and in 1452 he was together with Magnus Gren the leader of a Danish fleet, which made an unsuccessfull attack on Stockholm and the eastern Sweden, and in 1457, after the rebellion of archbishop Jøns Bengtsson, he arrived with a fleet to Stockholm long before Christian I. himself. In his position as a vasal at Gulland not only his conduct towards the shipwrecked people called for discontent by the Hanseatics, it was the same enmity he achieved, since he always tried to prevent all trade with Sweden, so the Swedish kingdom was soon in a hostile relation to Denmark. The agreement between Christian I and the Hanseatics in Flensborg in 1455 held also a special decision that the king had to make O.A. stop his piracy; but since the Hanseatics at the same time, according to the king, promised to stop all trade with Sweden and Preussia, it is not a surprise that O.A. and other Danish magnates are seen with several ships at Estonia's coast to prevent this trade. Years later, in 1462, he took part together with his brothers Aage and Erik, in a feud about Øsel stift (district) when with an armed force he assisted one of the candidates of the bishopric.
Besides Gulland O. A. had at his death also Stevns and Bjeverskov herred as a pawn. His most important property was Vallø, to which he is still written in his last years, but he had already in the estate given up his right of the manor Hjuleberg to his brother Aage. In 1451 he got as a pawn Skullerupholm in Voldborg herred from Steen Basse's widow, fru Eline Johansdatter Bjørn, whose guardian he was, like he also got Lykkesholm in Vinding herred transferred from her; but he was in a feud with others about these two estates and had to give up some of it.
O. A. died at Gulland 16. Sept. 1464. With his first wife, the above mentioned Karen Jensdatter Falk, he had a daughter Birgitte. Of fru Karen's relation to O. A. is told in family books that "he did not like her ways", and after her death he was unmarried for 22 years, which is probbaly not true; he was married in 1430 to Johanne Nielsdatter Brock of Vemmetofte, who probably lived in 1445, but was dead in 1456. After her he married Anne Jensdatter Present, who at her husband's death took over the rule of Gulland together with his halfbrother Philippus, but she left the island already the following year. From her and O.A.'s children is the most wellknown the daughter Birgitte, who later married Niels Eriksen Rosenkrantz . Fru Anne Jensdatter lived 1485, but was dead 28. March 1487.
Danmarks Adels Aarbog 1900, S. 418 f. P. v. Möller, Bidrag t. Hallands hist. I, 109 ff. 115.
William Christensen.
Thott, Peder Axelsen, –1463, dean of the chapter was a son of above mentioned Axel Pedersen T.and his first mentioned wife. In 1413 he was matriculated at Leipzig- and i winter 1418-19 at Heidelberg-University, and in 1423 he was, while he was a canon in Lund and decan in Linkøping, dean of the chapter in Lund. In 1430 he is mentioned a couple of times as a rigsråd. In 1437, when he studied in Bologna, he caused by making various accuse against the prior in Dalby that the pope himself gave him the prior's office, if the accuse in an investigation showed to be the truth. A legal investigation was not carried through however, but P. A. took the office anyway, and although the pope in 1438 re-installed the former prior, P. A.is still seen as «Commender» or prior in Dalby until his death.
When his conduct at this occassion shows him as a violent and ruthless charcacter, it is confirmed by what else is known about him. He could not get on with anyone of Peder Lykke's successors at Lund archbishopric; archbishop Hans Laxmand complained that P.A. rode with a shield and a sword - and that his servants wore crossbows, and P.A.'s relation to the archbishop Tuve Nielsen was not much better. He seems also to have been on bad terms with other members of the chapter. King Christoffer af Bavaria was once angry with P.A:, but it was a little better in Christian I's rule, although he showed little interest in getting P.A. a bishopric, but he never became a bishop, and it seems that the king's sympathy for him was little. In the 1450s Christian recommended him, but at the same time also another to the pope as the candidate of Nidaros archbishopric, after Henrik Kalteisen's resignation, and when bishop Henneke of Odense died in 1459, P.A. tried to become his successor; he declared himself that he had been rightfully chosen by the chapter and that the king had spoken for him ( which seems to be doubtful) , and in 1461 he considered going to Rome to make the pope vote for him. But it is not certain if this journey took place, the pope had already in 1460 voted in favour of another, Mogens Krafse. P. A. had to be content with the empty title of ret Electus i Odense, like he now in his old days called himself the pompous name archdean of the chapter in Lund, a name, which he probably was the first to use. He did not survive his defeat to Mogens Krafse for long, he died 7. June 1463.
Danmarks Adels Aarbog 1900, S. 418. P. v. Möller.
Bidrag t. Hallands hist. I, 115 f
William Christensen
Thott, Philippus Axelsen, -1464, rigsråd, was a son of above mentioned Axel Pedersen T. and his second wife and was like the above mentioned brother Laurens under age still in 1447. In 1456 he was at the king's court and got Tranekær at Langeland as a pawn. He was possibly knighted at Christian I's coronation in Sweden 1457. When rigsråd in 1462, he had, caused by a new loan he gave the king, the pawn-sum raised at Tranekær and was promised to keep the vasalry unpaid for 6 years. In August 1464 he was among the Danish commanders who, after Christian I had left Sweden, capitulated at Stockholm; on his way from there he arrived on Gulland together with his brother Erik and several Danish magnates, and when the vasal here, a third brother Oluf, died at the same time ( 16 Sept. 1464) the magnates inserted Ph.A. and hr. Oluf's widow Anne as rulers of the island. But Ph.A died already on 4. November 1464 at Gulland.
He was (earliest in 1455) married to Ermegård, a daughter of Eggert Frille . When Ph. A. died, Eggert Frille became the guardian of his daughter's children and appeared on their behalf as the manager of Tranekær vasalry, but soon after (latest in May 1467) the king forcefully took the vasalry. The date is not known, but it was after the meeting in Nykøping in 1466. It seems that also Ph.A.'s estate was confiscated, but this was according to the decisions at the Kalmar-meeting in 1472 given back to the heirs. It took a long time though before the question about Tranekær was done, but at last the Crown paid the pawn-sum to Ph.A.'s heirs, of whom fru Ermegård about two years after Ph.'s death had married Bent Torbernsen Bille. She also outlived her second husband, who died in 1494; she died in the time between 13. April 1503 and 23. June 1504.
Danmarks Adels Aarbog 1900, S. 429.
P. v. Möller, Bidrag t. Hallands hist. I, 119 f. 130. 139.
William Christensen,
Dansk Biografisk Lexicon
Carl Fr. Bricka
Project Runeberg
translation grethe bachmann © copyright
