Godske Christoffersen Lindenov or Lindenow (d. 1612

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 ...

) 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 a ...

naval officer and Arctic explorer. He was a commander on one of King Christian IV's expeditions to Greenland.

Early life

He was of the noble family Lindenov of Lindersvold, son of Christoffer Clausen Lindenov (d. 1593) and Sophie Hartvigsdatter Plessen.

Career

Godske Lindenov was part of the escort of Prince Hans, son of

Frederick II of Denmark and Norway Frederick II (1 July 1534 – 4 April 1588) was King of Denmark and Norway and Duke of Schleswig and Holstein from 1559 until his death. A member of the House of Oldenburg, Frederick began his personal rule of Denmark-Norway at the age ...

, on his fatal 1602 journey to

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 millio ...

to marry Xenia, daughter of the tsar Boris Godunov. Lindenov joined the Danish Royal Navy in 1605 and was the same year sent on the Hans Køning Expedition to Southern

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 i ...

led by John Cunningham to assert Danish sovereignty. Lindenov was given command of the vessel ' ("Red Lion"). Lindenov landed near Atammik and brought two

Inuit Inuit (; iu, ᐃᓄᐃᑦ 'the people', singular: Inuk, , dual: Inuuk, ) are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic and subarctic regions of Greenland, Labrador, Quebec, Nunavut, the Northwest Territories ...

back to

. In the following year,

Christian IV of Denmark Christian IV (12 April 1577 – 28 February 1648) was King of Denmark and Norway and Duke of Holstein and Schleswig from 1588 until his death in 1648. His reign of 59 years, 330 days is the longest of Danish monarchs and Scandinavian mon ...

sent him on a new expedition to

with James Hall as a pilot. Five ships were sent: ' ("Consolation", his flagship), ' (commanded by John Cunningham), ' ("Cat", commanded by Anders Nolk), ' ("Eagle", commanded by Hans Bruun) and the ex-Scottish '' Gilliflower'' (also called variously the ''Gillibrand'', the ''Giltbert'', and the ''Angelibrand'',Gosch, C.C.A.
Danish Arctic Expeditions
'. commanded by Carsten Richardson). The expedition landed in Southwest Greenland and searched for

silver Silver is a chemical element with the symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical ...

ore, which was not found. In the following years, he was sent on naval operations, e.g. in the

Baltic Baltic may refer to: Peoples and languages * Baltic languages, a subfamily of Indo-European languages, including Lithuanian, Latvian and extinct Old Prussian *Balts (or Baltic peoples), ethnic groups speaking the Baltic languages and/or originati ...

during the

Kalmar War The Kalmar War (1611–1613) was a war between Denmark–Norway and Sweden. Though Denmark-Norway soon gained the upper hand, it was unable to defeat Sweden entirely. The Kalmar War was the last time Denmark-Norway successfully defended its ''dom ...

(1611–1613). He fell ill and died in

in 1612. Lindenov Fjord in East

is named for him.

Personal life

Lindenov married Karen Gyldenstjerne, daughter of Henrik Gyldenstjerne and Birgitte Trolle on 10 March 1611. Their son Christopher Lindenov (c. 1612–1679) became an admiral of the Danish Navy as well.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lindenov, Godske Danish polar explorers Greenlandic polar explorers Lindenov family Explorers of the Arctic History of Greenland Year of birth unknown 1612 deaths

Early life

Career

Personal life

See also

References