Gert or Gerhard Rantzau (1558-1627) was a German nobleman in Danish service, soldier and Captain of the Palace and Castle of

Kronborg Kronborg is a castle and historical stronghold in the town of Helsingør, Denmark. Immortalised as Elsinore in William Shakespeare's play ''Hamlet'', Kronborg is one of the most important Renaissance castles in Northern Europe. It was inscribed ...

and

Flensburg Flensburg (; Danish language, Danish and ; ; ) is an independent city, independent town in the far north of the Germany, German state of Schleswig-Holstein. After Kiel and Lübeck, it is the third-largest city in Schleswig-Holstein. Flensburg's ...

. He was a son of

Heinrich Rantzau Heinrich Rantzau or Ranzow (Ranzovius) (11 March 1526 – 31 December 1598) was a German humanist writer and statesman, a prolific astrologer and an associate of Tycho Brahe. He was son of Johan Rantzau. He was Governor of the Danish royal s ...

, the King of Denmark's Lieutenant in

Holstein Holstein (; ; ; ; ) is the region between the rivers Elbe and Eider (river), Eider. It is the southern half of Schleswig-Holstein, the northernmost States of Germany, state of Germany. Holstein once existed as the German County of Holstein (; 8 ...

. His older brother was

Breide Rantzau Breide Rantzau (13 October 1556 10 January 1618) was a German nobleman in Danish-Norwegian service. He served as ''stadtholder'' of Copenhagen from 1602. Early life He was born on 13 October 1556 at Segeberg, the son of Heinrich Rantzau, and the ...

. In the winter of 1581-2 he was sent to Spain as an ambassador to Philip II, offering troops and ships to fight in the Netherlands. Daniel Rogers, an English diplomat, wrote of him in 1588, "Gerard Rantzow is son to the King's Lieutenant, which Gerard is Constable of the Castle of Kronborg and Captain of the King's Guard, whose like I have not seen for his years in many kingdoms: for being but of the age of 31 years, he has seen the most part of Europe, of Greece, and of Egypt: and speaks 6 languages very well, and is a comely and able gentleman of great spirit." Roger wrote that Rantzau offer to raise soldiers to fight for

Queen Elizabeth Queen Elizabeth, Queen Elisabeth or Elizabeth the Queen may refer to: Queens regnant * Elizabeth I (1533–1603; ), Queen of England and Ireland * Elizabeth II (1926–2022; ), Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms * Queen B ...

. Rogers wrote a similar note for Cecil mentioning that Gert Rantzau had been in favour with the late king,

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

, that he had been in Constantinople and Spain, and visited the English court. Rantzau like many aristocrats collected signatures. He used the blank leaves of a psalm book for the autographs of

James VI of Scotland James VI and I (James Charles Stuart; 19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625) was King of Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the Scottish and English crowns on 24 March 1603 until ...

and

Anne of Denmark Anne of Denmark (; 12 December 1574 – 2 March 1619) was the wife of King James VI and I. She was List of Scottish royal consorts, Queen of Scotland from their marriage on 20 August 1589 and List of English royal consorts, Queen of Engl ...

who stayed at Kronborg in 1590. She signed "Anna Royne d'ecosse" and wrote in French that "Everything was in the hands of God." She wrote the same motto in the autograph book of another guest at Kronborg, Dietrich Bevernest. Rantzau wrote to the former Scottish ambassador Sir Patrick Vans of Barnbarroch in August 1588 recommending two young travellers in Denmark and Sweden and mentioning Andrew Keith, Lord Dingwall. In 1590 he became Captain of the Castle of Flensburg, where the Scottish diplomat John Skene visited him and his wife on 1 August 1590.David Scott Gehring, ''Diplomatic Intelligence on the Holy Roman Empire and Denmark during the Reigns of Elizabeth I and James VI: Three Treatises'', Camden Fifth Series, 49 (Cambridge, 2016), pp. 164, 168.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rantzau, Gert 16th-century German nobility 17th-century German people 1558 births 1627 deaths Gert Ambassadors of Denmark to Spain Kronborg