Hans Schack (28 October 1608 – 27 February 1676) was a member of the north German noble family Schack, who after many years in French service, entered the Danish service, made major contributions during the war with Sweden, and loyally supported Frederick III when he overthrew the Danish constitution. He became a Danish field-marshal, commander-in-chief of the Danish army, member of the Board of State, and of the Danish Privy Council, and made a Danish count.

Early career

As a young man, Schack began his military career by serving in the Danish army during the early years of the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War, fought primarily in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648, was one of the most destructive conflicts in History of Europe, European history. An estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died from battle, famine ...

. He entered Swedish service in 1630, and thence in French in 1635, becoming

colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

cavalry Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from ''cheval'' meaning "horse") are groups of soldiers or warriors who Horses in warfare, fight mounted on horseback. Until the 20th century, cavalry were the most mob ...

1642, and later ''

maréchal de camp ''Maréchal de camp'' (sometimes incorrectly translated as field marshal) was a general officer rank used by the French Army until 1848. The rank originated from the older rank of sergeant major general ( French: ''sergent-major général'') ...

''. In 1651 Schack retired from the French service to his estates in

Saxe-Lauenburg The Duchy of Saxe-Lauenburg (, ), was a ''reichsfrei'' duchy that existed from 1296 to 1803 and again from 1814 to 1876 in the extreme southeast region of what is now Schleswig-Holstein. Its territorial centre was in the modern district of Herz ...

, where he remained until 1656, when he became military commandant of

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

.Schøller, C.E.A (1901). "Schack, Hans". ''Dansk Biografisk Lexikon''. Kjøbenhavn, Gyldendalske Boghandels Forlag, vol. 15, pp. 21-28
Retrieved 2016-12-04.
Retrieved 2016-12-04. ttp://denstoredanske.dk/Dansk_Biografisk_Leksikon/Forsvar_og_politi/Officer/Hans_Schack,_greve Rockstroh, K. C. "Hans Schack, greve". ''Den Store Danske.'' Gyldendal.Retrieved 2016-12-04.

Danish service

Faced with imminent war with Sweden, the Danish government wanted to recruit the experienced and reputed Schack for a senior position in the Danish army. In order to satisfy Schack's demand for a permanent position, he was in 1658 appointed

lieutenant-general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the battlefield, who was normall ...

, colonel of horse and foot, and made a member of the War Council. He also became

naturalized Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-national of a country acquires the nationality of that country after birth. The definition of naturalization by the International Organization for Migration of the ...

as a Danish

nobleman Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally appointed by and ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. T ...

, receiving two

estate Estate or The Estate may refer to: Law * Estate (law), a term in common law for a person's property, entitlements and obligations * Estates of the realm, a broad social category in the histories of certain countries. ** The Estates, representativ ...

s in

life tenancy In common law and statutory law, a life estate (or life tenancy) is the ownership of immovable property for the duration of a person's life. In legal terms, it is an estate in real property that ends at death, when the property rights may rever ...

;

Riberhus Riberhus was a royal castle situated on the western outskirts of Ribe, Esbjerg Municipality, Denmark. Throughout the Middle Ages, it was one of the more important royal castles in Denmark. In 15371543, Christian III undertook a renovation of th ...

and

Møgeltønder Møgeltønder () is a small town in Denmark, located in Møgeltønder Parish, Tønder Municipality, in the southwestern corner of the Danish peninsula of Jutland 5 kilometres north of the Danish-German border and 4 kilometres west of Tønder ...

(the later

Schackenborg Castle Schackenborg Castle (, ) is a château located in Møgeltønder Parish, Southern Jutland. From 1993 until 2014, it was the private residence of Prince Joachim of Denmark, the second son of Queen Margrethe II of Denmark. History Originally calle ...

). As military governor, Schack commanded Copenhagen during the Swedish siege of 1659. For his successful defence of the city, he was rewarded with promotion to

field-marshal Field marshal (or field-marshal, abbreviated as FM) is the most senior military rank, senior to the general officer ranks. Usually, it is the highest rank in an army (in countries without the rank of Generalissimo), and as such, few persons ...

. In the fall of the same year, Schack led the Danish forces to victory over the Swedes at the

battle of Nyborg The Battle of Nyborg took place between Sweden and the combined forces of Denmark, Dutch naval forces under Michiel de Ruyter, troops of Brandenburg-Prussia, and Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth forces under Stefan Czarniecki. The battle was en ...

. When the

Scanian War The Scanian War (; ; ; ) was a part of the Northern Wars involving the union of Denmark–Norway, Electorate of Brandenburg, Brandenburg and Swedish Empire, Sweden. It was fought from 1675 to 1679 mainly on Scanian soil, in the former Danish ...

broke out, Schack was commander-in-chief of the Danish army (after the king), but his poor health did not let him participate in the campaign and he died before the second campaign season had started.Christian den femtes rosenborgtapeter fra den skaanske krig, Gudmund Boesen, Copenhagen 1949, p.12

Political role

Schack was a popular figure in Copenhagen, not only as a defender of the city against the Swedes, but as a defender of its privileges. In 1660 he was

co-opted Co-option, also known as co-optation and sometimes spelt cooption or cooptation, is a term with three common meanings. It may refer to: 1) The process of adding members to an elite group at the discretion of members of the body, usually to manag ...

to the Danish '' Rigsråd'', in spite of being a recently naturalized foreigner. When Frederick III in the same year overthrow the Danish constitution, and created an absolute monarchy, Schack was, together with Hannibal Sehested, the King's main supporter in the ''Rigsråd'', persuading the

clergy Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...

and

bourgeoisie The bourgeoisie ( , ) are a class of business owners, merchants and wealthy people, in general, which emerged in the Late Middle Ages, originally as a "middle class" between the peasantry and aristocracy. They are traditionally contrasted wi ...

to support the regime change. The King needed loyal supporters in the government, and Schack was in 1660 appointed to ''Rigsfeltherre'' (commander-in-chief of the Danish army), and made president of the Board of War, a member of the Board of State, and ''Stiftsbefalingsmand'' of Ribe stift. In 1670 he was also appointed a member of the ''Gehejmekonseil'' (Privy Council), which that year was created as a successor to the ''Rigsråd''. Within the new government, he was the leading proponent of the military party, in opposition to Sehested and the Treasury, and an efficient administrator of military affairs. As a reward, he was in 1661 given Møgeltønder in

fee simple In English law, a fee simple or fee simple absolute is an estate in land, a form of freehold ownership. A "fee" is a vested, inheritable, present possessory interest in land. A "fee simple" is real property held without limit of time (i.e., pe ...

, and became one of the first

enfeoff In the Middle Ages, especially under the European feudal system, feoffment or enfeoffment was the deed by which a person was given land in exchange for a pledge of service. This mechanism was later used to avoid restrictions on the passage of t ...

count Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...

s, ''Lensgreve'', when the King in 1671 created that dignity.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schack, Hans 1608 births 1676 deaths Field marshals Danish generals French generals 17th-century Danish people 17th-century Danish nobility 17th-century Swedish military personnel French military personnel of the Thirty Years' War 17th-century German military personnel Burials at Trinitatis Church