The Irgens Estate (Norwegian: ''Irgensgodset''), which existed from 1666 and to c. 1675, was a private estate in Norway.

History

Establishment

During King Frederick III of Denmark and Norway's wars in the 1650s Joachim Irgens, later ennobled as ''von Westervick'', had provided the army with considerable amounts of deliveries. On 12 January 1666, as payment for this, the King gave Irgens all crown estate in

Helgeland Helgeland is the most southerly Districts of Norway, district in Northern Norway. Generally speaking, Helgeland refers to the part of Nordland county that is located south of the Arctic Circle. It is bordered in the north by the Saltfjellet moun ...

Salten Salten is a traditional district in Nordland county, Norway. It includes the municipalities of Gildeskål, Bodø, Beiarn, Saltdal, Fauske, Sørfold, Steigen, and Hamarøy. Salten covers an area of about and has a population (2016) of about ...

Lofoten Lofoten ( , ; ; ) is an archipelago and a Districts of Norway, traditional district in the county of Nordland, Norway. Lofoten has distinctive scenery with dramatic mountains and peaks, open sea and sheltered bays, beaches, and untouched lands. T ...

Vesterålen Vesterålen ( , ; ) is a district and archipelago in Nordland county, Norway. It is located just north of Lofoten and west of Harstad. It is the northernmost part of Nordland county. Sortland is the largest town, situated near the center of the a ...

Andenes or is the administrative centre of Andøy Municipality which is located in the Vesterålen district of Nordland county, Norway. The village of Andenes is the northernmost settlement of the island of Andøya (and in Nordland county). To the ...

Senja or is an island in Senja Municipality in Troms county, Norway in northern Europe. With an area of , it is the second largest island in Norway (outside of the Svalbard archipelago). It has a wild, mountainous outer (western) side facing the A ...

, and

Troms Troms (; ; ; ) is a Counties of Norway, county in northern Norway. It borders Finnmark county to the northeast and Nordland county in the southwest. Norrbotten Län in Sweden is located to the south and further southeast is a shorter border with ...

. Thereby Irgens became the owner of big parts of

Northern Norway Northern Norway (, , ; ) is a geographical region of Norway, consisting of the three northernmost counties Nordland, Troms and Finnmark, in total about 35% of the Norwegian mainland. Some of the largest towns in Northern Norway (from south to no ...

minus

Finnmark Finnmark (; ; ; ; ) is a counties of Norway, county in northern Norway. By land, it borders Troms county to the west, Finland's Lapland (Finland), Lapland region to the south, and Russia's Murmansk Oblast to the east, and by water, the Norweg ...

. It was and is the biggest single sale of land ever to happen in the

Nordic countries The Nordic countries (also known as the Nordics or ''Norden''; ) are a geographical and cultural region in Northern Europe, as well as the Arctic Ocean, Arctic and Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic oceans. It includes the sovereign states of Denm ...

. In addition to the estate in Norway, Irgens owned land in

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

, the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

, and the Eastern Indies.

Bankruptcy and dissolution

When Joachim Irgens von Westervick died in 1675, it was stated that he was bankrupt due to debt to private creditors. The Irgens Estate was subsequently divided between the creditors, creating among others the following estates: * Helgeland Estate * Inndyr Estate * Tromsø Estate Later his widow, Cornelia Irgens von Westervick, managed to buy back some parts of the estate, among other the Tromsø Estate. After her death in 1708 her relative Baron

Jacob de Petersen Jacob, Count Palatine and Baron de Petersen (before ennoblement ''Jacob Petersen'') (born September 26, 1622, in Rendsburg, died October 26, 1704, in Leusden) was a Danish and Brunswijker courtier, politician and diplomat. He wore the dignity o ...

inherited some of this land.

References

* Store norske leksikon
Irgensgodset
* Dr. Ludvig Kr. Langberg: ''Slekten Irgens'', pp. 3–9. Oslo, 1927. * Aschehougs konversasjonsleksikon, ed. V, vol. IX, p. 978. {{ISBN, 82-03-06166-4 Nordland Troms 1666 establishments in Norway

History

Establishment

Bankruptcy and dissolution

See also

References