Jon Trondson Benkestok (1530 – ) was a Norwegian nobleman (''Adelsmann'') and a member of the Benkestok family, one of the original noble families of

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

Family background

Jon Trondson Benkestok was reported to be a direct descendant of

Harald Gille Harald Gille (, c. 1102 − 14 December 1136), also known as Harald IV, was king of Norway from 1130 until his death. His byname Gille is probably . Background Harald was born ca. 1102 in Ireland or the Hebrides, more likely the former. Accord ...

, King of Norway. Most of his ancestors served as knights in the king's army of Norway. The Benkestok family was married into the Norwegian noble families Smør, Galte (later: Galtung) and

Kane Kane or KANE may refer to: Art, entertainment and media Fictional entities *Kane (comics), the main character of the eponymous comic book series by Paul Grist * Kane (''Command & Conquer''), Tiberium universe character in the ''Command & Conquer'' ...

, which were the original Norwegian noble families. The common ancestral of the Benkestok family was Gaut at Ænes in

Hardanger Hardanger is a traditional district in the western part of Norway, dominated by the Hardangerfjord and its inner branches of the Sørfjorden and the Eid Fjord. It consists of the municipalities of Ullensvang, Eidfjord, Ulvik and Kvam, and is ...

, born c. 1100. He was a

lendmann Lendmann (plural lendmenn; ) was a title in medieval Norway. Lendmann was the highest rank attainable in the hird of the Norwegian king, and a lendmann stood beneath only earls and kings. In the 13th century there were between 10 and 20 ''lendme ...

and his son Jon Gautsson was a lendmann in the service of King

Magnus Erlingsson Magnus Erlingsson (, 1156 – 15 June 1184), also known as Magnus V, was a king of Norway during the civil war era in Norway. He helped to establish primogeniture in royal succession in Norway. King Magnus was killed in the Battle of Fimreite i ...

Biography

Jon Trondson Benkestok was the son of Trond Torleivsson Benkestok and Anna Jonsdotter Haard. Both of his parents were born of very high station. He had a younger brother named Tord and three sisters Adelus, Kristin and Brynild. After his father died on 14 February 1558, in

Vanse Vanse is a village in Farsund municipality in Agder county, Norway. The village is located about west of the town of Farsund and about east of the village of Vestbygd. The Farsund Airport, Lista is located just west of Vanse. The village was t ...

, Jon inherited large estates in

Nordland Nordland (; , , , ) is one of the three northernmost Counties of Norway, counties in Norway in the Northern Norway region, bordering Troms in the north, Trøndelag in the south, Norrbotten County in Sweden to the east, Västerbotten County to t ...

. His mother died on November 27, 1569, in

Bergen Bergen (, ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland county on the Western Norway, west coast of Norway. Bergen is the list of towns and cities in Norway, second-largest city in Norway after the capital Oslo. By May 20 ...

, Norway, she was buried on November 30, 1569, in the

Bergen Cathedral Bergen Cathedral () is a cathedral in the city of Bergen in Vestland county, Norway. It is the episcopal seat of the Diocese of Bjørgvin as well as the seat of the "Bergen domkirke" parish and the seat of the Bergen domprosti (arch-deanery). It ...

in Bergen, Norway. Jon Trondson Benkestok was a signatory when

King Christian IV 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 and 330 days is the longest in Scandinavian history. A member of the H ...

was hailed by the Norwegian nobility at Akershus Castle in 1591. He signed the document with the family's

signet ring A seal is a device for making an impression in Sealing wax, wax, clay, paper, or some other medium, including an Paper embossing, embossment on paper, and is also the impression thus made. The original purpose was to authenticate a document, or ...

. He probably died around the year 1593.

Marriage and issue

Jon Benkestok married a so-called "unfree" woman, Birgitte Nilsdotter, and their children lost their noble status and was

commoners A commoner, also known as the ''common man'', ''commoners'', the ''common people'' or the ''masses'', was in earlier use an ordinary person in a community or nation who did not have any significant social status, especially a member of neither ...

. Known children were: *Torolf († 1622; died without children). *Anders († after 1630; married, no known children). *Trond († 1626; had a daughter). *Johan († unknown; had a daughter). *Christopher († after 1618; had two sons). *Niels († after 1599). *Anna († after 1599). *Margrethe († unknown; married, had several descendants).Brandt, Wilhelmine: ''Slægten Benkestok'', p. 5f. 1904. Edition of 1985 by Damms Antikvariat, Oslo.

References

Notes

* ''Danmarks Adels Aarbog'' 1887 (Yearbook of the Danish nobility) *''Suhms Samlinger til den Danske Historie'', 2. bind, II s. 99.

Other sources

* Brandt, Wilhelmine ''Slægten Benkestok'' original edition: Christiania 1904. facsimile ed. 1997 (Oslo. Damms antikvariat) {{ISBN, 82-90438-07-9. 1530 births 1593 deaths 16th-century Norwegian nobility Benkestok family