Ludvig Ludvigsen Munk (1537 in

Vejle Vejle () is a city in Denmark, in the southeast of the Jutland Peninsula at the head of Vejle Fjord, where the Vejle River and Grejs River and their valleys converge. It is the site of the councils of Vejle Municipality (''Municipalities of De ...

– 8 April 1602 at Nørlund castle,

Funen Funen (, ), is the third-largest List of islands of Denmark, island of Denmark, after Zealand and North Jutlandic Island, Vendsyssel-Thy, with an area of . It is the List of islands by area, 165th-largest island in the world. It is located in th ...

) was a Danish official and Count. He was also referred to as Ludvig Ludvigsen Munk von Schleswig-Holstein and Ludvig Munk til Nørlund.

Career

He was a

Junker Junker (, , , , , , ka, იუნკერი, ) is a noble honorific, derived from Middle High German , meaning 'young nobleman'Duden; Meaning of Junker, in German/ref> or otherwise 'young lord' (derivation of and ). The term is traditionally ...

at the royal court in 1561. Subsequently, he served in the Navy and participated in the

Northern Seven Years' War The Northern Seven Years' War (also known as the ''Nordic Seven Years' War'', the ''First Northern War,'' the ''Seven Years' War of the North'' or the ''Seven Years War in Scandinavia'') was fought between the Kingdom of Sweden (1523–1611), K ...

(1563–70) both at sea and on land. Along with his stepfather Christoffer Sydney, he was taken prisoner in the Battle of Axtorna (in

Halland Halland () is one of the traditional provinces of Sweden (''landskap''), on the western coast of Götaland, southern Sweden. It borders Västergötland, Småland, Skåne, Scania and the sea of Kattegat. Until 1645 and the Second Treaty of Br ...

) on 20 November 1565, but soon regained his liberty. He moved to

Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; ), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros, and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2022, it had a population of 212,660. Trondheim is the third most populous municipality in Norway, and is ...

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 ...

in 1571, and served there as the Lord of

Trøndelag Trøndelag (; or is a county and coextensive with the Trøndelag region (also known as ''Midt-Norge'' or ''Midt-Noreg,'' "Mid-Norway") in the central part of Norway. It was created in 1687, then named Trondhjem County (); in 1804 the county was ...

, Jemtland and Herjedalen until 1577. Then he relocated to

Akershus Fortress Akershus Fortress (, ) or Akershus Castle ( ) is a medieval castle in the Norwegian capital Oslo that was built to protect and provide a royal residence for the city. Since the Middle Ages the fortress has been the namesake and centre of the ...

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

and served as Governor-general of Norway from 1577 to 1583. After 1583 he became the District Governor and feudal overlord of:

Hedmark Hedmark () was a Counties of Norway, county in Norway from 1 January 1919 to 31 December 2019, bordering Trøndelag to the north, Oppland to the west, Akershus to the south, and Sweden to the east. The county administration is in Hamar. Hedmar ...

(1587), then Lister (1588–89) and

(1589–96). His service as a feudal overlord was noted for controversy. While he served as Lord of Trøndelag in 1573, he and his officials exceeded their rights and collected taxes or appropriated lands beyond that allowed by law. The residents sent a committee led by Rolv Halvardsson to

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

to appeal Munk's judgments to King Frederick II, as was their ancient right. Although Munk's judgments were overturned, Munk ignored the king's written direction to redress the grievances and instead imprisoned and hanged all members of the committee. During King Christian's tour of Norway in 1596, this and other abuses were reported to the king, who dismissed Munk from office, banished him to his estates in

Jutland Jutland (; , ''Jyske Halvø'' or ''Cimbriske Halvø''; , ''Kimbrische Halbinsel'' or ''Jütische Halbinsel'') is a peninsula of Northern Europe that forms the continental portion of Denmark and part of northern Germany (Schleswig-Holstein). It ...

and forced him to pay a heavy fine. Lockhart indicates Ludvig Munk's Jutland estates were forfeited to the king posthumously.

Personal life

At the approximate age of 52, he married the 17-year-old Ellen Marsvin (1572–1649) of Lundegaard and Ellensborg on 29 June 1589. He and Ellen had a daughter,

Kirsten Munk Kirsten Munk (sometimes "Christina Munk"; 6 July 1598 19 April 1658) was a Danish noblewoman, who became the second spouse of King Christian IV of Denmark, and the mother of twelve of his children. Early life and morganatic marriage Kirsten Mu ...

. in 1615 Kirsten entered into a

morganatic marriage Morganatic marriage, sometimes called a left-handed marriage, is a marriage between people of unequal social rank, which in the context of royalty or other inherited title prevents the principal's position or privileges being passed to the spou ...

with the widowed King

Christian IV of Denmark Christian IV (12 April 1577 – 28 February 1648) was King of Denmark and King of Norway, Norway and List of rulers of Schleswig-Holstein, Duke of Holstein and Schleswig from 1588 until his death in 1648. His reign of 59 years and 330 days is th ...

. She had twelve children with Christian IV, among them the famous Countess

Leonora Christina Ulfeldt Leonora Christina, Countess Ulfeldt, born "Countess Leonora Christina Christiansdatter" til Slesvig og Holsten (8 July 1621 – 16 March 1698), was the daughter of King Christian IV of Denmark and wife of the Steward of the Realm, the traitor ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Munk, Ludvig 16th-century Norwegian nobility 16th-century Danish nobility 16th-century Danish sailors Governors-general of Norway People from Vejle Municipality 1537 births 1602 deaths