Povel Juel (c.1673 – 8 March 1723) was a Norwegian civil servant and writer, executed for treason in 1723.

Early life

Povel Juel was born and grew up in

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 where his father was a merchant, and a big landowner. At a young age he became the

taxman "Taxman" is a song by English rock band the Beatles, from their 1966 album ''Revolver''. Written by the group's lead guitarist, George Harrison, with some lyrical assistance from John Lennon, it protests against the higher level of progressive ...

for Bishop

Peder Krog Peder Krog (8 April 1654 – 24 May 1731) was a Danish-born Norwegian Lutheran bishop. Peder Krog was born in Aarhus, Denmark. He studied in Rostock and Copenhagen, and then went to Germany to study for several years. In 1675, he was awarde ...

, and an assistant to the judge (''sorenskriver'') in

Harstad Harstad may refer to: Places *Harstad (town) Harstad (; ) is a List of towns and cities in Norway, city in Harstad Municipality in Troms county, Norway. The city is also the administrative centre of Harstad Municipality. The city has a populati ...

. But after a fire at the judge`s farm in 1695, where a female servant lost her life, he had to leave Harstad, because of a rumour that he had started the fire to kill the girl since she was pregnant with his child. Juel then moved to

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 ...

where he worked as a lawyer from 1695 to 1709. In 1709, he was appointed acting commissioner in Bergen.

As Governor

Juel was appointed to be the County Governor of Lister og Mandals amt in 1711. As Governor, he often came into conflict with his superior, the Diocesan Governor of Christianssand stiftamt,

Henrik Adeler Henrik Adeler (1660–1718) was a Norwegian civil servant and politician. He served as the County Governor in Bratsberg amt from 1692 until 1710. Then he served as the Diocesan Governor of Christianssand stiftamt from 1711 until his death in 1 ...

. One such incident is when Juel had a British ship seized and detained. Adeler ordered him to release the ship, but Juel refused and had the skipper of the ship arrested. Juel was suspended from his job as governor in 1713, but regained his position in 1715. After his reinstatement, he wrote to the King and complained that he hadn't been paid since he began as governor in 1711. He also sent letters with very sharp personal attacks against other government officials. He was fired as governor in 1718 due to unruly and arbitrary behavior. After his firing, he sent several letters to King Frederick IV that asked for another job, but were somewhat threatening.

Successful Author

After he was deposed as governor, he moved to

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

, and lived there until 1721, and then he moved to

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 ...

. Juel settled in

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 ...

. Here he became a successful author. Among his books were from 1721, and from 1722, both books became bestsellers, and was in print 100 years after his death.

The Conspiracy

In 1723, Juel was charged with a role in a conspiracy involving

Charles Frederick, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp Charles Frederick, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorp () (30 April 1700 – 18 June 1739) was a Sweden, Prince of Sweden and Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorp and an important member of European royalty. His dynasty, the Dukes of Schleswig-Holst ...

, (pretender to the throne of

, husband of

Grand Duchess Anna Petrovna of Russia Grand Duchess Anna Petrovna of Russia (; 27 January 1708 – 4 March 1728) was the eldest daughter of Emperor Peter I of Russia and his wife Empress Catherine I. Her younger sister, Empress Elizabeth, ruled between 1741 and 1762. While ...

and father of

Peter III of Russia Peter III Fyodorovich (; ) was Emperor of Russia from 5 January 1762 until 9 July of the same year, when he was overthrown by his wife, Catherine II (the Great). He was born in the German city of Kiel as Charles Peter Ulrich of Schleswig-Holst ...

). The plot involved deposing Frederick IV in favour of Charles Frederick as

King of Norway The Norwegian monarch is the head of state of Norway, which is a constitutional and hereditary monarchy with a parliamentary system. The Norwegian monarchy can trace its line back to the reign of Harald Fairhair and the previous petty king ...

, with military help from

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

, and in return Russia would get the

Faroe Islands The Faroe Islands ( ) (alt. the Faroes) are an archipelago in the North Atlantic Ocean and an autonomous territory of the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. Located between Iceland, Norway, and the United Kingdom, the islands have a populat ...

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

and

Greenland Greenland is an autonomous territory in the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. It is by far the largest geographically of three constituent parts of the kingdom; the other two are metropolitan Denmark and the Faroe Islands. Citizens of Greenlan ...

. He was executed for high treason at the

New Square New Square () is an all-Hasidic village in the town of Ramapo, Rockland County, New York, United States. It is located north of Hillcrest, east of Viola, south of New Hempstead, and west of New City. As of the 2020 United States census, i ...

, Copenhagen in 1723 because of this conspiracy.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Juel, Povel 1670s births 1723 deaths 17th-century Norwegian civil servants 18th-century Norwegian writers People from Trondheim Juel family Norwegian emigrants to Denmark Norwegian non-fiction writers Norwegian torture victims 18th-century executions by Denmark Norwegian people executed abroad People executed for treason Executed writers 18th-century Norwegian civil servants County governors of Norway