Everything about Hans Nansen totally explained
Hans Nansen (
November 28,
1598 –
November 12,
1667), was a
Danish statesman.
The son of a
burgher, Evert Nansen, he was born at
Flensburg. He made several voyages to the
White Sea and to places in northern
Russia, and in 1621 entered the service of the thriving Danish Icelandic Company. For many years the whole trade of
Iceland, which he frequently visited, passed through his hands, and he soon became equally well known at
Glückstadt, the centre of the Iceland trade, and at
Copenhagen.
In February
1644, at the express desire of King
Christian IV of Denmark, the Copenhagen burgesses elected him
burgomaster. During his northern voyages he'd learned
Russian, and was employed as interpreter at court whenever
Muscovite embassies visited Copenhagen. His travels had begotten in him a love of geography, and he published in 1633 a
Kosmografi, previously revised by the astronomer
Longomontanus.
During the
siege of Copenhagen by the Swedes in
1658 Nansen became prominent. At the meeting between the king and the citizens to arrange for the defence of the capital, he urged the necessity of an obstinate defence. It was he who obtained privileges for the burgesses of Copenhagen which placed them on a footing of equality with the nobility; and he was the life and soul of the garrison till the arrival of the Dutch fleet practically saved the city. These eighteen months of crisis established his influence in the capital once for all and at the same time knitted him closely to
Frederick III, who recognized in Nansen a man after his own heart, and made the great burgomaster his chief instrument in carrying through the anti-aristocratic
Revolution of 1660. Nansen used all the arts of the agitator with extraordinary energy and success.
His greatest feat was the impassioned speech by which, on
October 8, he induced the burgesses to accede to the proposal of the magistracy of Copenhagen to offer Frederick III the realm of Denmark as a purely hereditary kingdom. How far Nansen was content with the result of the Revolution--absolute
monarchy--it is impossible to say. It appears certain that, at the beginning he didn't want absolutism. Whether he subsequently regarded the victory of the monarchy and its corollary, the admittance of the
middle classes to all offices and dignities, as a satisfactory equivalent for his original demands; or whether he was so overcome by royal favour as to sacrifice cheerfully the political liberties of his country, is a matter for conjecture.
After the Revolution Nansen continued in high honour, but he chiefly occupied himself with commerce, and less with politics.
Bibliography
Oluf Nielsen,
Københavns Historie, iii (Copenhagen, 1877); Julius Albert Fridericia,
Adelsvaeldens sidsie Dage (Copenhagen, 1894);
Danmarks Riges Historie, v (Copenhagen, 1897-1905).
Further Information
Get more info on 'Hans Nansen'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://hans_nansen.totallyexplained.com">Hans Nansen Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
