Christian Barnekow was a Danish

Denmark

Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...

 noble man, extensive traveller and diplomat.

Biography

Barnekow was rich by birth and owned several estates, including Birkholm

Birkholm

Birkholm is a small Danish island off the southern coast of Funen in Ærø Municipality. With an area of just 0.9 km2, as of 1 January 2010 it has a population of 10. The flat, low-lying island is just over 2 km long and 2 meters above sea level at its highest point, though the protective dykes are...

 (now Løvenborg), Tølløse

Tølløse

Tølløse is a railroad town, with a population of 3,797 , at the railroad between Roskilde and Holbæk and the railroad from Tølløse to Slagelse operated by Vestsjællands Lokalbaner....

, Vittskövle Castle

Vittskövle Castle

Vittskövle Castle is a castle in Kristianstad Municipality, Scania, in southern Sweden. It is one of the best-preserved Renaissance castles in the Nordic countries, and was erected by Jens Brahe in the 16th century as a defence structure. It is currently the private residence of the Stjernswärd...

 in Scania

Scania

Scania is the southernmost of the 25 traditional non-administrative provinces of Sweden, constituting a peninsula on the southern tip of the Scandinavian peninsula, and some adjacent islands. The modern administrative subdivision Skåne County is almost, but not totally, congruent with the...

 (now part of Sweden

Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

) and a farm in Copenhagen

Copenhagen

Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...

.

He spent nearly 16 years of his early life travelling throughout Europe and the Middle East, including a three year jury in the Holy Land

Holy Land

The Holy Land is a term which in Judaism refers to the Kingdom of Israel as defined in the Tanakh. For Jews, the Land's identifiction of being Holy is defined in Judaism by its differentiation from other lands by virtue of the practice of Judaism often possible only in the Land of Israel...

 and Egypt

Egypt

Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...

. He spent six years at the Universities of Jena

Friedrich Schiller University of Jena

Friedrich Schiller University of Jena , is a public research university located in Jena, Thuringia, Germany....

 and Ingolstadt

University of Ingolstadt

The University of Ingolstadt was founded in 1472 by Louis the Rich, the Duke of Bavaria at the time, and its first Chancellor was the Bishop of Eichstätt. It consisted of five faculties: humanities, sciences, theology, law and medicine, all of which were contained in the Hoheschule...

 and two years at the University of Padua

University of Padua

The University of Padua is a premier Italian university located in the city of Padua, Italy. The University of Padua was founded in 1222 as a school of law and was one of the most prominent universities in early modern Europe. It is among the earliest universities of the world and the second...

. After his return he became a diplomat for the Danish king, with further travels in Scotland, England, Poland and Brandenburg.

Hans Poulsen Resen, professor of theology, who held the funeral session for Barnekow on 26 March 1612 in Elsinore

Elsinore

Helsingør is a city and the municipal seat of Helsingør municipality on the northeast coast of the island of Zealand in eastern Denmark. Helsingør has a population of 46,279 including the southern suburbs of Snekkersten and Espergærde...

, notes in his writings that Barnekow brought back with him many rare things, which he had found in foreign countries; unfortunately they have all disappeared.

A Halland

Halland

' is one of the traditional provinces of Sweden , on the western coast of Sweden. It borders Västergötland, Småland, Scania and the sea of Kattegat.-Administration:...

 tale says that Barnekow was killed in 1612 during the Kalmar War

Kalmar War

The Kalmar War was a war between Denmark–Norway and Sweden. Though Denmark soon gained the upper hand, she was unable to defeat Sweden entirely...

, near Skjellinge Hede, when he gave King Christian IV of Denmark

Christian IV of Denmark

Christian IV was the king of Denmark-Norway from 1588 until his death. With a reign of more than 59 years, he is the longest-reigning monarch of Denmark, and he is frequently remembered as one of the most popular, ambitious and proactive Danish kings, having initiated many reforms and projects...

, who was trapped by the Swedish, his horse, so he could escape. The Swedish then killed him. The tale originates in 18th century literature and is doubted today.

Sources

• Buhl, Marie-Louise, et al.: The Danish Naval Officer, Frederik Ludvig Norden, The Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters
  Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters
  Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters is a Danish non-governmental science Academy, founded 13 November 1742 by permission of the King Christian VI, as a historical Collegium Antiquitatum...
  
  , Copenhagen, 1986. ISBN 87-7304-168-8
• Salmonsens konversationsleksikon