Henrik Ruse
Encyclopedia
Henrik Ruse later Baron Henrik Rysensteen (Rusensteen, Russenstein, Rusenstein), (9 April 1624 - 22 February 1679) was a Dutch
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

 officer and fortification
Fortification
Fortifications are military constructions and buildings designed for defence in warfare and military bases. Humans have constructed defensive works for many thousands of years, in a variety of increasingly complex designs...

 engineer. Following a period when he served in various armies in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 and Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

, he wrote a well-researched book documenting the latest trends in fortification systems across Europe. As a result, he was entrusted with commissions for improving defences in his native Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...

, in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

, and finally in Denmark
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...

 and Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

 where, benefitting from the support of the monarchy, he first became a general and later a baron. Ruse died in Sauwerd
Sauwerd
Sauwerd is a village in the municipality of Winsum, Groningen, Netherlands.The village of Sauwerd is 10 to 15 kilometers away from its nearest city Groningen. The village is built on a wierde, to which it also owes its name. It is inhabited by an estimated 1,100 people...

 near Groningen in the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

.

Early life and education

Ruse was born in the village of Ruinen
Ruinen
Ruinen is a village in the Dutch province of Drenthe. It is located in the municipality of De Wolden, about 10 km northwest of Hoogeveen....

 in the Dutch province of Drenthe
Drenthe
Drenthe is a province of the Netherlands, located in the north-east of the country. The capital city is Assen. It is bordered by Overijssel to the south, Friesland to the west, Groningen to the north, and Germany to the east.-History:Drenthe, unlike many other parts of the Netherlands, has been a...

. His father, Johan Ruse, who was the parish priest in Ruinen, belonged to a Hugenot family from eastern France, sympathising with the Protestant theologian Jacobus Arminius
Jacobus Arminius
Jacobus Arminius , the Latinized name of the Dutch theologian Jakob Hermanszoon from the Protestant Reformation period, served from 1603 as professor in theology at the University of Leiden...

. Unlike his brothers who studied in Franeker
Franeker
Franeker is one of the eleven historical cities of Friesland and capital of the municipality of Franekeradeel. It is located about 20 km west of Leeuwarden on the Van Harinxma Canal. As of 1 January 2006, it had 12,996 inhabitants. The city is famous for the Eisinga Planetarium from around...

, at the age of 15 Ruse began a military career where he saw action under the flags of France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

, Weimar
Weimar
Weimar is a city in Germany famous for its cultural heritage. It is located in the federal state of Thuringia , north of the Thüringer Wald, east of Erfurt, and southwest of Halle and Leipzig. Its current population is approximately 65,000. The oldest record of the city dates from the year 899...

 and Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...

.

He took part in the Battle of Freiburg
Battle of Freiburg
The Battle of Freiburg, also called the Three Day Battle, took place on August 3, August 5 and August 9, 1644 as part of the Thirty Years' War...

 (1644), the Battle of Alerheim
Battle of Nördlingen (1645)
The second Battle of Nördlingen was fought on August 3, 1645 southeast of Nördlingen near the village of Alerheim...

 (1645) and was active at Philippsburg
Philippsburg
Philippsburg is a town in Germany, in the district of Karlsruhe in Baden-Württemberg.-History:Before 1632, Philippsburg was known as "Udenheim".The city was a possession of the Bishop of Speyer from 1371–1718...

, serving the Prince de Condé
Louis II de Bourbon, Prince de Condé
Louis de Bourbon, Prince of Condé was a French general and the most famous representative of the Condé branch of the House of Bourbon. Prior to his father's death in 1646, he was styled the Duc d'Enghien...

, the Vicomte de Turenne
Henri de la Tour d'Auvergne, Vicomte de Turenne
Henri de la Tour d'Auvergne, Vicomte de Turenne,often called simply Turenne was the most illustrious member of the La Tour d'Auvergne family. He achieved military fame and became a Marshal of France...

 and the Duke of Saxe-Weimar
Wilhelm, Duke of Saxe-Weimar
Wilhelm, Duke of Saxe-Weimar , was a duke of Saxe-Weimar.Wilhelm was the fifth son of Johann, Duke of Saxe-Weimar, and Dorothea Maria of Anhalt...

. In 1646, he went to Bergamo
Bergamo
Bergamo is a town and comune in Lombardy, Italy, about 40 km northeast of Milan. The comune is home to over 120,000 inhabitants. It is served by the Orio al Serio Airport, which also serves the Province of Bergamo, and to a lesser extent the metropolitan area of Milan...

 and Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...

 and served under General Leonardo Foscolo
Leonardo Foscolo
Leonardo Foscolo was a Venetian commander.During the Candian War , Leonardo Foscolo seized several forts, retook Novigrad, temporarily captured the Knin Fortress, and managed to compel the garrison of Klis Fortress to surrender.-Bibliography:...

 in Dalmatia
Dalmatia
Dalmatia is a historical region on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea. It stretches from the island of Rab in the northwest to the Bay of Kotor in the southeast. The hinterland, the Dalmatian Zagora, ranges from fifty kilometers in width in the north to just a few kilometers in the south....

. In 1648, the Venetian army occupied Dugopolje
Dugopolje
Dugopolje is a highly developed municipality in Croatia in the Split-Dalmatia county. It has a population of over 3500, 99.5% which are Croats. Noted in Dugopolje is a vranjaca, or cave. The city of Split, where considerable early history is centred, is located 15 km from Dugopolje...

 and moved up to the Ragusa
Republic of Ragusa
The Republic of Ragusa or Republic of Dubrovnik was a maritime republic centered on the city of Dubrovnik in Dalmatia , that existed from 1358 to 1808...

. As the Turks had occupied the island Crete
Crete
Crete is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, and one of the thirteen administrative regions of Greece. It forms a significant part of the economy and cultural heritage of Greece while retaining its own local cultural traits...

 the Venetian
Republic of Venice
The Republic of Venice or Venetian Republic was a state originating from the city of Venice in Northeastern Italy. It existed for over a millennium, from the late 7th century until 1797. It was formally known as the Most Serene Republic of Venice and is often referred to as La Serenissima, in...

 army went as far as Risan
Risan
Risan is a town in the Bay of Kotor, Montenegro...

, Bar
Bar, Montenegro
Bar is a coastal town in Montenegro. It has a population of 17,727...

 and Budva
Budva
Budva is a coastal town in Montenegro. It has around 15,000 inhabitants, and it is the centre of municipality...

 in order to occupy Albania
Albania
Albania , officially known as the Republic of Albania , is a country in Southeastern Europe, in the Balkans region. It is bordered by Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, the Republic of Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south and southeast. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea...

. When Foscolo was appointed in Candia
Candia
-Places:* The old Venetian name for Heraklion, Crete* Kingdom of Candia, colony of the Republic of Venice * Candia Canavese, Italy* Candia Lomellina, Italy...

 in 1651, Ruse decided to leave the army because of problems with his legs, and on his way back, he paid great attention to defence systems and facilities.

In August 1651 he was appointed by the city is an engineer for Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...

's defences. In 1652, he became a captain in the civic guard
Schutterij
Schutterij refers to a voluntary city guard or citizen militia in the medieval and early modern Netherlands, intended to protect the town or city from attack and act in case of revolt or fire. Their training grounds were often on open spaces within the city, near the city walls, but, when the...

, charged with an infantry company. In 1654, profiting from his careful study of various types of fortification, he completed Versterckte vesting, uitgevonden in velerleij voorvallen en geobserveert in deze laatste oorloogen, a work which sought to offer scientific explanations for the most recent requirements of defensive fortifications.

On 2 June 1654, he married Susanna Dubbengiesser or Toppengiesser from Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...

. They had three daughters: Maria, Anna Isabelle and Johanna (Jeanne) Maria. Johanna Maria was the only one to survive. In Amsterdam Ruse worked as an architect, designed a public building, a few houses and invested in the import of Norwegian timber piles and real estate, which was intended for shipwharves. He is also said to have designed the church in Hoogeveen
Hoogeveen
Hoogeveen is a municipality and a town in the northeastern Netherlands.- Population centres :Elim, Fluitenberg, Hoogeveen and Noordscheschut, which still have the canals which used to be throughout the town...

. In 1658 he had bought a small country estate in Sauwerd
Sauwerd
Sauwerd is a village in the municipality of Winsum, Groningen, Netherlands.The village of Sauwerd is 10 to 15 kilometers away from its nearest city Groningen. The village is built on a wierde, to which it also owes its name. It is inhabited by an estimated 1,100 people...

.

Without being completely relieved of his duties in the Netherlands, Ruse went on to realise various fortification assignments for John Maurice, Prince of Nassau-Siegen, including the huge citadel at Kalkar
Kalkar
Kalkar is a municipality in the district of Kleve, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located near the Rhine, approx. 10 km south-east of Cleves. The most famous building of Kalkar is its church St...

, and for Christian Louis, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg
Christian Louis, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg
Christian Louis was duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg. A member of the House of Welf, from 1641 until 1648 he ruled the Principality of Calenberg, a subdivision of the duchy, and, from 1648, until his death the Principality of Lüneburg....

, the most important of which was the fortification of Harburg
Hamburg-Harburg
Harburg is a borough of the city of Hamburg, Germany and a quarter in this borough. The borough Harburg lies on the southern shores of the river Elbe and covers parts of the port of Hamburg, residential and rural areas and some research institutes...

 in 1660.

Danish assignments

After the peace treaty at the end of the Second Northern War in 1660, Frederick III of Denmark
Frederick III of Denmark
Frederick III was king of Denmark and Norway from 1648 until his death. He instituted absolute monarchy in Denmark and Norway in 1660, confirmed by law in 1665 as the first in western historiography. He was born the second-eldest son of Christian IV of Denmark and Anne Catherine of Brandenburg...

 commissioned Ruse to reconstruct the damaged fortifications of 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...

. In 1661, he was appointed quartermaster general, chief inspector of fortifications and colonel of an infantry regiment. Ruse immediately submitted a plan for rebuilding the Copenhagen citadel
Kastellet, Copenhagen
Kastellet, located in Copenhagen, Denmark is one of the best preserved fortifications in Northern Europe. It is constructed in the form of a pentagram with bastions at its corners...

 which was accepted. Construction work, completed three years later, caused some bitterness among the local citizens, leading as far as threats to Ruse's life.

In 1667, Ruse also completed the defences of Frederiksort in the Duchy of Schleswig. He travelled around Denmark, inspecting and repairing the defences, especially those in Kronborg, Nyborg
Nyborg
Nyborg is a city in central Denmark, located in Nyborg Municipality on the island of Funen and with a population of 16,492 . Nyborg is one of the 14 large municipalities created on 1 January 2007...

 and Fredericia
Fredericia
Fredericia is a town located in Fredericia municipality in the eastern part of the Jutland peninsula in Denmark, in a sub-region known locally as Trekanten, or The Triangle...

. Thereafter he was involved in large-scale civil construction work in Copenhagen including cemeteries and monuments including the one to Corfitz Ulfeldt. But above all, he drew up plans for two new districts, one to the northeast of Kongens Nytorv
Kongens Nytorv
Kongens Nytorv is a public square in Copenhagen, Denmark, centrally located at the end of the pedestrian street Strøget. The finest and largest square of the city, it was laid out by Christian V in 1670 in connection with a major extension of the fortified city, and has an equestrian statue of...

 and Gothersagde (Frederiksstaden) which included the Nyhavn Canal
Nyhavn
Nyhavn is a 17th century waterfront, canal and entertainment district in Copenhagen, Denmark. Stretching from Kongens Nytorv to the harbour front just south of the Royal Playhouse, it is lined by brightly coloured 17th and early 18th century townhouses and bars, cafes and restaurants...

, the other southwest of Slotsholmen
Slotsholmen
Slotsholmen is an island in the harbour of Copenhagen, Denmark, and part of Copenhagen Inner City. Bishop Absalon constructed the city's first castle on the island in 1166-67 at the site where Christiansborg Palace, the seat of the Danish Parliament lies today...

 (Frederiksholm).

In 1664, Ruse was appointed major general and member of the war cabinet. With the threat of war with England, he was sent to Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

 together with Frederik Ahlefeldt
Ahlefeldt
Ahlefeldt is a Danish and German family of high nobility.The earliest known ancestor is one Benedict Ahlefeldt, , whose son and grandsons served king Atterdag Valdemar IV of Denmark and received significant pawn fiefs and properties in Denmark....

 in 1667. In 1669, he became commander of Fredericia
Fredericia
Fredericia is a town located in Fredericia municipality in the eastern part of the Jutland peninsula in Denmark, in a sub-region known locally as Trekanten, or The Triangle...

 and, in 1671, commander in chief responsible for fortifications in the duchies. From 1667 to 1670, he also coordinated significant extensions to the Copenhagen and Christianshavn
Christianshavn
Christianshavn is an artificial island neighbourhood located in Copenhagen, Denmark. It was founded in the early 17th century by Christian IV as part of his extension of the fortifications of Copenhagen. Originally it was laid out as an independent privileged merchant's town with inspiration from...

 ramparts.

His next major work, during the last year of Frederick III's reign, was the rebuilding of the fortifications at Rendsburg
Rendsburg
Rendsburg is a town on the River Eider and the Kiel Canal in the northeastern part of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is the capital of the Kreis of Rendsburg-Eckernförde. As of 2006, it had a population of 28,476.-History:...

 in Schleswig. Ruse justified his efforts explaining that Denmark needed to be protected from the south, with additional defences in Sonderburg
Sønderborg
Sønderborg Municipality , is a municipality in Region of Southern Denmark partially on the Jutland peninsula and partially on the island of Als in south Denmark, at the border with Germany. The municipality covers an area of , and has a total population of 76,236...

 and Friedrichsort on the western shore of Kiel Fjord
Kiel Fjord
Kiel Fjord is an approximately long fjord or firth of the Baltic Sea along the shores of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. Formed by glacial movement during the last Ice Age, it lies between the Danish Wold and Wagria. It originates at the Hörn in centre-city Kiel and merges into the Bay of Kiel.The...

. In this way, the entire area could be systematically defended.

He had hoped to undertake a much more extensive project on both sides of the River Eider but this was hampered by resistance from Hans von Schack, an influential military expert. At the beginning of Christian V
Christian V of Denmark
Christian V , was king of Denmark and Norway from 1670 to 1699, the son of Frederick III of Denmark and Sophie Amalie of Brunswick-Lüneburg...

's reign, he rebuilt the entrenchments on a small island in the River Elbe and completed a comprehensive report on the fortification system for the Danish-Norwegian monarchy.

Titles and property

In 1664, Ruse obtained the property rights for Bøvling Palace and its estate with responsibility for the Bøvling district near Ringkøbing
Ringkøbing
Ringkøbing is a town in Ringkøbing-Skjern municipality in Region Midtjylland on the west coast of the Jutland peninsula in west Denmark. The town has a population of 9,742 .-History:...

 in the west of Jutland
Jutland
Jutland , historically also called Cimbria, is the name of the peninsula that juts out in Northern Europe toward the rest of Scandinavia, forming the mainland part of Denmark. It has the North Sea to its west, Kattegat and Skagerrak to its north, the Baltic Sea to its east, and the Danish–German...

. He resigned his post in 1671 when the estate was elevated to the Barony of Rysensteen. Ruse, who had already become a Danish nobleman in 1664, was one of the first to become a baron. Both he and the barony received the title of Rysensteen or Rusenstein. The same year he was awarded the Order of the Dannebrog
Order of the Dannebrog
The Order of the Dannebrog is an Order of Denmark, instituted in 1671 by Christian V. It resulted from a move in 1660 to break the absolutism of the nobility. The Order was only to comprise 50 noble Knights in one class plus the Master of the Order, i.e. the Danish monarch, and his sons...

. Ruse owned property in Copenhagen including Bremerholms Admiralsgård outside the old Østerport. In Holstein
Holstein
Holstein is the region between the rivers Elbe and Eider. It is part of Schleswig-Holstein, the northernmost state of Germany....

, he had property in Glückstadt
Glückstadt
Glückstadt is a town in the Steinburg district of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is located on the right bank of the Lower Elbe at the confluence of the small Rhin river, about northwest of Altona...

 and in the Netherlands he had an establishment in Sauwerd near Groningen as well as property in the fourth urban planning
Urban planning
Urban planning incorporates areas such as economics, design, ecology, sociology, geography, law, political science, and statistics to guide and ensure the orderly development of settlements and communities....

 of Amsterdam.

Assignments in Norway

Under Christian V in 1673, with the support of the influential Hans von Schack, a Scheswig nobleman, Ruse was sent to Trondheim
Trondheim
Trondheim , historically, Nidaros and Trondhjem, is a city and municipality in Sør-Trøndelag county, Norway. With a population of 173,486, it is the third most populous municipality and city in the country, although the fourth largest metropolitan area. It is the administrative centre of...

 in Norway where he was appointed lieutenant general with responsibility for the Nordenfjells and Trondheim infantry regiments. In 1675, he was called to Christiania
Oslo
Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...

 to participate in preparations for the Scanian War
Scanian War
The Scanian War was a part of the Northern Wars involving the union of Denmark-Norway, Brandenburg and Sweden. It was fought mainly on Scanian soil, in the former Danish provinces along the border with Sweden and in Northern Germany...

. When war broke out in September, Ruse spent the winter with his troops between Frederiksstad and Frederikshald
Halden
is a both a town and a municipality in Østfold county, Norway. The seat of the municipality, Halden is a border town located at the Tista river delta on the Iddefjord, the southernmost border crossing between Norway and Sweden.-History:...

. In 1676, he joined Ulrik Frederik Gyldenløve on a campaign in 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....

. Despite considerable success in Norway, Ruse was not happy about his stay there as it caused him appreciable losses on his interests in Rendsburg while his professional expertise was no longer in demand.

Scanian War

In 1677, the king allowed him to leave Norway and sent him to 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...

 to lead the infantry, artillery and fortifications staff during the Scanian War
Scanian War
The Scanian War was a part of the Northern Wars involving the union of Denmark-Norway, Brandenburg and Sweden. It was fought mainly on Scanian soil, in the former Danish provinces along the border with Sweden and in Northern Germany...

. But luck was not on Ruse's side. The storming of Malmö
Battle of Malmö
The Siege of Malmö was fought during the night between June 25 and 26 , 1677.-Prelude:The fortified town of Malmö was the only Swedish stronghold that had not fallen into the hands of the Danes and during 1676 and 1677 it was used as a base for Swedish operations in the southwest corner of Skåne....

 on 26 June was not successful, nor was the Battle of Landskrona
Battle of Landskrona
The Battle of Landskrona was fought on the Ylleshed moore, outside the town of Landskrona, in southern Sweden onJuly 14, 1677 .-Prelude:...

 on 14 July. He was then appointed governor of Landskrona
Landskrona
Landskrona is a locality and the seat of Landskrona Municipality, Skåne County, Sweden with 28,670 inhabitants in 2005.-History:The city of Landskrona was founded at the location of Scania's best natural harbour, as a means of King Eric of Pomerania's anti-Hanseatic policy, intended to compete...

with orders to improve the fortifications. However, in the absence of manpower and supplies and in the face of opposition from Field Marshal Joachim Rüdiger von der Goltz who was given the supreme command of Scania, he was unable to complete the assignment. In a letter dated 28 August, Ruse complained in quite bitter terms that he was unable to carry out his work and requested retirement. Without further hesitation, King Christian V suspended him from his command and set up a committee to examine his conduct during the entire campaign. Ruse's defence consisted of a lengthy complaint criticising lack of support from von der Goltz, a position which was upheld by the examining committee.

Decease

On 4 December 1677, Ruse obtained his retirement and pending remuneration, with instructions not to serve Denmark's enemies and to return to Denmark without delay if the king so required. But already on 22 February 1679, he died and was buried in Sauwerd in the Netherlands.
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