Lucas Debes
Encyclopedia
Faroe Islands
The Faroe Islands are an island group situated between the Norwegian Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, approximately halfway between Scotland and Iceland. The Faroe Islands are a self-governing territory within the Kingdom of Denmark, along with Denmark proper and Greenland...
. He wrote the first book about the Faroes, which was printed (and translated into English and German) and draw the first detailed map of the islands.
His Arrival to Tórshavn
Debes came to the Faroe Islands in 1652 as a curate. The next year he became a parish vicarVicar
In the broadest sense, a vicar is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior . In this sense, the title is comparable to lieutenant...
and later he became the new head of the Grammar school in Tórshavn
Tórshavn
Tórshavn is the capital and largest town of the Faroe Islands. It is located in the southern part on the east coast of Streymoy. To the north west of the town lies the high mountain Húsareyn, and to the southwest, the high Kirkjubøreyn...
. He was both well-educated and hard-working, and the school improved considerately during his time there.
After he settled in Tórshavn he married Anne Rasmusdatter the widow of his predecessor, in accordance with the then Faroese tradition. However, since his predecessor had left behind him not only a widow but also nine children, it meant that money was very scarce and therefore he was often in debt. This in turn meant that he owed money to the monopoly trade.
Journey to Copenhagen
In 1658 Debes went on a journey to CopenhagenCopenhagen
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...
. The reason was a dispute between
Debes and the bailiff Johannes Heidemann. Although an official war manifesto was never declared 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 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....
were at war. Therefore in mid-journey the ship was taken over by the Swedes. Debes now became a prisoner in Gothenburg
Gothenburg
Gothenburg is the second-largest city in Sweden and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated on the west coast of Sweden, the city proper has a population of 519,399, with 549,839 in the urban area and total of 937,015 inhabitants in the metropolitan area...
. Luckily, through his fine knowledge and preaching, Debes managed to win the trust of the commandant
Commandant
Commandant is a senior title often given to the officer in charge of a large training establishment or academy. This usage is common in anglophone nations...
. This meant that Debes was released the following year. After his release he successfully reached Copenhagen according with his original plans. After his returned to the Faroe Islands he was made a deputy rural dean
Rural Dean
In the Anglican Communion and the Roman Catholic Church, a Rural Dean presides over a Rural Deanery .-Origins and usage:...
.
The Period after Gabel
When king Frederick III of DenmarkFrederick 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...
endowed the Faroe Islands to his favourite statesman
Statesman
A statesman is usually a politician or other notable public figure who has had a long and respected career in politics or government at the national and international level. As a term of respect, it is usually left to supporters or commentators to use the term...
Kristoffer Gabel
Kristoffer Gabel
Christoffer Gabel was a Danish statesman.He was born on January 6, 1617, at Glückstadt. His father, Wulbern or Waldemar Gabel, originally a cartographer and subsequently recorder of Glückstadt, was killed at the siege of the fortress there, by the German Imperial Army, in 1628...
, Debes entered a bitter feud with his administration who suppressed the islanders in various ways. There came considerable complaints from the islands' inhabitants of unjust treatment by the civil administration in Tórshavn. This included the persons in charge of the monopoly trade, the bailiff
Bailiff
A bailiff is a governor or custodian ; a legal officer to whom some degree of authority, care or jurisdiction is committed...
and others. Debes is chiefly known for standing up for islanders mistreated by those who abused their power. He tried several times to inform the central administration in Denmark of the wrongdoings, but was stopped every time by the bailiff. Eventually in 1673 he managed to get away from the islands to carry out his plan and this consequently improved the situation of the Faroes.
Historical Contribution
Debes has become best known for his book about the Faroe Islands, Færoæ et Færoa reserata, first published in DanishDanish language
Danish is a North Germanic language spoken by around six million people, principally in the country of Denmark. It is also spoken by 50,000 Germans of Danish ethnicity in the northern parts of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, where it holds the status of minority language...
in 1673. It is one the earliest books ever written about the Faroe Islands. It is an historical and scientific according, which also includes the first map of the Faroe Islands.
Legacy
In the novel The Good Hope by recognised Faroese author William HeinesenWilliam Heinesen
Andreas William Heinesen was a poet, composer and painter from the Faroe Islands.- His Writing :The Faroese capital Tórshavn is always the centre of Heinesen's writing. He is famous for having once called Tórshavn "The Navel of the World". His writing focuses on contrasts between darkness and...
, the main character the Rev. Peder Børresen is based on Lucas Debes. Heinesen received The Nordic Council's Literature Prize in 1964 for the novel. In the story Heinesen had the difficult task of reproducing seventeenth-century Danish. He succeeded so well that he won the prize. It is considered by many to be his best work.
Many people on the Faroes have the family name Debes or Debess. They all descend from Lucas Debes' sister.
Works & Translations
- Færoæ & Færoa reserata: Det er Færøernis oc færøeske Indbyggeris beskrifvelse, udi hvilcken føris til liuset adskillige naturens hemeligheder, oc nogle antiqviteter, som her til dags udi mørcket hafve været indelugt, oc nu her opladis / alle curieuse til velbehagelighed, sammenskrefven oc forklaret aff Lucas Jacobsøn Debes. Copenhagen: 1673
- Færoæ & Færoa reserata, Einars Prent og Forlag, Tórshavn 1963 (reprint)
- Færoæ, & Færoa reserata: That is a description of the islands & inhabitants of Foeroe: being seventeen islands subject to the King of Denmark, printed by F. L. for William Iles, London 1676 (408 p.)
- Natürliche und Politische Historie der Inseln Färöe, worinnen die Luft, Grund und Boden, Gewässer, Thiere, Vögel, Fische, usw. das Naturel, die Gewohnheiten, Lebensart der Einwohner dieser Inseln und ihre Verfassung beschrieben werden F.C. Pelt, Kopenhagen und Leipzig 1757 (German translation)
- Natürliche und Politische Historie der Inseln Färöe. Aus dem Dänischen übersetzt von C. G. Mengel, Kopenhagen / Leipzig 1757. Neu herausgegeben, kommentiert und mit einem Nachwort versehen von Norbert B. Vogt. Mülheim a. d. Ruhr: 2005 (annotated reprint)