Niels Kaas

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Niels Kaas

Niels Kaas , also Niels Kås, (* 1535 on the farm Stårupgård in the diocese of Viborg ; † June 29, 1594 in Copenhagen ) was Danish chancellor.

Life

His parents were Niels Kaas, who died seven months before he was born, and his wife Anne Bjørn, who died when Kaas was five years old.

Kaas therefore grew up with his uncle, the provost of accountability in the Jelling district and later cantor in the cathedral chapter of Ribe Mogens Kaas. He sent him to school in Viborg. During the nine years of school he acquired a thorough study of Christianity, a lot of Latin, enough Greek and some dialectical and rhetorical rules. In 1549 he came to Copenhagen, where he worked with Niels Hemmingsen , who took on further training. He completed his knowledge of Latin, acquired some theological knowledge and also some world and fatherland history. He began studies in ethics and law. Then he moved abroad and enrolled in Wittenberg in 1534 , where he studied with Melanchthon . He later studied in Frankfurt (Oder) and in Leuven . When he returned home in 1557, he had knowledge of history and political science and was able to converse in Latin, which was important in negotiations with foreign countries. He got a job in the royal chancellery and when the king was traveling with his chancellor Johan Friis during the Seven Years' War , he headed the part of the chancellery that had remained in Copenhagen. In 1568 and 1569 he took part in the fruitless peace negotiations with Sweden in Roskilde and on the border at Ulfsbæk. In 1570 he belonged to the councilors Peder Bille and Jørgen Rosenkrantz to the delegation that concluded the Peace of Stettin , and in 1572 to the delegation in the negotiations with Sweden at Brømsebro.

After the death of Johan Friis in 1570, Niels Kaas was entrusted with the office of royal chancellor and formally appointed by the Imperial Council in 1573. After the death of the imperial court master Peder Oxe in 1575 he was the most powerful man in the state after the king.

King Frederick II believed in him and wanted him around at all times. He knew how to bring difficult negotiations to a good end. Is worth mentioning is the settlement of the protracted Schleswig Lehnsstreitigkeiten 1579, the solution of the question of succession to Duke Johann the Elder (1581) and the division with Duke Johann the Younger 1582. After the Treaty of Stettin is a boom to be stated in the state, which ensures the great Part is due to the work of Chancellor Kaas.

As the king's chancellor, he was also the university's chancellor. Many of the writings dedicated to him show how great the trust the authors placed in him. He took a special interest in the research of Tycho Brahe and the historian Anders Sørensen Vedel . History interested him particularly, and he was in correspondence with the historian David Chyträus in Rostock. He was of the opinion that knowledge of history was essential for running a state. Therefore, he successfully campaigned for a chair in history at the University of Copenhagen, which was first occupied by Niels Krag .

Niels Kaas instructs King Christian on his deathbed for the rest of the government.

When Friedrich II died, Crown Prince Christian was not yet of legal age. Kaas was entrusted with the management of the empire with three other councilors and the queen widow Sophie was eliminated. This earned him many difficult negotiations with her and her father, Duke Ulrich von Mecklenburg . Even after the crown prince had been declared of age by the emperor in the duchies in 1593 and the royal family's right of inheritance for Schleswig and Holstein was no longer pursued, but instead he was elected duke in Schleswig and Holstein, he was still kept from government business in Copenhagen remote.

The affairs of government drained Niels Kaas' strength. A few days before his death he had the young king come to him in the presence of the other three members of the governing council and gave him advice on the future government and recommended that he expand the navy, on which the defense of the country was essentially based.

Remarks

  1. ↑ After the Reformation, the post of accountant was a subordinate official of the auditing of the former church property.
  2. ↑ The office of Reichshofmeister came into being around 1430 and was the highest state office in the Danish Empire. He was a kind of prime minister and representative of the king. In addition to his prominent constitutional position, he had a number of important tasks, even if his duties were not clearly defined. In the 16th century he headed the financial administration and was in charge of the rent chamber and customs.

literature

personal data
SURNAME Kaas, Niels
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Kås, Niels
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Danish Chancellor
DATE OF BIRTH 1535
PLACE OF BIRTH Stårupgård, Diocese of Viborg
DATE OF DEATH June 29, 1594
Place of death Copenhagen