Povel Huitfeldt

Povel Ottesen Huitfeldt (Povel Huitfeldt, Pouel Huitfeldt or Paul Huitfeldt, c. 1520 – 21 September 1592) was the first Danish-Norwegian Governor-general of Norway.

Early career
Around 1548, records show that Huitfeldt was with his brother Christoffer, the bailiff at Bergenhus Fortress, in Bergen. In the summers of 1552–54 and over the winter of 1554–55, he served as the king's representative on Iceland. Accompanied by a military force, he completed the conversion of Icelanders to the Lutheran faith after the last Catholic bishop, Jon Arason, had been executed in 1550. Huitfeldt's wife had been a lady-in-waiting to Christian III of Denmark’s Queen Dorothea, and between 1556–59, Huitfeldt served as sheriff at Copenhagen Castle. In 1559-63 the widowed Queen granted him Koldinghus, the last of the ancient royal castles in Jutland, which was hers to award since she had the right to the income there as widow of a king.

Seven Years' War
As the Kalmar Union broke down, Erik XIV in Sweden and Frederik II in Denmark were at odds. On 13 August 1563, Denmark and Lübeck emissaries declared war in Stockholm. During the Northern Seven Years' War, Huitfeldt was in charge of Halmstad, a port town in the then-Danish province of Halland, which he held during a siege by Swedish forces in the autumn of 1563. Danish King Fredrik II attacked the only Swedish port on the west coast, Älvsborg, advancing from Halland with an army 25,000 strong and captured Sweden's gateway to the west with three days of bombardment followed by a 6 hour assault on 4 September. This achieved the Danish aim of cutting off Sweden from the North Sea, blocking critical salt imports. Erik XIV then countered by attacking Halmstad in October, managing to breach the walls with artillery, but two assaults were beaten back.

Background
From the collapse of the Norwegian Royal Council in 1536-1537, as the Reformation gained a dominant position in Norway, until 1572, there was no central Norwegian government to link the king in Copenhagen with his royal officials and common citizens. Each feudal lord (lensherre) was the highest authority in his district and was responsible only to the king through the Norwegian Chancellor in the Chancellery (Kancelli) in Copenhagen. Since the former Norwegian Royal Council represented Norway's historic right to elect its own king, it is likely that the lack of central authority was initially promoted by the reigning Danish-Norwegian monarch. However, conflicts with Sweden, such as in the Northern Seven Years' War (1563-1570), highlighted the weaknesses of this approach. Sweden had established a standing army and invaded Norwegian territories such as Østerdal, Hedmark, and as far west as Skiensfjord. Sweden also invested in Akershus Fortress in Oslo, burned Hamar Cathedral, and destroyed the bishop's fortified palace Hamarhus. Since no standing Norwegian army was maintained, districts in Norway proved unable to defend themselves against even relatively small invading forces.

From 1572 to 1577, Huitfeldt was the first in a long line of foreign Governors-general of Norway (Danish: stattholder), but neither the government in Copenhagen nor Huitfeldt managed to achieve the goals established for his role. The statholder was given responsibility for royal property, supervision of the church and clergy, the courts, and oversight of feudal lords to prevent them from oppressing their people and to ensure faithful collection of the king’s taxes. The lands for which he was responsible included a large number of properties, since the crown had traditionally owned land and had also confiscated large amounts of church land during the Reformation. Although it occurred after Huitfeldt's tenure, on 5 July 1588, the statholder was also charged with being commander-in-chief of Norwegian military forces.

Huitfeldt's Tenure
Following the war, Huitfeldt was dispatched to Norway, assuming the role of feudal lord of Brunla Manor in Larvik from 1570 to 1574. In April 1572, he was additionally appointed as the feudal lord for Akershus and Tromsø. On May 10, 1572, he was designated to serve as the Governor-general of Norway and as a judge at the lagtings in Oslo, Bergen, and Trondheim. His responsibilities included addressing and resolving complaints from various provinces, overseeing and meticulously managing local officials, ensuring the prompt collection of the king’s revenue, examining the proper administration of crown goods, and supervising the Church's administration. It is likely that Huitfeldt played a part in Chancellor Johan Venstermand’s ouster in the autumn of the same year, given that he was the sole governor tasked with a coordinating role over the judiciary.

For the initial years, Huitfeldt attended court meetings in Bergen and Trondheim but was granted an exemption by the king in 1575 from traveling to Bergen. He struggled to exert control over local officials; Ludvig Munk and others persisted in their misuse of tax collections and harsh suppression of peasant resistance in Trøndelag. Moreover, Munk succeeded Huitfeldt as governor in 1577.

In church administration, Huitfeldt's efforts yielded better outcomes. Acting independently, in 1574 he appointed three officials to oversee the collection of church tithes and manage the church economy. They also compiled jordebøker (cadastral surveys that provided comprehensive registers of the metes-and-bounds of real property) for all ecclesiastical property in Norway. This work was published for the Diocese of Oslo in 1575 and for the Diocese of Hamar in 1577. This compilation of jordebøker was titled Povel Huitfeldt stiftsbok; while the original has been lost, a 1601 copy has been preserved, encompassing additions and corrections up to and including the year 1600. A jordebøker was also prepared for the Diocese of Stavanger, which was completed first but has since been lost. No stiftsbok was prepared in other dioceses, and the system was discontinued by 1578 generally, and by 1581 in Akershus, resulting in the control of the economy reverting to local church officials and bailiffs.

Huitfeldt was also an avid proponent of education. Næss remarks, "Although smaller than Bergen, Oslo surpassed that city as a seat of learning, partly due to the support of the Danish governors Povel Huitfeldt and Aksel Gyldenstjerne."

In 1576, Huitfeldt chaired a meeting in Skien among delegates from clergy and farmers in Stavanger county to mediate a conflict regarding tithes. Subsequently, he declared an agreement on the distribution of tithes. Farmers would retain a quarter of the tithe traditionally allocated for the poor but agreed to contribute funds to support students at Stavanger Cathedral School instead. While conflicts persisted in other dioceses, the accord, known as Povel Huitfeldt’s agreement, was ratified by the king and adopted as national guidance.

Personal life
Huitfeldt was born around 1520, to Otte Clausen Huitfeldt (who died between 1517 and 1529) and Barbara Eriksdatter Blaa (who died before 1558). He was the youngest among four brothers, all of whom relocated to Norway, including Christoffer Huitfeldt (c. 1501–1559) and Peder Huitfeldt (who died in 1584).

On 4 February 1554, he wed Margrethe Breide, the daughter of Hans Breide and Thale Emmiksdatter.

In 1575, citing health issues, Povel Huitfeldt sought and obtained an exemption from traveling to Bergen. He stepped down from all other roles in 1577 due to health complications and the arduous travel conditions in Norway, characterized by inadequate roads, perilous bridges, and steep cliffs. Post-retirement, he primarily resided in Halland, where he owned property. From 1581 onward until his demise, he also held the title of feudal lord of Tromsø. Huitfeldt passed away during a visit to his nephew, Chancellor and historian Arild Huitfeldt, at the Tryggevælde manor south of Køge, on 21 September 1592 at Tryggevælde Manor (on the Øresund) in Zealand. He was interred at Halmstad Church, Sweden.