- Kristoffer Trondson
Kristoffer Trondson (also known as Rustung) (c. 1500 - 1565) was an
admiral , feudal overlord inNorway andDenmark , privateer captain and pirate.He never used the name "Rustung" which is rather a centuries later invention. His name is denoted with the letters K and T in his seal. In his seal there is a
Coat of arms , and it is uncertain if he created thisCoat of arms himself or if it was inherited from his ancestors. The Coat of arms is repeated inNicolas Bergh 's book of Coat of arms.Biography
Kristoffer was probably born around 1500 in
Seim ,Kvinnherad .Kristoffer after moving to
Trondheim around 1527 became something of a right hand for archbishopOlav Engelbrektsson , the lastcatholic archbishop in Norway. He was supposed to protect the coast from pirates, but eventually got himself accused of piracy after boarding Dutch and Scottish tradingships.The feudal overlord of Bergenhus,
Vincens Lunge , later became more and more an enemy of the archbishop, ending with Kristoffer apparently murdering him in 1536. Kristoffer was than imprisoned inBergen , until getting released as an exchange forEske Bille . After this Kristoffer fled the country together with the archbishop as a result ofthe Reformation .The next years, Kristoffer operated as a privateer, with a
Letter of marque from CountFrederick of Pfaltz . From Dutch and Frisian ports, he raided the Norwegian coast many times, under protection fromCharles V, Holy Roman Emperor , andMary of Burgundy .In 1542-1543 he got pardoned by
Christian III of Denmark , and engaged as a naval officer, whichDenmark-Norway had a desperate need for. After only three months, he advanced toAdmiral , "Rigernes Admiral". At the time he was the only Norwegian with a leader position in the navy.He died in
Denmark in 1565.Family
Amongst his children were
Anna Tronds nicknamed "Skottefruen", who got engaged with James Hepburn, andEnno "Brandrøk" who for a time made a living as ahighwayman before getting himself executed.ources
"Note: there are numerous things which is merely theories about Kristoffer, only certain things should be included in the article unless noted."
* [http://www.look.no/anita/slekt/webcards/ps02/ps02_350.htm Genealogy site - Kristoffer Trondson]
* [http://home.online.no/~torerlan/rustung/ Christoffer Rustung]
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