Herluf Trolle

Herluf Trolle (14 January 1516 – 25 June 1565) was a Danish naval hero, Admiral of the Fleet and co-founder of Herlufsholm School (Herlufsholm Skole og Gods), a private boarding school at Næstved on the island of Zealand in Denmark. Early life Herluf Trolle was born at Lillö in Norra Åsum parish in Scania. He was born into the noble Trolle line of Swedish origins. He was the son of Kirsten Herlufsdatter Skave and Sir Joachim Arvidsen Trolle, Lord of Lillö; grandson of justiciar Arvid Trolle (c. 1440–1505), Lord of Bergkvara, and the latter's second wife Beate Iversdatter (ca 1440-1487), heiress of Lillö, and daughter of lord Iver Axelsen til Thott, fiefholder of the island of Gulland. At the age of nineteen, Trolle went to Metropolitanskolen (Vor Frue Skole) at Copenhagen, subsequently completing his studies at Wittenberg University from 1536-1537. Here he adopted the views of the German Lutheran reformer Philipp Melanchthon (1497–1560), with whom he was in intimate correspondence for some years. His marriage with Birgitte Gøye (1511-1574), the daughter of Lord High Treasurer Mogens Gøye (ca. 1470–1544), brought him a rich inheritance, and in 1557 he was summoned to the membership of the High Council of Denmark. Both King Christian III and King Frederik II had a very high opinion of Trolle's trustworthiness and ability and employed him in various diplomatic missions. Herluf Trolle's lively manners made him popular everywhere but not with his wife's nephew Peder Oxe (1520–1575), the subsequently distinguished finance minister, whose narrow grasping ways, especially as the two men were near neighbors, did not contribute towards family harmony. It was Trolle whom Frederik II appointed to investigate the charges of malversation brought against Oxe. Both Trolle and his wife were far renowned for their piety and good works, and their whole household had to conform to their example or seek service elsewhere.