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- Note(kopieret juli 2019 fra Norman Lee Madsens database)
Hans Olufsen (Uf) was a secretary in the king's chancellery from 1592 until 1597, and later the "Lensmand" (Feudal Lord) at Vardøhus (in Vardø parish, Finnmark county, Norway) in 1599. Hans Olufsen was the owner of Gyldensgård, 17' Vdg. Østermarie; which he later sold to his father's brother Peder Hansen (Uf) of Simlegård in Klemensker parish. Hans Olufsen died in 1601, the last male member of the so called "Sparre-Uf" branch of the family. The seal (arms and helmet) he used in 1599 is identical to that used by Oluf Ottesen (Uf) in 1522.
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Hans Olsen was appointed the district governor for Finnmark in 1597. Christen Skredder was brought before the court at Vardøhus Castle in 1601. He was as a wealthy man who owned 80 daler, he also owned a turfhut, a boathouse and som outbuildings at Østersanden, as well as threedrying racks for fish and some sticks for building drying racks. He was accused of practising witchcraft together with the Sami Morten Olsen, of casting a fatal spell on District Governor Hans Olsen in May 1601. He was convicted of the practice of witchcraft. His estated devolved to the King, and was to be brought to Vardøhus Castle. Sentenced to death by fire at the stake.
Note: the following article incorrectly identify Hans Olufsen (Uf) as being a member of the Kofoed-family.
From the article "Exporting the Devil across the North Sea: John Cunningham and the Finnmark Witch-Hunt", by Liv Helene Willumsen, p. 52, in "Scottish Witches and Witch-Hunters" edited by Julian Goodare (Reader in History, University of Edinburgh), 2013:
The next district governor of Finnmark, therefore, was a good seafarer, a man who could take quick decisions and deal with unexpected problems, and a loyal servant. In addition, he was a person who was trusted to deal with the witches of the north - a problem of which the king had become aware during his visit to the northernmost parts of his kingdom, Finnmark and Kola, in 1599. The ethnic conditions in the very north of King Christian's kingdom were distinctive, with Norwegian and Sami populations living side by side. Sami males had a reputation for sorcery all over Europe at the time, being particularly well versed in selling wind to seafarers. The new century made the king even more concerned about the danger of sorcery. The sudden death in 1601 of the governor of Finnmark, Hans Olsen Kofoed, was blamed on Sami sorcery, and the result was the first two witchcraft trials in Finnmark of Christen the Tailor and the Sami Morten Olsen. No wonder that Christian IV in 1609 wrote to the next district governor, Claus Gagge, warning him to beware of witchcraft, especially Sami sorcery, and to show no mercy in such cases.
From "Images, Representations and the Self-Perception of Magic among the Sami Shamans of Arctic Norway, 1592-1692", chapter 14, by Rune Blix Hagenin "Contesting Orthodoxy in Medieval and Early Modern Europe: Heresy, Magic and Witchraft", editors Louise Nyholm Kallestrup and Raisa Maria Toivo, 2017:
As we have seen, the Danes knew of the strong rumours concerning Sami sorcery, as did many others throughout early modern Europe. Even though numerous witches had been put to death at the stake throughout Norway and Denmark, at the end of the sixteenth century no one had yet instigated asimilar policy of persecution directed at the Sami for their particular skills. But not too many years would elapse before King Christian IV turned into a monarch agitated by demons and eager to pursue and hunt down all kinds of sorcery - including Sami sorcery. As a collective group, the Sami posed a threat to the territorial expansion of Denmark-Norway, its state building and its endeavours to spread civilization and Christianity in the far North.
Since Christian IV turned the northern regions into his first major foreign adventure, he made sure that an efficient and energetic commanding officer was stationed at Vardøhus. The Dane Hans Olsen Koefoed was endowed with Vardøhus Fortress, and the county of Finnmark, in June 1597. The man travelled across great expanses of land in northern Norway in the winter of 1597/98 and the supsequent winter to investigate Swedish taxation of the Sami. Conscientiously, he presented his findings to the king. It is likely that Koefoed's report on the Swedish drive towards the coast of north Norway was what convinced Christian IV himself to sail northwards. . . ."
This database researched and compiled by Norman Lee Madsen, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
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