Hannibal Sehested (1609-23 September 1666) was Governor-General of Norway from 1642 to 1651, succeeding Christoffer Urne and preceding Gregers Krabbe.
Biography[]
Hannibal Sehested was born on Osel, Danish Estonia (now Saaremaa, Estonia), Denmark in 1609, and he studied abroad in Holland, France, and England. In 1640, he became owner of the Bahus fiefdom in Norway and became a member of the Danish National Council, and he was sent to Wismar in 1640 and 1641 to negotiate a treaty with Swedish chancellor Axel Oxtenstierna, as well as to arrange the marriage of Queen Christina of Sweden to the future King Frederick III of Denmark. He failed in both of these goals, but he was appointed Governor-General of Norway in 1642 while still retaining his favor. He invaded Sweden four times during the Torstenson War and defended Norway from Swedish attack, but he fell out of favor after the war's end due to his corruption. In 1651, he resigned after being accused of embezzlement, and he lived abroad from 1651 to 1660. He died in 1666.
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