Claus Daa (1579–1641)


Claus Daa was a Danish admiral, nobleman and landowner. He served as Admiral of the Realm from 1631 and was awarded the Order of the Elephant in 1633.

Biography

Daa was born at Ravnstrup manor on Zealand, Denmark. He was the son of Oluf Daa by his wife Dorthe Henriksdatter Faa née Friis. He went to school in Sorø and at age 12 went abroad to further his education. He spend most of the time in Geneva. He returned to Denmark for Christian IV's coronation in 1596 but travelled to Switzerland and France the following year where he stayed until 1559. He was a courtier at the royal court from 1600 to 1603. He became a Lieutenant in the heavy cavalry of Jutland in 1609, served with honour in the Kalmar War and was appointed to Ritmester. In 1625, he became a member of the Privy Council. In 1626, he was a war commissioner in Germany and a delegate to the Peace Meeting in Brunsvig but had to return to Denmark in August after falling ill.
In 1630, he was one of the members of the Privy Council that endorsed the king to reach a settlement with Hamburg. On 25 July he was appointed to Rigsadmiral. On 6 August he commanded the fleet that left Copenhagen to make an assault on the Hamburg fleet that blocked Glückstadt. The battle began on 4 September and resulted in a withdrawal of the Hamburg ships.
In 1631, Daa and Frederik Günther were sent to the Hague. He was to mediate between Great Britain and the Dutch Republic with Spain and negotiate with a British envoy about a continued alliance between Denmark and Great Britain and the payment of subsidies.
In 1637, he became general commissioner for Zealand. In 1640, he was once again admiral for the fleet. He died in 1641.

Property

In 1606, he acquired Skivehus.
In 1613, he exchanged Skivehus for Trondhjemgaard in Norway. It was exchanged for Vestervig in 1620 which was then exchanged for Dragsholm in 1624.
He owned Borreby, Ravnstrup and Holmegaard on Zealand, Fravgdegaard on Funen and Bonderup in Jutland. He constructed a new main building at Holmegaard in 1635.

Personal life

He married Dorthe Henriksdatter Below on 22 April 1604. After her death, he then married Ingeborg Valdemarsdatter Parsberg on 2 May 1613.
He had 11 children: