| Office | Governor of Tranquebar
|
|---|---|
| Term start | 20 October 1716 |
| Term end | 21 January 1720 |
| Predecessor | Johan Sigismund Hassius |
| Successor | Ulrik Christian Nissen
|
| Born | Unknown |
| Born | Denmark–Norway |
| Died | 24 January 1724 |
| Place of death | Tranquebar, Danish India
|
| Spouse | Template:Ubl
|
Christen Brun-LundegaardTemplate:Efn (alternatively spelled Christian and Bruun; Template:Died in) was a Danish colonial official and governor of Tranquebar from 20 October 1716 to 21 January 1720.
Brun-Lundegaard started as an assistant of the Danish East India Company in the Danish colony of Tranquebar. In 1707, he came to Bengal as an accountant (Template:Lang), but returned to Tranquebar the following year. Upon returning, Brun-Lundegaard advanced as treasurer and subaccountant (Template:Langx) in 1708 and became chief accountant (Template:Langx) in 1711.
Continuing in 1714, he became Template:Lang (second-in-command) of the colony's Privy Council (Template:Lang) and was appointed governor of Tranquebar in 1716, following the dismissal of Governor Johan Sigismund Hassius. During his tenure, the previous Danish factory in Bengal, Dannemarksnagore, was reestablished, while the relationship with the Danish-Halle Mission improved. Despite this, Brun-Lundegaard resigned as governor in 1720 in favor of Ulrik Christian Nissen.
Brun-Lundegaard died on 24 January 1724 in Tranquebar after a long illness.
Early career
Christen Brun-Lundegaard began his career in the Danish East India Company as an assistant in the Danish colony of Tranquebar. In 1703, he undertook a voyage to Malacca as a ship’s assistant aboard the vessel, Printz Christian. By order of the company management, he was appointed secretary to the colony's Privy Council (Template:Lang) on 1 July 1704. In the same year, he was accused of irregularities during the previous voyage to Malacca, but was acquitted by the court.Template:Sfn
On 20 July 1707, Brun-Lundegaard was sent with the yachts Gyldenløve and Fortuna to the Danish factory,Template:Sfn Dannemarksnagore, in Bengal, as an accountant (Template:Lang) for the current officials and as a commissioner.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn He arrived at the factory in August 1707, bringing money and resources to the colonyTemplate:Sfn and began his work, negotiating with the factory's and earlier governor, Johan Joachim Michelsen's, creditors and confiscating the latter's belongings.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn As such, Michelsen's creditors were mostly repaid,Template:Sfn while Brun-Lundegaard developed the colony's tradeTemplate:Sfn so that when he departed again in February 1708, he had left behind money sufficient for one year to the governor, Jacob Panck.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Simultaneously, he brought saltpeter, silk, and textiles with him back to Tranquebar,Template:Sfn which he returned to on 14 March 1708.Template:Sfn Upon returning, he was installed as lower merchant (Template:Langx) and became both treasurer and subaccountant (Template:Langx) on 8 October and 27 October 1708, respectively.Template:Sfn
Brun-Lundegaard is described as having been a diligent, capable, and trusted man.Template:Sfn Consequently, as the colony needed his capabilities as subaccountant, his multiple requests for permission to repatriate were rejected.Template:Sfn When his request for an increased salary was also rejected, he applied on 9 October 1710 in a more determined manner for permission to return home, but was persuaded to stay as he was promised career advancement. Subsequently, he became chief accountant (Template:Langx) and third-in-command of the Privy Council on 12 May 1711, and as he had served the Company for 15 years, he received an increase in his salary. Furthermore, he advanced to Template:Lang (second-in-command) of the Privy Council at the end of 1714, likely due to the governor of Tranquebar, Johan Sigismund Hassius's, favor.Template:Sfn
Governor of Tranquebar
After Johan Sigismund Hassius's dismissal as governor, he installed Brun-Lundegaard as Interim Governor of Tranquebar on 20 October 1716 with large ceremonies.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn In a letter dated 19 October, Brun-Lundegaard thanked the Template:Abbr for the appointment but described himself as a weak and meek man and instead applied for a replacement. Again in 1718, he applied for a replacement, but had to wait another two years. Meanwhile, there was a severe shortage of money in the colony, and it had to borrow 6,000 pagodas from the English at Madras and another 5,000 Danish rigsdaler from a local magnate.Template:Sfn In 1720, a Danish ship, the Jomfru Susanne, finally reached Tranquebar,Template:Sfn along with the hofjunker (a young nobleman who serves in the court) and new opperhoved, Ulrik Christian Nissen.Template:Sfn Subsequently, Brun-Lundegaard resigned on 2 January 1720 and instead became the vice governor and chief merchant (Template:Langx).Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn
Reestablishment of Dannemarksnagore
In 1716,Template:Sfn Tranquebar was visited by a Bengali envoy, named Chandusi, who offered to return Dannemarksnagore,Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn which had been conquered by the Mughals in 1714,Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn in return for the Bengali vessel, Fatteromany,Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn which had previously been captured by the Danes.Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn After long negotiations, the former lodge was ceded back to the D.E.I.C. in 1718,Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn and in September the same year,Template:Sfn a new governor, Gallus Bøgvad, was sent to the lodge to try to recreate the former conditions, but to no avail.Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn
Relationship with missionaries
Template:FurtherIn contrast to Governor Hassius, Brun-Lundegaard has been considered by later literature to have been friendly to the Lutheran Danish-Halle Mission.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Evidently, Brun-Lundegaard laid the foundation stone of the New Jerusalem Church in Tranquebar on 9 February 1717Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn and assisted in gathering resources and a suitable location for the building.Template:SfnTemplate:Efn In return, the missionaries arranged a sort of throne as a special place for the governor inside the church.Template:Sfn Additionally, Brun-Lundegaard saluted from Fort Dansborg at the consecration of the buildingTemplate:Sfn and donated a plaque to be built into the wall of the church with the inscription:Template:Sfn
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Template:Blockquote However, according to Danish priest and historian Anders Nørgaard, there were no major differences between Governor Hassius and Brun-Lundegaard,Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn and Brun-Lundegaard is even said to have been against the Mission.Template:Sfn Moreover, there is no personal friendship between Brun-Lundegaard and the missionaries, although they met when it was necessary, and showed each other goodwill.Template:Sfn
Instead, the change in relations between the local administration and the mission was caused by a new compromise reached in Denmark between the mission's inspectorate and the D.E.I.C. management.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn According to the new compromise, the colonial administration was to function as the mission's authority, rather than being a private cause of King Frederick IV.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Meanwhile, the administration was thereby also obliged to subsidize the mission under its authority.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Subsequently, the years following the compromise were a heyday for the mission,Template:Sfn and there are no reports of problems between the mission and Governor Brun-Lundegaard.Template:Sfn
Personal and later life
Brun-Lundegaard was married twice: first to Wibeke Christensdatter BergTemplate:Sfn on 5 July 1714, and second to Utilia Elisabeth on 29 November 1723,Template:Sfn after Wibeke Christensdatter's death in the same year.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Utilia Elisabeth was the widow of the former leader of the Danish-Halle Mission, Template:Interlanguage link.Template:Sfn
Brun-Lundegaard died on 24 January 1724 in TranquebarTemplate:Sfn after a long illness, leaving no children.Template:Sfn
See also
Notes and references
Notes
References
Works cited
- Guvernører, Residenter, Kommandanter og Chefer{{#if:Larsen|, Larsen}. Arthur Jensens Forlag(1940)
- De dansk-ostindiske Koloniers Historie{{#if:Larsen|, Larsen}. Centralforlaget(1907)
- De dansk-ostindiske koloniers historie – De Bengalske loger & Nikobarerne{{#if:Larsen|, Larsen}. Centralforlaget & Peter Hansens Forlag(1908)
- Die Dänen in Indien, Südostasien und China (1620-1845){{#if:Diller|, Diller}. Harrassowitz Verlag(1999). ISBN 978-3-447-04123-2
- Kirkehistoriske Samlinger 1977{{#if:Grane|, Grane}. Akademisk Forlag(1977). ISBN 87-500-1784-5
- Bibliotheca Malabarica{{#if:|, {{{last}}}}. Institut Français de Pondichéry(1 April 2012). ISBN 9791036544279
- Bartholomäus Ziegenbalg, the Father of Modern Protestant Mission{{#if:Jeyaraj|, Jeyaraj}. Indian Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge & Gurukul Lutheran Theological College(2006). ISBN 81-7214-920-4
- Kirken, kongen og enevælden{{#if:Hermansen|, Hermansen}. University of Southern Denmark(2003)
- Trankebar{{#if:Gregersen|, Gregersen}. Lindhardt & Ringhof(2018). ISBN 9788711978337
- Haderslevs bys præstehistorie{{#if:Dahl|, Dahl}. O. Lohse(1933)
- Template:Cite encyclopedia