Lars Gatenelm ( Swede. Lars Gathenhielm ; November 30, 1689 , Gatan Farm, Halland - April 25, 1718 ) - Swedish marque and adventurer, nicknamed by the people Lasse i Gatan ( Lasse i Gatan ).
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Biography
Born on November 30, 1689 on the farm Gatan in Halland . His parents were skipper Anders Berjesson and Christina Larssdotter Elm, but Lars and his brother called themselves Gate. He grew up in the sea and from a young age began to engage in affairs that were in conflict with the law. At the age of 14, he ran away from home and went to Kattegat on a small boat, where he was picked up by a Danish ship. Then he sailed on foreign merchant and pirate ships, until he finally joined the Dutch frigate Rotterdam as a lieutenant.
During cruising in the Mediterranean, the frigate engaged the pirate ship Cheb. When the pirates began to take over, another Dutch ship came to the aid of the Rotterdam. Pirate ship out of the battle, but with the Gate, who was at that moment on his deck. Later, he managed to raise a rebellion on board and, having seized the vessel, took him to Rotterdam , where for this feat he was made an honorary citizen of the city.
Participation in the Northern War
At that moment, when Gat returned to his homeland, Karl XII began issuing letters of marque through the kapersky commission to anyone who wanted to. Having received this, Gate took up privateering.
Not distinguished by special scrupulousness, he did not spare either his own or his enemies. His actions inflicted enormous damage on the enemy, and soon he made himself a significant state. From his own funds, he assisted Charles XII, in exchange for which he received a hunting lodge in Gothenburg and an old shipyard. In the end, he became the owner of numerous courts. He commanded them from the frigate Baron Hamilton.
In 1715, he was charged with delivering various kinds of supplies to the besieged Stralsund ; however, walking in the fog past Helsingør , he suddenly found himself in the middle of the Danish squadron. After a hard battle, Gate blew up the frigate with the supplies and landed with the crew on the Swedish coast. The Swedish king appreciated this act, and on December 29, 1715, he elevated Lars with his brothers to the nobility. From then on, they began to wear the name Gatenjelm.
This award caused general indignation, which increased even more after Gatenelm took to one of his ships the famous Irish pirate John Norcross . However, Karl XII continued to patronize Gatenjelm. During his visit to Gothenburg in 1716, the king made him a commander.
In 1717, Gatenelm, under the leadership of Baron Moehner, participated in the organization of the defense of Gothenburg. During the attack of Thurdenskjold on May 18-19, 1717, a Danish haloot aboard was taken aboard with a dozen people, part of whose crew was carved out, the other part fled. Soon he stopped going out to sea, which was apparently caused by bone tuberculosis , due to which he could barely move. Nevertheless, he successfully continued to lead his 50 courts.
At the end of February 1718, Gatenelm was allowed to export 2,500 copper plots worth 7,500 dalers with silver to Holland. After leaving Gothenburg, the Dutch ship on which the cargo was located, secretly took aboard, in the skerries near Stursho, a batch of rafts in excess of the permitted quantity. However, a caper who had come in at the same time here informed the authorities about the kotraband that was being prepared. As a result, the ship and the party of rafts were arrested and the process began. Gatenjelm denied that the rafts belonged to him. During the trial, Gatenelm died on April 25, 1718, being only 28 years old. The cause of death, apparently, was a disease of the legs, tormenting him from an early age.
He was buried in the Unsala church in a marble sarcophagus. Regarding this sarcophagus and another one, in which his wife was later buried, a legend has arisen among the people that they were sent by the Danish king Frederick IV in exchange for the originals seized by Gatenjelm, which were brought in for the Danish royal couple. However, in fact, they were acquired after the death of Lars by his wife Ingela, who paid for them 44,000 dalers with silver [2] .
Family
From 1711 he was married to the daughter of skipper Ingele Hammar (1692-1729). He had several children from her: Christina (b. 1713), Anders (1714–1768), Olaus (b. 1715), Karl (b. 1716) and Lars (b. 1717). All his children, except Anders, died in infancy.
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 Lars Gathenhielm - 1917.
- Rics Ericson L. Lasse i Gatan: kaparkriget och det svenska stormaktsväldets fall. - Lund, 1997. S. 245.
Sources
- Nordisk familjebok. B. 9. Stockholm, 1908
- Svenskt biografiskt handlexikon. Stockholm, 1906.
- Ericson L. Lasse i Gatan: kaparkriget och det svenska stormaktsväldets fall. - Lund, 1997.
Literature
- Ericson L. Lasse i Gatan: kaparkriget och det svenska stormaktsväldets fall. - Lund, 1997.
- Traung O. Lars Gathenhielm: kaperiverksamheten under Karl XII: s tid 1710-1719. - Göteborg, 1952.