The Galtung Family past and present

Lars Ove Wangensteen continues to make genealogical works available at his website Wangensteen.net. Last month I mentioned the book Den dansk-norske adelsslægt Huitfeldt (Hogenskild) ("The Danish-Norwegian noble family Huitfeldt (Hogenskild)").

Wangensteen has recently added a publication about Galtung, yet another family listed in Danmarks Adels Aarbog (Yearbook of the Danish Nobility). Galtungernes ældste historie indtil 1660 ("The Galtungs' oldest history until 1660") by O. Olafsen was published in 1910 and can be viewed here. 123 genealogical titles can now be found at Wangensteen.net, and more will be added, so check it out from time to time. For your information The Norwegian Nobility - survey of 1886 can be viewed here. H.J. Huiteldt-Kaas' article from 1886, De nulevende adelsslægter i Norge, which the survey is for the most part based on, is also included at Wangensteen.net.

Returning to the Galtung family again, as far as I know the most recent major work about this family is Galtungslekten i fortid og nutid ("The Galtung Family past and present") published by Lars F. Galtung in 1974. The work includes Johan Ellertsen Galtung's manuscript on the family from 1948, besides contributions by Henning Sollied, Lars Hamre, Olav Kolltveit, Eyvin Dahl, J.J. Jåthun, K.S. Kleppe, Asgaut Steinnes and Lars F. Galtung.

Galtungslekten i fortid og nutid was with a few changes reprinted in 1997 by Johan Ellertsen Galtung's granddaughter Elin Galtung Lihaug. The book includes 17 genealogical charts of the older and the younger Galtung families.

Huitfeldt at Wangensteen.net

The genealogical work "Den dansk-norske adelsslægt Huitfeldt (Hogenskild)" ("The Danish-Norwegian noble family Huitfeldt (Hogenskild)"), which was published in 1887, has now been made available at Wangensteen.net in form of an e-book. The book is an offprint of Danmarks Adels Aarbok (Yearbook of the Danish Nobility).

An alphabetical survey of genealogies made available at Wangensteen.net can be found here.

King Christian Frederik of Norway's diary

1814 was an eventful year for Norway, to say the least. Following the Napoleonic Wars, King Frederik VI of Denmark-Norway was by the Peace Treaty of Kiel of 14 January 1814 forced to cede Norway to Sweden.

Norway refused to accept the terms of the treaty, stating that now as Denmark had given up Norway for good, the sovereignty had reverted to the Norwegian people. Prince Christian Frederik of Denmark, heir to the Danish throne and Stattholder (Viceregent) of Norway since 1813, initially wished to be made King of Norway on basis of his rights to the throne, but was persuaded by leading Norwegian men to instead be elected as king following the adoption of a constitution. Prince Christian Frederik thus convened a constituent assembly which met at Eidsvoll on 10 April 1814.

Prince Christian Frederik of Denmark was elected King of Norway on 17 May 1814 after approving the new Constitution. But Crown Prince Regent Carl Johan of Sweden refused to accept Norway's independence and following a short war, King Christian Frederik agreed to cede and leave the country by the Treaty of Moss of 14 August. He formally abdicated on 10 October, a decision that was confirmed by the Storting (the Norwegian Parliament) on 4 November. On the same day the assembly passed the changes to the Constitution made necessary because of the personal union with Sweden and King Carl XIII was elected King of Norway.

The former king Christian Frederik, who in 1839 became King of Denmark as Christian VIII, had left Norway already on 28 October 1814.

King Christian Frederik wrote a diary during his stay in Norway which was published in 1914 as an appendix to Riksforsamlingens forhandlinger (Proceedings of the Constituent Assembly) and titled Kong Christian Frederiks dagbok fra hans opphold i Norge i 1814 ("King Christian Frederik's diary from his stay in Norway in 1814"). The lawyer and historian Arnet Olafsen (1865-1947) had been allowed to make a copy of the diary notes kept in the Archives of the Royal House in the Danish National Archives. An exception was made to those parts of the diary that had "a personal and intimate character". Most of the diary notes were written in French, which were translated into Norwegian by Jens Raade.

Lars Ove Wangensteen has at his website Wangensteen.net today published the diary in form of a flipbook. The diary can also be found at the Eidsvoll 1814 website.

Index of noble families in Norway around 1814

Lars Ove Wangensteen has at his website Wangensteen.net in form of a flipbook recently published Alfabetisk register over adelige slekter i Norge omkring 1814 og beskrivelse av deres slektsvåpen ("Alphabetical index of noble families in Norway around 1814 and description of their arms").

The information is taken from the late Tore H. Vigerust's website http://www.vigerust.net/adel/adel1814_slektsregister.html as well as the book Nyt Dansk Adelslexicon (by A. Thiseth and P.L. Wittrup, 1904). Wangensteen adds on the flipbook's front page that the chapter "Påstått adel" ("Alleged nobility") starts on p. 36. The publication is in Norwegian only.

See also my own index of the noble families, mainly based on the historian and genealogist H.J. Huitfeldt-Kaas' survey from 1886.

Updated on 9 March 2011 at 10.10 (link added).

Norwegian Royal and Princely seals from the Middle Ages

Christopher (Chr.) Brinchmann (1860-1944) published in 1924 the book Norske Konge-sigiller og andre fyrste-sigiller fra middelalderen ("Norwegian Royal Seals and other Princely Seals from the Middle Ages"), which includes seals provided by National Archivist (Keeper of Public Records) Henrik Jørgen (H.J.) Huitfeldt-Kaas (1834-1905) and drawn by the artist Eilif Peterssen (1852-1928) and architect Hakon Thorsen (1866-1925).

The book has now been made available by Lars Ove Wangensteen at his website Wangensteen.net in form of an e-book. The drawings can be viewed from page 42 and onwards (e-book p. 45). See also Wangensteen's heraldry page for other heraldic works made available.