Andrew Sinclair (privy counsellor)

Sir Andrew Sinclair of Ravenscraig, in Denmark known as Anders Sincklar (Sinklar, Sinclar), til Ravenscraig og Sincklarsholm, born 1555, died 1625, was a Scotsman of noble birth, who became a Danish privy counsellor, envoy to England, colonel, and holder of extensive fiefs.

Not to be confused with Anders Sinclair.
Herr

Anders Sincklar af Ravenscraig
Rigsråd
In office
1617–1625
Envoy to England
In office
1604–1621
Lensmand
In office
1600–1625
Personal details
Born
Andrew Sinclair

January 1, 1555
Dysart, Fife, Scotland [1]
DiedJanuary 17, 1625(1625-01-17) (aged 70)
Spouse(s)
Kirsten Kaas
(
m. 1600)
Children
  • Jakob Sinclair
  • Johanne Andersdatter Sinclair
  • Erik Sinclair
  • Christian Sinclair (1607–1645)
Military service
Branch/serviceDanish Army
Years of service1611–1625
RankColonel
UnitScanian Regiment
Battles/wars
AwardsKnight of the Armed Arm

Early life

Sinclair was the third son of Henry, fifth Lord Sinclair, and Janet Lindsay, in his fathers first marriage.[2][3] For a period he was brought up at the court of Henry I, Duke of Guise.

In October 1589 Sinclair sailed to Norway with James VI to meet Anne of Denmark, he went ahead from Flekkerøy with the Danish envoy Steen Bille to Anna at Oslo with news of their arrival. A Danish source mentions he was a tall young man.[4] He stayed with the king in Denmark and handed out rewards to shipbuiders in Copenhagen.[5] Sinclar stayed at the Danish royal court and became hofjunker to Christian IV of Denmark in 1591, and in 1597 kammerjunker to the queen, Anne Catherine of Brandenburg.

Sinclair attended the baptism of Prince Henry at Stirling Castle in 1594 and James VI gave him a "target" or hat badge worth 80 French crowns.[6]

In December 1598 Sinclair sent a letter to James VI and the English courtier Roger Aston read it and sent a summary to Sir Robert Cecil. Sinclair informed James VI that Christian IV of Denmark and other German princes would visit in the spring, and the queen's brother, the Duke of Holstein would come through and France and England and meet up. In the event, only Ulrik, Duke of Holstein turned up in Scotland.[7]

From Frederiksborg Sinclair sent James VI notice of the coronation of Christian IV in 1596 in advance of a formal invitation by the diplomat Steen Bille, suggesting that if he could not come in person, the Duke of Lennox and two other noblemen would be suitable. The English ambassador Robert Bowes sent a copy of Sinclair's letter to William Cecil, suggesting the Earl of Crawford or Lord Sanquhar might go with the duke. In the event, James VI sent Lord Ogilvy and Peter Young.[8]

After his marriage 1600, Sinclair left the court, and became a fief-holder in Skåne. Sinclair fought in the Kalmar war as captain of a company of the King's regiment of foot, and participated in the Danish capture of Öland. After the Danish capture of Kalmar he became military governor of the city.[9][10][11]

Political role

In 1606 Sinclair was involved in correspondence with Arbella Stuart and Margaret Howard, Countess of Nottingham when the Countess accused Christian IV of insulting her. Sinclair wrote to Arbella that Christian hoped she might defend his honour.[12]

Christian IV aggressive policy towards Sweden was met with reluctance and skepticism in Skåne, since the province would be the first to feel the impact of war in case of hostilities. The King needed faithful supporters in the province, and hence Sinclair was made colonel of the Scanian Regiment in 1615, and became recipient of a number of land donations. The following year he was made one of a very limited number of knights of the Order of the Armed Arm. In 1617 Sinclair became a member of the privy council of the Danish realm; the King needed loyal followers in that august body, as its resistance towards his foreign policy was mounting. He was the King's confidential adviser in matters concerning Great Britain, utilizing his many friends and connections to Danish advantage, especially James VI, with whom he was in great favour. Sinclair was the Danish King's envoy in Britain a number of times between 1606 and 1621, managing to influence James VI into adopting a more pro-Danish, and less pro-Swedish, stance.[13] At the same time Sinclair acted as the British King's emissary at the Danish court.[14][15]

Personal life

In 1600, Sinclair married Kirsten Eriksdatter Kaas, in a ceremony at the Royal Palace. She was a maid of honour to the Queen, and of the Danish noble family af Sparre.[16] Some sources name her as Sophie Eriksdatter Kaas, a daughter of Erik Kaas of Gjelskov and Anna Emmiksen, who was a maid of honour to Anne of Denmark, and assisted at her coronation in Edinburgh on 17 May 1590. Sophie Kaas intended to marry a Scottish courtier but he died before the wedding.[17]

They had three sons, and one daughter; Jakob (James) Sinclair (who also served James VI), Johanne Andersdatter Sinclair, Erik Sinclair, and Christian Sinclair.[3][18] Sinclair had Gladsaxehus as a fief, 1600–1620; Gislöv from 1613; Landskrona 1619–1621, then exchanged against Hammershus. The King gave him Sandby in Göinge as allodial possession; in the vicinity he began to build Sinclairsholm, which, however, was not completed until after his death.[13] He also held Kronovall until his death.[19]

References
  1. Sir Andrew SINCLAIR Of Danish Rigsraad. Retrieved 2016-12-08.
  2. Goldring, Elizabeth & al., eds. (2014). John Nichols's The Progresses and Public Processions of Queen Elizabeth.Oxford University Press, vol. 3, p. 753, note 182.
  3. "Anders Sinclair, (Andrew)." Skeel & Kannegaard Genealogy. Archived 2017-08-10 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 2016-12-11.
  4. David Stevenson, Scotland's Last Royal Wedding (Edinburgh, 1977), pp. 34, 89.
  5. Miles Kerr-Peterson & Michael Pearce, 'James VI's English Subsidy and Danish Dowry Accounts, 1588-1596', Scottish History Society Miscellany XVI (Woodbridge, 2020), p. 37, 42.
  6. Miles Kerr-Peterson & Michael Pearce, 'James VI's English Subsidy and Danish Dowry Accounts, 1588-1596', Scottish History Society Miscellany XVI (Woodbridge, 2020), p. 78.
  7. Calendar of Scottish Papers: 1597-1603, vol. 13 part 1 (Edinburgh, 1969), pp. 138, 172.
  8. Calendar State Papers Scotland: 1595-1597, vol. 12 (Edinburgh, 1952), pp. 181, 192.
  9. Christensen, Christian Villads (1901). "Sinclair, Andrew". Dansk Biografisk Lexikon. Kjøbenhavn, Gyldendalske Boghandels Forlag, vol. 15, pp. 611–612 Retrieved 2016-12-11.
  10. Grosjean, Alexia (2003). "A century of Scottish governorship", in: MacKillop, Andrew & Murdoch, Steve (eds). Military Governors and Imperial Frontiers c. 1600–1800: A Study of Scotland and Empires. Leiden: Brill, pp. 9–10.
  11. "Sinclar, Anders til Ravenscraig og Sinklarsholm". Officer – adelsvælden. Retrieved 2016-12-11.
  12. Sara Jayne Steen, Letters of Arbella Suart (Oxford, 1994), pp. 211-2, 282-4.
  13. Tandrup, Leo. "Andrew Sinclair". Dansk Biografisk Leksikon, 3. ed., Gyldendal 1979–84. Retrieved 2016-12-08.
  14. Murdoch, Steve (2001). "Scottish ambassadors and British diplomacy 1618–1635", in: Murdoch, Steve (ed.), Scotland and the Thirty Years' War: 1618–1648. Leiden: Brill, p. 46-47.
  15. Brown, Keith M. (2011 ). Noble Power in Scotland from the Reformation to the Revolution. University of Edinburgh Press, p. 189.
  16. "Kirsten Eriksdatter Kaas, af Sparre". Skeel & Kannegaard Genealogy. Retrieved 2016-12-111.
  17. Tycho Hofman, Portraits historiques des hommes illustres de Dannemark (Copenhagen, 1746), p. 76.
  18. Murdoch, Steve (2005). "Children of the Diaspora: the 'homecoming' of the second generation Scot in the seventeenth century," in: Harper, Marjory (ed), Emigrant Homecomings: The Return Movements of Emigrants, 1600–2000. , Manchester University Press, pp. 66, 68.
  19. Kronovall, Sverige Retrieved 2016-12-11.
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