Histories

    ULRIK FREDRIK GYLDENLOVE was born on 4 June 1638 in Hamburg, the
illegitimate son of Fredrik III of Denmark and Margarethe Papen. In his early
years he was given a wholly German upbringing by his mother, but from the age of
10 onwards he was brought up by Queen Sophie Amalie in the Danish Court. In 1655
he was made a Danish nobleman. In 1657 he was given Ulstein Cloister (Monastery)
near Bergen. From 1661 to 1663 he traveled to Flanders, France and Spain and was
received abroad as the son of a king.

    He became Regent of Norway from 1664 to 1667, living in Akershus Castle,
Oslo, and again from 1673 to 1679. Thereafter he administered his Regency from
Copenhagen where he had a palatial building erected for himself on Kongens
Nytorv. He travelled extensively in Norway and made visits during the periods he
was not living there. In 1685 he accompanied his stepbrother King Kristian V on
his journey through Norway, including Larvik, Dovre, Trondheim, Bergen,
Stavanger and back to Larvik, where he had owned a large amount of land and
property since 1670.

    Gyldenlove's first marriage, to Sophie Urne on 11 July 1659, was in
secret and was not recognised by his father the King. They had 2 sons. Without
an act of separation he was married again (16 Dec 1660), to Maria Grubbe, but
had no children. They were later separated officially with some blame on her
side. Finally he married (16 Aug 1677) Antoinette Augusta, Countess Aldenburg,
and had 4 more children.

    Gyldenlove was reputed to lead a frivolous and carefree existence. At a
party in Bergen in March 1665, which lasted far into the night, he broke some
panes of glass in a window and had his and his wife's Coat of Arms mounted in
their place.

    He was believed to have fathered several illegitimate children, but the
only confirmed case is of a son by Marie Meng (see 270), born 25 January 1692,
given the name Wilhelm Ulricksdal, and subsequently ennobled.

    Ulrik Fredrik Gyldenlove resigned his Regency on the death of the King
of Denmark in 1699 and retired to Hamburg where he spent his remaining years in
seclusion. He died on 17 April 1704 and was cremated in Copenhagen. He was
considered a prominent military strategist and leader.

    Given the above, what credence can be attached to the rumour that he
fathered two sons with the surname Brugger? Andreas Brugger, born around 1694,
is clearly a possibility. His "official" father is believed to be Jorgens
Brugger, who had another son Ole, born around 1703. However Ole could certainly
not have been fathered by Gyldenlove as he had retired to Hamburg by then.

Moreover it seems a little strange for Gyldenlove to father one son by Maria
Meng in 1692 and another by (presumably) a Brugger lady in 1694 and then treat
them so differently.

    The other possibility is that it was Jorgens who was fathered by
Gyldenlove around the 1660's or 1670's. There could be many reasons why an
illegitimate child might be treated differ-ently around that date. Even so, if
one son was recognised publicly and honoured later on, it is difficult to see
why the claims of others would not have been publicised too.

    So on balance it appears less than likely that there is royal blood in
this family tree, by this connection at any rate. A pity - it would make a good
story to be able to claim descent from William the Conqueror 27 or 28
generations back.