Count Griffenfeld

Peder Schumacher, Count Griffenfeld (1635-99). Painting by Abraham Wuchters. Griffenfeld was the first man of bourgeois birth to exploit the new possibilities offered by the absolute monarchy. It was now the grace of the king alone that decided positions at court, and this gave the bourgeoisie the chance to gain influential positions. Griffenfeld rose to the post of High Chancellor of the Realm, before falling out of favour under Christian V, and spent the majority of the rest of his life in captivity.

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