Griffenfeld, Peder Schumacher, Count definition of Griffenfeld, Peder Schumacher, Count in the Free Online Encyclopedia.

Griffenfeld, Peder Schumacher, Count (pā`thər sh

`mäkhər, grĭf`ənfĕlt), 1635–99, Danish politician. The son of a merchant, he became (1665) secretary to Frederick III Frederick III, 1609–70, king of Denmark and Norway (1648–70), son and successor of Christian IV. He at first made great concessions to the powerful nobles but later asserted his own power. In 1657 war with Sweden began anew.
..... Click the link for more information. . In 1665 Griffenfeld drew up the Kongelov [king's law], which established an absolute monarchy in Denmark. He delivered (1670) the document, which had been kept secret until Frederick's death, to Christian V Christian V, 1646–99, king of Denmark and Norway (1670–99), son and successor of Frederick III. His minister, Griffenfeld , who until his fall in 1676 dominated Christian's reign, made the monarchy absolute.
..... Click the link for more information. . From 1671 to 1676, Griffenfeld dominated the government. In 1673 he was created count. He encouraged trade and industry and centralized the administration. His bourgeois origins and his support of absolutism antagonized the nobles, and his policy of peace, by which he hoped to restore Danish prestige, alienated the army. Denmark was drawn into war with Sweden (1675), and Griffenfeld's plans were overruled. On trivial evidence he was tried for treason and sentenced to death, but Christian commuted the sentence to life imprisonment.