Didrik Pining - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Didrik Pining was a German

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

privateer

Privateer

A privateer is a private person or ship authorized by a government by letters of marque to attack foreign shipping during wartime. Privateering was a way of mobilizing armed ships and sailors without having to spend public money or commit naval officers...

, nobleman and governor of Iceland

Iceland

Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...

and Vardøhus

Vardøhus Fortress

Vardøhus Fortress is located in Vardø municipality in the county of Finnmark on the Barents Sea on the mouth of the Varangerfjord in north-eastern Norway near the Russian border.-History:...

. He is most notable because some have proposed that he may have landed in North America

North America

North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

in the 1470s, almost twenty years before Columbus'

Christopher Columbus

Christopher Columbus was an explorer, colonizer, and navigator, born in the Republic of Genoa, in northwestern Italy. Under the auspices of the Catholic Monarchs of Spain, he completed four voyages across the Atlantic Ocean that led to general European awareness of the American continents in the...

voyages of discovery. Some of the claims concerning Pining are controversial because information about him is, in general, relatively sparse and partially contradictory.

Early life

Didrik Pining has been found by modern German genealogists to have been a native of Hildesheim

Hildesheim

Hildesheim is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is located in the district of Hildesheim, about 30 km southeast of Hanover on the banks of the Innerste river, which is a small tributary of the Leine river...

in Germany

Germany

, and this has according to a report been "suddenly and conclusively proved." It had been assumed that he was a Dane or Norwegian until the 1930s.

In Hanseatic records until 1468, he is mentioned as a privateer

Privateer

or captain

Captain (naval)

Captain is the name most often given in English-speaking navies to the rank corresponding to command of the largest ships. The NATO rank code is OF-5, equivalent to an army full colonel....

in the service of Hamburg, charged with hunting down English merchant ships in the North Atlantic. From 1468 to 1478, he was in the service of Denmark (by 1470 as an "admiral") first under Christian I of Denmark

Christian I of Denmark

Christian I was a Danish monarch, king of Denmark , Norway and Sweden , under the Kalmar Union. In Sweden his short tenure as monarch was preceded by regents, Jöns Bengtsson Oxenstierna and Erik Axelsson Tott and succeeded by regent Kettil Karlsson Vasa...

(ruled 1448–1481), and later for his son, John of Denmark (ruled 1481–1513). Before his employment by the Danes, Pining and his partner Hans Pothorst

Hans Pothorst

Hans Pothorst was a privateer, likely from the German city Hildesheim. He is mostly notable because some have proposed that he may have discovered America along with Didrik Pining in the 1470s, almost twenty years before Columbus....

had also been regarded by the Hanseatic League

Hanseatic League

The Hanseatic League was an economic alliance of trading cities and their merchant guilds that dominated trade along the coast of Northern Europe...

as "pirates who did much damage to the Hanse towns." During the later years of the reign of Christian I, Pining and Pothorst are said to have distinguished themselves "not less as capable seamen than as matchless freebooters."

Sofus Larsen's theory

The theory of the Pining voyage reaching America

Americas

The Americas, or America , are lands in the Western hemisphere, also known as the New World. In English, the plural form the Americas is often used to refer to the landmasses of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions, while the singular form America is primarily...

was published for the first time by Dr. Sofus Larsen of the University of Copenhagen

University of Copenhagen

The University of Copenhagen is the oldest and largest university and research institution in Denmark. Founded in 1479, it has more than 37,000 students, the majority of whom are female , and more than 7,000 employees. The university has several campuses located in and around Copenhagen, with the...

in his book The Discovery of North America Twenty Years Before Columbus in 1925. Larsen based his claims on various sources (mainly three) which had no immediately apparent connection. Pining was according to Larsen appointed leader of an expedition to the north towards Greenland

Greenland

Greenland is an autonomous country within the Kingdom of Denmark, located between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Though physiographically a part of the continent of North America, Greenland has been politically and culturally associated with Europe for...

in the early 1470s. He, together with Hans Pothorst (also from Hildesheim), and the Portuguese

Portugal

Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...

explorers João Vaz Corte-Real and Álvaro Martins

Álvaro Martins

Álvaro Martins, also known as Álvaro Martins Homem, was a 15th century Portuguese alleged to have explored the western Atlantic and later the African coast...

, were said to have been the principals in the expedition. The navigator was supposedly the semi-mythical figure named John Scolvus. According to Larsen, the mission likely started off from Bergen

Bergen

Bergen is the second largest city in Norway with a population of as of , . Bergen is the administrative centre of Hordaland county. Greater Bergen or Bergen Metropolitan Area as defined by Statistics Norway, has a population of as of , ....

, went on through to Iceland

Iceland

and Greenland

Greenland

, and eventually discovered Terra do Bacalhau
Bacalao
Bacallao was a phantom island depicted on several early 16th century maps and nautical charts. The name first appears on a chart in 1508, but there are earlier accounts of Bacalao...

, the "Land of Codfish", later presumed to be Newfoundland or Labrador

Labrador

Labrador is the distinct, northerly region of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It comprises the mainland portion of the province, separated from the island of Newfoundland by the Strait of Belle Isle...

. While it is known that Pining and Corte-Real were respectively appointed governors of Iceland (1478) and the Azores

Azores

The Archipelago of the Azores is composed of nine volcanic islands situated in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean, and is located about west from Lisbon and about east from the east coast of North America. The islands, and their economic exclusion zone, form the Autonomous Region of the...

(1474), these appointments were according to Larsen a reward for having discovered the Land of Codfish.

General research

While Larsen's claims have enjoyed strong scholarly and public support in Scandinavia

Scandinavia

Scandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...

and Portugal

Portugal

, it has been more disputed among German scholars. Reception of the account by American and English historian

Historian

A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...

s has generally ranged from ridicule to acceptance of the plausibility of at least part of it. Many further circumstances are known to support the theory, although it is generally concluded that the theory is "not proven" (nor sufficiently "disproven"), with any possible "final proof" lacking.

Regardless, no sources explicitly supports that Pining and Pothorst had any connections with the journey by Corte-Real, nor that they reached North America (excluding Greenland). What is known however, is that Pining and Pothorst were sent out by a royal Danish order to find out which of several possible policies concerning trade in Iceland should be developed, in which settlements and harbours. Pining's orders further included investigating what formerly, in the 11th century, had been called the regiones finitimae (i.e. "the coasts opposite those still-remembered but obsolete settlements in Greenland"). In 1476 they made this trip, which likely went to Greenland, where they were reported to have encountered hostile Inuit

Inuit

The Inuit are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic regions of Canada , Denmark , Russia and the United States . Inuit means “the people” in the Inuktitut language...

, and no Norse people. The location they visited is assumed by some to have been around Angmagssalik

Tasiilaq

Tasiilaq is a town in the Sermersooq municipality in southeastern Greenland. With 1,930 inhabitants as of 2010, it is the most populous community on the eastern coast, and the seventh-largest town in Greenland...

. Nothing specific suggests it went further west than this.

Later years

In 1478, Didrik Pining became the governor (höfuðsmaðr) of Iceland

Iceland

, serving until 1481, when he is mentioned as having "fared out of Iceland." He replaced the former governor Thorleif Björnsson, whose struggle to marry his own cousin Ingvild was supported by Pining. The following year, Thorleif gave Pining silver

Silver

Silver is a metallic chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal...

and a horn of walrus ivory

Walrus ivory

Walrus tusk ivory comes from two modified upper canines. The tusks of a Pacific walrus may attain a length of one meter. Walrus teeth are also commercially carved and traded. The average walrus tooth has a rounded, irregular peg shape and is approximately 5cm in length.The tip of a walrus tusk has...

to pay the king for a license for his union. The agreement was constituted in 1484, merging two of Iceland's most fortunate political dynasties. In the same year, there came complaints of Pining and his men having raped women and stolen money from farmers. In 1481, Pining was present at the funeral of Danish king Christian I. He also made state visits of homage to Bergen

Bergen

and Copenhagen

Copenhagen

Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...

, became knight

Knight

A knight was a member of a class of lower nobility in the High Middle Ages.By the Late Middle Ages, the rank had become associated with the ideals of chivalry, a code of conduct for the perfect courtly Christian warrior....

ed in Norway

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

, and employed his personal coat of arms which featured a grappling hook

Grappling hook

A grappling hook is an anchor with multiple hooks , attached to a rope; it is thrown, dropped, sunk, projected, or fastened directly by hand to where at least one hook may catch and hold. Generally, grappling hooks are used to temporarily secure one end of a rope. They may also be used to dredge...

. Some years later, in 1489 and 1490, he is again described as "governor (hirdstjore) over the whole of Iceland" in two Icelandic laws or edicts (the so-called Pining's Laws). A later chronicler says about him that "he was in many ways a serviceable man and put many things right that were wrong." His godson and nephew, Didrik Pining the Younger, succeeded him in 1490, and was governor for the two following years.

Pining, together with Hans Pothorst, patrolled North Atlantic waters and played prominent roles in the Anglo-Danish Naval War (1484–90). Around 1484, he captured, off the coast of England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

or Brittany

Brittany

Brittany is a cultural and administrative region in the north-west of France. Previously a kingdom and then a duchy, Brittany was united to the Kingdom of France in 1532 as a province. Brittany has also been referred to as Less, Lesser or Little Britain...

and in the Spanish Sea, three Spanish or Portuguese ships which he brought to King John of Denmark in Copenhagen. He accompanied John to Bergen in 1486 as admiral of the royal fleet. In 1487 he led a fleet to the island of Gotland

Gotland

Gotland is a county, province, municipality and diocese of Sweden; it is Sweden's largest island and the largest island in the Baltic Sea. At 3,140 square kilometers in area, the region makes up less than one percent of Sweden's total land area...

in the Baltic Sea

Baltic Sea

The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...

, and secured it for Denmark. In a treaty concluded between John of Denmark and the Dutch in 1490, it is however expressly stated that Didrik Pining (and another admiral named Bartold Busch) were to be excluded from the peace. He was then also spoken of as a lord of Iceland. In the same year, Pining was appointed governor of Vardøhus

Vardøhus Fortress

Vardøhus Fortress is located in Vardø municipality in the county of Finnmark on the Barents Sea on the mouth of the Varangerfjord in north-eastern Norway near the Russian border.-History:...

, and may thus have been commander-in-chief of the seas and lands in northern waters.

Didrik Pining likely died (was possibly killed) around Finnmark

Finnmark

or Finnmárku is a county in the extreme northeast of Norway. By land it borders Troms county to the west, Finland to the south and Russia to the east, and by water, the Norwegian Sea to the northwest, and the Barents Sea to the north and northeast.The county was formerly known as Finmarkens...

or the North Cape

North Cape, Norway

North Cape is a cape on the island of Magerøya in Northern Norway, in the municipality of Nordkapp. Its 307 m high, steep cliff is often referred to as the northernmost point of Europe, located at , 2102.3 km from the North Pole. However, the neighbouring point Knivskjellodden is actually...

in 1491. In the Skibby Chronicle
Skibby Chronicle
The Skibby Chronicle is a Danish Latin chronicle from the 1530s found in the church of Skibby in North Zealand. It is anonymous but according to all historians the author is the outstanding humanist Poul Helgesen...

Pining (and Pothorst) are mentioned among many pirates who "met with a miserable death, being either slain by their friends or hanged on the gallows or drowned in the waves of the sea," although this has been disputed by some modern historians.

Later references

In a letter to Christian III of Denmark

Christian III of Denmark

Christian III reigned as king of Denmark and Norway. He was the eldest son of King Frederick I and Anna of Brandenburg.-Childhood:...

in 1551, the mayor of Kiel

Kiel

Kiel is the capital and most populous city in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 238,049 .Kiel is approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the north of Germany, the southeast of the Jutland peninsula, and the southwestern shore of the...

, Carsten Griep, sent the king two maps of the north Atlantic made during the expeditions of Pining and Pothorst, "who were sent out by your majesty's royal grandfather King Christian the First, at the request of his majesty of Portugal, with certain ships to explore new countries and islands in the north, have raised on the rock Wydthszerck, lying off Greenland and towards Sniefeldsiekel
Snæfellsjökull
Snæfellsjökull is a 700,000 year old stratovolcano with a glacier covering its summit in western Iceland. The name of the mountain is actually Snæfell, but it is normally called "Snæfellsjökull" to distinguish it from two other mountains with this name...

in Iceland on the sea, a great sea-mark on account of the Greenland pirates (presumably Inuit

Inuit

)."
Olaus Magnus

Olaus Magnus

Olaus Magnus was a Swedish ecclesiastic and writer, who did pioneering work for the interest of Nordic people. He was reported as born in October 1490 in Östergötland, and died on August 1, 1557. Magnus, Latin for the Swedish Stor “great”, is a Latin family name taken personally, and not a...

wrote in 1555 that Pining and Pothorst, due to their piracy, had "by the Nordic kings been excluded from all human contact and declared outlaws, as a result of their extremely violent robberies and numerous cruel acts against all sailors that they could catch, whether close or distant." They then took refuge at a cliff called Hvidserken, which apparently was located between Iceland and Greenland. Magnus added that in "1494", the pirates created a giant compass out of a considerable circular space at the top of the cliff, with rings and lines formed of lead, to make it easier for them to know in which direction they could seek a great plunder. Modern historians have suggested that they may in fact have set up some mark at the coast of Greenland to reclaim it for the Danish king.

In 1625, a report from London talks about Pining and Pothorst (Punnus and Potharse) and states that Pining "gave the Islanders their Lawes," referred to later as Pining's Law, the written Icelandic law

Icelandic law

Law of Iceland during the Commonwealth was decided by the Althing.Following the Gamli sáttmáli, Magnus VI of Norway introduced the law-code Járnsíða, which was itself superseded when existing laws were compiled in the Jónsbók by Jón Einarsson .The Althing was suspended in 1799, and re-established...

Early life

Sofus Larsen's theory

General research

Later years

Later references

See also

Further reading