Johan Vibe (16 April 1637 – 20 February 1710) was a Danish-Danish

Denmark

Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...

 military officer and engineer, who was appointed Governor-General of Norway

Governor-general of Norway

The Governor-general of Norway, styled Rigsstatholder in Danish or Riksståthållare in Swedish, both meaning 'Lieutenant of the realm' , was the appointed head of the Norwegian Government in the absence of the Monarch....

 by the Danish crown from 10 April 1708 until his death.

Biography

Johan Vibe was born on 16 April 16371710 as one of two illegitimate children of the Danish Nobleman Peder Wibe (ca. 1596-1658) and an unnamed French woman. He was raised as a legitimate son and knighted using his father's arms. He received a military education in the Netherlands, finishing in 1659 and joined the Norwegian Army shortly after.

As a result of his performance in the Gyldenløve feud

Scanian War

The Scanian War was a part of the Northern Wars involving the union of Denmark-Norway, Brandenburg and Sweden. It was fought mainly on Scanian soil, in the former Danish provinces along the border with Sweden and in Northern Germany...

, for which the Norwegian offensives were generally successful but only served to offset the Danish setbacks elsewhere, he was promoted to Major in 1675 and Lieutenant Colonel in 1676. He was given command of the squadron which gave support to the fleet with which Governor-General Gyldenløve attacked the historically Norwegian Province of Bohuslan

Bohuslän

' is a Swedish traditional province, or landskap, situated in Götaland on the northernmost part of the country's west coast. It is bordered by Dalsland to the northeast, Västergötland to the southeast, the Skagerrak arm of the North Sea to the west, and the county of Østfold in Norway to the north...

, which had been ceded to Sweden by the Treaty of Roskilde

Treaty of Roskilde

The Treaty of Roskilde was concluded on 26 February or 8 March 1658 during the Second Northern War between Frederick III of Denmark–Norway and Charles X Gustav of Sweden in the Danish city of Roskilde...

 in 1658. Vibe kept enemy ships trapped in Alfsborg and prevented them from going out.

Vibe advanced to Major General in 1682. He was transferred to Trondheim as commander of the Norwegian military forces north of the Dovrefjell

Dovrefjell

Dovrefjell is a mountain range in central Norway that forms a natural barrier between Eastern Norway and Trøndelag, the area around Trondheim. As a result, it has been heavily trafficked during and probably preceding historical times...

 mountains.

Johan Vibe was named a Knight of the Order of the Dannebrog

Order of the Dannebrog

The Order of the Dannebrog is an Order of Denmark, instituted in 1671 by Christian V. It resulted from a move in 1660 to break the absolutism of the nobility. The Order was only to comprise 50 noble Knights in one class plus the Master of the Order, i.e. the Danish monarch, and his sons...

, in 1693, and in 1708 he was elevated to counselor of the Danish realm (geheimeråd).