Corfitz Ulfeldt (1606-1664)

Count Corfits Ulfeldt
Corfitz Ulfeldt, painted by Sébastien Bourdon in 1653. Original located on Frederiksborgmuseet, Denmark
Born	10 July 1606 Hagenskov Castle, Assens, Denmark
Died	20 February 1664 near Basel
Spouse	Countess Leonora Christina af Slesvig og Holsten
Issue	Count Christian Ulfeldt Countess Anna Katrine Ulfeldt Count Jakob Ulfeldt Countess Ellen Ulfeldt Count Ludwig Ulfeldt Count Corfitz Ulfeldt Count Leo Belgicus Ulfeldt Countess Leonora Sophie Ulfeldt Count Otto Ulfeldt Count Leo Ulfeldt
Father	Jacob Ulfeldt
Mother	Birgitte Brockenhuus

Count Corfits Ulfeldt (10 July 1606 – 20 February 1664), Danish statesman, was the son of the chancellor Jacob Ulfeldt. After a careful education abroad, concluding with one year under Cesare Cremonini at Padua, he returned to Denmark in 1629 and quickly won the favor of King Christian IV. In 1634 he was made a Knight of the Order of the Elephant, in 1636 became Councillor of State, in 1637 Governor of Copenhagen, and in 1643 Steward of the Realm.

He is commonly known and recognized as the most notorious traitor in Danish history.

In 1637 Ulfeldt married the king's daughter Leonora Christina, who had been betrothed to him from her ninth year. Ulfeldt was the most striking personality at the Danish court in all superficial accomplishments, but his character was marked by ambition, avarice and absolute lack of honor or conscience. He was largely responsible for the disasters of the Swedish war of 1643-45, and when the Treaty of Brömsebro was signed there was a violent scene between him and the King, though Ulfeldt's resignation was not accepted.

In December 1646 he was sent as ambassador extraordinary to the Hague, but the results of his embassy by no means corresponded to its costliness, and when he returned to Denmark in July 1647 he found the king profoundly irritated. Ulfeldt, supported by the Rigsråd and the nobility, who objected to Christian's fiscal policy, resisted his father-in-law, and triumphed completely. As Steward of the Realm he was the virtual ruler of Denmark during the two months which elapsed between the death of Christian IV and the election of Frederick III (6 July 1648); but the new king was by no means disposed to tolerate the outrageous usurpations of Ulfeldt and his wife, and this antagonism was still further complicated by allegations of a plot (ultimately proved to be false, but believed at the time to be true) on the part of Dina Vinhofvers, a former mistress of Ulfeldt, to poison the royal family. Dina was convicted of perjury and executed, but Ulfeldt no longer felt secure at Copenhagen, and on the day after the execution he secretly left Denmark (14 July 1651) with his family.