Peder Griffenfeld

Peder Griffenfeld (1635–1699), born Peder Schumacher into a wealthy Copenhagen trading family, was the leading Danish statesman of his age. After years of study abroad, he returned in 1662 and helped draft the absolutist King's Law of 1665.

From Christian V's accession in 1670 he was the king's chief minister, and in 1673 he became Chancellor of Denmark and a count. Arrested in 1676 on a treason charge now considered false, he spent 22 years in prison, mostly at Munkholmen in Norway.