Rhuus, Christen

Christen Lauridsen Rhuus, mayor and bailiff of Sæby and Fladstrand

Born: 5. 1. 1646. Son of Mayor Laurids Nielsen Rhuus (b.1640).

Married: 1668 to Johanne Samuelsdatter Gesmell, born in Sæby, 1643-1713

Died: 1.5. 1709

Both are buried in Sæby Church, where they had an epitaph erected with their pictures.

Locations in Sæby

• Rhuus Hospital, Algade

Links and literature

• http://www.troldkaer-katteri.dk/rhuus.html

Biografi i relation til Sæby

Borgmester i Sæby. Blev rådmand i 1671 og 1673 udnævnt til 2. borgmester, hvilken stilling han beklædte indtil Magistratens afskaffelse 1682, hvorefter han i 1683 blev udnævnt til byfoged i Sæby og Fladstrand.

Christen Lauridsen Rhuus var en fremragende person og formuende mand.

Gift med Johanne Samuelsdatter Gesmell, De fik kun et dødfødt barn. Derfor testamenterede ægteparret deres rige midler til offentlige institutioner i byen (kirke, skole, hospital m.m.).

Begge er begravet i Sæby Kirke, hvor der hænger lille lysekrone, skænket af borgmester Christen Lauridsen Rhuus 1706. I kirken lod de opsætte et epitafium med deres portrætter De bekostede også reparation af trappen til tårnet og lod opsætte en mindetavle.

Men tillige var han en energisk og myndig mand, der ønskede at have orden i alt, hvad der vedrørte byens administration, og det var ikke let at komme afsted med i købstædernes forfaldsperiode, som blev særlig slem for Sæbys vedkommende, fordi Fladstrand, der lå i dens Frihedsdistrikt, trak folk til sig.

Mellem ham og 1. Borgmester, Tolderen Christian Hansen Ferslev, var forholdet i adskillige år så spændt, at Ferslev aldrig mødte i Rådstueretten, men overlod hele arbejdet til Rhuus, og da den eneste i Sæby boende rådmand, Mads Nielsen Bangsbo, ikke just stod på Rhuus’ side, havde han meget bryderi i sit borgmesterhverv.

I 1679 ville han da også søge afsked fra borgmesterstillingen, men borgerne gav ham godt skudsmaal og bad ham blive.

Mod kvinder, der havde født børn udenfor i ægteskab, var han streng og lod dem ofte sidde fængslet i mange uger, når de intet havde at betale lejermlsbøderne med. Man får det indtryk, at han søgte at presse de fattige kvinders pårørende eller gode mennesker til at betale noget for at få dem fri. Man kunne mene, at det var for at gavne byens kasse med disse bøder, men omkostninger ved de arresterede kvinders og deres spæde børns pleje oversteg sikkert Indkomsterne på denne konto.

I 1694 og følgende år affattede han et udførligt skrift om Sæby Kirke og hospital, hvilket endnu findes hos sognepræsten i Sæby. Man ser af dette, at han og hustru ofrede meget på kirkens udsmykning, og at han også har ønsket, at eftertiden skulle vide, hvem velgørerne var.

Rhuus Hospital

Endvidere oprettede han og hustru ved testamente et hospital for 4 fattige, hvilket endnu består.

I følge nævnte testamente skulle kirken have 500 Rdl. og gården Kirkeskov (nu Kjærskov) i Albæk Sogn med alt inventar. Da Rhuus’ enke mente, at kirken var bedre tjent med at få penge i stedet for gåarden, solgte hun den 1711 for 200 Rdl.

Skolen

Til Sæby Latinskole doneredes 150 rigsdaler og til rektorembedet 250 rigsdaler samt en gård i byen og nogle jorder

Endvidere gav Rhuss ejendom og jord til en dansk skole og betalte lønninger til læreren.

Administrationen af stiftelserne skulle forestås af byfogederne.

Af Biskop Bircherods dagbøger erfarer vi, at Chr. Rhuus gennem adskillige år levede i ufred med sognepræsten i Sæby - Melchior Christensen Hjardemaal, der dog heller ikke var nogen fredsommelig mand, idet han for eksempel før han blev præst pryglede Karen Jakobsdatter, enke efter præsten Peder Mørk i Understed.

Om disse processer, der delvis stod i forbindelse med processer mellem Hr. Melchior og Holger Pachs til Sæbygård, indeholder Sæby tingbog 1693—98 stor vidtløftighed.

Processen mellem Hr. Melchior og Chr. Rhuus blev påkendt ved Viborg Landsting i 1697, og præsten blev dømt til at gøre Rhuus offentlig afbigt og betale ham 50 Rdl. i omkostninger

Hr. Melchiors afbigt, som han selv tydeligt skulle udsige paa bytinget i Sæby, lød således:

»Jeg Melchior Christensen Hjardemaal bekender hermed, at jeg uden nogen given årsag her ved Sæby Bytings Ret d. 2. September 1697 meget groveligen og uforsvarligen har angrebet og skældet borgmester Chr.Rhuus på sin ære og dermed gjort ham største uret, hvilket jeg ...hermed hos ham afbeder og der foruden erklærer ham, at jeg intet andet med ham ved, end hvad en ærlig mand vel egner og anstår i alle Måder.«

Rhuus førte 3 stilkede Blomster (Roser) i sit Segl.

Biography in relation to Sæby

Mayor of Sæby. Became alderman in 1671 and 1673 appointed 2nd mayor, which position he held until the abolition of the Magistrate in 1682, after which he was appointed town bailiff in Sæby and Fladstrand in 1683.

Christen Lauridsen Rhuus was an outstanding person and wealthy man.

Married to Johanne Samuelsdatter Gesmell, they had only one stillborn child. Therefore the couple bequeathed their rich means to public institutions in the town (church, school, hospital etc.).

Both are buried in Sæby Church, where a small chandelier hangs, donated by mayor Christen Lauridsen Rhuus in 1706. In the church they had an epitaph with their portraits put up. They also paid for the repair of the stairs to the tower and had a memorial plaque put up.

But he was also an energetic and authoritative man, who wanted to have order in everything that concerned the town's administration, and this was not easy to get away with during the decay of the market towns, which was particularly bad for Seybys, because Fladstrand, which was in its Freedom District, attracted people.

Between him and the first mayor, the tax collector Christian Hansen Ferslev, the relationship was for several years so tense that Ferslev never met in the Council Court, but left the whole work to Rhuus, and as the only alderman living in Sæby, Mads Nielsen Bangsbo, was not exactly on Rhuus' side, he had a lot of trouble in his mayoralty.

In 1679 he wanted to resign from the mayor's office, but the citizens gave him a good shot and asked him to stay.

He was strict with women who had borne children out of wedlock, often imprisoning them for many weeks when they had nothing with which to pay the rent. One gets the impression that he tried to pressure the poor women's relatives or good people to pay something to get them free. One might think that it was to benefit the city's coffers with these fines, but the cost of caring for the arrested women and their infant children probably exceeded the income on this account.

In 1694 and the following years he wrote a detailed paper on Sæby Church and hospital, which is still in the possession of the parish priest in Sæby. One sees from this that he and his wife sacrificed much for the church's decoration, and that he also wanted posterity to know who the benefactors were.

Rhuus Hospital

Furthermore, he and his wife established a hospital for 4 poor people by will, which still exists.

According to the will, the church was to receive 500 Rdl. and the farm Kirkeskov (now Kjærskov) in Albæk parish with all its furniture. As Rhuus' widow thought that the church was better off with money instead of the farm, she sold it in 1711 for 200 Rdl.

The school

150 rigsdaler was donated to the Latin School in Sæby and 250 rigsdaler to the rector's office, as well as a farm in the town and some land.

Rhuss also gave property and land to a Danish school and paid the teacher's wages.

The administration of the foundations was to be carried out by the town bailiffs.

From Bishop Bircherod's diaries we learn that Chr. Rhuus lived for several years in discord with the parish priest in Sæby - Melchior Christensen Hjardemaal, who was not a peaceful man either, as he for example before he became a priest beat Karen Jakobsdatter, widow of the priest Peder Mørk in Understed.

About these processes, which were partly connected with processes between Mr. Melchior and Holger Pachs of Sæbygård, Sæby tingbog 1693-98 contains much verbosity.

The process between Mr. Melchior and Chr. Rhuus was imposed by Viborg Landsting in 1697, and the priest was ordered to make Rhuus publicly abdicate and pay him 50 Rdl. in costs

Mr. Melchior's abjuration, which he himself was to make public at the town meeting in Sæby, read as follows:

"I Melchior Christensen Hjardemaal hereby confess, that I without any given reason here at Sæby Bytings Court on 2. September 1697 very grossly and recklessly attacked and insulted Mayor Chr.Rhuus on his honor and thereby done him the greatest injustice, which I ... hereby apologize to him and furthermore declare to him that I know nothing else with him than what an honest man well suits and owes in all ways."

Rhuus carried 3 stemmed flowers (roses) in his seal.