Niels Juel

Niels Juel (8 May 1629 – 8 April 1697) was a Danish admiral. He was the brother of the diplomat Jens Juel.

Biography

Niels Juel was born the son of Erik Juel and Sophie Clausdatter Sehested, both were descendant of Danish nobility, who lived in Jutland where the father had a career as a local functionary and judge. However, Niels Juel was born in Christiania in Norway, where his mother sought refuge during the 1627 invasion of Jutland in the Thirty Years' War, while his father took part in the defense of the country at home. The following year, ather the occupation had ended, the family was reunited in Jutland, but from the age of 6, Niels Juel was brought up by his aunt Karen Sehested at the Stenalt estate near Randers. He served his naval apprenticeship under Maarten Tromp and Michiel de Ruyter, taking part in all the chief engagements of the First Anglo-Dutch War (1652–54) between England and the Netherlands. During a long indisposition at Amsterdam in 1655-1656 he acquired a thorough knowledge of shipbuilding, and returned to Denmark in 1656 a thoroughly equipped seaman. He served with distinction during the Dano-Swedish Wars of 1658-60 and took a prominent part in the defence of Copenhagen against Charles X of Sweden.