Johan Friis

[1] During the ensuing interregnum at the head of the nobles of Funen and Jutland, he powerfully contributed to the election of King Christian III of Denmark (1533-1559).

He subsequently took an active part in the great work of national reconstruction necessitated by the Reformation, acting as mediator between the Danish and the German parties who were contesting for supremacy during the earlier years of Christian III.

This he was able to do, as a moderate Lutheran, whose calmness and common sense contrasted advantageously with the unbridled violence of his contemporaries.

[2] As the first Rector of the reconstructed University of Copenhagen, Friis took the keenest interest in spiritual and scientific matters, and was the first donor of a legacy to the institution.

[2] In 1553, possibly somewhat earlier, King Frederick II ceded Borreby Castle on Zealand to Johan Friis.