Gerhard III, Count of Holstein-Rendsburg

Who was Gerhard III, Count of Holstein-Rendsburg?

Gerhard III of Holstein-Rendsburg, sometimes called Gerhard the Great, and in Denmark also known as Count Gert or den kullede greve, was a German prince who ruled Schauenburg and Holstein-Rendsburg and during the interregnum of 1332–40 also a large part of Denmark.

His father was Henry I, Count of Holstein-Rendsburg. Gerhard inherited his part of the county of Holstein as a boy but already as a young man he enlarged his heritage by manoeuvring out his relatives and his conquest of other parts of Holstein made him a powerful local prince. In these years he also acted as a paid condottiere for neighbouring kings which made him a mortgagee of for instance King Eric VI of Denmark. He often worked together with his Holstein cousin Count John III, Count of Holstein-Plön.

1325 Gerhard began his career in the North by taking over the guardianship for his minor nephew Duke Valdemar of Schleswig. This position made him a possible ally of the dissatisfied Danish magnates and 1326 he dethroned King Christopher II together with the Danish rebels. From then until his death he was a main factor of Danish politics.