Editing Albrecht Giese (section)

==Biography==
Giese was born in [[Danzig]], in the [[Kingdom of Poland (1385–1569)|Kingdom of Poland]], to the influential and wealthy merchant [[Patrician (post-Roman Europe)|Patrician]] family Giese (or Gisze). The Giese family had emigrated from Unna, near Giesen, Cologne in 1430.<ref>Holman, T.S., "Holbein's Portraits of the Steelyard Merchants: An Investigation," ''Metropolitan Museum Journal,'' vol. 14, 1980, pp  139-158</ref> They were part of the [[Hanseatic League]], that had come to dominate European trade in the 14th and 15th-centuries.{{citation needed|date=December 2019}} The Giese family maintained offices in [[London]], at the ''[[Steelyard]]'', where Hanseatic and foreign merchants congregated and his sons appear to have managed the London branch.<ref>Fudge, J.D., ''Commerce and Print in the Early Reformation,'' BRILL, 2007, p 110; Knight, C., ''London,'' Volumes 5-6, London, Charles Knight & Company, 1851, pp 53-54; His son, Georg Giese was definitely there during the 1520s and 1530s, while another person by the name of Francis Guyse, possibly another son, is also mentioned in contemporary documents.</ref>

Albrecht studied at the Universities of [[University of Greifswald|Greifswald]], [[Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg|Wittenberg]] and [[Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg|Heidelberg]]. As was the custom of the time for [[Hanseatic League|Hanseatic]] merchants, he toured [[Europe]] for several years to learn different languages after his formal studies, as was necessary for a long-distance trader.  In 1564, on his return to Danzig, he married Elisabeth Langenbeck, whose uncle, Johann Ferber, had been the Mayor of Danzig.<ref>Ostdeutsche Familienkunde, [East German Family Studies], Volumes 10-12, Degener & Company, 1962, p. 330; Gassendi, P. and Thill, O., ''The Life of Copernicus (1473-1543),'' 1945, p. 179; these authors suggest that his sons, Georg Tiedemann Giese may have been cousins to [[Nicolaus Copernicus|Copernicus]], but the precise nature of the relationship is unclear</ref> The following year, Giese became a councilman. Over the next six years, he was Danzig's delegate at several Hanse meetings in [[Lübeck]].<ref>Ostdeutsche Familienkunde, [East German Family Studies], Volumes 10-12, Degener & Company, 1962, p. 330; His name is often mentioned in the Hanseatic Courts.</ref>

Giese served as a member of a delegation from Danzig to the diet of Lublin in December 1569, along with Mayors Georg Kleefeld, Constantin I Ferber, and Johann Proite. The delegation was imprisoned for four months as part of an ongoing conflict between Polish King [[Sigismund II Augustus|Sigismund August]] and the Danzig city authorities over the creation and activities of the Polish [[Polish Navy|Sea Commission]] (Komisja Morska) in supporting privateer raids that negatively affected trade in Danzig. The city representatives (including Giese) were ultimately released and returned to Danzig on 17 December 1570. <ref>Jaśniewicz‑Downes, A. (2022). Commemoration and family identity in sixteenth‑century Gdańsk: portraits of members of the Connert family (1550–1599). Porta Aurea, (21), p. 207. https://doi.org/10.26881/porta.2022.21.09</ref>

Giese ultimately became Mayor of Danzig. In 1579, Giese was named royal [[burgrave]] of Danzig by the Polish king, a position that entailed the supervision of the judiciary system of the city.

Albrect and Elisabeth Giese had at least seven children.<ref>Gassendi, P. and Thill, O., ''The Life of Copernicus (1473-1543),'' p. 179</ref> Two of his sons enjoyed prominent careers. One of his older sons, [[Tiedemann Giese]], became the [[Bishop of Chełm]] (Culm) and later, [[Prince-Bishop of Warmia]] (Ermland), while one of the younger sons, [[Georg Giese]] became a merchant and who is noted for having his portrait painted by [[Hans Holbein the younger]].

Albrecht Giese died in 1580 in Danzig.