{{Short description|German humanist, astrologer, and author}} [[Image:Henrik Rantzau.jpg|thumb|Rantzau]] '''Heinrich Rantzau''' or '''Ranzow''' ('''Ranzovius''') (11 March 1526 – 31 December 1598) was a German humanist writer and statesman, a prolific astrologer and an associate of [[Tycho Brahe]]. He was son of [[Johan Rantzau]]. He was [[Governor]] of the Danish royal share in the [[Duchy of Holstein]], a rich man and celebrated book collector. Rantzau is perhaps best remembered as a patron of scholars. His own ''Tractatus astrologicus de genethliacorum thematum'' appeared in 1593, and went through five editions by 1615. In his own time, he was regarded as a generous supporter of artists and writers in [[Lübeck]], many of whom he engaged to write memorials of his father.<ref>Cowan, Alexander (2003), ''Cultural traffic in Lübeck and Danzig in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries''. '''Scand. J. Hist.''' 28: 175–185.</ref> Rantzau was also a successful merchant with trading interests in the east–west trade through [[Husum]] and Lübeck.<ref>Kellenbenz, Hermann & Gerhard Benecke (1976), '''The Rise of the European Economy: An Economic History of Continental Europe from the Fifteenth to the Eighteenth Century.''' Holmes & Meier, 1976.</ref>
Rantzau was awarded the Danish [[Order of the Elephant]] in 1580 by [[Frederick II of Denmark|King Frederick II of Denmark]].
His oldest son [[Breide Rantzau]] was a councillor of the Danish realm, and a younger son, [[Gert Rantzau]], was Captain of the castles of [[Kronborg]] and [[Flensburg]].<ref>David Scott Gehring, ''Diplomatic Intelligence on the Holy Roman Empire and Denmark during the Reigns of Elizabeth I and James VI: Three Treatises'', Camden Fifth Series, 49 (Cambridge, 2016), pp. 164, 168.</ref>
He was the great-uncle of [[Josias von Rantzau]], [[Marshal of France]].
== References == {{reflist}}
==Editions== * Felgentreu, Fritz (ed., trans.). ''Heinrich Rantzau (Christianus Cilicius Cimber). Belli Dithmarsici vera descriptio: Wahre Beschreibung des Dithmarscher Krieges'' (Schleswig: Landesarchiv Schleswig-Holstein, 2009) (Veröffentlichungen des Landesarchivs Schleswig-Holstein, 86).
== External links == {{Commons category|Heinrich Rantzau}} * [http://www.phil-hum-ren.uni-muenchen.de/GermLat/Acta/Zeeberg.htm Peter Zeeberg: ''Heinrich Rantzau (1526–98) and his humanist collaborators – The examples of Reiner Reineccius and Georg Ludwig Froben.''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210212031432/http://www.phil-hum-ren.uni-muenchen.de/GermLat/Acta/Zeeberg.htm |date=2021-02-12 }}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Rantzau, Heinrich}} [[Category:1526 births]] [[Category:1598 deaths]] [[Category:People from Steinburg]] [[Category:German astrologers]] [[Category:German astrological writers]] [[Category:German Renaissance humanists]] [[Category:Rantzau family|Heinrich]] [[Category:16th-century German male writers]]