Løvenborg is a manor house and estate at Holbæk, Denmark. History Ellinge Bishop Absalon owned a village called Ellinge at the site. He ceded it to Sorø Abbey in exchange for land elsewhere and it was later passed to Roskilde bishopric. Ellinge was at some point transformed into a manor which was the centre of a relatively small fief. In 1370, it comprised two farms and 14 smallholdings. The feudal lords of the estate included Jakob Mogensen and Jep Nielsen of the Ravensberg family and then for several generations members of the Jernskæg. Ellinge was confiscated by the Crown after the Reformation in 1536. It remained a fief until 1547. Birkholm The new owner was the Pomeranian nobleman Hans Barnekow who was at the same time recognized as Danish nobility. The agreement obliged him to settle in Denmark and take a Danish wife. He married Mette Oxe in 1550. Barnekow changed the name of the estate to Birkholm. Hans Barnekow's widow stayed on the estate after his death in 1559. She continued the process that her husband had started with concentrating the land closer to the manor. In 1582, the estate was ceded to their son Johan Barnekow after his two elder brothers had passed away. He also inherited the family's estates on Rugen. After Johan Barnekow's death in 1603, the estates were passed on to his brother Christian Barnekow. He had studied abroad as was normal for young noblemen at the time but his grand tour had lasted an unusual 17 years. He studied at several European universities but had also visited Turkey, yuria, Egypt and Ethiopia. Christian Barnekow died in 1612. His widow Margrethe Brahe Barnekow (1584-1617) then managed the estate until their son Ove Barnekow was old enough to take over the operation following her death in 1617. Ove Barnekow died young in 1629. Hans Barnekow, who inherited the estate, sold shortly thereafter. His brother Hans Barnekow founded the Swedish branch of the Barnekow family. The next owner was Malte Juul, the owner of Jessinggaard and Maltesholm. He has previously served both as hofunker and Valet de chambre (kammerjunker) but had also been feudal lord of Christianopel (Oslo) in Norway. He became a member of rigsrådet in 1647 but died the following year. His widow Anne Juul née Ramel took over Birkholm. She outlived their only son and the estate was therefore passed on to her youngest