Bjelke (noble family)
Bjelke, also spelled "Bielke", was a Danish and Norwegian noble family, known since the mid-15th century and extinct in 1868. History. The family's progenitor was Josef Andersen of Gyllarp in Scania, living in the middle of the 15th century. His son Tilluf Josefsen to Gyllarp was the father of Jens Tillufsen Bjelke, who by his marriage to Lucie Nielsdatter Gyldenløve came to possess Austrått Fortress and Estate i Ørland, Norway. In the 17th century, this family was among the mightiest in the kingdom. The last man of the family was Carl Frederik Bjelke (1837–1868). Coat of  arms. The family's arms are a silver shield depicting two blue beams (). The coat of arms appears, among other places, in family members' wax seals, in heraldic artworks at Austrått Fortress, and in a portrait of Ove Bjelke. Connection to other families. The family has no confirmed connection to the Swedish family Bielke. The other Bjelke family in Norway, living today, descends from the Swedish Bielke family known as "Lilliebjelke" (‘Lily Beam’).