Henrik Ernst (jurist)

Henrik (Heinrich) Ernst (1603 to 1665) was a German-Danish jurist and philologist who held a professorial chair in jurisprudence and moral philosophy at Sorø Academy from 1639. He had been associated with the academy from around 1623 and acted as Hofmeister, a tutor and travelling companion, to young noblemen, most notably Prince Valdemar Christian. After the introduction of absolutism in Denmark in 1660 he was appointed an assessor in the Danish Chancery, and in 1661 a Supreme Court justice. As a member of the First and Second Law Commissions he contributed to the early work on the preparation of Christian V's Danish Code. He died before the Third Law Commission was set up.