Claus Limbek

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Claus Limbek , also Nils or Nicolaus Lembeck , called Mulerch († 1368 or shortly after) was a Holstein nobleman, Danish Drost and leader of the aristocratic opposition to King Waldemar IV. Atterdag .

origin

Limbek came from the Holstein prehistoric noble family Limbek (or Lembeck), which had its origins in the lost village of Lembeck near Rendsburg . He was probably the son of the knight Otte mentioned in 1313, of whom two brothers, Markvard and Gotskalk († before 1335), are known. Since most family members appear only a few times in the sources and several first names appear more than once, a family tree cannot be clearly reconstructed. The Limbek / Lembeck family died out in 1562 with Claus Limbek von Nebbe, a descendant of Gotskalk Limbek.

The Limbek family had owned land near Horsens since the beginning of the 14th century . In 1313 Otte and Markward defeated Limbek on the side of Erik VI. Menved put down a peasant revolt near Horsens. Later other members of the family acquired property in the Kingdom of Denmark . Otte Limbek, a son of Gotskalk, became Herr von Boller in 1350 or shortly before that . Johann and Luder Limbek, who are attested from 1357 as the owners of Gut Søgård , which Luder converted into a castle, were probably also among the eight sons of Gotskalk, to whom Duke Waldemar donated an estate near Schleswig in 1335.

Life

Claus Limbek was an influential and wealthy knight in the service of Count Gerhard III of Holstein . This had been able to bring a large part of Denmark under his control, because Erik VI. Menved had to mortgage land to finance his wars. In 1326, Gerhard became the de facto regent of Denmark when, together with dissatisfied nobles, he deposed the powerless King Christoph II and forced him into exile and instead replaced his underage nephew as Waldemar III. sat on the throne. Although Christoph II regained the throne in 1330, after his death in 1332 Gerhard took over the government of Jutland and Funen himself , bypassing the claim of Christoph's underage son Waldemar . Claus Limbek was appointed sub-commander for North Jutland in 1337 at the latest . Limbek received Kalø Castle as a pledge for 10,000 silver marks . In the course of the following years, he and his sons also received the castles Tørning bei Hadersleben , Søgård and Trøjborg bei Tondern , which actually belong to the Danish Crown Estate , as well as other goods.

Kalø castle ruins

Count Gerhard's reign and his awarding of crown goods to his Holstein followers led to growing opposition from the Danish population. In 1340 Gerhard was slain by the Danish knight Niels Ebbesen . Limbek then immediately changed sides and joined Waldemar IV, who was elected king by the Danish nobility. The young king rewarded this by making him captain and drosten of Zealand . In this function, Limbek supported the restoration of royal power on Jutland and Funen by conquering and redeeming pledges. As advisor to the king and feudal lord of Kalø, Limbek established close ties to established aristocratic families. His children married into the Rosenkrantz and Gyldenstierne families .

Waldemar's gain in power was mainly based on the fact that he redeemed the castles and lands pledged by his predecessors and occupied them with his own administrators, often clerics without heirs. Limbek initially benefited from this because the king appointed him drosten and official of several administrative units. Waldemar IV also reclaimed the former sovereign castles that Count Gerhard III. had transferred to his followers. In 1351 Kalø came back into royal possession. Thereupon Limbek took part from 1351 in a leading position in an uprising of the nobility against Waldemar IV. Atterdag. He was related by marriage to Niels Bugge , the leader of the uprising. He was besieged by royal troops at Tørning Castle, but was able to survive the siege thanks to the support of the Holstein counts from the Duchy of Schleswig . Although Limbek was reconciled with the king in 1353 and also got Kalø back, he remained in opposition until the end of his life and also led the uprising from 1357-1360, as a few years earlier with support from Holstein.

Despite his participation in the uprisings, he retained the royal favor and was able to increase his offices and possessions. In 1360 he brokered the peace treaty between Waldemar and King Magnus II of Sweden and Norway, whereby Skåne fell back to Denmark. During the first Waldemark War he accompanied the king in 1361 as one of the commanders on his campaign to Gotland and negotiated on his behalf with the Hanseatic League , the Holstein counts and the Duke of Mecklenburg . In 1362 the king enfeoffed him with the harde Westerlandföhr and Amrum . In the same year 1362, Limbek confirmed an alliance against Atterdag by marrying his daughter Elisabeth with a grandson of Stig Andersen Hvide the Younger from the influential Danish Hvide family, because due to the increasing expropriations Danish nobles turned against Waldemar Atterdag.

Claus Limbek was mentioned for the last time together with his sons Henneke and Ulf in 1368 as a feudal man of Riberhus , an office that he had probably received from the Holstein count and pawnbroker of Schleswig Heinrich II . This year he was involved in an uprising against the king for the third time. A little later he must have died, because in a contract dated January 24, 1373 he is named as deceased.

Legends

Various legends have grown up around Claus Limbek. The most famous legend tells Anton Heimreich in his North Frisian Chronicle of 1666, according to which Limbek built the Lembecksburg on Föhr as a refuge and held it against Waldemar Atterdag until the overwhelming power of the Frisians allied with him became too great and he fled. This story was embellished more and more in the centuries that followed. Whether Limbek actually stayed on Föhr in person has not been proven. It is only known from his son that he occupied Westerlandföhr in 1374/77, the inhabitants of which had revolted against the high taxes. The legend of Claus Limbek, who heroically asserted himself against the Danish king, became widespread in the middle of the 19th century during the Schleswig-Holstein struggle for independence . In connection with the referendum in Schleswig , the North Frisian teacher and poet Lorenz Conrad Peters expressed his German national sentiment through the ballad Claus Lembeck's Ki .

The Lembecksburg on Föhr probably dates from the Viking Age .

Theodor Storm made Claus Lembeck and his (fictional) son Rolf characters in his novella Ein Fest auf Haderslevhuus, which was later filmed .

Limbek and his wife Ide, described by legend as the cruel mistress of the castle, are said to haunt Tørning.

progeny

Claus Limbek was possibly married several times. According to the Chronicon Holtzatiae of 1448, his wife Ide Krummedige, who is known by name, was the widow of the pawnbroker of Tørning, Marquard Wulf, who took over Limbek in 1340. His children included:

  • Henneke (Johannes) led a feud against the Holstein city of Kiel in 1358 , but then reconciled with the counts. He is attested from 1368 together with his father as a feudal man of Riberhus and after his death he continued to build his power base in Jutland as his successor. As lord of Tørning, Gram , Jels , Skodborghus an der Königsau , Trøjborg, Riberhus, Vardehus and Schinkel Castle , he was subject to the Danish King and the Duke of Schleswig at the same time. In 1404 he fell together with Duke Gerhard von Schleswig in his attempt to conquer Dithmarschen and is buried in the Meldorfer Cathedral . Hennekes son Claus Limbeck the Younger († around 1426) initially supported Queen Margarethe as bailiff and Imperial Councilor , but switched to the side of the Dukes of Schleswig after her death. With his death, the political importance of the Limbek family in Denmark ended.
  • Ulf is only mentioned in 1368 on the occasion of the enfeoffment with Ribe.
  • Timme sealed King Olaf's handhold in 1377 .
  • Katharina, who married Benedictus de Alevelde junior, who married the son of Benedictus de Alevelde senior , was possibly also Claus Limbek's daughter. Through this marriage, Gut Søgård came into the possession of the Ahlefeldt family in 1398 . Her grandson Enevold Sövenbröder (Ahlefeldt) was one of seven brothers. He was elected Bishop of Schleswig in 1488 , but was not recognized by the Pope.
  • In 1362 Elisabeth married Jens Uffesen Hvide, the grandson of Stig Andersen Hvide from the younger Hvide family . According to the marriage contract, the bride and groom received over 1000 farms from their fathers.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Albert Fabritius: Limbek in: Dansk Biografisk Leksikon XIV, 2nd edition 1938, p 353rd
  2. ↑ a b Limbek, Slægten .
  3. ↑ Gotskalk Limbek
  4. ↑ a b Lembecksburg , in: Nordfrieslandlexikon.
  5. ↑ Jørgen Olrik: Stig Andersen Hvide (d. 1369) , in: Dansk Biografisk Leksikon .
  6. ↑ M. Anton Heimreich's North Frisian Chronicle. For the third time with the additions of the author and the continuation of his son, Heinrich Heimreich, also some other news pertaining to North Frisian history, increasingly published by Dr. N. Falck. Tondern, 1819, 1st volume, pp. 215f.
  7. ↑ Some versions of the legend have been compiled at: CP Hansen : The Schleswig Wadden Sea and the Frisian Islands . Glogau 1865, pp. 115–120 (pdf, accessed July 2, 2021).
  8. ↑ a b c Nicolaus Limbek
  9. ↑ a b Henneke Nicolausen Limbek, til Tørning og Gram .
  10. ↑ Henry Bruun: Limbek, Henneke , in: Dansk Biografisk Leksikon XIV, 2nd edition 1938, p 353rd
  11. ↑ Timme Nicolausen Limbek .
personal data
SURNAME Claus Limbek
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Nicolaus Lembeck; Mulerch
SHORT DESCRIPTION Holstein nobleman, Danish Drost and leader of the aristocratic opposition against King Valdemar IV. Atterdag
DATE OF BIRTH 13th century or 14th century
DATE OF DEATH around 1368