Bremen (noble family)

The lords of Bremen de Brema have been documented since 1072. They provided numerous lawyers and bailiffs in Bremen, were counts of the Hollerland such as Werderland , citizens of Bremen, Lübeck, Rigas in Livonia and the diocese of Cammin in Pomerania for generations . They were closely related to those of Burgdorf, von Escherde , von Gröpelingen, von Horn, von Hude and von Walle. In Bremen and Lübeck there were two lines, that of Bremen and its branch line Monnik , also called Monachus, as direct descendants of Alard I .; in Livonia and Pomerania only members of the Monnik.

Early family members

The first family member known by name was the lawyer Gerung who immigrated to Bremen from Bavaria together with his relative, Bishop Liemar . He was followed by Hermann , who, like Gerung, did not yet use the Bremen surname, but served as a lawyer. It was not until Hermann's son Engelbert documented de Brema , i.e. from Bremen , in 1159 . He wasn't a lawyer, but a knight. A son of Engelbert von Bremen, Alard I , who was recorded in 1181 as Dominus Alardus, was Avocatus Bremensis from 1186 to 1217, but, unlike his father, never referred to himself as the master of “von Bremen”.

relationship

Alard I's mother was a Fraulein von Burgdorf. Their father, Adalhard (Alard) von Burgdorf, was the namesake for his grandson and Vogt of the St. Georgenberg monastery near Goslar. His son, Alardus von Burgdorf , also bore his father's lead name. Interestingly enough, Adalhard von Burgdorf documented in a document on June 3, 1154 , when Duke Heinrich the Lion gave the Riechenberg monastery two hooves and a mountain, together with Adalhard and Widego von Gittelde (noble family) , members of the family of the noble lords of Rosdorf. Jutta von Escherde, daughter of Lippold I from another branch of the Rosdorf family, was Alard I of Bremen's wife. Lippold von Escherde's sons Dietrich and Lippold were bailiffs of Burgdorf and, together with the Lords of Goslar, owned the Depenau Castle, one of the three castles in and around Burgdorf and ancestral seat of the noble lords of Depenau.

The relationship between those from Bremen and those from Escherde lasted for more than 150 years. In 1235, Otto von Rosdorf acted as a witness for advocate Alard II of Bremen, representing the Escherde sideline. The von Escherde testified for the Monnik and vice versa several times. They shared property, e.g. B. in Borgfeld . After the von Escherde had disappeared from Bremen, their close relatives, the Lords von Freden, took over their function, temporarily also as bailiffs of the Archbishop of Bremen.

Alard I. and his descendants, the Monniks

Alard, who officiated from 1186 to 1217, i.e. for 31 years, retired as a monk to Loccum monastery in 1217 , where he died in 1219. For this reason he is called Alardus Monacho, in the Bremen dialect “Monnik”. This proper name passed on to his descendants, sons and grandchildren. Alard's relatives, i.e. brothers, uncles and nephews, kept the Bremen family name “de Brema”.

Alard II of Bremen followed his father as an attorney, from 1235 as an attorney for the Bremen area. In 1239 he was an advocate for Hollerland . Lippold I of Bremen - named after his grandfather Lippold von Escherde - stayed in Livonia between 1229 and 1248. Until 1236 his uncle, Dietrich von Escherde, brother of his mother Jutta, fought with him in Livonia. After the uncle had fallen, Lippold II von Escherde, Lippold von Bremen's younger uncle, replaced him. In 1248 Lippold von Bremen settled near Cammin in Pomerania, where he died in 1252. He had two sons, Friedrich and Lippold II Monnik. In the following generations until the middle of the 14th century, the Monniks always provided one or more “consuls” for the city of Bremen. Although still knights, the Monniks belonged to the patriciate of Bremen. They also provided high clergy, canons, provosts, etc. in every generation.

Bremen-Monnik's house

The gentlemen of Bremen and the Monnik were wealthy around Bremen to Stade and Oldenburg. Until the middle of the 13th century, they provided both episcopal and city lawyers. In addition, numerous high clergy in Bremen, Verden, Lübeck, Riga, Ratzeburg and Hildesheim. They cultivated close relationships with the Lilienthal and Loccum monasteries. At the end of the 15th century, their importance for the city of Bremen, the diocese and the country decreased. Gradually they disappeared from the document books.

What remains as a legacy was their significant contribution to the early medieval development of the diocese and city of Bremen. Their important role in connection with the colonization and reclamation of the Bremen area, the dike and making the Weser navigable, was of lasting value. Due to the split into two main lines (de Brema and Monnik), as well as the subsidiary lines of Gröpelingen, von Horn, von Hude and von Walle, their offices and functions, as well as the originally large landed property, were distributed over too many shoulders than that of the early importance could have been maintained. Eventually more ambitious families took over from the House of Bremen and its subsidiary lines and took over their offices and functions.

Tribe list (11th to 13th centuries)

A. Gerungus (1072-1122) Attorney

B. Hermann (1093-1152) lawyer

C. Engelbert de Brema (1115-1159)

D1. Alardus I (1186-1217) Lawyer

E1. Brunnig de Brema (1222-1249)

E2. Alardus II. De Brema (1239-1247) Lawyer

E3. Lippold I. de Brema (1225–1252)

F1. Friedrich Monnik (1268–1307)

F2. Bernhard Monnik (1300–1305)

F3. Lippold II. Monnik (1268–1280) lawyer

G1. Arnold Monnik

G2. Friedrich Monnik

H1. Arend Monnik

H2. Hermann Monnik

G3. Otto Monnik

E4. Jutta of Bremen (1230)

E5. Albert of Bremen (1254–1278)

D2. NN of Bremen

E6. Herboard de Brema 1224

E7. Siegfried I. de Brema (1233–1251)

F4. Siegfried II. De Brema (1257-1272)

E8. Jessica 1233

D3. Jordan de brema 1204

E9. Heinricus I. de Brema (1257-1276)

F5. Heinricus II. De Brema 1276

E10. Abelo de Brema (1261-1273)

E11. Thidericus de Brema 1275

D4. Thetward I. de Brema 1189 Lawyer

E12. Nikolaus de Brema (1201–1244)

E13. Thetward II. De Brema (1201-1244)

coat of arms

The family coat of arms of those of Bremen and Monnik consisted of an eagle, which was similar to the imperial eagle, roughly that of the Bremen Roland in his coat of arms. The Bremen document book shows various seals that have been preserved in the main state archives of Bremen, Hamburg and Hanover. Several members of the related lines of Gröpelingen, von Walle, von Horn and Hude also used the coat of arms at times. (12th / 13th century)

The coat of arms recorded in various heraldic books as the main coat of arms of those of Bremen and Monnik, which is divided into two parts and contains half a wheel, was used by the Lübeck branch of the House of Bremen. The fact that the coat of arms of Lübeck was changed is probably due to the rivalry between the Free Hanseatic City and the Reich and its symbol, the imperial eagle. As merchants of Lübeck, descendants of this line existed longer, as well as in the whole of northern Germany, which is why their coat of arms was falsely asserted in the late medieval and modern coat of arms books as an alleged family coat of arms.

The original seals preserved in the main state archives, on the other hand, document the eagle as the original family coat of arms.

literature

Bremen document book 1-5
Hamburg document book 1,2
Articles and directories of Pomerania
Mecklenburg record book 1
About the Dutch colonies
Bremisch and Verdischer Rittersahl
Historical and diplomatic news from the high and low nobility
Heineccius, Antiquetates
History of the free city of Bremen
Monumenta Nobilitatis Antiquae

Remarks

↑ Bremisches UB No. 56
↑ Heineccius, Antiquetates, p. 149
↑ Bremisches UB No. 196, Alard, Vogt zu Ottersberg, notarized the transfer of two houses in Borgfeld to the Lilienthal monastery by him and his brother Brüning Monnik. 1235. Otto von Rosdorf, as a layman, is a top witness to the certificate (note that he and thus his house had a say in the ownership of those of Bremen-Monnik)
↑ Bremisch and Verdischer Ritter-Sahl, p. 138

[1] Bremisches UB No. 56

[2] Heineccius, Antiquetates, p. 149

[3] Bremisches UB No. 196, Alard, Vogt zu Ottersberg, notarized the transfer of two houses in Borgfeld to the Lilienthal monastery by him and his brother Brüning Monnik. 1235. Otto von Rosdorf, as a layman, is a top witness to the certificate (note that he and thus his house had a say in the ownership of those of Bremen-Monnik)

[4] Bremisch and Verdischer Ritter-Sahl, p. 138