Bremen council feud

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The Bremen council feud was a conflict in the years 1304/1305 between two parties of the Bremen council , which led to the expulsion of part of the councilors and their families from the city at the beginning of the 14th century. As a result, there were armed conflicts between Bremen and parts of the knighthood of the archbishopric , which ended with a victory for the city and led to a strengthening of Bremen against the local nobles.

prehistory

With the development of a city council as an independent political authority from 1225, a new urban upper class gradually established itself in Bremen. Initially, however, the council was still dominated by ministerial families who originally served the archbishop as knights and officials. Some of these families had attained considerable power and wealth, which manifested themselves in the construction of stone residential towers in the city and fortified aristocratic seats in the countryside.

The feud

Tensions arose in the city at the turn of the 14th century, when young members of some of these influential families, known as “genders”, repeatedly and with impunity bullied and even killed innocent citizens:

"The rich people's children [...] sometimes some righteous man beat him with their big, wide knife that he died."

The violent attacks led to its split in the council:

"Many councilors would have liked to judge these arbitrary acts and crimes, but the other councilors, who were the relatives of the spoiled young people, prevented this because they had the majority in the council and were the richest in Bremen."

Among the proponents of punishing the perpetrators was the respected councilor Arnd von Gröpelingen , the opponents of punishment were led by Gottschalk Frese the Younger . The conflict escalated when, in 1304, an armed group stormed into the house of the seriously ill Arnd von Gröpelingen on Langenstrasse and killed the councilor and his servant. As a reaction to this bloody act, a large number of armed citizens gathered at the St. Nikolai Church and, together with the councilors Heinrich von Gröpelingen, Conrad von Haren, Johann Husheer and other supporters of the Von Gröpelingen faction, went to the town hall to atone for to demand the act. The members of the Frese faction had to flee the city and were laid paceless by the remaining council in the summer of 1304 and all their belongings in the city were expropriated. The group of exiles comprised 18 councilors and 11 other citizens including their families. among them were Gottschalk Frese the Younger, Hermann Frese, Reiner Brusehaver, Arnold von Harpenstede, Johann Nackevedele, Heinrich Juchals, Willekin Juchals the Younger, Johann Juchals the Elder, Johann Juchals the Younger, Bernhard Juchals, Heinrich von Lunne, Johann Lange Beverstede, Hartger von Verden, Conrad von Verden the Elder, Conrad von Verden the Younger, Otto von Verden, Hermann von Verden, Abel the Münzer and Bernhard von der Hude .

The displaced families - who had considerable resources - allied themselves with numerous land-based knights of the archdiocese and tried, with the support of the Duke of Lüneburg, to besiege the city, but this failed. For its part, the city formed an alliance with the Counts of Oldenburg , Bruchhausen and Delmenhorst as well as the noblemen of Diepholz and the provost of Wildeshausen, and in the winter of 1304/1305 undertook a campaign against the opposing knighthood, in the course of which the exiled families and their allies were defeated . 22 knights were taken prisoner and 14 fortified aristocratic residences in the surrounding area were destroyed, including the Barkhof of the knight Lippold von Bremen , near the Bürgerweide , the Blumenthal Castle , that of Aumund, and the Helle Castle , seat of the Monnik family.

On March 4, 1305 the council celebrated its victory and on April 2 of the same year Archbishop Giselbert and Dompropst Bernhard brokered a peace treaty between the city and its opponents, in which the city assured itself that the destroyed castles should not be rebuilt and that the ministries would no longer support the displaced families. In addition, 31 knights, 72 squires and the prisoners had to submit to a primal feud , i. H. evoke the future preservation of peace with the city.

consequences

The events of 1304/1305 are significant for the further development of Bremen, because in this conflict the city appeared for the first time as an independent political and military power against the archdiocese and its vassals, prevailed against its opponents and thus its status as an independent community (as a free Imperial City ), which she was granted in the Gelnhauser Privilege of 1186. Although the council group of Arnd von Gröpelingen, with the help of the citizens, prevailed against some of the most powerful families in the city and parts of the local knighthood, one cannot speak of an “expulsion of the sexes” from the city or a revolt of the bourgeoisie against the nobles . B. Arnd von Gröpelingen himself also came from an influential family of ministers and later numerous people of this origin sat on the council. There is also probably no direct connection between the dispute in the council and the codification of Bremen city law , which began in 1303, but the feud may have influenced the further formulation of the city law, the core of which was completed in 1305. The armed conflict also had an impact on the further expansion of the city fortifications, so the city ​​wall was expanded in the following years to include the previously unprotected Steffensstadt .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Gerd Rinesberch, Herbord Schene: Bremer Chronik . In: Bremen. The Chronicles of the Lower Saxony Cities, Volume 37 . Carl Schünemann Verlag, Bremen 1968, p. 112 .
  2. ↑ a b Hans G. Trüper: Knights and squires between Weser and Elbe. The ministry of the Archbishopric of Bremen . Stade 2000, p. 539 .
  3. ^ Johann Hermann Duntze : History of the Free City of Bremen, Volume 2 . Heyse Verlag, Bremen 1846, p.  40 .
  4. ↑ Hans G. Trüper: Knights and Knappen between Weser and Elbe. The ministry of the Archbishopric of Bremen . Stade 2000, p. 540 f .
  5. ^ A b Franz Buchenau : The Free Hanseatic City of Bremen and its area: a contribution to the geography and topography of Germany . Schünemann Verlag, Bremen 1862, p.  84 .
  6. ↑ Thomas Hill: The city and its market. Bremen's regional and external relations in the Middle Ages (12th – 15th centuries) . Franz Steiner Verlag, 2004, p. 275 .
  7. ↑ Friedrich Rauers : The old race of Bremen . In: Bremisches Jahrbuch , Volume 43 . Bremen 1951, p.  421 f .
  8. ↑ Hans G. Trüper: Knights and Knappen between Weser and Elbe. The ministry of the Archbishopric of Bremen . Stade 2000, p. 543 f .
  9. ^ Herbert Schwarzwälder : Bremen around 1300 and its town charter from 1303 . In: 700 years of Bremen law. t, Publications of the State Archives Bremen, Volume 66 . Bremen 2003, ISBN 3-925729-34-8 , pp.  29, 42, 43 f .

literature

  • Hans G. Trüper : Knights and Squires between Weser and Elbe. The ministry of the Archbishopric of Bremen. Stade 2000, ISBN 3-931879-05-4 , pp. 539-545.
  • Thomas Hill: The city and its market. Bremen's regional and external relations in the Middle Ages (12th – 15th centuries). Franz Steiner Verlag, 2004, ISBN 3-515-08068-6 , pp. 274f.
  • Gerd Rinesberch , Herbord Schene : Bremer Chronik . In: Bremen. The chronicles of the cities of Lower Saxony . Volume 37, Historical Commission at the Bavarian Academy of Sciences by Hermann Meinert (ed.), Carl Schünemann Verlag, Bremen 1968, pp. 112–116.