Gerd the brave

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Gerhard (Gerd) von Oldenburg , called the brave or the arguable (* 1430 ; † 1500 ) was Count of Oldenburg from the house of the same name .

He was feared by his opponents as a sea and highway robber because he did not keep to any contracts and, in addition to lucrative land and pirate robbery, he also regularly attacked neighbors and travelers.

Life

Gerhard was the third son of Count Dietrich von Oldenburg (1390–1440) and his wife Heilwig (* approx. 1398/1400; † 1436), a daughter of Count Gerhard VI. from Holstein-Rendsburg . After their mother's death, the brothers were brought up at the court of their uncle Adolf VIII , the last count from the family of the von Schauenburg and Holstein families . The inheritance was regulated as follows: The eldest of the brothers, Christian , was to become King of Denmark at the instigation of his uncle Adolf VIII. Adolf himself was actually intended for this, but had rejected the Danish crown. The office of clergyman was intended for the middle brother Moritz , while the county of Oldenburg was intended for Gerd.

Beginning of rule

As planned, Christian became King of Denmark in 1448 and waived claims in Oldenburg and Delmenhorst . In 1450, Gerd received Oldenburg as planned. Right at the beginning of his reign he had Vri-Jade Castle rebuilt in Jade , which was destroyed by the Frisians in 1423 . In 1454 he set up a base for his robbery ships near Dauens and began his pirate trips on large merchant ships in May and June. Eleven ships were killed in the process.

Inheritance dispute with Moritz

Moritz refused the spiritual office intended for him, married Katherina von Hoya , daughter of Otto V von Hoya , in 1458 and demanded his share of the inheritance by force of arms. For this he allied himself with the Archbishop Gerhard III. from Bremen from the Hoyaer Grafenhaus . The two were defeated near Siedenburg on August 27, 1462 in the battle of the Borsteler Heide. Nevertheless, at the urging of the nobility, the clergy and the Oldenburg citizenship, Gerd had to give his brother a share of power, which was the basis of the peace that was concluded on May 22, 1463. However, the war broke out again in the summer and continued when Moritz succumbed to the plague in 1464 . Gerd then became the guardian of his nephew Jakob von Oldenburg-Delmenhorst (1463–1484) and brought Delmenhorst back under his control.

Conflict with the Frisians

In 1457 there were again battles with the East Frisians . Westerstede and Apen went up in flames. The East Frisians were defeated near Mansingen Castle in front of Westerstede. In 1462, Gerhard had the Neuchâtel border fortress built to secure his access to the Frisian Wehde . In 1463 Hanseatic troops burned Varel in Oldenburg . Apen was cremated in 1465 and again in 1468.

Frisian uprising in Husum

Adolf VIII died in 1459. His heir as Count von Holstein was the Danish King Christian, who was supposed to compensate all other heirs, including his brothers and their descendants, with 40,000 Rhenish guilders each . The money could not be procured so quickly, so Count Gerd used the opportunity in 1465 and 1466 for military campaigns to Holstein and tried to persuade his brother Christian to appoint him governor. The local nobility wanted to prevent this and allied against him in 1469. For this, Gerd received homage from the farmers in the western marshes in 1470. Now the King of Denmark intervened and forced his brother to vacate the occupied castles and to withdraw. Because of the lack of money he was put off. When the Frisians dared to revolt in Husum in 1472, Gerd took the opportunity and rushed to their aid, but was defeated by a Danish army, the Duke of Mecklenburg and the cities of Bremen and Hamburg .

War against Oldenburg

With his constant attacks on merchants, Gerd made enemies of Bremen and Hamburg. When he drove his nephew Count Jakob, Moritz's son, from Delmenhorst, the Archbishop of Bremen, Heinrich II , prepared for war. In 1473 he moved against Delmenhorst, but was persuaded by the Count of Hoya to leave.

The count plundered Bagband and Strackholt and had Apen and Westerstede burned down. Together with Theda von Ostfriesland, he besieged Oldenburg in vain in 1474. Edewecht , Zwischenahn and Rostrup were burned by troops of the Bishop of Munster . In 1475 there was another raid in Bremen as far as Donnerschwee and Ohmstede , but the troops under Captain Erp Bicker were brought back with their booty on August 3rd near the village of Paradies im Moorriem by Oldenburg citizens and Ammerland farmers. They allegedly took 700 prisoners, captured 15 guns. While fleeing, around 500 people from Bremen drowned in the Hunte or sank in the moor. The event went down in history as the “Bremen Baptism”. In the same year Gerd's son Adolf , called "Alf", was captured during an incursion into East Friesland and brought to Berum Castle .

Gerd now had the East Frisians, the Bremen, Hamburgers, the Counts of Hoya as well as Butjadingen and Stadland as enemies. Only through his powerful allies, the King of Denmark (his brother Christian) and Albrecht Achilles of Brandenburg, an opponent of the Hansa , could he hold out. He also had good contacts with Charles the Bold , Duke of Burgundy. He even helped him with the siege of Neuss (July 1474 to June 1475) because he promised - in vain - that in return he would get help from the Burgundians to conquer East Frisia. Emperor Friedrich III. ended the siege of Neuss and forced the parties to make a Peace of Quakenbrück in October 1476 . The fortresses Altena and Sandburg were razed and Gerd had to give up guardianship over Jakob. In 1476 he had the Rastede monastery expanded into a fortress.

In 1480 Gerd's piracy and raids became too much for the neighbors. They prepared for war and hamburgers razed Vry-Jade Castle. In 1481 Gerd's son Alf was released, the price was the Frisian Wehde and the villages of Zetel and Driefel (now part of Zetel) as well as 3,000 guilders ransom. At the same time Theda received the Friedeburg from follower Hero Mauritz . He was released from captivity in Oldenburg for a ransom of 5,000 guilders.

End of war

In January 1482 the allies were able to conquer Delmenhorst and in April the Westerburg. The castle was destroyed in the fighting. Gerd and his sons then surrendered. The count was supposed to retire to Rastede Monastery , but preferred to go abroad. He was denied a return several years later, but by 1487 he was still involved in raids on Dutch and Hanseatic ships. After 1493 he apparently lived in Oldenburg for a few quiet years. He later died on returning from a pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela . He was probably buried in Pont-Saint-Esprit on the lower Rhone .

After his death, his son Johann V followed him as Count of Oldenburg, who survived him as the only one of his six sons.

family

In 1453 he married Adelheid von Tecklenburg, the daughter of Otto VII. Von Tecklenburg-Schwerin and Ermengard von Hoya. The couple had the following children:

  • Gerhard (* 1454; † 1470)
  • Dietrich (* around 1456; † 1463)
  • Adolf (Alf) (* 1458; † February 17, 1500), killed in the Battle of Hemmingstedt
  • Christian (* 1459; † 1492)
  • Johann V (* 1460; † 1526), ​​Count of Oldenburg (1500–1526)
  • Otto (* around 1464 - † February 17, 1500), killed in the Battle of Hemmingstedt
  • Elisabeth (* 1468; † 1505)
  • Anna (* 1469; † 1505)
  • Irmgard (* around 1471; † 1522)
  • Hedwig (or Heilwig) (* around 1473; † 1502) ∞ Edo Wiemken the Younger
  • Adelheid (* around 1475; † 1513)

Gerhard's brother Count Christian von Oldenburg was elected King of Denmark in 1448 and later King of Norway and Sweden , Duke of Schleswig and Count , and later Duke of Holstein .

literature

predecessor Office successor
Christian VII Oldenburg Stammwappen.png
Count of Oldenburg
1450–1500 		Johann V.
personal data
SURNAME Gerd the brave
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Gerd the Brave of Oldenburg; Gerhard the brave of Oldenburg
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Pirate, mugger and count
DATE OF BIRTH 1430
DATE OF DEATH 1500