Johann Hollemann

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Johann Hollemann († June 27, 1366 in Bremen ) was a citizen of Bremen and the son of councilor Hinrich Hollemann († 1353). In addition, he acted as a pirate from 1350 until his death and led an uprising against the Bremen council in 1366, whose members often fled the city.

origin

Johann Hollemann belonged to an advisable family. Since 1330 a man capable of counseling had to be born free and in wedlock and be at least 24 years old. In addition, he had to own land worth 32 silver marks . His mother was called Adelheid, his father was the councilor Hinrich Hollemann, who died in 1353. Johann had three brothers, according to a certificate.

Piracy (from 1350)

The councilor's son Johann Hollemann is said to have been prevented from unloading his fully loaded ship in Hamburg, without the reasons being known. Possibly this is related to the trade boycott against Dutch goods, or it is due to the unclear customs duty of the Bremen people in the port of Hamburg. In any case, Hamburg did not give in to Hollemann's requests.

As a result, from 1350 onwards, Hamburg ships in the estuaries of the Elbe and Weser rivers. Soon the people of Hamburg complained in letters in Bremen about robbery and kidnappings, demanding the return of the looted property and harsh punishment of the perpetrators. The Bremen Council formally distanced itself, calling Hollemann at least a “former” citizen. Hollemann reacted by hijacking Bremen ships. He made common cause with the Rüstringer pirates. Ritterhude became its most important location . His ships were equipped with a bow and an aft fort for capturing . From there, the merchants were bombarded with bows and crossbows, then grappling hooks were used.

Bremen did not act consistently against its own pirates, and so Hamburg tried to keep Bremen out of the Hanseatic League on a Hanseatic day in Lübeck in 1358 . On the way to Lübeck and in Hamburg, negotiators Hinricke Doneldeye and Bernde van Dettenhusen had to listen to serious allegations about “Johanne Hollemanne, vnssem borgere”. In order to be resumed, Bremen had to support the Flanders boycott and Hamburg had to help fight the pirates on the Elbe . It had to provide 100 armed men to secure the river. The two negotiators signed a treaty that was ratified by the Bremen council. This council described the negotiators as “nostri consulatus socios, ad hoc per nos specialiter missos” and at the same time as “honorable” and “discreet”. Emperor Charles IV granted Hamburg the right to pursue pirates on land and at sea, regardless of sovereign court rights.

Bremen also had to agree to provide a ship with 50 armed men to secure the sound if Lübeck, Wismar , Rostock and Stralsund so wished. The city was expressly obliged not to circumvent Hanseatic boycotts and to do everything that none of the Bremen merchants did either. The city was only allowed to make use of the privileges it had acquired outside of the Hanseatic League in England , Norway and Flanders if the Hanseatic cities were not at a disadvantage.

Ritterhude brought the booty to Hollemannsburg , a stone house belonging to the Hollemann bourgeois family in Langenstrasse 98/99, in the center of Bremen . The exact location on the Schlachte could be proven by looking through books and wills at the last slaughter gate . When excavations were carried out in 2004 on the occasion of a new hotel building, a corner of the house was exposed. It was one of several stone-work-like towers that stood next to each other directly on the fortified banks of the Weser. This bank was secured with wooden stakes. A narrow corridor separated the house from the neighboring merchants' houses, although it was set back a little. As the size of the plot of land and sales documents suggest, the castle was larger than the usual structures. A pen , an earthen travel or pilgrim's bag and an emerald-set, golden finger ring were recovered.

Connection to inner-city unrest, banner run, murder (1366)

Photograph of the Schlachte from 1862, seven years before the Hollemann House was demolished
The battles around 1572–1618, Frans Hogenberg

Bremen, hit by the plague and excluded from the Hanseatic League in 1358, threatened to become impoverished. Unrest resulted in Archbishop Albert II taking the opportunity to let his followers invade the city on May 29, 1366. They reached the city via the Schlachte. Hollemann became the chief ringleader of the intruders. The town hall was stormed, the bar room was broken into. The council fled the city and a new council was set up. Hollemann gave speeches in the market square and announced that the archbishop would be courting. His men secured the Ostertor and fortified the Hollemannsburg (see banner run ).

Now the fled councilors asked Count Konrad II of Oldenburg for help. His servants invaded Bremen on June 27, 1366, after Hollemann's rule for four weeks. Hollemann had to retire to his house, the archbishop's men were overwhelmed. Then the Oldenburgs stormed the Hollemannsburg, smashed the landlord to pieces and hung his body for a while in a window in the alley. His wife suffered a miscarriage and passed away. His servants were also slain, five of them were dragged to the court and beheaded there, others were dragged to death by horses, as reported in the Bremen Nequamsbuch . The previous order was restored to the city. In 1368 Hollemann's family was confronted with claims for damages from the Emden area .

Family, Hollemannshaus until demolition (1869)

Overall, however, the family was not blamed for Johann's actions. In 1372, Johann's son Heinrich, his mother Adelheid and his brother Arnold were named "citizens" of the Hanseatic City of Bremen on the occasion of a property sale. The Hollemanns continued to remain respected and wealthy residents of the city with full rights. The house, built in the lower area from large boulders, was demolished in 1869 for a new building. But in the 14th century a city wall was built in front of the houses. Around 1415 the house was owned by von Weyhe, who sold it to Mayor Marten van Heymborg in 1534. During this process, the beam on which Johann Hollemann had been hung was first removed.

swell

  • Johann Martin Lappenberg (ed.): Historical sources of the archbishopric and the city of Bremen , therein Die Bremische Chronik des Gerhard Rynesberch and Herbord Schene , pp. 55–158, here: pp. 101, 114. ( digitized version )

literature

Remarks

  1. ↑ Konrad Elmshäuser : The manuscripts of the Bremen city law codifications of 1303, 1428 and 1433 , in: 700 years of Bremen law , p. 62 f. (see Bremen coins ).
  2. ↑ Hansische Geschichtsblätter 79 (1961), p. 61.
  3. ↑ Bremisches Urkundenbuch , Bremen 1877, No. 118, August 3, 1358.
personal data
SURNAME Hollemann, Johann
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Bremen pirate
DATE OF BIRTH 14th Century
DATE OF DEATH June 27, 1366