Konrad Klepping

Coat of arms of the Klepping family

Konrad Klepping (* around 1290 in Dortmund ; † before October 1354 ) was a leading German Hanseatic merchant who is closely connected with the beginning of the banking industry in Germany and with the financing of the English state budget.

biography

Cleppinge, engl. "Clippings" are excerpts, here: from the animal skin, his family (see coat of arms on the right) was concerned with the most important commercial goods at the time: hides and wool. Both came mostly from England. The export to Germany, on which the English budget - the Hundred Years War - was crucially dependent, was almost entirely handled by Hanseatic merchants from Dortmund and the surrounding area. There is evidence that over 200 Dortmund residents from 68 families stayed in England for trade purposes in the 14th and 15th centuries. Klepping was one of the first to get involved in the lending business on a large scale. His contacts with King Edward III are historically significant . who pledged his royal crown and all customs duties to the merchants from Dortmund.

In 1312 a Konrad Klepping, son of Lefthard Klepping, was named as councilor in Dortmund. At that time young people were entrusted with high offices. In 1316 a Konrad Klepping vouched for letters destined for Lübeck and Riga - which shows that Konrad's activities were by no means exhausted with the subsequent trade with England, which was so important for him. Konrad Klepping's name can be found in the Patent Rolls, the files on royal privileges, for the first time on September 16, 1317. The king, then still the unfortunate Edward II , exempts Konrad and his brother Herrmann from the obligation to stand up for consorts if necessary to have to. In 1326 Konrad Klepping vouched for the debts of the free imperial city of Dortmund .

For the year 1331, Eduard III's ledger, the so-called Close Rolls, shows a debt of 255 marks to Konrad Klepping and the like - a significant sum: At that time, a castle could be built for 5000 marks. In 1332 and 1334 council lists led a Konrad Klepping as mayor in Dortmund. Konrad's name appears in a letter of protection from 1339 issued in Brussels. In the same year, the English crown granted Konrad a tariff reduction for life. In 1340 the king at the court of Westminister confirmed the pledging of all customs duties to a consortium of Dortmund merchants, to which Konrad belongs (PRO - Register of the Close Rolls C54 / 166 m 11). In the autumn of the same year Eduard thanks Konrad for personally conveying information regarding the position of the French blockade fleet before the battle of Sluis in West Flanders (now the Netherlands). Konrad will be reimbursed expenses and expenses (PRO - Register of the Patent Rolls - C 66/199 m 26). It is also confirmed that Konrad had settled a debt in the city of Brussels "for the king's sake", which ended hostage for two English nobles. In the same year, sovereign Dietrich von Monschau, Valkenburg and Veurne, also Burgrave of Seeland , promised all citizens of Dortmund his protection - expressly because of the merits of "Clipping", a "civem Tremoniensem", citizens of Dortmund. Edward III holds it from his seat in the Tower of London. indicated in 1341 for showing his merchant "gratitude for the great, reliable and selfless help". When Klepping's Dortmund consorts were unable to cover their increasingly extensive loans in 1342 even from the customs revenue of England, they also received the royalties in kind from four counties of the English Empire due to the crown. In 1343 the debt increased by the enormous sum of 45,000 gold crowns, because Klepping and his partners had meanwhile triggered the so-called Great Crown of the Kings of England from another debtor. Konrad Klepping personally hands over the good piece to a royal official and is rewarded for it with special rights and export permits in the following years. = Acknowledgment of receipt for the Great Crown = Tear-off on the right: Entry in the Patent Rolls C 66/204 m 45 under the heading "Pro Conraud Clippyng" on the 26th day of December in 1343 at Westminster.

In 1345 Eduard III. a nephew of Conrad expressly because of the excellent service of his uncle so long a pension "until he can provide him with an appropriate church benefice". In 1347, King Konrad Klepping and other Dortmund merchants who at the time had their own headquarters in London, the "Gildehalla Theutonicorum", confirmed their immunity as full members of the merchants' guild. In 1353 Konrad became a consultant for commercial and financial matters. On June 10, 1353 we find him together with leading English and Lombard merchants in the king's council. Konrad Klepping must have died soon afterwards, according to a source probably before October 1354 , possibly from the plague that ravaged Europe for the first time.

See also

• Dortmund - History - Late Middle Ages
• Konrad Klepping Vocational College

literature

• Gustav Luntowski: Dortmund and the Hanseatic League. in: Dortmund, 1100 years of city history . Dortmund 1982
• Luise von Winterfeld : History of the free imperial and Hanseatic city of Dortmund. Dortmund 1981
• Handwritten notes by Luise v. Winter field.