Nikolaus Hemeling

Nicholas Hemeling , also Nicolaus or Clawes (* before 1338, first mentioned in 1361, † 1391 ), was since 1361 Bremer councilor and from 1367 to 1391 mayor of Bremen . During his tenure, the castles of Stotel (1375), Wildeshausen (1376) and Thedinghausen (1377), but especially in 1369, the archbishop's mint came into the town's lien. From 1384 to 1424 Stadland and Butjadingen were Bremen. He also restored the supremacy of the old families who had been temporarily overthrown in the course of the Hoya feud . Under him, the political and economic supremacy in the Bremen area and in the Archdiocese of Bremen continued.

Life

Hemeling came from a family that can be traced back to Bremen in the 13th century. He appears as a councilor (consul) in the Bremen document book for the first time on November 15, 1361. His son Johann was three years old that year.

Hemeling's tenure followed a phase of internal conflict in which the surrounding powers intervened massively. Since the plague of 1350, in which Bremen lost perhaps half of its inhabitants, the city has been pushing immigration from the surrounding area. However, this turned against them the feudal lords, who feared the flight of their rural workers to urban freedom. Bremen lost a battle against the Counts of Hoya in 1358 , in which eight of the twelve councilors were taken prisoner. These had to be ransomed, which caused expenses and, as a result, city taxes to skyrocket. Since the dominant council class bought their own relatives free, the affected craftsmen and traders resisted the apportionment of these burdens.

Hemeling ensured that the domination of the old families was restored, a political orientation that his son Johann continued to pursue. It was not until 1366 that the ruling council group succeeded in breaking the archbishop's hegemony. In addition, he had to pledge numerous rights that the wealthy Bremen council families acquired.

On the other hand, Bremen was closely tied to the Oldenburg and supported their policies. So in 1368 a municipal contingent went with them against the Butjadinger farmers. But they were defeated on the Coldewärf field near Atens , numerous Bremen residents, including around ten councilors, perished. Despite the defeat, Bremen managed to keep the important trade route to the North Sea free. The city acquired rights to several important castles. This was achieved in Stotel in 1375 , in Wildeshausen and Langwedel in 1376 , then in Thedinghausen in 1377 and also in Delmenhorst . There were also opening rights, for example in Blumenthal , Ritterhude and Schönbeck . Archbishop Albert II was deeply humiliated at the same time when he had to prove by public inspection in 1376 that he was not a hermaphrodite, which is why he came to Bremen.

At the same time, the knighthood around them distrusted Bremen's rapid expansion. The von Mandelsloh brothers, castle men of the Drakenburg near Nienburg, took over the management. They attacked the town's Langwedel Castle. At the request of the episcopal bailiff, Arnd Doneldey moved with an armed band to Thedinghausen, in order to induce the castle men there to go with them. On September 30, 1380, however, the troops suffered a heavy defeat at Blender . Many Bremer were taken prisoner, among them again three councilors, as well as the later Archbishop Johann Slamstorp . From 1373 he was head of the Bremen Cathedral School. In 1386 the Bremen council pledged the rights to Langwedel Castle to him.

After the defeat of 1380, Bremen allied itself with the cathedral chapter, with Stade and Buxtehude , and 18 miners from the archbishopric were added. Count Otto von Hoya, who was interested in weakening the Drakenburg Knights, remained neutral. The Drakenburgs were pushed away, but now Duke Albrecht von Sachsen-Wittenberg took their side and moved as far as Langwedel and Achim , just a few kilometers east of Bremen. The people of Bremen then moved into the duchy and plundered Walsrode , the duke had to make peace. Eventually the people of Bremen conquered the Drakenburg. On May 19, 1381, peace was also concluded here, the knights had to forego all claims to castles - at times around ten - in the archbishopric. The most important gain for Bremen in this conflict was the possession of Bederkesa , where the city later developed a territory that it held until the 17th century. In 1386 there was another feud against the knights, but Bremen was able to assert itself this time too and secure its rights of way and property.

In 1384 the city allied itself with some Frisian chiefs and Count Konrad von Oldenburg to secure the mouth of the Weser against Haye Husseken von Esenshamm and his allies in the Stadland . By 1385 Bremen was able to enforce its domination in the region militarily.

A bridge over the Lesum was built at the end of Hemeling's reign. The archbishop gave his approval for the building, which cost 6,000 marks. The construction costs should be recovered via road tolls, after the repayment the income should be shared between the city and the bishop.

On October 4, 1391, there was finally a great peace between the archbishopric, its bailiff, the cathedral chapter, the duchy of Braunschweig-Lüneburg as well as Buxtehude and Bremen.

In 1390, the construction of towers and defensive trenches began, even if control of these structures still had to be shared with the diocese. Another lever to influence the balance of power was the appointment of voters in the local goge courts by Bremen citizens. From 1391 onwards, citizens of Bremen were only allowed to sell their real estate within a mile of the city to Bremen residents. However, it was not until 1428 that a man from Bremen was elected as a count in the Hollerland , and the blockland only followed in 1468 . The foundations for this territory around Bremen, to which Nieder- und Obervieland came to the left of the Weser, were laid under Hemeling.

Under Hemeling the electoral system of 12 councilors was retained until the end of his reign, which was abolished immediately after his death. In each third of the city four councilors were elected who, when a member resigned, appointed a new one, who, however, had to come from the same third of the city. After Hemeling, on the one hand, the origin from the respective district was no longer necessary; on the other hand, the number of districts was increased from three to four.

In the area around the city, Bremen was also able to obtain the right to fortify in the marshes around the city. Bremen citizens owned land and rights there. In 1389, the mayor and council issued a citizens 'pasture ordinance , which affected the common land in front of the city, which has been known as citizens' pasture (borgerweyde) since the second half of the 14th century . Its use had been largely reserved for the citizens of Bremen since 1159, the pasture itself was delimited by fences and hedges and gates could only be opened to the south, towards the city. The citizens who lived in houses were now allowed to graze four dairy cows and one cattle each; those who lived in stalls or cellars were only allowed to graze two dairy cows and one cattle. The shepherd who guarded the gates received four pfennigs for each animal. The mayors, councilors and clergymen enjoyed special rights.

Little is known about Hemeling's own ownership structure. On November 17, 1370, the council allowed his member Nikolaus Hemeling to bring the two roofs of his house and the wall-tailoring booth built on them under one roof on Obernstrasse between the town hall and Hinrich von Ruten's house. In 1375 Hemeling bought land in the villages of Arsten and Alleken for 54 marks.

In 1382 his son Johann Hemeling became a member of the council, who himself became mayor from 1405 to 1410. In 1390, while his father was still alive, he was also the builder of the cathedral.

literature

• Herbert Schwarzwälder : History of the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen , Vol. 1, Hamburg 1985, 2nd edition 1989, pp. 83-88.

Remarks

1. ↑ Hermann Meinert (Ed.): Bremen. In: The chronicle of the cities of Lower Saxony. Volume 37, Carl Schünemann Verlag, Bremen 1968.
2. ^ Bremen document book . No. 179, November 15, 1361.
3. ↑ This is what Ferdinand Donandt describes: An attempt at a history of Bremen's city law. With an introduction to the development and further development of the Bremen constitution up to 1433 , first part, Bremen 1830, p. 291f.
4. ↑ Thomas Hill: The city and its edge in the Middle Ages. The example of Bremen , in: Peter Johanek (ed.): The city and its edge, Cologne: Böhlau 2008, p. 174f.
5. ^ Bremen document book . No. 399, November 10, 1370.
6. ↑ The village was incorporated into Mairie Arsten in 1810.
7. ^ Bremen document book . No. 481, July 27, 1375.