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Poul Kofoed

Poul Kofoed

Mand før 1520 - ca. 1575  (> 55 år)

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  • Navn Poul Kofoed 
    Fødsel før 1520  Bornholm Find alle personer med begivenheder på dette sted  [1
    Køn Mand 
    Beskæftigelse Herredsfoged 
    Død ca. 1575  23. sgd. Kofoedgård, Østermarie Sogn Find alle personer med begivenheder på dette sted 
    Person-ID I4245  anebasen
    Sidst ændret 29 jul. 2019 

    Familie nn Ibsdatter,   f. før 1525, Bornholm Find alle personer med begivenheder på dette stedd. eft. 1548, Bornholm Find alle personer med begivenheder på dette sted (Alder > 25 år) 
    Ægteskab før 1548  Bornholm Find alle personer med begivenheder på dette sted 
    Børn 
    +1. Peder Poulsen Kofoed,   f. 1548, 23. sgd. Kofoedgård, Østermarie Sogn Find alle personer med begivenheder på dette stedd. 1616, 23. sgd. Kofoedgård, Østermarie Sogn Find alle personer med begivenheder på dette sted (Alder 68 år)
     2. Esbern Poulsen Kofoed,   f. før 1555, 23. sgd. Kofoedgård, Østermarie Sogn Find alle personer med begivenheder på dette stedd. eft. 1623, Bornholm Find alle personer med begivenheder på dette sted (Alder > 70 år)
    Familie-ID F1593  Gruppeskema  |  Familietavle
    Sidst ændret 2 okt. 2023 

  • Notater 
    • Note (Overført juli 2019 fra Norman Lee Madsens databese)

      Poul Kofoed is the first Kofoed to live in Østermarie parish and is presumed to be the father of Peder Kofoed of Koefoedgård in Østermarie. Julius Bidstrup (published in 1886-87) states that Peder Kofoed was the son of a Mads Kofoed, however this is now known to be incorrect. Poul Kofoed's name (in the old records it is spelled variously, in low German, as: Pavell Köfföth and Powijl Kaafodt, etc.) is mentioned in 1549 as Reeve (Sandemand) for the East District (Østre Herred), and Merchant Guild Chairman (Oldermand), and as living at one of the largest farms in Østermarie parish: Koefoedgård, the 23' Slg. That Poul Kofoed and his family were firmly establish in the area can be seen by the fact that already by 1569 a forest (skov) in Østermarie parish had become known as "Kofods-skov".

      His ancestry is not certain and is disputed, and made more difficult by the fact that he never used his father's given name as part of his signature or mark. According to both Kure's farm-owner list his patronym is "Hansen". There are several theories on his ancestry:

      1) Bornholm historian Dr. M.K. Zahrtmann (in 1931) thought that he is Dr. Zahrtmann believed that Poul Kofoed may be same identical to the "Povl Hansen" who, in his capacity as "Herredsfoged" (Bailiff) for Eastern District, conveyed on August 11th 1559 a lawsuit from Commandant Sveder Ketting to the "Herredagen" (High Court) in København; base on this Zahrtmann thought that perhaps Poul Kofoed was the son of a Hans Kofoed and brother to Peder Hansen Kofoed and Esbern Hansen Kofoed; and that Hans Kofoed was the son of the first recorded Kofoed on Bornholm: the Hanseatic trader and freeman Peder Kofoed from the german free-city of Lübeck, and brother to Mads Kofoed. Peder Kofoed is known to have been the representative for Lübeck in Rønne from 1510, mayor of Rønne from 1522, last mentioned in 1532.

      2) In "På spor af de første Kofod'er", Jørn Klindt (published in 1979) states that there is not enough evidence to back this up with any certainty; he thinks that perhaps he is brother to a Hans Kofoed of Rønne, who is mentioned in records from 1525-43.

      3) Other have speculated that he is the son of Peder Kofoed of Lübeck, and that Peder is the son of Henrik Kofoed (died 1515), a nobleman and wealthy merchant in Lübeck. Henrik is known to have married a widow named Mette in 1466. Henrik had a residence at Mengstrasse 29 in Lübeck. Also owned Grosse Alterfähre 35-36 (which had 5 rooms), and in 1487 inherited Glockengieserstrasse 32, which he sold within a year. He sold the residence on Mengstrasse in 1505. After his death his widow sold Grosse Alterfähre.

      I doubt that the Poul Hansen who was District Bailiff in 1559 was in fact Poul Kofoed, as it appears to be out of character for the male members of Kofoed-family from the first few generations to completely drop the use of the Kofoed surname in favour of a patronymic surname. In fact none of the male members of the Kofoed-family during the first four generations are ever recorded as using a patronymic; probably a throw back to their non-Scandinavian roots Poul Kofoed's sons were part of a new generation of Kofoeds born around the middle of the 1500s that began to play a larger role in the island's upper-class. At the same time much more written documentation becomes available, so the individual families can be traced without too much guess-work.

      In 1543 a group of Lübeck and Danish commissionaries were appointed to settle a dispute regarding money owing to Lübeck by some Bornholmers. Various meetings were held around the island to settle the matter. The farmers from Østermarie and Ibsker parishes that were involved met at "Pavell Köfföthes" farm in Østermarie parish to discuss the matter with the Lübeck Governor, Sveder Ketting. At that time he was not signing documents for the parish, but six years later in 1549 "Powijl Kaafodt" was the Reeve for Østermarie parish, or as that position is still called on Bornholm: "Sandemand". A "sandemand" was the chief magistrate and bailiff of a parish (sogn), in otherwords a Reeve, and in many ways had duties equivalent to a Mayor (Borgmester) of a township (købstad).

      In 1550 he participated in the establishment of the first Latin-school in Rønne. In 1554 he appears again in his position as "Sandemand" for the Eastern District of Bornholm (Østre Herred, consisting of: Østerlars, Østermarie, Ibsker, and Svaneke); that same year he is known to have undertaken a journey to Lübeck. Dr. Zahrtmann believed that he may also be same person as the "Povl Hansen" who as "Herredsfoged" (District Bailiff) for Eastern District, conveyed on August 11th 1559 a lawsuit from Commendant Sveder Ketting to the "Herredagen" (High Court) in København; base on this Zahrtmann thought that perhaps Poul Kofoed was the son of a Hans Kofoed, however this seems unlikely. A document from March 21, 1584 names Esbern Kofoed, the "Kongelig Tolder" (Custom's Officer) for Bornholm, as being the son of Poul Kofoed and Jep Hansen's daughter.

      The "Lybækkerne" (the germanic Hansa imperial free-city of Lübeck) had controlled Bornholm since 1525; King Frederik I had forfeited the control of Bornholm to Lübeck for 50 years because of his inability to pay debt sowed to the city. The natives of Bornholm are recorded to have groaned under the Hansa's rule, and declared "they would rather be under the Turks, than under that German, Christian, imperial city." King Frederik took pity on them and declared the inhabitants under his protection -this was to little avail though.

      Fifty years later a sign of Lübeck waining powers can be seen in the actions of King Frederik II concerning Bornholm. During those long years the island had been considered the Queen-city of the Hansa's special possession; they had made much profit from the enforced payment of dues, and the export of such valuable commodities as limestone. First a Lübeck governor was formally ejected from København, then the inhabitants of Bornholm, encouraged in insubordination by seeing how the authorities in København dealt with their masters, refused to pay their dues. Finally, one of the towns even forcibly ejected some Lübeck traders. An ominous sign of things to come are reflected in Frederik's opposition to any mention of Bornholm during peace treaties.

      At the "Frimandsmødet" held on September 6, 1572 there were 17 men named as being in attendance:
      1. Jacob Iversen, Landsdommer; 2. Mester Peder W(= Peder [Mogensen] Uf); the brothers 3. Peder Hansen; and 4. Bent Hansen; 5. Jørgen Pedersen; 6. Peder (Madsen) Kofoed; 7. Oluf Madsen; 8.Oluf Bagge; 9. Hans Mogensen, as he was away at the king's court he was represented by his father Mogens Hansen; 10. Peder (Hansen) Myre; 11.Jørgen Gagge; 12. Berent Hansen (= Berild Hansen); 13. Laurids Pedersen;14. Jens (Madsen) Kofoed; 15. Christen (Clausen) Kiøller; 16. Peder Hansen (Uf); and 17. Hans (Madsen) Kofoed. Three advisers to the Danish Parliment (Rigsråder) had been sent to preside over the meeting, namely: Biørn Kaas of Starupgaard, Biørn Andersen of Stenholt, and Jørgen Marsvin of Dybæk. The group expressed heartfelt and solemn words about faithful service to the crown; and it seems they had an inkling of things to come, and therefore begged the King not to let himself be "seduced" by Lübeck's representative Sveder Ketting, "because you might expect that Lübeck only plotted to keep our island under their yoke." This was during the period in which Bornholm was strongly under the influence (and rulership) of the Hanseatic League free-city of Lübeck; the Bornholmers felt greatly put upon by the high taxes, unfair rules, and high-handedness of the Lübeckers. Contrary to the opinion of latter historians they must have convinced the envoys, as on the 9th of September the freemen were granted the right to gather shipwrecks from the beaches, hunt in the woods, as well as given full authority over their servants - a great victory for the freemen.

      On September 7, 1575, Frederik II informed Lübeck, "that the fifty-years of possession, accorded to them by his grandfather, would have expired on the 19th of the month, and he intended to retake possession of the island." The city replied that the "Peace of Hamburg" extended their rights of possession - which they held for unpaid Danish debts. Frederik replied the treaty was invalid since his father, who had made it, was not crowned at the time, and he himself had not been consulted in the matter. Complain as they might, the Lübeck'ers had neither the power northe ability to stop the take over.

      Located just outside of Koefoedgård's main house is a mighty oak-tree(eg), known as the "Nøgle-egen", which is said to be the "key" (nøgle) to the farm's good fortune. This romantic legend probably dates back further than the 1800s; no sure explanation is known as to how or why this came to be thought. The oak-tree dates back to the time Poul Kofoed took possession of that beautiful farm located in the fertile coast-land between Svaneke and Gudhjem. The farm-house commands a wide view of the eastern parishes and Svaneke township.

      The book "På spor af de første Kofod'er" by Jørn Klindt (published 1979) is a scholarly examination, which tries to clear up the many errors surrounding this family's genealogy. It is thought that the immediately preceading ancestors to the Kofoed'er of Bornholm originated from the area around Hamburg, in the Duchy of Holstein. In 1286 there is mention of a knight, Albertus Koefoed; the Holstein'er family attained the right to be armigerous and held various titles of knighthood. Every couple of generations the family rose in status to near nobility, only to then descend the social ladder; they never broke into, and then maintained, noble status.

      According to Jørn Klindt it was the so-called "Østermarie branch" (a.k.a. Julius Bidstrup's "Familien B") of the Kofoed-family that adopted the image of the cow-foot around the year 1595 - it is displayed on a tombstone in Østermarie Church, as well as in the seal of Mayor Esbern Kofoed, and later used by Mayor Poul Kofoed Madsen of Svaneke. But the cow-foot was not the preferred seal image for the Kofoeds, but rather a very old armorial image - the chevron (sparre) was the most widely used. Notably by the so-called "Rønne branch" (a.k.a. Julius Bidstrup's "Familien A"). First used by Chief Justice Jens Madsen Kofoed (c.1541-1625) of Rønne. Followed by his half-brother Hans Kofoed(c.1550-1623) of Blykobbegård, who used the chevron in his seal in 1595.Hans Kofoed's oldest son Mads Madsen Kofoed (c.1588-1646) used the chevron from 1608, and thus on down through the family.

      Jørn Klindt states that in Holstein in the late-1200s and early-1300s there can be found record of a number of Kofoed men: Albertus (-1286-), Henrik, Didrik, and Bertold. In the mid-1300s: Hasse, Johannes and his son Markvard, Frederik, Conrad, Michael of Lübeck, and two other Johannes. In the mid-1400s there were a number of Hanseatic traders: Henrik (-1466-1515) and Hans (died 1481) - both of Lübeck, Hans (-1484-)of Wismar, and Jesper (-1526-). The Hans Kofoed who died in 1481 is known to have had five children: Joakim, Grete, Engel, Anna, and Hans (born 1481). In the early-1500s one of the Kofoed Hansa traders is known to settled on Bornholm: Peder (-1510-1532-) of Rønne.

      From the "Dansk adelsvåbner, en heraldisk nøgle", page 92, by Sven Tito Achen, Politikens Forlag, 1973, København:
      Kofod. Et koben. Farver og eventuel hjelmfigur kendes ikke. Markvard Kofod, væbner, 1378; afkom ukendt. NDA side 151.

      (The above translated to English:)
      Kofod. On the shield a cow-foot. Colours and eventual helmet unknown. Markvard Kofod, arms carrier in 1378; no known descendants. NDA page 151.

      On Bornholm there were three classes of farms:
      1] Proprietairgård(Propr.), earlier called a Friegård - meaning property owned by a freeman("frimand", later called a "proprietær");
      2] Selvejergård (Slg.) -meaning a farm owned independently, free of obligations to a property owner - it could be occupied by its owner or rented out to a peasant farmer (bonde);
      3] Vornedegård (Vdg.), also spelled Vårnedergård -meaning a farm leased out long-term by a land-owner (proprietær) to atenured peasant farmer; these farms were "attached" to a proprietairgård, and entailed accompanying work obligations by the peasant for the proprietår who held the rights on the farm's lease. These rights were known as the "Herlighedsright" (Glory-right).

      This database researched and compiled by Norman Lee Madsen, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

  • Kilder 
    1. [S5] Edvard Skovgaard, 1000 Aner til en Skovgårdsslægt, (1989).