| Notater |
- I et Landstings Vidne af Bornholms Landsting, dat. 22.5 1522, nævnes en
P. Kofod som Borgmester i Rønne; men om han var beslægtet med Familien Koefoed
A eller B vides ikke. (Hübertz, Aktst. til Bornholms Hist. s. 63).
I slægtsregistranterne i Lybæk findes for 1573 følgende optegnelse:
Kofoedt, Matthias, død før 1573 på Bornholm
Frue: Johanna
Børn: Peter
Jens
Boel, gift med Oluf Bagge
Annake, gift med Michael Abraham
Årsagen til registreringen i Lybæk skyldes brødrene Peder og Jens ansøgning om
ægthed samme år. Iøvrigt skal bemærkes, at konen anføres at være Johanna.
Efter bornholmske oplysninger at dømme synes han i 1547 at være gift med
Gunhild Uf og død på en københavnerrejse i 1552. De lybske registre angiver
divergerende oplysninger om hans død. Eet register siger "før 1573" et andet
"1573".
Oplysningen om datteren Boels ægteskab med Oluf Bagge gør det muligt at
identificere familien, og indplacere den i den kendte Koefoed A gren i
Bidstrups stamtavle. Vi ved nemlig fra bornholmske kilder, at den senere
landsdommer Jens Koefoeds søster var gift med Oluf Bagge.
Gift med søster til Mogens Uf (D Mag 4 I 336). Mads Kofod druknede undervejs
til kongens retterting, hvor han for Otte Pedersens arvinger skulle aflevere
nogle dokumenter, der skulle bruges i den proces, som Mogens Uf havde anlagt
mod dem. Februar 1552 befalede kongen, at landsdommeren på Bornholm skulle
være behjælpelig med at genskabe beviserne (KB), Mads Kofod og Johanna (!)
anføres 1573 i lybske slægtsregistranter som forældre til Peder, Jens, Boel
og Anneke, Hans Kofod nævnes ikke, skønt han ifølge Rasmus Ravns Borringholms
Krønike (side 145) var landsdommer Jens Kofods bror; som anført arvede Hans
Kofods børn Kyndegård efter Jens Kofod, hvilket bekræfter det nære slægtskab.
(Henning Ahrens i brev af 19 DEC 1993).
It is not known with certainty who Mads Jensen Kofoed's (born possibly
1513? or 1517?- died before 1573, possibly 1552?) parents were. The
historian Giessing, in 1786, states that Mads Jensen Kofoed was the son
of Jens Madsen Kofoed (1481-1519) and grandson of Mads Jensen Kofoed of
Hasle. According to Julius Bidstrup's "Familien Koefoed A og B"
(published in 1887) his parents might be Jens Madsen Kofoed and Johanne
Thygesdatter, but he is not certain. Also, Jørn Klindt in his book "På
spor af de første Kofod'er" (published in 1979) has his doubts on this
matter, and can not state for a fact that any of this is true. Current
evidence suggests that it is likely that Mads Jensen Kofoed was born 1513
in Lund, Skåne province; however, his parentage is still far from certain.
In 1572 a meeting was held by Bornholm's Parliament to establish who had
the right to the status of "Frimand" (Free-man) on Bornholm: Mads Jensen
Kofoed's sons Jens and Hans Kofoed were in attendance at that meeting.
Of course, that meeting had a broader purpose: a war in which Lübeck and
Danmark had fought side-by-side had ended two years previously, and there
was another three years before the Lübeck 50 year claim to Bornholm was
to expire; although Lübeck claimed that it had been given a further 50
years. In this predicament it was wise for the King to establish locally
situated allies; and Bornholm's influential free-men, who normally would
have been snubbed by the King and the true nobility, were now in a
position to receive benevolent treatment from the Danish government.
At the "Frimandsmødet" held on September 6, 1572 there were 17 men named
as being in attendance: the brothers Jens and Hans Madsen Kofoed, Peder
Poulsen Kofoed, Oluf Bagge, Peder Uf, Peder Myre, Jørgen Gagge, also ten
other men only listed by their father's name; and at which occassion
three Danish Parlimentary advisers (Rigsråder) had been sent to preside
over the meeting. The Kofoeds had no written proof of their free-men
status; they were only able to give heartfelt and solemn words about
faithful service. 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 Sweder Ketting, "because you might expect that Lübeck only
plotted to keep our island under their yoke." This is the first record
in which we find the Kofoeds being mentioned as "frimænd". We know that
they were related to Oluf Bagge and Peder Uf, and probably to several of
the others. The question remains: did they already have claim to
free-man status, or did they take advantage of the King's need for loyal
followers - seeking acknowledgement of that status from their peers on
Bornholm? It seems that they had to make certain commitments to the King
in exchange for the full rights to free-man status.
Two of the newly appointed free-men had an important mission to Lübeck
the following year. On September 6, 1573 King Frederik II wrote a letter
to Lübeck stating: "Our citizens, the brothers Peter and Jens Kofoth"
have applied to Lübeck's government for verification of their vital
statistics, so as, among other things, they are free to serve their King
- who then requests the Lübeck council to give sympathetic consideration
to their case and verify their births in Lübeck's records.
We often find such vital statistics proofs attached to the documents in
probate court cases, they were actually signed by the parish "Elders"
before the church parish registers (kirkeboger) came into use. They were
especially essential if disagreement arose among the heirs. In the
Lübeck registry for 1573 we find the following entry: Kofoedt, Matthias,
dead before 1573 on Bornholm, his wife: Johanna; their children: Peter,
Jens, Boel - married to Oluf Bagge; Anneke - married to Michael Abraham.
The reason that the family is registered in Lübeck exactly in 1573 is of
course the application the brothers made that same year for their vital
statistics.
According to Jørn Klindt's "På spor af de første Kofod'er" it appears
that Gunhild Uf and Mads Kofoed were already married by 1547. The Lübeck
legal-registry of 1573 states that a woman named Johanne was Mads
Kofoed's wife and mother to four of his children. The exact birth years
of his children are not known, but they are all thought to have been born
between 1540-50.
Jørn Klindt further writes that more information about Mads Kofoed is
surely there to be found in the archives of København, or in Gottorp and
Potsdam - where the remnants of Lübeck's archives are now held. As mayor
for Rønne township Mads Kofoed was an influential man on Bornholm, so it
would be rather peculiar if there weren't more traces of him to be
found. It could be that he is the same person as the Mads Kofoed known
to have died during a sea-voyage to København in 1552. Part of the
difficulty in answering this question lies in the fact that one Lübeck
entry states he died "before 1573" and another states "in 1573"; which is
correct and which in error? Mr. Klindt asks the following questions:
What was the case of the vital statistics about? Why was it that Hans
Kofoed, who on Bornholm was considered to be Jens Kofoed's brother, did
not appear on the 1573 Lübeck registry as part of the family? But, of
course, who will research this? Who has the ability, resources,
inclination, and time?
His son Jens Kofoed is known to have died in 1625, an old man around 80
years old. The same is said of Hans Kofoed who died in 1623, and he is
with greater certainty considered to be the son of Gunhild Uf, as he is
not mentioned in the Lübeck registry of 1573 as a son of Johanna and
"Matthias Kofoedt". Hans Kofoed has been listed by Bornholm's first
historian Rasmus Ravn (who lived from 1603-77) to be the brother of the
Judge Jens Madsen Kofoed; that he was not listed in the Lübeck registry
of 1573 makes for a stronger case that he was in fact half-brother to
Jens Madsen Kofoed.
Further proof that the two men were brothers can be seen by the fact that
Hans Kofoed's sons were made the heirs to Jens Madsen Kofoed's property.
Chief Justice Jens Kofoed had no direct heirs at the time of his death,
so the four sons of his brother Hans Kofoed, and a certain Albert Hansen
- on account of his wife Karina Mikkelsdatter, were made heirs to his
reportedly large fortune. For who else was there left in 1625 to
inherit? His brother Peder had long since died, as well as his
children. His sister Boel's children with Oluf Bagge had left the
island. His sister Anneke/Anniche had married a Michael/Mikkel Abraham,
a common Bornholm name, and so a daughter from their marriage would have
been known as "Mikkelsdatter", which leads us to Karina being Jens
Kofoed's niece.
There is some dispute surrounding the parents of Gunhild Uf, some say she
might be the daughter of Oluf Tuesen and his wife - the daughter of Otte
Pedersen Uf; others think she is the daughter of Anders Uf (son of the
same Otte Pedersen Uf) and Anne Sevidsdatter. The same debate surrounds
Chief Justice (Landsdommer) Mogens Uf (who died 1565). Sigvard Mahler
Dam states that she is the daughter of Hans Olufsen Uf (died 1574) of
Simblegård in Klemensker, who is the son of Oluf Ottesen Uf and the
grandson of Otte Pedersen Uf and his second wife (and thus not a
descendant of Anders Galen).
In the land-registry testimony of Bornholm's Land-Register, dated May 22,
1522, is mentioned a P. Kofod as mayor of Rønne; but whether or not he
was related to "Familien Koefoed A or B" is not known. (Hübertz,
Documentation of Bornholm's History, p. 63)
Død:
- Druknet på rejse til København
|
1513 - 1552 (38 år)
