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- It is not known with certainty who Mads/Matthias Kofoed's (-1447-died 1552) parents were. Christopher Giessing (dated 1786) relates in his pedigree of the "Family Kofoed" that Mads 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 1886-87) his parents might be Jens Madsen Kofoed and Johanne Thygesdatter, but he is not certain. Also, J?rn Klindt in his book "P? spor af de f?rste Kofod'er" (published in 1979) has his doubts on this matter, and can not state for a fact that any of this is true.
Christopher Giessing relates a document granting noble status to Jens Kofoed (1481-1519) was issued on June 14, 1514; in which the coat of arms granted Jens Kofoed by the Danish King was a blue chevron on a red field. Considering that in the mid-1490s two of Mads Kofoed's sons, namely Jens Kofoed (c.1543-1625) and Hans Kofoed (c.1550-1623), are known to have used the chevron on their arms would certainly point to the possibility that Mads Kofoed is indeed the son of this Jens Kofoed. However, this is far from certain, as recent historians (namely Langebek and Bricka) note that this document shows signs of being a later forgery, possibly dating from the late 1600s. Some even go so far as to speculate that Elisabeth Akeleye (1654-1739) instigated the fabrication of this forgered document! One supposes this was done on behalf of her husband Jens Pedersen Kofoed (1628-1691), the famous "Liberator of Bornholm", who was a great-grandson of Mads Kofoed. (Note: Mads Kofoed is never identified by his patronymic in the records of his time, the name "Mads JENSEN Kofoed" is one attributed to him at a later date and is based upon the information provided by Christopher Giessing in 1786 and taken up by Julius Bidstrup in 1886-87. - Norman Lee Madsen, October 17, 2004)
In 1572 a meeting was held by Bornholm's Parliament to establish who had the right to the status of "Frimand" (Freeman) on Bornholm: Mads Kofoed's sons Peder, Jens and Hans Kofoed were in attendance at that meeting. Of course, that meeting had a broader purpose: a war in which L?beck and Denmark had fought side-by-side had ended two years previously, and there was another three years before the L?beck 50 year claim to Bornholm was to expire; although L?beck 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 freemen, 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 "Frimandsm?det" 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. J?rgen 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. J?rgen Gagge; 12. Berent Hansen (= Berild Hansen); 13. Laurids Pedersen; 14. Jens (Madsen) Kofoed; 15. Christen (Clausen) Ki?ller; 16. Peder Hansen (Uf); and 17. Hans (Madsen) Kofoed. Three advisers to the Danish Parliment (Rigsr?der) had been sent to preside over the meeting, namely: Bi?rn Kaas of Starupgaard, Bi?rn Andersen of Stenholt, and J?rgen Marsvin of Dyb?k. 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 L?beck's representative Sveder Ketting, "because you might expect that L?beck 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 L?beck; the Bornholmers felt greatly put upon by the high taxes, unfair rules, and high-handedness of the L?beckers. 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.
This is the first record in which we find the Kofoeds being mentioned as "frim?nd". 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 freeman 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 freeman status.
Two of the newly appointed freemen had an important mission to L?beck the following year. On September 6, 1573 King Frederik II wrote a letter to L?beck stating that "vore undersaatter br?drene Peter og Jens Kofoth" (our citizens, the brothers Peder and Jens Kofoed) have applied to L?beck's government for verification of their vital statistics, so as, among other things, they are free to serve their King - who then requests the L?beck council to give sympathetic consideration to their case and verify their births in L?beck'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 (kirkeb?ger) came into use. They were especially essential if disagreement arose among the heirs. In the L?beck 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 L?beck exactly in 1573 is of course the application the brothers made that same year for their vital statistics.
According to J?rn Klindt's "P? spor af de f?rste Kofod'er" it appears that Gunhild and Mads Kofoed were already married by 1547. The L?beck 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.
J?rn Klindt further writes that more information about Mads Kofoed is surely there to be found in the archives of K?benhavn, or in Gottorp and Potsdam - where the remnants of L?beck's archives are now held. As mayor for R?nne 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 K?benhavn in 1552. Part of the difficulty in answering this question lies in the fact that one L?beck 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 L?beck 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, as he is not mentioned in the L?beck 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 L?beck 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 Bornholmer 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, 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) 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) (-1542-) of Simleg?rd in Klemensker, who is the son of Oluf Ottesen (Uf) and the grandson of Otte Pedersen 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 R?nne; but whether or not he was related to "Familien Koefoed A or B" is not known. (H?bertz, Documentation of Bornholm's History, p. 63)
From "Aktstykker til Bornholm Historie" by Jens Rasmussen H?bertz, nr. 249:
1572 6. September ?kirkeby. Om frim?ndene p? Bornholm.
Vi efterskrevne Bi?rn Kaas til Starupgaard, Bi?rn Andersen til Stenholt, J?rgen Marsvin til Dybek kiendes och hermed for alle vitterliggj?r, at Aar efter Guds byrd 1572 den 6te Dag Septembris, det f?rste vi kom paa Landet Boringholm, da lode vi bestille Landsting, og paa Landstinget gave Kongl. Maysts. befaling og vor bestilling tilkiende, og da vi alting der bestillet havde, toge vi alle de fri M?nd, der vare, ind i Kirken, og der forelagde vi dennem en Dag, de sig [sagde] fri [at v?re] og frelse at have, at de skulle m?de om L?verdagen derefter med deres Brev og Seigl, huormed de kunde bevise sig fri at v?re. Detsimidlertid talede vi med Svend Ketting, og gav hannem tilkiende, at Kongl. Majst. var kommen udi Forfaring, at der skulle v?re mange paa Boringholm, som gav sig ud [for] fri at v?re, som dog ikke findes skulle, og dermed skede Kongl. Majst. forkort, paa hans Majsts. Kongskat og andet, huorfore vi og begierede af forskrevne Sven Ketting, at han ville hos v?re samme Dag, som vi forskrevne Frim?nd, paa Kongl. Majsts. wegne, for os beskeede og havde, hvor han og til det f?rste lovede. Men om morgenen, som Adelen var beskeet at komme tilstede, og forskrevne Sven Ketting havde sagt at ville derhos udi slig handel v?re tilstede, og forskrevne Sven Ketting haver da sendt os bud med sin tiener Jens Knap, som nu er Landstingsskriver, at han begierer at drage til Slottet, og der ops?ge nogle fine breve, og derhos lod berette, at han udi ingen Maader vidste sig noget at have med samme Adels-m?nd at gi?re, men at den beskeed, derom var, havde han l?nge siden berettet Mester David udi Lund, og han havde den handel alt sammen opskreven.
Saa er for os kommen, den forskrevne 6. September; disse efterskrevne fri og frelse M?nd, nemlig: Jacob Jversen Landsdommer, Mester Peder W, Peder Hanssen og Bent Hanssen, Br?dre, J?rgen Pedersen, Peder Koefoed, Oluf Madssen, Oluf Bagge, Mogens Hanssen p? hans S?ns Hans Mogenssens Vegne, som tiener til Hove, Peder Myre, J?rgen Bagge [sic, s.b. Gagge], Berent Hanssen, Laurids Pedersen, Jens Koefoed, Christen Ki?ller, Peder Hanssen, Hans Koefoed. Hvilke vi da efter Kongl. Maists. befaling haver alvorligen tiltalet, hvortil de have svaret, at de haver dennem ingen frihed ydermere tilholdet, end som de af fader og for?ldre arvet haver, og haver de dennem ingen ydermere Rettighed tilholdet, end deres Fader og For?ldre havde f?r dennem, og berettede, at de Lybsker tilforn havde Sal. og H?ilovlig Koning Christiern og sligt foregivet, saadan deres Adels Frihed og Rettighed at vilde forvende, da haver H?istbemeldte Kongl. Maist. dennem privilegeret, eftersom Adelen i Danmark havde deres Gods, og vidste dennom udi ingen maade at have forbrudt, men udi denne feide ladet dennem finde at bruge til Skibs, komme selv udi egen Person, og somme giort Folk ud, og enhver ladet sig finde villig efter sin formue, og dermed tilhjelpe at forsvare deres eget Land, saa Gud skee lov at fienderne dennem ingen Skade eller Afbreck giort haver, og dersom der var nogen, der vidste dennem at beskylde, at de ikke var fri og frelse M?nd, da begierede de, at de maatte komme tilstede, da vilde de holde dem food, og derhos begierer af Kongl. Maist. paa det allerunderdanigste, at de maatte beholde den Frihed, som deres For?ldre f?r dennem haft haver, de vilde med Gods og Blod, og hvis de formaaede v?re Kongl. Majst. tro tienere, efter deres ringe Formue, ligesom de tildes v?ret haver og pligtig kiendes, og forsee sig ogs? til Kong. Majst., som til deres rette Herre og Konge, hvilken der altid havde fremdraget forige Adel, at Hans Kongl. Majst. udi ingen Maader ville lade sig over dennem forf?re af Sven Ketting eller nogen anden; thi de kunde vel t?nke, at de Lybsker og deres Befalingsm?nd stod efter, at de kunde og bringe dennem under deres Tr?ldom, som de ellers giort haver ved Landet. Det skulle Gud allerm?gtigste bel?nne Hans Kongl. Majst., hvilket de altid troligen vil ?nske. At saaledes er passeret, det vidner vi med vores Zigneter herunder trykte. Datum Boringholm ut supra 1572 den 6. September.
(The above Langebek transcription is held in the Diplomatarium in the Geheime Archive together with another copy - the original had 3 seals attached to the bottom.)
Extracted from "Landsdommer-Patriciatet p? Bornholm, Del II" (The Chief Justice Patriciate on Bornholm, Part II), by: Sigvard Mahler Dam (SAXO, 1988):
Jens Kofoed:
Jens Kofoed and his older brother Peder were present at the church in ?kirkeby in 1572 when the king's envoys gathered all the freemen. Peder Kofoed presided at court in Hammershus on the 12th of April 1570 in the chief justice's place, and a promising future career as chief justice was ended by his early death in the 1570s. Jens and Peder, and their two sisters, Boel and Annicke, were the children of Mattis Kofoed and Johanne, who was possibly the daughter of Chief Justice Jens Hansen (Myre). Sigvard Mahler Dam believes Johanne might have had a family connection to Kyndeg?rd. Mattis Kofoed married a second time, to Gunhild (Chief Justice Peder Hansen Uf's sister) and they had a son, Hans. This relationship to the Uf-family can be seen in the Kofoed-family's newly acquired seal image which, like the Uf-family's coat of arms, display's a chevron. Previous to this the Kofoed's in Schleswig-Holstein had been using a cow's foot image. An imaginative person in the Kofoed-family fabricated a letter confuring nobility, which supposedly had been issued by the archbishop of Lund in 1511 - seemingly it was inspired by the similar (but genuine) letter of nobility issued to the Bagge-family. Oluf Bagge was married to Jens Kofoed's sister Boel. The R?nne Kofoed-family arms image was inspired by that of the Uf-family, but it was quite unheraldic in the choice of colours: a blue chevron on a red field; with two white vesselhorns on the helmet.
Jens Kofoed and his half-brother Hans Kofoed were, of coarse, the first to use this image: it can be seen on a document dated the 22nd of September 1595 concerning an inheritance between three Bagge brothers attested to by the two brothers and Peder Hansen (Uf).
Before Jens Kofoed could become a judge he had to obtain an education, and an entry in the Malm? tingbog (civic meeting records) dating from the 14th of December 1578 tells us that he was employed by Bi?rn Kaas as a clerk in Malm?hus Castle, wherein he issued a summons in the case a servant of the castle who had been murdered on the 24th of November. On the 21st of October 1583 the honourable mayor of Malm?, J?rgen Jensen Borringholm, read aloud a power of attorney, given by Lave Hansen to "the honourable man Jens Kofoed of Kyndegaard" to sell one of Lave's farms near Malm?, which Jens Kofoed had transferred to J?rgen Jensen Borringholm. Jens Kofoed apparently left Malm? in great haste, for the just one month before this (on the 13th of September) we find him on Bornholm in the company of Peder Hansen (Uf).
Before these happenings Jens Kofoed had met his wife. . . in Jylland! Anna Spendt, who was a daughter of low-nobleman Mogens Spendt of N?rreg?rd (-1570-1581-). Possibly Jens Kofoed had relatives in Jylland, for we find mention of a "Peder Koefuodt" of Hvolg?rd manor (in N?rvang district) issuing a deed, on Laxmand Gildenstjerne's behalf, to Anders Friis on the 24th of April 1624. (See note nr. 29) In 1594 Jens Kofoed and his wife Anna gave a beautiful chandelier to the church in Nyker parish, which was engraved with their arms: Jens Kofoed's chevron and the Spendt-family's skull-cap.
These same arms adorned their gravestones in R?nne:
"Ligger begrafvet vnder denne Steen Erlig oc Velbyrdig Mand Jens Koefoed til Kyndegaard som d?de An. 1625 9de Febr. : Ligger oc begrafvet vnder denne Steen Erlig oc Velbyrdig Frue Fr. Anna Spendt Jens Koefoeds Frue d?de paa Kyndegaard 1618 vdi November Maaned"
(Translated to english:)
"Buried beneath this Stone is the Honest and Well-Bred Man Jens Kofoed of Kyndeg?rd who died the Year of Our Lord 1625 on the 9th of February. : Buried beneath this Stone is the Honest and Well-Bred Lady Mrs. Anna Spendt, Jens Kofoed's Wife, who died at Kyndeg?rd in 1618 in the month of November."
Jens Kofoed's name frequently appears in documents of the Landsting; and he also retired from the judge's seat before his death: in a private letter dated the 13th of March 1624 wherein his brother's children deeded a tenant farm (12 Vdg.?) in ?sterlars, a farm they had inherited from their father (Hans Kofoed); the document was co-signed by the outgoing chief justice Jens Kofoed and (their mother's brother?) the new chief justice Christen Clausen (K?ller) of Skovsholm.
The following year Jens Kofoed died, and as he had no children the probate proceedings dragged on until the 22nd of March 1628 when his brother's son, Jacob Kofoed, bought out his co-inheritors to Kyndeg?rd. Among the witnesses to this transaction was "Welbyrd. Mand Christen Clausen till Skoufsholm, Landsdommer her paa Borringholm" (Well-Bred Man Christen Clausen of Skovsholm, Chief Justice here on Bornholm).
Note:
Nr. 12) J?rn Klindt's excellent book: "P? spor af de f?rste Kofod'er", R?nne, 1979; he states his source as "Hanserecesse III.5, 31 Aug. 1509".
Nr. 29) Viborg's Upper House of Parliament Deed-protocol (Landsting Sk?deprotokol) T.1.13; on Jens Kofoed see also J?rn Klindt (see note 12).
This database researched and compiled by Norman Lee Madsen, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, 21 July 2015.
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1515 - 1552 (~ 37 år)
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