Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Family Skarpenberg


Gotskalk Skarpenberg
Gotskalk Skarpenberg was of a German noble family from Pommern or Mecklenburg, he came to Denmark together with Valdemar Atterdag. He was also known as a sørøverridder (pirate-knight). He was an ungovernable and violent man , but clever and enterprising; he served the Swedish king Magnus Smek for a period and became høvedsmand (vasal/chief) at Bohus. He was accused of outrage, returned to Denmark and inherited in 1360 Spøttrup in Salling and Lund at Mors after his father-in-law Niels Bugge. Lund was fortificated at that time. Gotskalk entered the alliance with other Jutland magnates and the Holstein grever against the king, who had to negotiate with them and accept. Gotskalk was appointed høvedsmand at Hornborg (Hindborg).
Dansk Biografisk Lexicon

(forfædrelinie IV, 2.g.a.)

Gotskalk Skarpenberg was married to Lisbeth (Elisabeth/Else) Nielsdatter Bugge of Hald

Johan (Henneke) Skarpenberg (m. 1389-1421)
rigsråd, from German nobility - the same family as Sharffenberg - he was a son of Gotskalk Skarpenberg of Hald and Else (Lisbeth/Elisabeth) Nielsdatter Bugge. Before he became a ridder (knight) he called himself Heine or Henneke Skarpenberg. He is mentioned for the first time in 1389 in a thing's witness of Nørreherred at Mors, and in 1395 his name is among the several forlovere in the agreement at Lindholm; he is also mentioned when his mother sold Hald to queen Margrethe.

When he became a knight it probably happened at the feasts of the king-election in Kalmar in 1397. At the same time he got a seat as rigsråd in Rigens Råd (State Council) , for during the next 20 years he is mentioned as a witness in a large amount of public and private documents. He seems to be present at the agreements in Flensborg 1405, 1412 and 1413, at the negotiations with the Ditmarsks in 1409 and at the agreement in Kolding in 1411. He must be the Skarpenberg who in 1409 accompanied queen Margrethe to Gottorp and here discovered and warned the queen against a planned treason from hertuginde Elisabeth's side.

In 1410 he was one of the leaders of the 8000 men, king Erik sent to Friesland, he was taken prisoner in the battle at Sollerup Mark and had to pay a considerable ransom of 10.000 mark. From his vasalries is known Trøjborg (1405) and Skive with Hindborg, Rødding, Nørre and Harre herred, which he had as a pawn in 1407. He owned Spøttrup in Salling, Lund at Mors, Utterslevgård at Lolland, which he sold in 1401, and Tranholm, which he in 1406 sold to the Crown, and Højriis at Mors, which he in 1413 exchanged to Børglum Kloster.

The legend says that he lived in the manor Gammellund , but had to leave the country and lost his estates because he - after in vain having complained to the king - killed one of the king's vasals Peder Pykstrud, who had raped a young girl who was a daughter of one of Johan Skarpenberg's men. But in 1417 Johan Skarpenberg was still a rigsråd and he was dead in 1421. So the legend seems to be just a legend or maybe overdramatized rumors. He was buried in Viborg Cathedral which would have been impossible if the legend was true. His estate at Mors and in Salling were for a long time after his death royal vasalries which suggests that the legend might have some truth in it. Half the truth? He seems to have been of a violent nature like his father, the canons of Ribe banned him in 1405, because he when vasal at Trøjborg had assaulted Løgumkloster.
Johan Skarpenberg was married to fru Eibe (Limbek) who still lived in 1427 .
Thiset Dansk Biografisk Lexicon

(forfædrelinie IV, 3.g.a. og 4.g.a.)
Johan Skarpenberg had a daughter, Inger Hennekesdatter Skarpenberg, who was married to Herman Flemming of Knudstrup, a son of Peder Flemming in Sweden.

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Hald, Nørre Vosborg, Hegnet

foto from Hald: kai bachmann, sept. 1999

Dollerup sogn, Nørlyng herred, Viborg amt.

We are able to follow the history of Hald back to the 14th century - but hardly further back in time. Several Danish legends has got tales about the manor, but they are only legends. The manor is known to us in history from the beginning fo the 14th century. The manor was probably owned by Ludvig Albertsen Eberstein (+ 1328), whose daughter Margrethe sold her part of her inheritance to her brother Peder Ludvigsen Eberstein, which was confirmed by the king in 1346. But already the year before had Peder Ludvigsen pawned his parts in Hald to Niels Bugge of Nørre Vosborg, and in 1346 he sold the manor and the estate to him.

Niels Bugge was one of this period's richest and most powerful noblemen. He built the strong borg (castle) at Hald which is mentioned in ta famous Danish folk song:

Hr. Bugge han bygger Hald op med ære
han agter den ikke i fremmed mands være
De ride så frit gjennem Danmark.

Although Niels Bugge owned other farms and manors in Denmark , i.e. the West Jutland Nørre Vosborg, his name is especially connected to Hald. It was very likely from Hald that he in the 1350s led the big rebellion of the dissatisfied Jutland nobility against Valdemar Atterdag. Niels Bugge might not only have been the richest nobleman of the kingdom, he was also the most authoritative man of that time. He dared to oppose the king. This resulted in king Valdemar's siege of Hald. This is also mentioned in the folksong, where he says " that the king can make as much trouble he wants, he'll just wait for him at Hald. Valdemar says that he has heard that Niels Bugge has built a building so strong that no arrows nor catapults can conquer it, and Niels Bugge then tells the king that he will be able deal with the siege and to stay at Hald for nine winters! " Well, so much for the folk-song. Niels Bugge succeeded in keeping his independence. The king had to leave with without having achieved anything , and upon the big Danehof (Danish Court) in Nyborg in 1354 the reconciliation took place between Valdemar Atterdag and the Danish people, but this did not last. Soon the dissatisfaction flared up again.

In December 1358 and granted safe passage Niels Bugge went together with two other noblemen to Slagelse in order to reach a settlement with the king. But no reconciliation was arranged and already in January 1359 the noblemen left the king empty-handed. Their passage home was disrupted in Middelfart where they were murdered. Some fishermen of the town assaulted and killed them. Was it something the king had ordered? It is not possible to make this out, it is only possible to guess and then furthermore note that the king solemnly disclaimed the responsibility for the murder. The residents of the houses in Vestergade in Middelfart, where the perpetrators lived, had to pay a yearly tax or blodpenge (blood money), the socalled Buggespenge, which was paid up till 1874, more than 500 years later.

In his second marriage with Ingeborg Pedersdatter Vendelbo Niels Bugge had a daughter Lisbeth, who married the Mecklenburg-Ridder (knight) Gotskalk Skarpenberg who for a period had served the Swedish king Magnus Smek and also was høvedsmand (military chief) at Båhus. With his marriage to Lisbeth he achieved Hald, but he soon sold it to the king, Valdemar Atterdag, who did not pay it at once/at all! Actually it was queen Margrethe I who paid the purchase price to fru Lisbeth and her son Johan (Henneke) Skarpenberg of Gammellund and Højriis. (NB: and Spøttrup)

(Extract from: Danske slotte og herregårde, vol. 13 )

foto: grethe bachmann

Nørre Vosborg
Ulfborg parish, Ulfborg herred, Ringkøbing amt.

Among the many borge/castles which appeared during the Middle Ages in West Jutland - up north from Limfjorden and down south to Kongeåen - Vosborg was one of the earliest in Danish history. It was originally built southwest of the present manor and close to the delta where Storåen (river) runs out in Nissum Fjord. The name Vosborg comes from oldnordisk óss meaning åmunding (mouth of the å). While the first manor Oseborg was placed north of the water stream, the ladegård (farm building) was placed south of the water, and between them was a valuable salmon-farm. The outflow of Storåen moved later longer to the north and the voldstedet ( the castle bank) is situated at a rest of the old water stream, Gammelå. It is noted that there were foundations from a very large four winged building with a tower, and the legend tells much about a castle which the mighty Niels Bugge of Hald let build by an English master builder at this place which he was said to have inherited from his father, Bugge Nielsen of Hegnet.

As known and before mentioned Niels Bugge was killed in Middelfart in 1359. His widow Ingeborg Pedersdatter (Vendelbo) outlived him for many years and owned Vosborg for a period, possibly until 1388, where she distributed estate after hr. Niels. From his numerous estate Vosborg, Støvringgård and Lindholm (Lundholm?) ( and a long gone by sanddrift destroyed manor at Skagen) came to his daughter Eline (Ellen), who was married to marsk Christiern Vendelbo, who owned many Jutland manors. All their daughters were married to men from the best aristocratic Danish families, the daughter Ingeborg Christiernsdatter Vendelbo of Vosborg was married to the widower Predbjørn Podebusk of Egholm at Zealand. And thus came Vosborg to the family Podebusk for many years.


Tøndering parish, Harre herred, Viborg amt.

Hegnet was the main manor during seven generations for one of Denmark's most powerful herreslægter (nobility families) . The home place of the Skeel-family was the land between Kolding and Vejle, but as soon as in the first decades of the 1500s the main line of the family left and went north to the Viborg-Randers-area from where the Skeel-family and their descendants up til the present have been the owner of much estate . The very first estate they got up here in the north was Hegnet in Salling.

But this old Salling-manor does not parade venerable or imposant buildings, although it is the oldest in this part of the country. Bugge Nielsen was the owner of Hegnet in 1332, he was the father of the mighty Niels Bugge of Hald and without any doubt one of the greatest Danish landowners. It is said that he was killed by Erik Brune Banner of Sønder Elkær at Lyby kirke. From the same period is probably "fru Bolde of Hegnet" who is among the family-members for whom Albret Andersen Skeel via a deed of gift established masses for their souls at Tøndering kirke 11 July. Fru Bolde's sister's son's daughter's daughter fru Kirsten Krag brought the manor to her second husband Anders Skeel. Her first husband was Peder Hase of Vellumgård who died ab. 1425.

(Extract from: Danske slotte og herregårde, vol. 12, 1966)

Niels Bugge - 1359, of Hald and Nørre Vosborg, vas according to the family books a son of Bugge Nielsen of Hegnet who was killed at Lyby kirke by Erik Brune (Banner) of Elkær). His father belonged to the Jutland-followers of grev Gert and is mentioned among the witnesses of the Holstein part in the negotiation of 10 January 1332 between king Christoffer and grev Gert. (the Holstein Graf Gert) Like his father Niels Bugge early joined the mighty grev Gert - and in the king-less period from 1332-40 he achieved a power and esteem from his Nørrejyske (North Jutland) rank companions, which no one in his family probably had ever possessed before. He was closely related to Niels Ebbesen, he was his mother's brother (Niels Bugge's sister Bege Bugge was married to Ebbe Strangesen ) . Niels Bugge later broke with grev Gert, and according to the folksong he was one of the main leaders of the great rebellion in Nørrejylland which was the cause of grev Gert's raid in 1340 and the bloody incident in Randers.

Niels Bugge's original home was in Nørre Vosborg in Ulvborg parish and district and close to Storåen's ( river) outflow in Nissum Fjord. (and the North Sea). The family books says that he built this castle meant to be his real family castle a long time before he established Hald Castle, (near Viborg) - and several legends still keeps the memory about the English building master who built the strong castle and about the gardener who laid out the garden, and about the English prince who stranded at the Jutland coast and was plundered by hr. Eske Frost, but received in glory and honour by Niels Bugge. First in 1345 he was the full owner of this strong fortification at Hald.

Niels Bugge's name is connected to Hald and he undoubtedly lived here, and from there he lead the great rebellion against king Valdemar Atterdag, who in special brought Niels Bugge's name to the afterworld. He was probably the richest lord of the kingdom in that period - and with good reason he was called "King Bugge". Besides Nørre Vosborg and Hald he owned the castles and manors Estrup, Spøttrup, Åstrup, Rolstrup at Mors, Lindholm at Skagen and Støvringgård and several other estate, especially in the northern part of Nørrejylland.

Thus he was an obvious leader of the Jutland nobility, whose personal need of independence was being threatened by Valdemar Atterdag's aim at expanding the power of the crown . When king Valdemar ruthlessly made a stand against the feeling of freedom and wilfulness of the nobility, a fight started between the aristocracy and the royal power in which Niels Bugge stood as a leader and a representative of the old time's demands.

Still in 1350 the relation between the king and Niels Bugge was friendly. He participated in the king's expedition to Mecklenburg and Brandenburg in 1349 and 1350 and was present in Spremberg and Bautzen when Valdemar mediated agreements between Ludvig of Bayern and Karl IV. But shortly after his homecoming he joined Valdemar's enemies, the Holstein grafs and hertug Valdemar of Sønderjyland, and before the end of 1351 the whole Jutland from Elben to Skagen was at war with Valdemar.

Niels Bugge quickly achieved honour in the feud, he conquered the castle Landting at Limfjorden where he took prisoners, and the folklegend about the king's siege of Hald Castle must be a part of this story. In the agreement at Vindinge 26. July 1353 the Jutland lords and especially Niels Bugge were present, mutual conquerings were given back and some decisions about releasing the prisoners were made. At the great Danehof in Nyborg St. Hans dag 1354, where the complete reconciliation with the king and his men took place, Niels Bugge was undoubtedly present - and in the following year we find him as an active member at the royal thing in Jutland.

But already in the winter 1356-57 the discontent in Jutland broke out again, many Jutes came across Lillebælt to Funen to bring their complaints to the king, and a new feud took place and again with the Holstein grafs, hertug Valdemar and the Jutland nobility as participants. In the end of the year 1358 Niels Bugge went together with Ove Stigsen of Eskebjerg and Peder Andersen of Margård, all granted safe passage, to Slagelse to make an agreement with the king. The conditions the king came up with were so tough that they furiously left the meeting two days before Christmas. On their journey home Niels Bugge and his two followers were killed in Middelfart by some fishermen. Up til 1874 three houses in Middelfart had to pay a fine for the killing, a speciel tax, the socalled "Buggespenge" ("Buggesmoney").

King Valdemar solemnly swore that he had nothing to do with the murders, and the king's son Christoffer and Niels Bugge's son Knud even got a friendly relationship, but the suspicion against Valdemar was impossible to wipe out. The folksong about Niels Bugge's murder is consistent with the people's hostile feelings against the king. Niels Bugge on the contrary is pictured in full sympathy.

Fra Dansk Biografisk Lexikon, (Mollerup).
(Niels Bugge (Forfædrelinie IV, 1.g.)

Niels Bugge was married twice.
1) Lisbeth Palnesdatter Juul, a daughter of marsk Palne Jonsen Juul and Elne Nielsdatter Lendi of Troldorp.
2) Ingeborg Vendelbo, a daughter of drost Peder Vendelbo

Kirsten Nielsdatter Bugge
Ellen Nielsdatter Bugge of Støvringgård, m. to drost Christiern Vendelbo, owner of Truidsholm and høvedsmand at Skanderborg slot.

Niels Nielsen Bugge
Mikkel (?) Nielsen Bugge
Lisbeth Nielsdatter Bugge til Hald, m. to hr. Gotskalk Skarpenberg

and a son:
Knud Nielsen Bugge (from which marriage?)
Fra Dansk Biografisk Lexikon, (Mollerup)

more text later.