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- Mads Kofoed is thought to have been born sometime between 1580-90. He was the "Propriet?r" of Vellensg?rd in Nyker and Eskesg?rd in Pedersker parish, both of which he got through marriage with Karen J?rgensdatter. Mads Kofoed purchased the rights to Eskesg?rd, and to Skadeg?rd, 12 Vdg. Pedersker, on January 30, 1608 from his brother-in-law Esbern Kofoed. Vellensg?rd and Eskesg?rd are both classified as "frieg?rds", later called "proprietair" farms. Mads Kofoed's name is often mentioned during his long term in office as Chief Justice (Landsdommer) for Bornholm.
Mads Kofoed, named as a "Frimand", was one of the delegates who on May 6, 1608, in K?benhavn, selected and confirmed Prince Christian as the future King of Denmark. He, along with four other Bornholmers, took part in the following festivities in Lund, Sk?ne (now part of Sverige/Sweden), where the nobility swore their allegiance to Prince Christian in the year 1610.
Their written authorization to attend reads as follows:
"We, the hereafter stated signatories: Jens Kofoedt of Kyndegaard, Hanns Kofoedt of Blykobbegaard, Peder Koefoedt of Bagisgaard, Matz Koefoedt of Eskiilsgaard, and Niels Beriildsen of Gadebygaard, all Freemen of Borringholm, and present here together hereby declare. . . The honest and noble man: Hanns Lindenow, Commander of Hammershus Fortress, has according to our consent, requested these two persons: the honourable Hans and Poffuill Koefoedt to travel to Ki?benhaffn with our authorized document and be our representatives (at Prince Christian's election). . . as further documentation we have in our own handwriting signed and sealed this our open-letter."
The above letter is dated: "Borringholm, 6 Maij, Anno 1608" With the signatures of: Jenns Koefoedt, Hans Kofod, Peder Koefoedt, Matz Koefoedt, Jacob K?ller, Hans Berillsenn, Niels Berendtzen. Mads Kofoed used his "sparre" (chevron) seal on the document.
On February 5, 1629 he obtained the position of Chief Justice (Landsdommer) for Bornholm. On "Mortensdag" (November 11) 1637 he presented 50 silver Daler to R?nne Hospital in gratitude for their having nursed him back to health after he survived a storm at sea.
In 1629 King Christian IV had Mads Kofoed, as Chief Justice (Landsdommer) for Bornholm, swear his allegiance to the new Commander at Hammershus fortress: Holger Rosenkrans; in return he received, like other county judges before him, the rights to a number of farms "to enjoy and keep freely, as long as he is Chief Justice." These farms were: three (3) farms in Klemensker parish (one of them Duebjergg?rd); one (1) farm, Bjergeg?rd, in Vestermarie parish; one (1) farm in Rutsker parish; five (5) farms in ?stermarie parish (one of them Lyrsbyg?rd); and one (1) farm, Klintebyg?rd, in Ibsker parish.
Nr. 6095 - K?benhavn 15 Mai 1647. Dombog 47, Fol. 335R-336V:
Karen J?rgensdatter mod Landsdommer Hans Pedersen. Arv og skifte - arv (appel, myndighed, landsdommer; ejendom, gods, handel, arv) - Kongen frav?rende; 11 frav?rende fra r?det - 2. instans. Udfald: Domf?ldelse ? ?ndring af dom v. Bornholms Landsting. Retsgrundlag: Sk?der. Resume: Sags?ger tiltalte sags?gte, fordi denne 9 September 1646 havde tild?mt kronen halvdelen af tidligere Landsdommer Mads Kofoeds gods, da det blev anset for k?begods.
According the the 1651 Jordebog the deceased Mads Kofoed's estate held two (2) farms in ?ker parish:
Sl. Madz Koufoedz Gaarde.
Lauridz Jiuell. Wdbygger: Niels Mogenss?n. (Lille Loftsg?rd, 25 Vdg.)
Hans Peiterss?nn. Gadehuuss: Rassmus Anderss?n. (Hjulmagerg?rd, 17 Vdg.)
A judge had to be well educated, and economically independent, in order to pass fair and unbiased judgement. In return the King offered him total support: contempt for the judge's office was nothing less than an insult against His Majesty, and could bring on the death penalty. Chief Justice Mads Kofoed performed his task cleverly and with care. Many of his cases went to the Highest Court in K?benhavn, and most of them were upheld. He enjoyed the well-deserved honour of being described as: "Our fellow, servant, and Chief Justice upon our land - Bornholm".
In "P? spor af de f?rste Kofod'er" we are told of a case that Mads Kofoed presided over, along with a 14 man jury: it seems that an Ingeborg, wife of Peder M?ller, was sentenced to leave her home and country because of her "witchcraft". The case suggests that she must have been a most disagreeable woman, who caused great uproar in Pedersker parish.
When in 1636 Mads received yet another farm in Vestermarie - meant as a rest-stop along the way to the Bornholm Council meetings - you cannot help but become a bit suspicious that maybe he was suffering from farm collecting mania!
The life of a Chief Justice was not always easy - during on of the many required sea-voyages to K?benhavn he nearly drowned. Luckily, King Christian IV issued an open decree in 1638 to the effect that during winter-time no county judge could be summoned to attend High Court in K?benhavn, with special note that on "the land of Bornholm" you could encounter dangerous sea-voyages! As a thank you gift for being rescued, he donated a bond worth 50 Rigsdaler to the Hospital for the Poor in R?nne, which returned an interest of 10 Mark per year, for "as long as the money stays in my name."
Sweden, along with their Dutch allies, began a war against Denmark in 1643. The Swedish Commander, Lennart Torstensson, crossed the Danish southern frontier in December of 1643 and quickly occupied Jylland peninsula, while Louis DeGeer's army, based in Stockholm, seized the province of Sk?ne. This two-pronged attack took the Danes by surprise, but the elderly King Christian IV managed to rise to the challenge. The 67 year old king was tireless in organizing his navy and in raising forces, and the next April the Danish fleet met and defeated the Dutch navy, which was preparing to carry Torstensson's troops from the peninsula to the islands of Fyn and Sj?lland. The defeated Dutch sailed back to Holland, but in June a Swedish fleet of forty ships appeared in the western Baltic. King Christian engaged the enemy in a ten-hour long battle in which he lost an eye and was wounded in thirteen places. The Swedish fleet was forced to flee to Kiel where it combined with the Dutch to attack the Danes near the island of Lolland. In this battle the Danish, who were outnumbered by two to one, lost fifteen of their seventeen ships by sinking or capture, and King Christian was forced to sue for peace.
The Baltic island of Bornholm found out to its detriment the extent of the Swedes rule over the Baltic Sea at that time. The Swedish troops landed on the 9th of June 1645 just to the south of the Bornholm township of Svaneke; the town suffered 4 hours of plundering after its surrender to the Swedish Commandant Wrangel. Mads Kofoed, and the other elderly men in command, were unable to properly lead the Bornholmer troops. He was blamed for the surrender of Hammershus to the Swedes on the 17th of June; and as a result Mads Kofoed had the misfortune of being partly responsible for the total collapse of Bornholm's defenses and the Swedish General Wrangel's conquering of the entire island, even though at first Wrangel had only threatened to burn down all of Nex? as a personal revenge against a couple of skipper's from Nex? who had stolen one of his ships!
In the resulting peace treaty negotiated in Br?msebro in August of 1645 obliged Denmark to surrender J?mtland and H?rjedal, Gotland and the island of ?sel. It was agreed that the captured island of Bornholm was to be returned to Danish rule. As a guarantee for the exemption of Swedish shippinf from Danish shipping tolls, Sweden took possession of the province of Halland for a period of thirty years - however it was never returned.
The officers in the Bornholm militia who were judged to have betrayed their country were sentenced to death, but the king benevolently conveyed the sentence to one of exile. Mads Kofoed, and his brothers Peder and Jacob, were judged traitors and banished. The exact place and circumstances of Mads Kofoed's death are not known, only that he died while abroad (udlandet) in 1646; possibly he fled into exile along side Peder Kofoed, and like him, died in L?beck.
A High Court case (Dombog 48, page 835R-838R) of July 5, 1649 involving Ebbe Ulfeldt, a nobleman from Ovesholm in Tr?ne parish, Kristianstad county, against the deceased "Mads Kofoeds arvinger" (Mads Kofoed's heirs) regarding a case from July 21, 1641, because "Mads Kofoed havde henvist en sag om en kvindes d?d til endelig afg?relse ved herredstinget og derved underkendt en n?vningekendelse, der fandt Hans Lauridsen skyldig i kvindens d?d" (Mads Kofoed had requested the matter of a woman's death to be the final decision of the District Court, and thereby overruled a jury verdict which had found a Hans Lauridsen guilty of the woman's death).
This database researched and compiled by Norman Lee Madsen, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, 21 July 2015.
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1582 - 1646 (~ 64 år)
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