| Notater |
- Extracted from "Landsdommer-Patriciatet p? Bornholm, Del II" (The Chief Justice Patriciate on Bornholm, Part II), by: Sigvard Mahler Dam (SAXO, 1988):
Mads Kofoed:
On the 5th of February 1629 a new judge was installed, the document uses a rather peculiar phrasing, to the effect that the candidate had to approach the king about obtaining the position: ". . . since our beloved Mads Kofoed respectfully has pledged to become chief justice of our land Bornholm, and thereupon given our beloved Holger Rosenkrantz . . . on our behalf his chief justice oath of allegiance . . ." Thereafter he received the same farms as his predecessor Christian (sic) Clausen, which were the same farms Jens Kofoed and Peder Hansen had possessed.
Mads Kofoed was the son of the brother of Chief Justice Jens Kofoed, and his mother was probably the daughter of Christen Clausen of Olsker. (See note below. - Norman Madsen) Mads Kofoed's wife, Karen J?rgensdatter, was the granddaughter of Chief Justice Peder Hansen Uf's wife's brother, Peder Hansen, who was himself a nephew of Chief Justice Laurids Pedersen; once again we are deeply entwined in the island's chief justice patriciate.
Through his wife, Mads Kofoed inherited almost everything worth getting from his father-in-law's estate, and it wasn't a pittance either! Two freeman estates: Eskesg?rd in Pedersker and Vellensg?rd in Nyker; in the 1608 coronation documents he is recorded as being of Eskesg?rd, later he resided at Vellensg?rd.
His name is often mentioned during his long term in office, but in his old age - in 1645 - he 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 at first he 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! Mads Kofoed and the other old men in command failed to stand up and stop the Swedes. (30) For which Mads Kofoed was severely punished by banishment, and he died in exile. His wife and children later obtained a pardon, and thus regained the family property. The couple had 6 children, 3 sons: J?rgen, Hans and Mads, who later resided at Eskesg?rd and Vellensg?rd and are counted among the last of the freemen; and also 3 daughters: Elsebeth (1607-1676), married to Jep Svendsen of ?ster Skovg?rd, 6 Slg. ?ker; a daughter (named Martha? - Norman Madsen), married to Claus Hartwig of R?nne; and a third daughter married to Jens Bendtsen (sic, s.b. Bendt Hansen? - Norman Madsen) of Hasle.
With the next chief justice comes the end of the "Chief Justice Patriciate" and thereafter the judges, like the councillors and mayors, came from the middle-class citizens of the townships.
On the 18th of December 1645 the king appointed Hans Pedersen, a former mayor of Laugholm in Halland, as chief justice for Bornholm. (see note nr. 31) On the 8th of December 1645 King Christian IV wrote to Christen Thomesen Sehested:
"As there is no chief justice on Bornholm, I have been searching for a suitable candidate, but have only been able to find a Hans Hans?n, a former mayor of Laholm, who is unknown to me; therefore you must scrutinize his qualifications, and if you find him suitable, send him to me so that he may swear his allegiance."
As we can see from the above, the king was so unfamiliar with the this candidate that he even got his patronymic wrong: "Hans?n" instead of "Peders?n". It seems that Sehested never got the opportunity to interview Hans Pedersen, who instead introduced himself to the king at Flensborg Castle; which we can gather from a later letter the king wrote to Christen Sehested:
"The man, I wrote you about, as a possible candidate as chief justice for Bornholm, was sent hither by Our Lord, and he has been attending me and by looking him over I find that he would be suitable for the office." (see nr. 32)
Hans Pedersen is to be found mentioned in a document dated the 14th of July 1652 as living at Gyldensg?rd in ?stermarie parish. As we know nothing of his family history, and the later chief justices do not stick closely together, it seems to me that the Laholm mayor Hans Pedersen brings an end to this Bornholm era, and therefore this article.
Notes:
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. 30) The whole episode was thoroughly investigated by Klindt (see note 12), same as Anders Jensen & J?rn Klindt "Byen, Landet og Havet - Nex? og omegens Historie", pub. Nex?, 1971.
Nr. 31) Kanc. Br. anf. dag.
Nr. 32) "Kong Christian IVs egenh?ndige breve", Bricka & Fridericia, vol. 6, K?benhavn, 1885-86.
This database researched and compiled by Norman Lee Madsen, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, 21 July 2015.
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1555 - 1600 (~ 46 år)
