| Notater |
- Extracted from "V?bnere Adel og Frim?nd p? Bornholm", by J.A. J?rgensen, R?nne, 1905:
We shall now try to examine, how it conduct oneself with the so-called native Bornholmer noble-family. The forefather, from whom Bornholmers through the centuries have believed - a belief different from that of the author, especially from that of Laurids de Thura, have done their best to confirm - to be: Jens Madsen Koefoed, born 1481, died 1519. This man went into the service of Archbishop Byrge in Lund, who had ennoblement-privileges and thus ennobled him for his faithful service. The letter, which Byrge is said to have issued, is re-printed by Laurids de Thura, but it is just a transcript. This patent of nobility reads as follows:
"Wii Byrge med Guds Naade Erke-Biskop i Lund, Sverrigs f?rste og Pavens Legat, Gi?re witterligt, at vi af wor synderlige Gunst og Naade have taget annammet og undfanget, og nu med dette Wort Vabne-Brev tage annamme og undfange Os Elskelige, Jens Koefod, hans Hustru, B?rn, Hion, Tienere og Godts, r?rendes og ur?rendes, udinden vor Biskopelige Hegn, Vern, Fred og Beskiermelse, besynderligen at ville handth?ve, forsvare og Dagtinge til ald Rette; Og saasom bemelte Jens Koefod, der hidtil har v?ret ufri, og en Almues-Mand, haver ladet sig finde udi denne Tog og Feide, som en Brav og Tapper Helt, til at slaa paa Vores og Riigens Fiender, og forsvaret Vores Land; Saa have Vi hannem for saadant hans tro Tieneste og Tapperhed bevilget og samtykt, saasom Vi og hannem med dette Vort Vabne-Brev, bevilge og samtykke, at hand derefter skal v?re en fri Adelsmand, og haver derfor givet hannem dette paateignede Adels-Vaaben som er: Et blaat Spende udi et r?dt Feldt, og to Horn oven i Hielmen; Hvilket Adelige Vaaben, hand, hans B?rn og Afkom, skulde nyde og beholde, og skal hand, hans B?rn og Efterkommere, saafremt de sig saaledes forholde, som han f?r dennem giort haver, naar noget Rov og Bytte efter Krigen deeles, tage lige Lod af det bedste, som andre Rigens Adelsm?nd. Thi forbyde Vi Vore Biskopper, Ridder, og andre Adelsm?nd, udi Vore Lande, fornefnte Os Elskelige Jens Koefod, paa saadan hans Adels Frihed at hindre, eller udi nogen Maade Forfang at gi?re. Til ydermere Stadf?stelse, have Vi ladet h?nge Vores Secret her neden under dette Ao. Dni. MDXIIII den XIIII Dag Junii."
Carl Frederick Bricka has in his above-mentioned treatise in Historisk Tidsskrift 5 R. 4 B. 1883-1884 informed that besides this transcript there are two others, however by no means written like Thurah's, inserted in "Langebeckske Diplomatorium" in the Geheimearkivet. At the bottom of the one of these is the following information in a hand other than that of Langebeck: "Origin of this, and also for the Gagges and Bagges, is approximately from 1691 or 1692, then the freedom of any of the estates on Bornholm is disputable, delivered by Sir Albert Hartvigsen to the deceased Mr. Chief Justice Parsberg", but Langebeck has subsequently added: "Style of this patent of nobility seems somewhat dubious. At the least, whoever has copied it from the original, did not know how to correctly read the old style handwriting". Bricka subsequently gave himself over to closely examining the patent of nobility, which Archbishop Tue had given to Oluf Bagge, and a better man to undertake such a critical examination cannot to be found. Results thereof were that he declared Jens Koefoed's patent of nobility a forgery from the last half of the 17th century. Therefore this item was utterly taken out of the realm of history and likewise out of Bornholm nobility. There was however something else which attracted Bricka's attention and necessitated additional investigation. A son's son of the supposed by Byrge ennobled Jens Madsen Koefoed, Jens Koefoed of Kyndeg?rd, was appointed in 1588 as chief justice of Bornholm, and a royal proclamation, which confirmed his appointment, names him: "Our Man and Servant", a designation which by custom was only used for true noblemen. To easier understand this error there shall now be printed on the overleaf page a piece from Julius Bidstrup's "Stamtavle over Familien Koefoed".
"Brudstykke af Familien Koefoeds Stamtavle." . . . .
Let us now move on, to the Byrge issued patent of nobility as a forgery, on which the family Koefoed cannot build their supposed nobility; thus one must seek other places to find something, but then there is Chief Justice Jens Koefoed, called "Our Man and Servant" and therefore must be a true nobleman. However, he did not leave behind a child and thus it ends there, and so however one turns it about the outcome is the same, namely that the family cannot be reckoned among the nobility. However, we are left with a fundamental question: how did it come to pass that Chief Justice Jens Koefoed was designated "Our Man and Servant". For no patent of nobility for him is known. But if, despite all doubt, there is foundation to his grandfather's supposed nobility, then the descendants of his father's brother, Mads Jensen Koefoed, and included among those Jens Pedersen Koefoed, Bornholm's Liberator, must be of the nobility. However, it appears not to be the case, as close members of his succeeding family never denoted themselves as nobility, nor were denoted as such in letters and documents. Some of these named themselves freemen, among them the chief justice, Jens Koefoed, "Our Man and Servant". Bricka searches to clarify the designation "Our Man and Servant" as being produced by mistake in the Chancellery, which at that time was not in the greatest order. But here it must be recognized that there was a rule that only true noblemen could become chief justices, as emphasized by Bricka; except that he then remarks: "however, possibly with the exception of Bleking, Bornholm and M?n". However, it must be remarked upon that Chief Justice Jens Koefoed had already made use of the Koefoed chevron emblem, which is described in the supposed patent of nobility. This image is to be found on his gravestone, which lay in the chancel inside R?nne Church after his and his wife's death. On this stone was carved the following inscription.
"Under this stone lies buried the honest and of highborn man Jens Koefoed of Kyndegaard, who died in the year 1625 on the 9th of February. : Under this stone lies buried the honest and highborn lady Mrs. Anna Spendt, Jens Koefoed's wife, who died on Kyndegaard in 1618 in the month of November."
Underneath this was carved the Koefoed emblem with a "Sp?nde" (= buckle; s.b. "Sparre" = chevron, Norman Madsen) and Anna Spendt's emblem of a Polish cap (a.k.a. skull-cap or yarmulke) in the shield. Therefore it appears undisputable that the Koefoed's emblem, in the exact form described in the patent of nobility, had been held and used by Jens Koefoed, who was chief justice from 1588 to 1620 and died in 1625. This makes the matter of the patent of nobility completely incomprehensible, for if one agrees with Bricka, that it is in fact a forgery from the last half of the 17th century, then how can the coat of arms described in the patent of nobility have been used long before that time, and who gave Chief Justice Jens Koefoed the right to use such a coat of arms?
However the case may be: even had the Koefoed's patent of nobility been genuine, noble status would have been forfeited with unfree marriages before 1660.
The often mentioned Chief Justice Jens Koefoed was no doubt married to a noble lady, Anna Spendt, and Jens Pedersen Koefoed's 2nd wife, with whom he had 3 children (besides the 20 children he had with his 1st wife), was of Sk?nsk nobility. If the case were otherwise, no noble woman would have married anyone of the Bornholmer Koefoed-family. Bricka's often mentioned thesis in Historisk Tidsskrift 5 R. 4 B. ends with an examination of how the false patent of nobility was created, and evidently charged Jens Pedersen Koefoed with having a part in the forgery, a rather large accusation which gives one pause for thought, but no proof is provided. It is highly probable that Jens Pedersen Koefoed would have wished to be a nobleman, however throughout his entire life he never denoted himself as such, and then after his death in ?stermarie Church there was hung an epitaph, on which he is simply referred to as "Vel?dle og Mandhafte" (Very-Noble and Manly) and his first wife as "?rlig, Dydig og Gud Elskende" (Honest, Virtuous and Pious), while his second wife is described as "?rlig og Velbyrdig" (Honest and Well-Bred). Therefore: Jens Pedersen Koefoed and first wife are denoted as middleclass citizens, his second wife on the other hand as noble. Here we have a man, Jens Pedersen Koefoed, who had never done anything to have himself perceived or recognized, neither in life nor in death, as noble; and thus, evidently, cannot have considered the Koefoed-family as noble.
For a long period of time, yes, I dare say even up until to our time, it was a deep-rooted faith on Bornholm among all the Koefoeds that they were able to trace their pedigree back to Jens Madsen Koefoed, who in 1514 was ennobled by Archbishop Byrge, indeed are nobles, even those who were, for example, only labourers, smallholders, fishermen and the like, and to persuade them of the opposite would have been close to hopeless; however, now without any doubt all thoughts of nobility are gone from most of them, and it is now possible to calmly discuss with several of those of rank in this large family, whom have been called noble Koefoeds in contrast to peasant Koefoeds, that there is an entirely different lineage, for they had and have the name in common and with the passing of time it does not matter.
This database researched and compiled by Norman Lee Madsen, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, 21 July 2015.
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1445 - 1515 (> 70 år)
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