| Notater |
- Esbern Kofoed is named as the owner of Frig?rd, 15 Vdg. Vestermarie, in 1569 (at that time the farm simply referred to as "Esbern Kofoeds gaard") is possibly the son of Hans Kofoed (-1525-1540-1543-) of R?nne? It is notable that a Hans Kofoed owned 15 Vdg. Vestermarie in 1540. Probably died childless, as in 1572 the farm was owned by Jens Kofoed (Chief Justice 1588-1623, died 1625) of Kyndeg?rd in Nyker. - Norman Lee Madsen, August 22, 2006.
From "P? spor af de f?rste Kofod'er" by J?rn Klindt, published 1979:
On the 31st of May 1563 the war started up with a terrible sea battle off the R?nne shoreline. Later that same year the Danish-L?beck fleet, under the command of Peder Skram, patrolled the sea between Bornholm and ?land - wherein, as was the custom, they went ashore and requesitioning heavy taxes. Amid all the skirmishes a small Bornholm fishing boat was trapped by the Swedes of ?land. The Swedish Admiral, Jacob Bagge, had also been taken prisoner by the L?beck commander of Hammershus, Sweder Ketting; who urged his prisoner to write a letter to his superior officer at Kalmar Castle to suggest an exhange of the four Bornholmer fishermen with four Swedish prisoners on Bornholm. In another letter sent at the same time to the Swedish king, he writes: "We are treated well - but for God's sake give the Danish prisoners humane treatment - some are of the nobility and respected men." We find that one of the Bornholm fishermen (the ship's captain?) was named "?sbi?rnn Kofoth" (Esbern Kofod).
The war was full of cruelties on all sides, from the Bornholm shore witnesses viewed the Swedes tie up their L?beck prisoners on thier own ship and then set it on fire. Prisoners of war were slit open and thrown over board, and the L?beck commander Sweder Ketting was horrified to find their remnants washed ashore the next day, writing: "God Almighty help us that we should not alow such horrible transgressions go unpunished." The Danish admiral, Herluf Trolle, was also shocked by the terrible cruelty committed by the Swedes against their prisoners, and together with Jacob Bagge formulated a request to the Swedish king: "Your Royal Majesty's navy has subjected its prisoners to a most cruel, inhumane treatment unheard of in any warring nation. Your Royal Majesty must know that God will surely render His punishment." However, the Swedish king was going insane at that time, so we do not know if the request was heeded.
The cruelties of the war caused an uproar throughout Europe - especially since L?beck, a free-city in the Hoy Roman Empire, was involved. It is not known if the request did any good; it is doubtful that the exchange of prisoners ever took place, nor is it known if "?sbi?rnn Kofoth" ever returned home. Although the researcher M.K. Zarthmann thought that he must be identical to the Esbern Kofod who was a customs officer and later mayor of R?nne until 1623. I have not been able to find any other justification for this hypothesis than the fact that they were both seamen; if Esbern, for example, was 20 years old when taken prisoner in 1563, he would still have been in the office of mayor at age 80 - which seems unlikely. Age-wise a more probable connection is that of the Esbern Kofod, who in 1569 lived at "Kofodgaard" (later known as Frig?rd, 15 Vdg.) in Vestermarie parish - we do not know anything about him, but at least we can allow ourselves the fantasy that he just could be "?sbi?rnn Kofoth", who survived cruel imprisonment and later on abandoned his life at sea to settle on a farm.
This database researched and compiled by Norman Lee Madsen, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, 21 July 2015.
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1544 - 1570 (~ 26 år)
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