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- Hartwig Hagefeldt was a first-citizen (ansetborger) in "Lyb?k" (L?beck); he is recorded as dying in 1555 on the 28th of February (as found in "L?beckische Ratslinie", from the published archival records of L?beck). None of the Bornholmer Hartwigs took the surname Hagefeldt; but rather abided by the scandinavian tradition of using the father's given name as the children's surname (in this case dropping the "-sen" suffix).
During Hartwig Hagefeldt's time a person did not become a "Borger" (Burgher, or middleclass citizen) by virtue of being born in a place. Burgher class citizenship was a valuable privilege that included: the right to engage in business in a community; rights and protections under the law; permission to reside in a community without being expelled. Citizenship was extended by individual communities to some of their inhabitants, primarily those who wanted to engage in business, and did not pertain to citizenship in the country as a whole. Until the twentieth century, only males of the middle and upper classes, mostly merchants and tradesmen, were granted citizenship.
L?beck is located on two small streams connecting with L?beck Bay. The history of L?beck goes back to around the year 1000 AD, when the Wends established "Liubice" as a royal seat and trading center. Founded in 1143 Count Adolf II of Schauenburg built a settlement of Christian merchants between the Trave and the Wakenitz Rivers and borrowed the old name "Liubice" from the older and meanwhile destroyed settlement. The city of L?beck was born. After a devastating fire the Saxon King, Henry the Lion, established L?beck for a second time in 1158. From 1159 on L?beck developed as a center of trade, which in its effect could only be compared with its southern counterpart Venice. At breathtaking speed, L?beck became the most powerful economic center of Northern Europe.
In 1173 Henry the Lion laid the cornerstone of the largest brick structure of the North, the Cathedral (Dom zu L?beck). The churches St. Mary (Marienkirche) and St. Peter (Petrikirche) also got their start during the same year. Henry the Lion indeed made even more of a mark on the city since under his leadership the layout of the Old Town of L?beck was designed and it remains even to this day almost completely unchanged. It has five 13-14th century Gothic churches, a Gothic town hall, and a 13th century hospital. Another big name, which is perhaps even more important for the history of this city, is Emperor Friedrich II. It was he who in 1226 granted L?beck its almost unique freedom and independence - its status as a "Free Imperial City". This meant that the city, and its citizens, were not subjects of a duke, count or bishop, but only of the emperor himself. This free area continued for 711 years.
At the end of the 13th century an alliance of Germanic cities, the Hanseatic League, was developed from a merchant's union, with the Free City of L?beck taking on the leadership position of the Hanseatic Council. The league became a powerful economic and political force in northern Europe. Its earliest union dates to 1241, when L?beck and Hamburg made agreements for mutual defense in trading; the first meeting of the "Diet" (legislative assembly) in 1256 included: L?beck, Hamburg, L?nenburg, Wismar, Rostock, and Stralsund; later other towns joined the league. With a centre for meetings in the city of L?beck, the members established an important network of Baltic trade, and a string of commercial bases stretching from Novgorod to London and from Bergen to Bruges.
Despite the power that she wielded, L?beck, the "Queen of the Hansa", was never an overtly war-like city. The latin phrase on the Holstein Gate, completed in 1478, reads, "Concordia Domi Foris Pax" (Harmony Within, Peace Without), which was the prerequisite for the functional community and the undisrupted free trade which L?beck enjoyed.
The league reached the height of its power in the 14th and 15th centuries when it contributed to the defeat of Valdemar IV of Denmark in 1367-68, and secured control of Baltic trade by Peace of Stralsund in 1370. It now included such widely separated places as: Novgorod, Reval, Riga, Danzig (Gd?nsk), Magdeburg, Cologne, Bruges, and London; and gave trading privileges to merchants of many other towns. In its heyday during the 14th century the Hansa included well over a hundred towns; its influence gradually faded with the emergence of powerful competitor states, and the last meeting of the "Diet" was held in L?beck in 1669. The term "Hanseatic town" was retained by L?beck, Hamburg, and Bremen as long as they were imperial free-cities.
In 1509 Denmark and L?beck were engaged in one of their numerous skirmishes. The Danes had a famous battleship called the "Svane" (english: Swan) - which was reputed to be the largest and most powerful in the world; but the L?beck'ers in several small vessels surprised, attacked and destroyed it. After this victory a fleet of 14 L?beck ships ravaged the Danish islands and did much damage to Danish shipping. Nine Swedish ships joined them, and the combined fleet almost ruined Lolland and Bornholm.
Later, in the summer of 1509, a great naval battle took place between 16 L?beck men-of-war and 17 Danish ships of about equal size and strength. One of the latter was a new vessel, the "Engel" (english: Angel), larger than the unlucky Svane had been. The L?beck'ers had landed some of their guns and men to attack the fortress of Hammershus, on the northern tip of Bornholm, when the Danish fleet appeared, quite unexpectedly, and attacked at once. The battle lasted all day, and at night both sides claimed the victory. Some days later the fight was resumed, when, after several hours of fierce contest, the Engel had her rudder shot away and was taken in tow by her consorts, and the whole Danish fleet fled. In 1510 the league seized Bornholm as "security" on an unpaid loan given to the Danish crown; this lasted for a period of 50 years.
This database researched and compiled by Norman Lee Madsen, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, 21 July 2015.
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1485 - 1555 (> 70 år)
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