| Notater |
- Mads Jensen Kofoed of Hasle is the earliest recorded Kofoed on Bornholm.
Giessing (published 1786) relates in his pedigree of the "Family Kofoed"
that the danish Noblemen with the Koefoed coat-of-arms were of mingled blood
with the Normans, those people who had occupied Normandy. He relates further
back: to when King William 1st the Conqueror, in 1066, went from Normandy to
England, there was among the Norman nobility who followed him, one man with
the name of Arnfred Kofod. Also, on an English monastery list are several
Danish names: Erik, Oluf, Svend of Essex, Ospern and Arnfred Kofod.
It is related that the Scottish king, Macbeth, agreed to hide Ospern in
Scotland, and that Svend became part of his royal staff. Arnfred Kofod
became a faithul servant of King Edward. However, it would be impossible
to establish any link between this man and the Bornholmer family of the
same name. The surname Kofoed stems from "KoFod" which means "Cow's Foot".
The origin of the name is not known, however the hypothosis has been put
forward that the original Kofod had some sort of physical deformity, such
as a club-foot.
It seems that the old Bornholm Kofoed families used the cow-foot as their
coat-of-arms; from obvious association with their name, rather than through
their connection to the Duchy of Holstein. There are many myths and errors
concerning the oldest Kofoed's on Bornholm.
The book "På spor af de første Kofod'er" by Jørn Klindt (published 1979) is
a scholarly examination, which tries to clear up the many errors surrounding
this families genealogy. Jørn Klindt relates that it is thought that the
immediately preceding ancestors to the Kofoed'er of Bornholm originated from
the area around Hamburg, in the Duchy of Holstein. In 1286 there is mention
of a knight, Albertus Koefoed; the Holstein'er family attained the right to
be armigerous and held various titles of knighthood.
Every couple of generations the family rose in status to near nobility, only
to then descend the social ladder; they never broke into, and then maintained
noble status. The Kofoed'er spread east from the Hamburg area to Lübeck,
Wismar, etc. along the north Baltic coast-line of present day Germany and
Poland. They also spread up the Jylland peninsula into Schleswig and Danmark.
Kofod/Kofoed/Koefoed is a family-name that has spread all over Danmark.
There are numerous Kofoeds listed in the book of Danish Knights.
The Kofoed'er who settled in Bornholm had attained the status of "Frimænd",
this meant that they were "free men" and had no overlord except the King of
Danmark, and thus were of the lower nobility. It should be noted here that
such "frimænd" would have were not of the social class of the true titled
nobility, and in fact would have been snubbed by that rarified class of
people. As freemen the Kofoeds were one of the leading families of Bornholm,
with the right to own property, to engage in business and trade, to hunt the
forests and make use of the beaches, and were among the island's brew-masters.
They had the right to exact labour and duties from the peasant farmers who
lived and worked on their farms. Of course, over the succeeding years not
all Kofoed descendants stayed amongst the social elite, and they gradually
fell to lower social classes.
To this day on Bornholm the surname Kofoed remains a prestigious family-name.
He lived at Lille Haslegård, and was a "borger" (citizen) of Hasle township.
As a citizen he was licensed to engage in business and commerce, what the
Danes call a "Handelsmand".
According to Giessing, Mads Jensen Kofoed of Hasle is the father of Jens
Kofoed (1481-1519). And that Jens Kofoed is the father of Mads Kofoed,
mayor of Rønne, and Oluf Kofoed, also mayor of Rønne. Further, that Mayor
Mads Kofoed is the father of Hans Kofoed of Kyndegård; and that Mayor Oluf
Kofoed is the father of Jens Kofoed (died 1625) of Kyndegård.
According to Jørn Klindt it was the so-called "Østermarie branch" (aka
Julius Bidstrup's "Family B") of the Kofoed-family that adopted the image
of the cow-foot around the year 1590 - it is displayed on a tombstone in
Østermarie Church, as well as in the seal of Mayor Esbern Kofoed, and later
used by Mayor Poul Madsen Kofoed of Svaneke. But the cow-foot was not the
preferred coat-of-arms for the Kofoeds, but rather a very old armorial
image - the chevron (sparre) was the most widely used. Notably by the
so-called "Rønne branch" (aka Julius Bidstrup's "Family A"). First used
by Chief Justice Jens Madsen Kofoed (c.1541-1625) of Rønne. Followed by
his half-brother Hans Madsen Kofoed (c.1550-1623) of Blykobbegård, who used
the chevron in his seal from 1595. Hans Madsen Kofoed's oldest son Mads
Hansen Kofoed (c.1588-1646) used the chevron from 1608, and thus on down
through the family.
Jørn Klindt states that in Holstein in the late-1200s and early-1300s there
can be found record of a number of Kofoed men: Albertus (. . .1286.. .),
Henrik, Didrik, and Bertold. In the mid-1300s: Hasse, Johannes and his
son Markvard (. . .1370. . .1378. . .), Frederik, Conrad, Michael of Lübeck,
and two other Johannes. In the mid-1400s there were a number of Hanseatic
traders: Henrik (. . .1466-1515) and Hans (. . .-1481) - both of Lübeck,
Hans (. . .1484. . .) of Wismar, and Jesper (. . .1526. . .).
The Hans Kofoed who died in 1481 is known to have had five children:
Joakim, Grete, Engel, Anna, and Hans (born 1481).
In the early-1500s one of the Kofoed Hansa traders is known to settled
on Bornholm: Peder (. ..1510. . .1532. . .) of Rønne.
In 1931 Dr. M.K. Zahrtmann wrote down his on theories on the Kofoed-family
roots. According to Jørn Klindt the findings of Dr. Zahrtmann are always
correct - however his interpretations can bediffered with! His interpretation
presumes that the given names Peder and Hans in the 1600's often change from
father to son, and that you therefore can extend this custom down into the
dark 1500 - a period in which there is no documentation to speak of.
Using this method Zahrtmann concluded that Hans Kofoed (died 1623) of
Blykobbegård, was the son of a Peder Kofoed, who was the son of a Hans
Kofoed, the son of the Hansa trader Peder Kofoed of 1510.
Jørn Klindt states that this idea is too perfect, for at least 2 out of
3 children died before reaching adulthood in those days; so it was
impossible to guarantee that a Hans or a Peder would carry on the familyname.
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1444 - 1518 (74 år)
