The Victual Brothers resp. Vitalians or Vitalian Brotherhood were a companionship of privateers who later turned to piracy. A privateer was a private Warship authorized by a country's Government by Letters of marque to attack foreign shipping They were hired in 1392 by the Dukes of Mecklenburg to fight against Denmark, because the Danish Queen Margaret I had imprisoned Albrecht of Mecklenburg and his son to subdue the kingdom of Sweden. Mecklenburg ( Low German: Mekelnborg) is a region in northern Germany comprising the western and larger part of the federal state Mecklenburg-Vorpommern The Kingdom of Denmark ( ˈd̥ænmɑɡ̊ (archaic ˈd̥anmɑːɡ̊ commonly known as Denmark, is a country in the Scandinavian region of northern Europe Margaret Valdemarsdatter (Margrete Valdemarsdotter ( 1353 - October 28 1412) was Queen of Denmark and of Norway and Regent of Albert of Sweden (or Albrecht von Mecklenburg in German or Albrekt av Mecklenburg in Swedish (c Albrecht was King of Sweden since 1364 and Duke of Mecklenburg since 1383. "Sverige" redirects here For other uses see Sweden (disambiguation and Sverige (disambiguation. Mecklenburg ( Low German: Mekelnborg) is a region in northern Germany comprising the western and larger part of the federal state Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
Guild of the Victual Brothers
When Queen Margaret and Albrecht of Mecklenburg were battling for Scandinavian supremacy and Margaret's forces had besieged Stockholm, privateers named the Victual Brothers engaged in sea-war-activities and shipped food to keep the city supplied. Terminology and usage As a cultural term "Scandinavia" has no official definition and is subject to usage by those who identify with the culture in question as well ('stɔkhɔlm is Sweden 's Capital and its largest City. It is the site of the national Swedish government, the parliament, and the A naval battle is a Battle fought using Ships or other waterborne vessels The name Victual Brothers is derived from the Latin word "victualia" — meaning provisions — and refers to their first mission, which was to bring needed supplies to the besieged town of Stockholm. Latin ( lingua Latīna, laˈtiːna is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome.
The Victual Brothers were organised as a brotherhood or guild and attracted men from all over Europe. A guild is an association of craftsmen in a particular trade The earliest guilds were formed as confraternities of workers Their main naval enemy in 1392 was the powerful Hanseatic town of Lübeck, which supported Denmark in the war. Lübeck ( is the second largest City in Schleswig-Holstein, in Northern Germany, and one of the major Apart from Lübeck, the Hanseatic League at first encouraged the Victual Brothers. The Hanseatic League (also known as the Hansa) was an alliance of trading cities and their Guilds that established and maintained trade Most of the Hanseatic towns had no desire to see Denmark victorious, since its location was strategic for the control of the seaways.
For several years from 1392 on, the Victual Brothers were a strong power to be reckoned with in the Baltic Sea. The Baltic Sea is a Brackish inland sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N Latitude and from 20°E to 26°E Longitude. They had safe harbours in the cities of Rostock, Ribnitz, Wismar and Stralsund. Rostock (ˈʁɔstɔk from Polabian Roz toc, literally "to flow apart" is the largest City in the north German state Ribnitz-Damgarten is a town in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. Wismar (ˈvɪsmaʁ is a small port and Hanseatic League town in northern Germany on the Baltic Sea, in the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern,about Stralsund (ˈʃtʁaːlzʊnt is a city in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany, situated at the southern Coast of the Strelasund (a sound However, they soon went their own way, more or less turning to open piracy and coast robbery. Piracy is Robbery committed at sea or sometimes on shore without a commission from a sovereign Nation (as distinct from Privateering The coast is defined as the part of the land adjoining or near the Ocean. Robbery is the Crime of seizing Property through Violence or Intimidation. In 1393 they sacked the town of Bergen for the first time and in 1394 they conquered Malmö. is the second largest city in Norway. It is located on the south-western coast of Norway in the county of Hordaland in between a group of mountains known as De syv fjell They also plundered Åbo, Vyborg, Faxeholm, Styresholm and Korsholm and occupied parts of Frisia and Schleswig. Turku, in Swedish Åbo ( pronounced,) is a city and the original capital of Finland on the southwest coast of Finland at the Vyborg (Вы́борг Viipuri Viborg Wiborg is a town in Leningrad Oblast, Russia, situated on the Karelian Isthmus near the head of Korsholm in Swedish or Mustasaari in Finnish is a municipality of Finland. Frisia ( West Frisian: Fryslân; North Frisian: Fraschlönj, Freesklöön, Freeskluin, Fresklun, and
At the climax of their power, the Victual Brothers occupied Gotland in 1394 and set up their headquarters in Visby. is a county, province and municipality of Sweden and the largest Island in the Baltic Sea. Visby is the only city on the Swedish Island of Gotland; it is arguably the best-preserved Medieval city in Scandinavia Baltic Sea maritime trade virtually collapsed, and the herring industry suffered from their depredations. Queen Margaret even turned to King Richard II seeking to charter English ships to combat the pirates. Richard II (6 January 1367 &ndash ca 14 February 1400 was King of England from 1377 until he was deposed in 1399
From 1395 on Queen Margaret gained the upper hand politically. She united Denmark, Sweden and Norway and formed the Kalmar Union. "Sverige" redirects here For other uses see Sweden (disambiguation and Sverige (disambiguation. Norway ( Norwegian: Norge ( Bokmål) or Noreg ( Nynorsk) officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Constitutional The Kalmar Union ( Danish, Norwegian and Swedish: Kalmarunionen) is a historiographical term meaning a series of Personal Thus, the Hanseatic League was forced to cooperate with her, foreshadowing its eventual decline. The Hanseatic League (also known as the Hansa) was an alliance of trading cities and their Guilds that established and maintained trade
At the same time, the Victual Brothers impartially raided everyone's shipping. Their famous battle cry was "God's friends and the whole world's enemies". For other uses see Battle cry (disambiguation A battle cry is a yell or chant taken up in Battle, usually by members of the same Queen Margaret and King Albert of Sweden conceded Gotland to the allied Teutonic Order as a pledge (similar to a fiefdom). Albert of Sweden (or Albrecht von Mecklenburg in German or Albrekt av Mecklenburg in Swedish (c The Teutonic Order is a German Roman Catholic religious order. Under the system of Feudalism, a fiefdom, fief, feud, feoff, or fee, often consisted of inheritable lands or revenue-producing An invasion army under Konrad von Jungingen, the Grand Master of the Order, conquered the island in 1398, destroying Visby and driving the Victual Brothers out of Gotland. Konrad von Jungingen (also Conrad; ca 1355 &ndash 30 March 1407) was the 25th Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights, serving from Visby is the only city on the Swedish Island of Gotland; it is arguably the best-preserved Medieval city in Scandinavia
Likedeelers, the successors of the Victual Brothers
After the Victual Brothers' defeat and expulsion from Gotland in 1398, the Hanseatic League tried repeatedly to end the anarchy in the Baltic Sea, but with little luck. Many Victual Brothers still remained at sea. When they lost their influence in the Gulf of Bothnia, the Gulf of Finland and Gotland, they operated from the Schlei, the mouth of the river Ems and from other locations in Friesland. The Gulf of Bothnia (Pohjanlahti Bottniska viken ie Bottenviken + Bottenhavet is the northernmost arm of the Baltic Sea. The Gulf of Finland ( Finnish: Suomenlahti, Russian: Финский залив, Finskiy zaliv, Swedish: Finska viken The Schlei (Slien is a narrow Inlet of the Baltic Sea in Schleswig-Holstein in northern Germany. The Ems (Ems Eems is a River in northwestern Germany and northeastern Netherlands. Friesland ( West Frisian: Fryslân, Dutch Friesland) is a province in the north of the Netherlands and part of the bigger region known The successors of the Victual Brothers gave themselves the name Likedeelers, which means to share in equal parts, which they even did with the poor population along the coast. They expanded their field of activities into the North Sea and along the Atlantic coastline, raiding Brabant, France and as striking as far south as Spain. The North Sea is a marginal, Epeiric sea of the Atlantic Ocean on the European Continental shelf. The Duchy of Brabant was a historical region in the Low Countries. This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. Spain () or the Kingdom of Spain (Reino de España is a country located mostly in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.
Their most famous leader was Captain Störtebeker. Klaus Störtebeker (c 1360 &ndash 20 October 1401) was a leader and the best known representative of a companionship of Privateers known as the He got his name allegedly because he could swallow four litres of beer without taking the beaker from his mouth. However, it might simply be a family name from Wismar. A family name or last name is a type of Surname and part of a person's name indicating the family to which the person belongs Wismar (ˈvɪsmaʁ is a small port and Hanseatic League town in northern Germany on the Baltic Sea, in the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern,about The Low German word "Störtebeker" means in English: "Down the drink in the beaker". Low German or Low Saxon (in Germany: Plattdüütsch or Nedderdüütsch; in Netherlands: Nedersaksisch or Nederduuts In 1401 the Hamburg warship Brindled Cow, leading a small fleet under Commander Simon of Utrecht, caught up with Störtebeker's forces near Heligoland. Hamburg (English, German: ˈhambʊɐk local pronunciation Low German / Low Saxon: Hamborg) is the second-largest city in Germany A fleet, or naval fleet is a large formation of Warships, and the largest formation in any Navy. ||-||} Simon of Utrecht (Simon van Utrecht † 14 Oktober 1437 was a warship captain of the Hanseatic League during the Middle Ages. Heligoland (Helgoland Heligolandic: deät Lun) is a small German Archipelago in the North Sea. After three days of running battle, Störtebeker and his crew were finally overpowered and trapped by means of a trick.
Yet this was not the end of piracy and coastal raiding by the Likedeelers. In 1429, 28 years after the execution of Störtebeker, other members of the Victual Brothers attacked and plundered the city of Bergen in Norway, eventually burning it to the ground. is the second largest city in Norway. It is located on the south-western coast of Norway in the county of Hordaland in between a group of mountains known as De syv fjell Until about 1440, maritime trade in both the North Sea and the Baltic Sea was seriously in danger of attack by the Likedeelers.
External links
- Agreement on reparations for injuries and damages by vitalians (made between King Henry IV of England and the Hanseatic League)
- Vitalienbrüder (in German)
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