- Occupation: Mayor (Borgmester) of Rønne.
Drowned on a seavoyage to Copenhagen.
It is not known with certainty who Mads Jensen Kofoed's (born
possibly 1513? or 1517?- died before 1573, possibly 1552?) parents
were: The historian Giessing, in 1786, states that Mads Jensen
Kofoed was the son of Jens Madsen Kofoed and grandson of
Mads Jensen Kofoed of Hasle. According to Julius Bidstrup's
"Familien Koefoed A og B" (published in 1887) his parents might be
Jens Madsen Kofoed and Johanne Thygesdatter, but he is not certain.
Also, Jørn Klindt in his book "På sporet af de første Kofod'er"
(published in 1979) has his doubts on this matter, and can not state
for a fact that any of this is true. Current evidence suggests that
it is likely that Mads Jensen Kofoed was born 1513 in Lund, Skåne
province; however, his parentage is still far from certain. In 1572 a
meeting was held by Bornholm's Parliament to establish who had the
right to the status of "Frimand" (Free-man) on Bornholm: Mads Jensen
Kofoed's sons Jens and Hans Kofoed were in attendance at that
meeting. Of course, that meeting had a broader purpose: a war in
which Lübeck and Danmark had fought side-by-side had ended two years
previously, and there was another three years before the Lübeck 50
year claim to Bornholm was to expire; although Lübeck claimed that it
had been given a further 50 years. In this predicament it was wise
for the King to establish locally situated allies; and Bornholm's
influential free-men, who normally would have been snubbed by the
King and the true nobility, were now in a position to receive
benevolent treatment from the Danish government. At the
"Frimandsmødet" held on September 6, 1572 there were 17 men named as
being in attendance: the brothers Jens and Hans Madsen Kofoed, Peder
Poulsen Kofoed, Oluf Bagge, Peder Uf, Peder Myre, Jørgen Gagge, also
ten other men only listed by their father's name; and at which
occassion three Danish Parlimentary advisers (Rigsråder) had been
sent to preside over the meeting. The Kofoeds had no written proof
of their free-men status; they were only able to give heartfelt and
solemn words about faithful service. It seems they had an inkling of
things to come, and therefore begged the King not to let himself be
"seduced" by Lübeck's representative Sweder Ketting, "because you
might expect that Lübeck only plotted to keep our island under their
yoke." This is the first record in which we find the Kofoeds being
mentioned as "frimænd". We know that they were related to Oluf Bagge
and Peder Uf, and probably to several of the others. The question
remains: did they already have claim to free-man status, or did they
take advantage of the King's need for loyal followers - seeking
acknowledgement of that status from their peers on Bornholm? It
seems that they had to make certain commitments to the King in
exchange for the full rights to free-man status. Two of the newly
appointed free-men had an important mission to Lübeck the following
year. On September 6, 1573 King Frederik 2. wrote a letter to Lübeck
stating: "Our citizens, the brothers Peter and Jens Kofoth" have
applied to Lübeck's government for verification of their vital
statistics, so as, among other things, they are free to serve their
King - who then requests the Lübeck council to give sympathetic
consideration to their case and verify their births in Lübeck's
records. We often find such vital statistics proofs attached to the
documents in probate court cases, they were actually signed by the
parish "Elders" before the church parish registers (kirkebøger) came
into use. They were especially essential if disagreement arose among
the heirs. In the Lübeck family registry for 1573 we find the
following entry: Kofoedt, Matthias, dead before 1573 on Bornholm,
his wife: Johanna; their children: Peter, Jens, Boel - married to
Oluf Bagge; Anneke - married to Michael Abraham. The reason that the
family is registered in Lübeck exactly in 1573 is of course the
application the brothers made that same year for their vital
statistics. According to Jørn Klindt's "På sporet af de første
Kofod'er" it appears that Gunhild Uf and Mads Kofoed were already
married by 1547. The Lübeck legal-registry of 1573 states that a
woman named Johanne was Mads Kofoed's wife and mother to four of his
children; so accordingly it is not absolutely certain who was the
mother of which of Mads Kofoed's children. The fact that in 1573
Johanne was stated as the mother of Mads Kofoed's children may be a
reflection of their legal relationship, rather than blood ties. Nor
is it known for a fact which wife came first: Gunhild Uf or Johanne
Jensdatter Myre? The exact birth years of his children are not
known, but they are all thought to have been born between 1540-50.
Jørn Klindt further writes that more information about Mads Kofoed is
surely there to be found in the archives of København, or in Gottorp
and Potsdam - where the remnants of Lübeck's archives are now held.
As mayor for Rønne township Mads Kofoed was an influential man on
Bornholm, so it would be rather peculiar if there weren't more traces
of him to be found. It could be that he is the same person as the
Mads Kofoed known to have died during a sea-voyage to København in
1552. Part of the difficulty in answering this question lies in the
fact that one Lübeck entry states he died "before 1573" and another
states "in 1573"; which is correct and which in error? Mr. Klindt
asks the following questions: What was the case of the vital
statistics about? Why was it that Hans Kofoed, who on Bornholm was
considered to be Jens Kofoed's brother, did not appear on the 1573
Lübeck registry as part of the family? But, of course, who will
research this? Who has the ability, resources, inclination, and
time? His son Jens Kofoed is known to have died in 1625, an old man
around 80 years old. The same is said of Hans Kofoed who died in
1623, and he is with greater certainty considered to be the son of
Gunhild Uf, as he is not mentioned in the Lübeck registry of 1573 as
a son of Johanna and Mads Kofoed. Hans Kofoed has been listed by
Bornholm's first historian Rasmus Ravn (who lived from 1603-77) to be
the brother of the Judge Jens Madsen Kofoed; that he was not listed
in the Lübeck family registry of 1573 makes for a stronger case that
he was in fact half-brother to Jens Madsen Kofoed. Further proof that
the two men were brothers can be seen by the fact that Hans Kofoed's
sons were made the heirs to Jens Madsen Kofoed's property. Chief
Justice Jens Kofoed had no direct heirs at the time of his death, so
the four sons of his brother Hans Kofoed, and a certain Albert Hansen
- on account of his wife Karina Mikkelsdatter, were made heirs to his
reportedly large fortune. For who else was there left in 1625 to
inherit? His brother Peder had long since died, as well as his
children. His sister Boel's children with Oluf Bagge had left the
island. His sister Anneke had married a Michael/Mikkel Abraham, a
common Bornholm name, and so a daughter from their marriage would
have been known as "Mikkelsdatter", which leads us to Karina being
Jens Kofoed's niece. Working from the facts as I know them leads me
to the following two possible senarios: 1) That Johanne Jensdatter
Myre was Mads Jensen Kofoed's first wife, they probably married
around 1540; they had four children and before 1547 Johanne dies.
Around 1547 Mads Kofoed marries Gunhild Uf - they have a son, Hans,
born around 1547-50. 2) That Gunhild Uf was Mads Jensen Kofoed's
first wife, they probably married around 1540; within a year of
giving birth to Hans, around1542, Gunhild Uf died. Mads Kofoed then,
around 1543, marries Johanne - with whom he had at least four
children who lived to adulthood. The first senario is generally
thought to be the most likely, but that is just a guess. The key to
this question is: Were Gunhild Uf and Mads Jensen Kofoed married
before or in 1547? In the land-registry testimony of Bornholm's Land-
Register, dated May 22, 1522, is mentioned a P. Kofod as mayor of
Rønne; but whether or not he was related to "Familien Koefoed A or B"
is not known. (Høbertz, Documentation of Bornholm's History, p. 63)
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Anebasen — Ole Thyge Plannthin
1513 - 1552 (39 år)
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