Gottfried Michaelsen
Encyclopedia
Gödeke Michels also known as Gottfried Michaelsen, was a German pirate and one of the leaders of the Likedeeler, a combination of former Vitalienbrüder.
Together with Klaus Störtebeker
, Hennig Wichmann
and Magister Wigbold
, as well as other leaders of the Likedeeler, he raided shipping in the North
and Baltic Sea
near the end of the 14th century.
They possessed fast ships, which easily outmaneuvered the ships of the Hanse. Like many of the Likedeeler, Michels was primarily concerned with capturing valuable prizes. However, he disdained cowardice and those surviving crewmen who had not resisted were usually thrown overboard.
Michels was eventually captured and executed in the year 1402, shortly after Klaus Störtebeker and crewmen were beheaded on the Grasbrook in Hamburg
.
Together with Klaus Störtebeker
Klaus Störtebeker
Nikolaus Storzenbecher, or Klaus Störtebeker , was a leader and the best known representative of a companionship of privateers known as the Victual Brothers...
, Hennig Wichmann
Hennig Wichmann
Hennig Wichmann was one of the leaders of the Likedeeler, an association of former Victual Brothers who had turned pirate.Together with Klaus Störtebeker and Magister Wigbold, he wreaked havoc in the North and Baltic Sea at the end of the 14th century. They owned fast ships which were able to...
and Magister Wigbold
Magister Wigbold
Magister Wigbold , also called “Master of the Seven Arts”, was a German pirate who belonged to the famous Likedeeler pirates of Klaus Störtebeker. Wighold was one of the most noted Likedeeler, along with Gödeke Michels and Störtebeker. The nickname Wigbold comes from wig and bold...
, as well as other leaders of the Likedeeler, he raided shipping in the North
North Sea
In the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...
and Baltic Sea
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...
near the end of the 14th century.
They possessed fast ships, which easily outmaneuvered the ships of the Hanse. Like many of the Likedeeler, Michels was primarily concerned with capturing valuable prizes. However, he disdained cowardice and those surviving crewmen who had not resisted were usually thrown overboard.
Michels was eventually captured and executed in the year 1402, shortly after Klaus Störtebeker and crewmen were beheaded on the Grasbrook in Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
.