Johann Rode von Wale
Encyclopedia
Johann Rode von Wale was a Catholic cleric, a Doctor of Canon and Civil Law, a chronicler, a long-serving government official (1468–1497) and as John III Prince-archbishop of Bremen
between 1497 and 1511.
and noble families in the Prince-Archbishopric of Bremen. Rode's father Heinrich Rode (d. 1496) was city council
lor in Bremen between 1484 and 1496, his mother Anna was a daughter of Bremen's burgomaster
Borchard Vagedes (Vaget/Vagts; d. 1512, burgomaster since 1482) and his wife Bartke Brede.
His namesake and paternal uncle Johann Rode the Elder (d. 1477), like two further paternal uncles, Lüder Rode (Germanised: Lothar; d. 1503) and Theodericus Rufus (Germanised: Dietrich Rode; d. 1484, provost of the college
in Ramelsloh
), were also clerics, as cathedral provost, cathedral cantor (Domkantor), and ordinary cathedral canon (Domherr)
, respectively, with seats and votes in Bremen's cathedral chapter
. Rode's brother Heinrich, son-in-law of Bremen's burgomaster Hermann von Groepelingen (officiating 1425–1435), served as city councillor of Bremen and their sister Margarethe (d. 1513) was married to Bremen's burgomaster Heinrich Stenow, officiating between 1486 and 1506.
Being of successful bourgeois background the landed nobility in the prince-archbishopric considered Rode as a representative of urban commerce and economic interests and belittled him as a man of minor, shoemakers' descent. His family was most likely also invested in urban real estate, Buden (literally boothes), rented out to the non-propertied classes.
, who was five years older and then elected. Rode finished school as baccalaureus in 1464. In 1465 Rode started his studies at the University of Rostock
, where he enrolled under Rector Johann Stammel. Due to his youth Pope Pius II
confirmed Henry's election under the proviso that he would be only administrator until reaching the age of 27, which was in 1467. However, in 1466 Henry was elected Prince-Bishop of Münster, took residence in Münster in Westphalia and then never pursued his appointment as archbishop any more. Nevertheless, he is referred to as Henry II of Bremen, but Prince-Bishop Henry III of Münster.
Starting from Michael's day 1468 till 1485 Rode served as cathedral dean (Domdechant) of Bremen Cathedral
. In 1468, already as dean, he enrolled at the University of Erfurt
and was elected its rector
on 2 May 1470. He had studied law and graduated as doctor of both laws from the University of Erfurt in 1474. He was also a scholar of the history of the prince-archbishopric. In 1485 the capitular canons elected Rode cathedral provost (Dompropst) of Bremen, a leading function including the presidency of the cathedral chapter (Domkapitel)
.
Rode's provostship fell into a difficult time since Henry II preferred to live in Münster. The Bremians considered him a bad administrator, too much a partisan of Münster interests and too involved in politics of the Holy Roman Empire
. Henry conveyed the administration of Bremen to vicegerents, among them Günther of Schwarzburg and another of his brothers. Henry successfully reclaimed the lordship of Lechterseite of Delmenhorst
, alienated by Gerard of Hoya in favour of his sister Catharina and her husband Maurice IV, Count of Oldenburg, even waging war against the usurping Count Gerhard VI "the Quarrelsome" of Oldenburg. However, while the overlordship and all the effort, such as pawning other Bremian estates to finance it, was from the side of the prince-archbishopric, Henry then annexed Lechterseite, regained in 1481, to his preferred Münster. Rode and the other members of the Bremian chapter disapproved this as alienation of prince-archiepiscopal estates. However, they could not help it.
Henry had a warlike temperament and involved in the imperial wars against Duke Charles the Bold of Burgundy, participating in the relief of the beleaguered Neuss
in 1473. This was of no interest for Bremen, but also financed by alienating prince-archiepiscopal estates. In 1481 John V, Duke of Saxe-Lauenburg
had redeemed the Saxon exclave Land of Hadeln, which had been previously pawned to Hamburg
as security for a credit. John V had then made his son and heir apparent, Magnus
, regent of Hadeln, situated at the Outer Elbe adjacent to the secular territory of the prince-archbishopric and underlying Bremen's archdiocesan competence.
In 1484 Hadeln's ambitious Regent Magnus, who aimed at increasing his local revenues, had reached out to conquer the rich Land of Wursten
, a de facto autonomous region of free Frisian
peasants in a North Sea marsh at the Weser estuary, but he failed. Magnus tried to justify his violent act with the pretence that Wursten used to be Saxon before the imperial deposition of Duke Henry the Lion
and the carve-up of his Saxony
in 1180, which only brought Magnus' Ascanian dynasty to take the belittled dukedom. The prince-archbishopric, claiming Wursten for itself, was alarmed. Wursteners so far little disputed Bremen's claim, as long as the prince-archiepiscopal rule had remained a light financial burden without major interference in their internal and external affairs usually decided in autonomy.
Through his work as cathedral provost Rode was experienced in government affairs and a proven diplomate. Johann Martin Lappenberg
judged him as "one of the most excellent bishops of Bremen".
, brother of Magnus, and Otto of Oldenburg (a canon in Bremen and son of Gerhard VI). Family and friends among the capitulars helped Rode to gain the majority. On 28 April Pope Alexander VI
confirmed Rode. This was accompanied by the papal invoice, the so-called servitia minuta and servitium commune, the latter making up a third of the annual revenues of a see.
On 1 May 1497 Rode issued his election capitulation
(Wahlkapitulation), a document indicating much of the gravamina against Henry, to be prevented during Rode's reign. The capitulation stipulated the participation of the cathedral chapter in government affairs, guaranteed the capitular privileges, and forbade the future alienation of prince-archiepiscopal estates. Furthermore the prince-archbishop was not to allow knights of ministerialis or nobility to build new fortified castles or manors of their own, but even to destroy unauthorisedly erected "new fortresses or fortified residences" (Low Saxon: nige veste offt waninge). The capitulation had been formulated by the cathedral chapter during sede vacante
, thus Rode was one of its co-authors. Accepting and issuing the capitulation was an obligatory self-commitment of the incumbent of Bremen's see since the investiture
of Prince-Archbishop Gilbert of Bronckhorst in 1274. The election capitulation formed part of the constitution of the prince-archbishopric, restraining the power of the ruler, organising the cooperation of the estates of the prince-archbishopric
(Stiftsstände) and the ruling archbishop.
Rode's election capitulation committed him not to alienate further prince-archiepiscopal estates, to regain alienated and pawned estates
, and privileges, to staff offices, such as the executive official of the prince-archbishopric, the landdrost, or the bailiffs (Vogt/Vögte, sg./pl.) on the castles with indigenous persons, who were not bound to foreign interests. Waging war would be only allowed to the prince-archbishop after consulting with the cathedral chapter and the estates of the prince-archbishopric.
The city of Bremen even demanded more, in a 1499 treaty between the city and the cathedral chapter the parties stipulated that the chapter must not introduce any future new archbishop, who did not commit himself by oath and a written deed (such as an election capitulation) not to pawn castles, not to wage war, and not to reduce anybody's privileges unless consented with chapter and city council. Rode's election rivals John and Otto were both sons of dynasties ruling neighbouring monarchies (Saxe-Lauenburgian exclave of Hadeln, Oldenburg), and had thus the smell of representing princely expansionism, entailing the weakening and belittlement of the prince-archbishopric.
On 6 June 1497 Rode received the pallium
through the prince-bishops of Hildesheim
and Verden
, Bertold of Landsberg, and Minden
, Henry of Schauenburg and Holstein-Pinneberg. On 14 September Emperor Maximilian I invested Rode, the confirmed and consecrated archbishop, with the princely regalia
, which made him the secular ruler of the prince-archbishopric, holding a vote in the imperial diet
and that of the Lower Saxon Circle
. Representatives of the subjects
then rendered Rode homage and he was sworn in as ruler. Since Rode's predecessor Henry II never pursued his papal confirmation as archbishop, he was never invested princely regalia with the prince-archbishopric thus being banned from exercising its privilege of a vote in the imperial diet.
Right at the start, when levying from the prince-archiepiscopal subjects the homage tax and from all the clergy within his archdiocese the donum charitativum (also called subsidium caritativum) in order to recover the papal fees, Rode had to realise that a prince-archbishop lacking a local power base cannot assert himself. In fulfilment of his election capitulation, and in order to strengthen his position, Rode aimed at regaining and reassuring prince-archiepiscopal privileges and estates which had been pawned or alienated under Henry II. Between 1498 and 1500 he prompted the edition of the Registrum bonorum et Iurium Castri Vorde
citra et ultra Oestam
(Vörde Register), a register of all estates, privileges, easements etc. pertaining to Vörde Castle, the prince-archiepiscopal residence. By reclaiming estates and privileges he had to confront their then holders, causing conflicts with the knightage (Ritterschaft) among ministerialis and nobles.
The Stedinger
s, being no serf
s or soccage farmers, but free peasant
s in the marshes on both sides of the Weser, revolted against paying the homage tax and found support in Stadland
and Butjadingen
, more northwestwards along the Weser, also inhabited by free peasants only accepting loose Bremian obverlordship. When on 24 June 1498 Emperor Maximilian I invested Conrad of Rietberg, Archbishop Henry's successor in the diocese of Münster, with the regalia in the Prince-Bishopric of Münster, the deed also named territory as part of Münster, which was actually Bremian and had only been pawned to Münster by Henry. So Rode sued Prince-Bishop Conrad in the Rota Romana to accept Bremen's claim to the bailiwicks of Harpstedt
, Delmenhorst's Lechterseite, and Wildeshausen
. On 28 September the same year Rode conveyed the bailiff house in Ottersberg
to the cathedral chapter in compensation for debts which the late Henry had never repaid.
An external new conflict arose with the ambitious Regent Magnus in Hadeln, who planned a new conquest of Wursten. On 24 November 1498 John V and Magnus of Saxe-Lauenburg allied with Henry IV the Elder of Brunswick and Lunenburg, Prince of Wolfenbüttel
to conquer Wursten. Henry IV obliged to send 3,000 lansquenet
s, who should gain their payment by ravaging and plundering the free peasants of Wursten, once successfully subjected. Rode had prepared for this, he and Hamburg's three burgomasters (upcoming, presiding, and outgoing), Johannes Huge, Hermen Langenbeck and Henning Buring had concluded a defensive alliance on 16 November. Hamburg feared for its exclave Ritzebüttel, its military outpost at the Outer Elbe to defend the free access to Hamburg via Elbe, thus the city became the driving force in preparing everything for an eventual attack.
However, Rode was surprised when in April 1499 Count John XIV of Oldenburg, brother of Rode's election rival Otto, waged war on the prince-archbishopric conquering with mercenaries Stadland and Butjadingen. This was the start of a series of campaigns to subject the free peasants in the North Sea and river marsh
es to feudalism
, to wit Altes Land
, Ditmarsh
, Land of Hadeln, Haseldorfer Marsch, Kehdingen
, and Wilstermarsch
, also known as the Elbe Marshes
, Butjadingen and Stadland (today's Weser Marsh
), as well as Stedingen
, the Land of Würden, and the Land of Wursten.
Then Rode appealed at the burgher
s of Bremen, Hamburg and Stade
, which considered the areas downstream the rivers Elbe
and Weser their own front yard existential for their free maritime trade connections. Hamburg and Stade were already worried since John V had redeemed Hadeln in 1481, while Bremen was alarmed by Saxe-Lauenburg's expansionism into Wursten at the Weser estuary in 1484. So the three cities supported Rode, who further won the Ditmarsians, free peasants under Bremen's loose overlordship. On 1 May Rode gathered representatives of the Land of Wursten, just across the Weser opposite to Butjadingen, of the cities of Hamburg and Bremen and they concluded a defensive alliance in favour of Wursten in case of an Oldenburgian invasion.
Wursten was then threatened by Oldenburg from the west and by Saxe-Lauenburg from the east. In order to avoid war on two fronts Rode tried to ease the relation with Regent Magnus, while intensive efforts to prepare defense were going on. On 1 August Rode, Bremen's cathedral chapter, more prelates from the prince-archbishopric, as well as the cities of Bremen, Buxtehude
, Hamburg, and Stade concluded a war alliance to supply 1,300 warriors and equipment to defend Wursten and / or invade Hadeln, while all members of Bremian ministerialis and nobility abstained.
Rode remained hesitant, in order not to provoke open illoyalty of the prince-archiepiscopal ministerialis and nobility, he tried to avoid the war. Many a member of ministerialis and nobility rather sided with Magnus. Thus on 24 August Hamburg admonished Rode to maintain the war alliance, finally accusing him for breach of contract in a letter to Hildesheim's Prince-Bishop Bertold of Landsberg. So Rode waged feud
against John V of Saxe-Lauenburg on 9 September 1499. The allied forces easily conquered the Land of Hadeln, defeating Magnus and even driving him out of Hadeln.
While the cities wanted a peaceful front yard without powerful influence of whomsoever, the Ditmarsians were more in favour of autonomy of free peasants. Hamburg and the Ditmarsians fell out with each other. On 16 September a lansquenet hired by Hamburg slayed Cordt von der Lieth, a member of Bremian ministerialis, causing the Otterndorf Strife (Otterndorfer Streit). The lansquenet rumoured a Ditmarsian had slain von der Lieth and fled. Hamburg's lansquenets then attacked the uninvolved Ditmarsians and slayed 76 men in their military camp. Thus Ditmarsh cancelled its alliance with Rode, Bremen and Hamburg and the Ditmarsians returned home. Hamburg aimed at reestablishing its rule in Hadeln, as wielded between 1407 and 1481 during the pawnship.
By 20 November 1499 Magnus hired the so-called Great or Black Guard of ruthless and violent Dutch and East Frisian mercenaries, commanded by Thomas Slentz, prior operating in Oldenburg. Their invasion into the prince-archbishopric was repelled at Bremen, however, upstream they succeeded to cross the Weser in the neighbouring Prince-Bishopric of Verden
near Verden city by the end of November, ravaging the prince-bishopric, especially looting and robbing the monasteries, heading northeastwards towards the Brunswick-Lunenburgian Principality of Lunenburg-Celle
. Having crossed the latter's border the Guard turned westwards into the Bremian prince-archbishopric, by-passing the fortified Buxtehude and Stade, leaving behind a wake of devastation on the countryside and in the monasteries (Altkloster, Neukloster, both localities of today's Buxtehude).
Since prince-archiepiscopal forces secured Vörde the Guard circumvented them southerly, not sparing the Zeven
nunnery. Finally on Chrismas Eve arriving downstream the Weser in Lehe
the Black Guard tried to invade Wursten, however, the free peasants there repelled their attack near Weddewarden
on 26 December. So the Guard turned northeastwards, looting Neuenwalde nunnery underways, into Hadeln, repressing the joint forces of Rode and the cities – lacking support by Bremian knights and the Ditmarsians –, recapturing it for Magnus in early 1500. For the Hadelers, however, this invasion meant no less slaughtering, looting and incendiary than for the rural population in the prince-archbishopric.
By early December Rode had to do what he exactly did not want to do, and had committed not to do in his election capitulation. Without sufficient military forces at his hand Rode turned for help to Duke Henry IV the Elder, who was actually allied with Magnus. In return Rode had to offer appointing Henry's 12-year old son Christopher as his coadjutor, a position usually (as coadiutor cum iure succedendi), and in this case indeed, entailing the succession to the respective see. This exactly accomplished Henry’s the Elder own expansionist ambitions, so he quitted the alliance with Magnus und John V and agreed to militarily support Rode. Rode, who had been elected to maintain Bremen's independence, thus had to deliver the prince-archbishopric to a successor, who would just weaken and subject it to princely interests.
Henry IV the Elder and his troops were now hunting the Black Guard. Magnus, unable to pay the mercenaries so that they turned even the more oppressive for the local population, was like the Sorcerer's Apprentice
, who could not get rid of "the spirits that he called". By mid-January 1500 King John of Denmark hired the Guard and guaranteed for its safe conduct first southeastwards via Lunenburg-Cellean Winsen upon Luhe and Hoopte, crossing the Elbe by Zollenspieker Ferry
to the Hamburg-Lübeckian bi-urban condominium (Beiderstädtischer Besitz) of Bergedorf
and Vierlande. From there the Black Guard headed northwestwards again through Holstein
in order to subject Ditmarsh. It were the Ditmarsians then, who destroyed the Black Guard utterly in the Battle of Hemmingstedt
on 17 February 1500 and thus the Danish King John's dream of subjecting them.
Mediated by Duke Eric I of Brunswick and Lunenburg
, Prince of Calenberg and Henry IV, Rode and Magnus had concluded peace already on 20 January 1500. Hadeln was restored to Magnus, while the Wursteners rendered homage to Rode on 18 August, who in return had confirmed their autonomy, thus in fact little had changed as compared with the status quo ante
. The free peasants in Stadland and Butjadingen liberated themselves from the Oldenburgian yoke in April 1500. This increased their attitude of independence. Rode's administration calculated the damages caused by the Black Guard to be about 200,000 guilders, while the pay for the prince-archiepiscopal soldiers amounted to 10,500 guilders. This had deteriorated Rode's finances, who had to borrow 8,314 guilders from different creditors, many members of the cathedral chapter, and pawned them all the prince-archiepiscopal castles except of his residential castle in Vörde.
In the course of the inquiries for the Vörde Register Rode learned about the fact that the free peasants of Kehdingen had established their own bodies of representation (Hauptleute), and held jurisdiction with their own judges, ignoring the imposed prince-archiepiscopal reeve
s, about which Rode complained in 1500. In the Vörde Register Rode states that cruelty and pressure of the prince-archiepiscopal bailiffs against the serfs drove many into flight leaving behind deserted villages and untilled land turning into wasteland.
Already on 1 February Rode and the cathedral chapter officially appointed Christopher, a foreign prince, as coadjutor. Rode and chapter had agreed to pay for Christopher's necessary papal dispensation from the canon-law
age limit, he was too young to be coadjutor, while Duke Henry IV the Elder guaranteed military support for the prince-archbishopric. On 7 May 1501 Pope Alexander VI dispensed him from being under age, which cost the Bremian see 1,500 Rhenish guilder
s. Alexander VI confirmed Christopher as coadjutor under the proviso that he should only ascend to office having come of age (27 years), which was in 1514.
Rode, supported by troops from Wolfenbüttel, successfully suppressed the Stedingers. On 25 May 1501 Rode concluded a treaty with Duke Henry IV the Elder, also joined by Count John XIV stipulating the subjection of Stadland and Butjadingen, with the Count of Oldenburg being promised the enfeoffment with Butjadingen as Bremen's vassal
. In September 1501 Rode, supported by Wolfenbüttel and Oldenburg, failed to conquer Stadland and Butjadingen for the prince-archbishopric. The rest of Rode's reign remained peaceful.
In 1502 Rode's revenues improved, the cathedral chapter granted him an exceptional double procuration charge (Prokurationsgeld), which was levied from the archidiocesan clergy south of the Elbe. After Rode's appeal to the estates of the prince-archbishopric, meeting for Tohopesaten
in Basdahl
, they decided a onetime plough tax (Pflugschatz) on 23 April 1502, which amounted to 1,798 guilders collected by the chapter until 1503. These higher revenues allowed Rode to prompt the construction of the huge new northern nave to Bremen Cathedral
, which is still preserved. Also the parapet
of the rood screen
in the western quire, an important piece of art, was commissioned by Rode and finished by Evert van Roden in 1512.
Rode's attempt failed to reclaim alienated Bremian territory in Alt- and Neubruchhausen
, in the course of the succession squarrels on the extinct comital line of Hoya Lower County. In 1503 Rode and Edzard I, Count of East Frisia
concluded a 5-year non-aggression treaty on the thing
site in Lehe, near today's Geeste
ferry. So Rode assured, that neither the East Frisians, aiming at subjecting Butjadingen, nor himself, having failed so far to do so, would take that area.
As to the interior, in 1503 Rode exceptionally broke his self-commitment (as in his election capitulation) of not allowing ministerialis and nobility to build new fortified castles of their own by permitting von der Lieth family to fortify their residence in Niederochtenhausen (a part of today's Bremervörde
). Rode tried to prevent the new fortified manor house from becoming a vassal stronghold against him, the liege lord
, but in vain, the von der Lieths gradually usurped deserted villages and arable land and settled them with their serfs.
Accompanied by Legate
Cardinal Raymond Peraudi
, Christopher, simultaneously Prince-Bishop of Verden since 1503, entered the city of Bremen in 1504 and Rode involved him more and more with government affairs. From 1505 on Rode lived a quite retired life in Vörde. Rode acquired the forrestous Wingst Ridge
, previously an old Billungian possession, which he considered a private acquisition in favour of his family.
In 1510 Rode reorganised St. Mary's Monastery in Stade and the Harsefeld
Monastery following the reform ideas of the Bursfelde Congregation
, also replacing the abbots of both monasteries. In Stade Rode then appointed a probable relative as new abbot, named Gerhard Rode. In 1511 Rode prompted the edition of the Missale
secundum ritum Bremense. He recruited the prince-archiepiscopal councillors mostly from indigenous families, partially from cleric background, partially from ministerialis and nobility, only lower ranks were also staffed with foreigners. Stade's burgomaster Claus von der Decken was apparently the only higher ranking official representing city interests.
Rode is famous for his works as statistician and chronicler. In 1498 he had ordered to compile a register, Registrum bonorum et iurium ecclesiae Bremensis, also known as Johannes Rhodii Chronicon Bremense, of all the franchises and privileges pertaining to Vörde Castle, which was still in progress in 1510. This register, partially re-edited by Gottfried Leibniz
in 1710, is valuable because it goes far beyond the purpose given in its title. It includes information about customary law, copies of deeds covering the time between 1160 and 1507, dealing with treaties, decisions, decrees, memoranda, comments and forms used in all three fields of Bremian administration, the religious archdiocese proper, the Ecclesiastical Province of Bremen, and the secular prince-archbishopric. Rode prompted the compilation of similar land books , for the possessions in other prince-archiepiscopal areas, which, however, mostly have never been completed or were later lost, except of the one dealing with the southern Elbe Marshes (Altes Land
, Hadeln and Kehdingen
) and with Wursten.
With the comprehensive registration and listing of all privileges, estates and franchises Rode established a new office, the rent master (Rentmeister), first held by Matthäus von Hoya, in charge of collecting recurrent prince-archiepiscopal revenues. Rode also installed a chancery for the regular prince-archiepiscopal correspondence, and appointed a chancellor, Bertold Rese, a cleric from Mainz, recorded since 1509, thus establishing and stabilising a permanent bureaucracy.
Rode further rationalised the office of the landdrost, with the new incumbent Hermann von Mandelsloh, appointed in consensus with the chapter ("mit weteme und willen des … Capittelss") and sworn to strict instructions in 1500. Rode mostly enjoyed the support of the cathedral chapter among the estates. However, the relations to the cities were ambivalent. Rode enjoyed their support, when his and their interests were equal, like averting foreign intrusions, but he complained about their usurpaption of privileges, collecting duties from merchants, he considered prince-archiepiscopal. Rode died on 4 December 1511 in Vörde
Castle and was buried in Bremen Cathedral
.
in Bremen Cathedral
.
Rode's purchase of the Wingst Ridge for his family was later disputed by Prince-Archbishop Christopher, who claimed it as prince-archiepiscopal estate. Christopher wanted to enfeoff his son, Christian of Bremen (aka Carsten/Karsten Hillen) with the estate. However, Rode's nephew and namesake, Johann Rode, representing their family, defended the estate. In 1533 the dispute developed into a bloody feud involving Christopher's two prince-bishoprics, Bremen and Verden.
two wings in or (gold)
flanking a modest Jousting
helmet in or turned dexter (shield bearer's right, but viewer's left). The crest
consists of two buffalo horns in argent (silver)
banded in azure flanking an argent helmet. The supporter, not shown here, is an ape-like haired wild man
with face, hands and feet in gules (red)
, referring to the family name Rode, which means in Low Saxon the red (one), (Latinised: Rufus). On the front page of the Missale secundum ritum ecclesie Bremense the Rode family coat of arms combines in a quartering
with the coat of arms of the Prince-Archbishopric of Bremen.
Archbishopric of Bremen
The Archdiocese of Bremen was a historical Roman Catholic diocese and formed from 1180 to 1648 an ecclesiastical state , named Prince-Archbishopric of Bremen within the Holy Roman Empire...
between 1497 and 1511.
Family and early life
Rode was born about 1445 in Bremen. He was a member of a patrician family of Bremen, recorded for holding political offices of the city since the 2nd half of the 13th century. The family was said to be also related by marriage with ministerialisMinisterialis
Ministerialis ; a post-classical Latin word, used in English, meaning originally servitor, agent, in a broad range of senses...
and noble families in the Prince-Archbishopric of Bremen. Rode's father Heinrich Rode (d. 1496) was city council
City council
A city council or town council is the legislative body that governs a city, town, municipality or local government area.-Australia & NZ:Because of the differences in legislation between the States, the exact definition of a City Council varies...
lor in Bremen between 1484 and 1496, his mother Anna was a daughter of Bremen's burgomaster
Burgomaster
Burgomaster is the English form of various terms in or derived from Germanic languages for the chief magistrate or chairman of the executive council of a sub-national level of administration...
Borchard Vagedes (Vaget/Vagts; d. 1512, burgomaster since 1482) and his wife Bartke Brede.
His namesake and paternal uncle Johann Rode the Elder (d. 1477), like two further paternal uncles, Lüder Rode (Germanised: Lothar; d. 1503) and Theodericus Rufus (Germanised: Dietrich Rode; d. 1484, provost of the college
College (canon law)
A college, in the canon law of the Roman Catholic Church, is a collection of persons united together for a common object so as to form one body. The members are consequently said to be incorporated, or to form a corporation.-History:...
in Ramelsloh
Ramelsloh
Ramelsloh is a village in the district of Harburg, in Lower Saxony, Germany.It is situated on a small river Seeve, 30 km south of Hamburg.There are approximately 1600 people living within the village....
), were also clerics, as cathedral provost, cathedral cantor (Domkantor), and ordinary cathedral canon (Domherr)
Canon (priest)
A canon is a priest or minister who is a member of certain bodies of the Christian clergy subject to an ecclesiastical rule ....
, respectively, with seats and votes in Bremen's cathedral chapter
Cathedral chapter
In accordance with canon law, a cathedral chapter is a college of clerics formed to advise a bishop and, in the case of a vacancy of the episcopal see in some countries, to govern the diocese in his stead. These councils are made up of canons and dignitaries; in the Roman Catholic church their...
. Rode's brother Heinrich, son-in-law of Bremen's burgomaster Hermann von Groepelingen (officiating 1425–1435), served as city councillor of Bremen and their sister Margarethe (d. 1513) was married to Bremen's burgomaster Heinrich Stenow, officiating between 1486 and 1506.
Being of successful bourgeois background the landed nobility in the prince-archbishopric considered Rode as a representative of urban commerce and economic interests and belittled him as a man of minor, shoemakers' descent. His family was most likely also invested in urban real estate, Buden (literally boothes), rented out to the non-propertied classes.
Career
When in 1463 Prince-Archbishop Gerard of Hoya, a son of Otto I, Count of Hoya had died, the cathedral capitulars, with Rode's three uncles among them, preferred to elect him, however, Rode, with only 18 years too young, proposed instead Henry XXVII of SchwarzburgCounty of Schwarzburg
The County of Schwarzburg was a state of the Holy Roman Empire from 1195 to 1595, when it was partitioned into Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt and Schwarzburg-Sondershausen. It was ruled by counts from the House of Schwarzburg....
, who was five years older and then elected. Rode finished school as baccalaureus in 1464. In 1465 Rode started his studies at the University of Rostock
University of Rostock
The University of Rostock is the university of the city Rostock, in the German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.Founded in 1419, it is the oldest and largest university in continental northern Europe and the Baltic Sea area...
, where he enrolled under Rector Johann Stammel. Due to his youth Pope Pius II
Pope Pius II
Pope Pius II, born Enea Silvio Piccolomini was Pope from August 19, 1458 until his death in 1464. Pius II was born at Corsignano in the Sienese territory of a noble but decayed family...
confirmed Henry's election under the proviso that he would be only administrator until reaching the age of 27, which was in 1467. However, in 1466 Henry was elected Prince-Bishop of Münster, took residence in Münster in Westphalia and then never pursued his appointment as archbishop any more. Nevertheless, he is referred to as Henry II of Bremen, but Prince-Bishop Henry III of Münster.
Starting from Michael's day 1468 till 1485 Rode served as cathedral dean (Domdechant) of Bremen Cathedral
Bremen Cathedral
Bremen Cathedral , dedicated to St. Peter, is a church situated in the market square in the center of Bremen, in northern Germany. The cathedral belongs to the Bremian Evangelical Church, a member of the Protestant umbrella organisation named Evangelical Church in Germany...
. In 1468, already as dean, he enrolled at the University of Erfurt
University of Erfurt
The University of Erfurt is a public university located in Erfurt, Germany. Originally founded in 1379, the university was closed in 1816 for the next 177 years...
and was elected its rector
Rector
The word rector has a number of different meanings; it is widely used to refer to an academic, religious or political administrator...
on 2 May 1470. He had studied law and graduated as doctor of both laws from the University of Erfurt in 1474. He was also a scholar of the history of the prince-archbishopric. In 1485 the capitular canons elected Rode cathedral provost (Dompropst) of Bremen, a leading function including the presidency of the cathedral chapter (Domkapitel)
Cathedral chapter
In accordance with canon law, a cathedral chapter is a college of clerics formed to advise a bishop and, in the case of a vacancy of the episcopal see in some countries, to govern the diocese in his stead. These councils are made up of canons and dignitaries; in the Roman Catholic church their...
.
Rode's provostship fell into a difficult time since Henry II preferred to live in Münster. The Bremians considered him a bad administrator, too much a partisan of Münster interests and too involved in politics of the Holy Roman Empire
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...
. Henry conveyed the administration of Bremen to vicegerents, among them Günther of Schwarzburg and another of his brothers. Henry successfully reclaimed the lordship of Lechterseite of Delmenhorst
Delmenhorst
Delmenhorst is an urban district in Lower Saxony, Germany. It has a population of 74,500 and is located 10 km/6 miles west of downtown Bremen with which it forms a contiguous urban area, whereas the city of Oldenburg is 25 km/15 miles to the northwest. The city has a total area of 62.36 km²...
, alienated by Gerard of Hoya in favour of his sister Catharina and her husband Maurice IV, Count of Oldenburg, even waging war against the usurping Count Gerhard VI "the Quarrelsome" of Oldenburg. However, while the overlordship and all the effort, such as pawning other Bremian estates to finance it, was from the side of the prince-archbishopric, Henry then annexed Lechterseite, regained in 1481, to his preferred Münster. Rode and the other members of the Bremian chapter disapproved this as alienation of prince-archiepiscopal estates. However, they could not help it.
Henry had a warlike temperament and involved in the imperial wars against Duke Charles the Bold of Burgundy, participating in the relief of the beleaguered Neuss
Siege of Neuss
The Siege of Neuss, from 1474–75, was part of the Burgundian Wars. The siege, led by Charles the Bold against the Holy Roman Empire city of Neuss, was unsuccessful...
in 1473. This was of no interest for Bremen, but also financed by alienating prince-archiepiscopal estates. In 1481 John V, Duke of Saxe-Lauenburg
John V, Duke of Saxe-Lauenburg
John V of Saxe-Lauenburg was the eldest son of Duke Bernard II of Saxe-Lauenburg and Adelheid of Pomerania-Stolp , daughter of Duke Bogislaus VIII of Pomerania-Stolp...
had redeemed the Saxon exclave Land of Hadeln, which had been previously pawned to 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...
as security for a credit. John V had then made his son and heir apparent, Magnus
Magnus I, Duke of Saxe-Lauenburg
Magnus I of Saxe-Lauenburg was a Duke of Saxe-Lauenburg from the House of Ascania.-Life:...
, regent of Hadeln, situated at the Outer Elbe adjacent to the secular territory of the prince-archbishopric and underlying Bremen's archdiocesan competence.
In 1484 Hadeln's ambitious Regent Magnus, who aimed at increasing his local revenues, had reached out to conquer the rich Land of Wursten
Land Wursten
Land Wursten is a Samtgemeinde in the district of Cuxhaven, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated approximately 20 km southwest of Cuxhaven, and 15 km north of Bremerhaven...
, a de facto autonomous region of free Frisian
Frisians
The Frisians are a Germanic ethnic group native to the coastal parts of the Netherlands and Germany. They are concentrated in the Dutch provinces of Friesland and Groningen and, in Germany, East Frisia and North Frisia, that was a part of Denmark until 1864. They inhabit an area known as Frisia...
peasants in a North Sea marsh at the Weser estuary, but he failed. Magnus tried to justify his violent act with the pretence that Wursten used to be Saxon before the imperial deposition of Duke Henry the Lion
Henry the Lion
Henry the Lion was a member of the Welf dynasty and Duke of Saxony, as Henry III, from 1142, and Duke of Bavaria, as Henry XII, from 1156, which duchies he held until 1180....
and the carve-up of his Saxony
Duchy of Saxony
The medieval Duchy of Saxony was a late Early Middle Ages "Carolingian stem duchy" covering the greater part of Northern Germany. It covered the area of the modern German states of Bremen, Hamburg, Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia, and Saxony-Anhalt and most of Schleswig-Holstein...
in 1180, which only brought Magnus' Ascanian dynasty to take the belittled dukedom. The prince-archbishopric, claiming Wursten for itself, was alarmed. Wursteners so far little disputed Bremen's claim, as long as the prince-archiepiscopal rule had remained a light financial burden without major interference in their internal and external affairs usually decided in autonomy.
Through his work as cathedral provost Rode was experienced in government affairs and a proven diplomate. Johann Martin Lappenberg
Johann Martin Lappenberg
Johann Martin Lappenberg , was a German historian.-Biography:He was born at Hamburg, where his father, Valentin Anton Lappenberg , held an official position. He attended the Johanneum and the Akademisches Gymnasium of Hamburg. Like his father he studied medicine, but afterwards history, at the...
judged him as "one of the most excellent bishops of Bremen".
Reign and archiepiscopate
After Henry's death in 1496 the enfranchised capitulars wanted a successor rich and thus independent enough and void of any princely aspirations. The majority of the canons of the cathedral chapters of Bremen and Hamburg (with only three votes) elected Rode archbishop on 30 January 1497, beating his election rivals John of Saxe-LauenburgJohn IV of Saxe-Lauenburg (prince-bishop)
John IV of Saxe-Lauenburg was a Prince-Bishop of Hildesheim.-Life:The son of Dorothea of Brandenburg and Duke John V of Saxe-Lauenburg stood for election as prince-archbishop of Bremen, however, the majority of the canons of the cathedral chapters of Bremen and Hamburg elected Johann Rode...
, brother of Magnus, and Otto of Oldenburg (a canon in Bremen and son of Gerhard VI). Family and friends among the capitulars helped Rode to gain the majority. On 28 April Pope Alexander VI
Pope Alexander VI
Pope Alexander VI , born Roderic Llançol i Borja was Pope from 1492 until his death on 18 August 1503. He is one of the most controversial of the Renaissance popes, and his Italianized surname—Borgia—became a byword for the debased standards of the Papacy of that era, most notoriously the Banquet...
confirmed Rode. This was accompanied by the papal invoice, the so-called servitia minuta and servitium commune, the latter making up a third of the annual revenues of a see.
On 1 May 1497 Rode issued his election capitulation
Conclave capitulation
A conclave capitulation is a capitulation drawn up by the College of Cardinals during a papal conclave, attempting to constrain the actions of the Pope elected by the conclave. Generally, all cardinals would swear to uphold it if elected Pope, and the capitulation would be finished before the first...
(Wahlkapitulation), a document indicating much of the gravamina against Henry, to be prevented during Rode's reign. The capitulation stipulated the participation of the cathedral chapter in government affairs, guaranteed the capitular privileges, and forbade the future alienation of prince-archiepiscopal estates. Furthermore the prince-archbishop was not to allow knights of ministerialis or nobility to build new fortified castles or manors of their own, but even to destroy unauthorisedly erected "new fortresses or fortified residences" (Low Saxon: nige veste offt waninge). The capitulation had been formulated by the cathedral chapter during sede vacante
Sede vacante
Sede vacante is an expression, used in the Canon Law of the Catholic Church, that refers to the vacancy of the episcopal see of a particular church...
, thus Rode was one of its co-authors. Accepting and issuing the capitulation was an obligatory self-commitment of the incumbent of Bremen's see since the investiture
Investiture
Investiture, from the Latin is a rather general term for the formal installation of an incumbent...
of Prince-Archbishop Gilbert of Bronckhorst in 1274. The election capitulation formed part of the constitution of the prince-archbishopric, restraining the power of the ruler, organising the cooperation of the estates of the prince-archbishopric
Estates of the realm
The Estates of the realm were the broad social orders of the hierarchically conceived society, recognized in the Middle Ages and Early Modern period in Christian Europe; they are sometimes distinguished as the three estates: the clergy, the nobility, and commoners, and are often referred to by...
(Stiftsstände) and the ruling archbishop.
Rode's election capitulation committed him not to alienate further prince-archiepiscopal estates, to regain alienated and pawned estates
Estate (law)
An estate is the net worth of a person at any point in time. It is the sum of a person's assets - legal rights, interests and entitlements to property of any kind - less all liabilities at that time. The issue is of special legal significance on a question of bankruptcy and death of the person...
, and privileges, to staff offices, such as the executive official of the prince-archbishopric, the landdrost, or the bailiffs (Vogt/Vögte, sg./pl.) on the castles with indigenous persons, who were not bound to foreign interests. Waging war would be only allowed to the prince-archbishop after consulting with the cathedral chapter and the estates of the prince-archbishopric.
The city of Bremen even demanded more, in a 1499 treaty between the city and the cathedral chapter the parties stipulated that the chapter must not introduce any future new archbishop, who did not commit himself by oath and a written deed (such as an election capitulation) not to pawn castles, not to wage war, and not to reduce anybody's privileges unless consented with chapter and city council. Rode's election rivals John and Otto were both sons of dynasties ruling neighbouring monarchies (Saxe-Lauenburgian exclave of Hadeln, Oldenburg), and had thus the smell of representing princely expansionism, entailing the weakening and belittlement of the prince-archbishopric.
On 6 June 1497 Rode received the pallium
Pallium
The pallium is an ecclesiastical vestment in the Roman Catholic Church, originally peculiar to the Pope, but for many centuries bestowed by him on metropolitans and primates as a symbol of the jurisdiction delegated to them by the Holy See. In that context it has always remained unambiguously...
through the prince-bishops of Hildesheim
Bishopric of Hildesheim
The Diocese of Hildesheim is a diocese or ecclesiastical territory of the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church in Germany. Founded in 815 as a missionary diocese by King Louis the Pious, his son Louis the German appointed the famous former archbishop of Rheims, Ebbo, as bishop...
and Verden
Verden (state)
The historic territory of Verden emerged from the secular estates of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Verden in the area of present-day central and northeastern Lower Saxony and existed as such until 1648. The territory managed by secular lords for the bishops was not identical with that of the...
, Bertold of Landsberg, and Minden
Bishopric of Minden
The Bishopric of Minden was a Roman Catholic diocese and a state, Prince-bishopric of Minden , of the Holy Roman Empire. Its capital was Minden which is in modern day Germany.-History:...
, Henry of Schauenburg and Holstein-Pinneberg. On 14 September Emperor Maximilian I invested Rode, the confirmed and consecrated archbishop, with the princely regalia
Regalia
Regalia is Latin plurale tantum for the privileges and the insignia characteristic of a Sovereign.The word stems from the Latin substantivation of the adjective regalis, 'regal', itself from Rex, 'king'...
, which made him the secular ruler of the prince-archbishopric, holding a vote in the imperial diet
Reichstag (Holy Roman Empire)
The Imperial Diet was the Diet, or general assembly, of the Imperial Estates of the Holy Roman Empire.During the period of the Empire, which lasted formally until 1806, the Diet was not a parliament in today's sense; instead, it was an assembly of the various estates of the realm...
and that of the Lower Saxon Circle
Lower Saxon Circle
The Lower Saxon Circle was an Imperial Circle of the Holy Roman Empire. Covering much of the territory of the mediæval Duchy of Saxony , firstly the circle used to be called the Saxon Circle , only to be later better differentiated from the Upper Saxon Circle the more specific name prevailed.An...
. Representatives of the subjects
British subject
In British nationality law, the term British subject has at different times had different meanings. The current definition of the term British subject is contained in the British Nationality Act 1981.- Prior to 1949 :...
then rendered Rode homage and he was sworn in as ruler. Since Rode's predecessor Henry II never pursued his papal confirmation as archbishop, he was never invested princely regalia with the prince-archbishopric thus being banned from exercising its privilege of a vote in the imperial diet.
Right at the start, when levying from the prince-archiepiscopal subjects the homage tax and from all the clergy within his archdiocese the donum charitativum (also called subsidium caritativum) in order to recover the papal fees, Rode had to realise that a prince-archbishop lacking a local power base cannot assert himself. In fulfilment of his election capitulation, and in order to strengthen his position, Rode aimed at regaining and reassuring prince-archiepiscopal privileges and estates which had been pawned or alienated under Henry II. Between 1498 and 1500 he prompted the edition of the Registrum bonorum et Iurium Castri Vorde
Bremervörde
Bremervörde is a town in the north of the district Rotenburg, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated at the Oste river near the mid of the triangle, which is formed of the rivers Weser and Elbe respectively the cities of Hamburg, Bremen and Cuxhaven....
citra et ultra Oestam
Oste
The Oste is a river in northern Lower Saxony, Germany with a length of 153 km, left tributary of the Elbe. It flows through the districts of Harburg, Rotenburg, Stade and Cuxhaven and empties into the Elbe river near Otterndorf. Its drainage area is 1.711 km² and the decline between the...
(Vörde Register), a register of all estates, privileges, easements etc. pertaining to Vörde Castle, the prince-archiepiscopal residence. By reclaiming estates and privileges he had to confront their then holders, causing conflicts with the knightage (Ritterschaft) among ministerialis and nobles.
The Stedinger
Stedingen
Stedingen is an area north of Bremen in the delta of the Weser river in north-western Germany.-Founding:In the year 1106, five Dutchmen made a long journey from the mouth of the Rhine to Bremen. They wanted to talk to the Archbishop of Bremen about taking over settling land on the Weser River,...
s, being no serf
SERF
A spin exchange relaxation-free magnetometer is a type of magnetometer developed at Princeton University in the early 2000s. SERF magnetometers measure magnetic fields by using lasers to detect the interaction between alkali metal atoms in a vapor and the magnetic field.The name for the technique...
s or soccage farmers, but free peasant
Peasant
A peasant is an agricultural worker who generally tend to be poor and homeless-Etymology:The word is derived from 15th century French païsant meaning one from the pays, or countryside, ultimately from the Latin pagus, or outlying administrative district.- Position in society :Peasants typically...
s in the marshes on both sides of the Weser, revolted against paying the homage tax and found support in Stadland
Stadland
Stadland is a municipality in the district of Wesermarsch, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the left bank of the Weser, approx. 32 km northeast of Oldenburg, and 42 km northwest of Bremen. On the west side Stadland bordered to the Jade Bight...
and Butjadingen
Butjadingen
Butjadingen is a peninsula and municipality in the Wesermarsch districts, in Lower Saxony, Germany.-Geography:Butjadingen is situated on the German North Sea coast. It is bordered on the west and southwest by the Jade River and on the east by the Weser River. It forms the northern part of the...
, more northwestwards along the Weser, also inhabited by free peasants only accepting loose Bremian obverlordship. When on 24 June 1498 Emperor Maximilian I invested Conrad of Rietberg, Archbishop Henry's successor in the diocese of Münster, with the regalia in the Prince-Bishopric of Münster, the deed also named territory as part of Münster, which was actually Bremian and had only been pawned to Münster by Henry. So Rode sued Prince-Bishop Conrad in the Rota Romana to accept Bremen's claim to the bailiwicks of Harpstedt
Harpstedt
Harpstedt is a municipality in Oldenburg, Lower Saxony, Germany.Harpstedt is also the seat of the Samtgemeinde Harpstedt....
, Delmenhorst's Lechterseite, and Wildeshausen
Wildeshausen
Wildeshausen is a town and the capital of the Oldenburg district in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated by the river Hunte.-History:...
. On 28 September the same year Rode conveyed the bailiff house in Ottersberg
Ottersberg
Ottersberg is a municipality in the district of Verden, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated approx. 20 km north of Verden, and 28 km east of Bremen.-History:Ottersberg belonged to the Prince-Archbishopric of Bremen, established in 1180...
to the cathedral chapter in compensation for debts which the late Henry had never repaid.
An external new conflict arose with the ambitious Regent Magnus in Hadeln, who planned a new conquest of Wursten. On 24 November 1498 John V and Magnus of Saxe-Lauenburg allied with Henry IV the Elder of Brunswick and Lunenburg, Prince of Wolfenbüttel
Henry IV, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg
Henry , Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, called Henry the Elder or Henry the Evil, was prince of Wolfenbüttel from 1491 until his death.-Life:...
to conquer Wursten. Henry IV obliged to send 3,000 lansquenet
Lansquenet
Lansquenet is a card game. Lansquenet also refers to 15th and 16th century German foot soldiers; the lansquenet drum is a type of field drum used by these soldiers.-Game play:The dealer or banker stakes a certain sum, and this must be met by the nearest to the dealer first, and so...
s, who should gain their payment by ravaging and plundering the free peasants of Wursten, once successfully subjected. Rode had prepared for this, he and Hamburg's three burgomasters (upcoming, presiding, and outgoing), Johannes Huge, Hermen Langenbeck and Henning Buring had concluded a defensive alliance on 16 November. Hamburg feared for its exclave Ritzebüttel, its military outpost at the Outer Elbe to defend the free access to Hamburg via Elbe, thus the city became the driving force in preparing everything for an eventual attack.
However, Rode was surprised when in April 1499 Count John XIV of Oldenburg, brother of Rode's election rival Otto, waged war on the prince-archbishopric conquering with mercenaries Stadland and Butjadingen. This was the start of a series of campaigns to subject the free peasants in the North Sea and river marsh
Marsh
In geography, a marsh, or morass, is a type of wetland that is subject to frequent or continuous flood. Typically the water is shallow and features grasses, rushes, reeds, typhas, sedges, other herbaceous plants, and moss....
es to feudalism
Feudalism
Feudalism was a set of legal and military customs in medieval Europe that flourished between the 9th and 15th centuries, which, broadly defined, was a system for ordering society around relationships derived from the holding of land in exchange for service or labour.Although derived from the...
, to wit Altes Land
Altes Land
Altes Land is an area of reclaimed marshland straddling parts of Lower Saxony and Hamburg. The region is situated downstream from Hamburg on the southwestern riverside of the Elbe around the towns of Stade, Buxtehude, Jork and the Samtgemeinde of Lühe...
, Ditmarsh
Dithmarschen
Dithmarschen is a district in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is bounded by the districts of Nordfriesland, Schleswig-Flensburg, Rendsburg-Eckernförde, and Steinburg, by the state of Lower Saxony , and by the North Sea.-Geography:The district is located on the North Sea...
, Land of Hadeln, Haseldorfer Marsch, Kehdingen
Kehdingen
Kehdingen is the name of a landscape in the north German district of Stade on the lower reaches of the River Elbe. It extends roughly from the mouth of the Oste in the north to the town of Stade in the south...
, and Wilstermarsch
Wilstermarsch
Wilstermarsch is an Amt in the district of Steinburg, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is situated around Wilster, which is the seat of the Amt, but not part of it....
, also known as the Elbe Marshes
Elbe marshes
The Elbe marshes are an extensive region of marsh or polderland along the lower and middle reaches of the River Elbe in northern Germany. It is also referred to as the Lower Elbe Marsch by Dickinson and is region D24 in the BfN's list of the natural regions of Germany...
, Butjadingen and Stadland (today's Weser Marsh
Wesermarsch
Wesermarsch is a Kreis in the northwestern part of Lower Saxony, Germany. Neighboring are the districts of Cuxhaven and Osterholz, the city of Bremen in the state of Bremen, the urban district of Delmenhorst, the district of Oldenburg and the urban district of Oldenburg, and the districts of ...
), as well as Stedingen
Stedingen
Stedingen is an area north of Bremen in the delta of the Weser river in north-western Germany.-Founding:In the year 1106, five Dutchmen made a long journey from the mouth of the Rhine to Bremen. They wanted to talk to the Archbishop of Bremen about taking over settling land on the Weser River,...
, the Land of Würden, and the Land of Wursten.
Then Rode appealed at the burgher
Burgher
Burgher may refer to:* A citizen of a borough or town, especially one belonging to middle class* A resident of a burgh* A formally defined class in medieval German cities, usually the only group from which city officials could be drawn...
s of Bremen, Hamburg and Stade
Stade
Stade is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany and part of the Hamburg Metropolitan Region . It is the seat of the district named after it...
, which considered the areas downstream the rivers Elbe
Elbe
The Elbe is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Krkonoše Mountains of the northwestern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia , then Germany and flowing into the North Sea at Cuxhaven, 110 km northwest of Hamburg...
and Weser their own front yard existential for their free maritime trade connections. Hamburg and Stade were already worried since John V had redeemed Hadeln in 1481, while Bremen was alarmed by Saxe-Lauenburg's expansionism into Wursten at the Weser estuary in 1484. So the three cities supported Rode, who further won the Ditmarsians, free peasants under Bremen's loose overlordship. On 1 May Rode gathered representatives of the Land of Wursten, just across the Weser opposite to Butjadingen, of the cities of Hamburg and Bremen and they concluded a defensive alliance in favour of Wursten in case of an Oldenburgian invasion.
Wursten was then threatened by Oldenburg from the west and by Saxe-Lauenburg from the east. In order to avoid war on two fronts Rode tried to ease the relation with Regent Magnus, while intensive efforts to prepare defense were going on. On 1 August Rode, Bremen's cathedral chapter, more prelates from the prince-archbishopric, as well as the cities of Bremen, Buxtehude
Buxtehude
Buxtehude is a town on the Este River in Northern Germany in the district of Stade and part of the Hamburg Metropolitan Region . Buxtehude is a steadily growing medium-sized town and the second largest in the district of Stade. It lies on the southern borders of the Altes Land within easy reach of...
, Hamburg, and Stade concluded a war alliance to supply 1,300 warriors and equipment to defend Wursten and / or invade Hadeln, while all members of Bremian ministerialis and nobility abstained.
Rode remained hesitant, in order not to provoke open illoyalty of the prince-archiepiscopal ministerialis and nobility, he tried to avoid the war. Many a member of ministerialis and nobility rather sided with Magnus. Thus on 24 August Hamburg admonished Rode to maintain the war alliance, finally accusing him for breach of contract in a letter to Hildesheim's Prince-Bishop Bertold of Landsberg. So Rode waged feud
Feud
A feud , referred to in more extreme cases as a blood feud, vendetta, faida, or private war, is a long-running argument or fight between parties—often groups of people, especially families or clans. Feuds begin because one party perceives itself to have been attacked, insulted or wronged by another...
against John V of Saxe-Lauenburg on 9 September 1499. The allied forces easily conquered the Land of Hadeln, defeating Magnus and even driving him out of Hadeln.
While the cities wanted a peaceful front yard without powerful influence of whomsoever, the Ditmarsians were more in favour of autonomy of free peasants. Hamburg and the Ditmarsians fell out with each other. On 16 September a lansquenet hired by Hamburg slayed Cordt von der Lieth, a member of Bremian ministerialis, causing the Otterndorf Strife (Otterndorfer Streit). The lansquenet rumoured a Ditmarsian had slain von der Lieth and fled. Hamburg's lansquenets then attacked the uninvolved Ditmarsians and slayed 76 men in their military camp. Thus Ditmarsh cancelled its alliance with Rode, Bremen and Hamburg and the Ditmarsians returned home. Hamburg aimed at reestablishing its rule in Hadeln, as wielded between 1407 and 1481 during the pawnship.
By 20 November 1499 Magnus hired the so-called Great or Black Guard of ruthless and violent Dutch and East Frisian mercenaries, commanded by Thomas Slentz, prior operating in Oldenburg. Their invasion into the prince-archbishopric was repelled at Bremen, however, upstream they succeeded to cross the Weser in the neighbouring Prince-Bishopric of Verden
Verden (state)
The historic territory of Verden emerged from the secular estates of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Verden in the area of present-day central and northeastern Lower Saxony and existed as such until 1648. The territory managed by secular lords for the bishops was not identical with that of the...
near Verden city by the end of November, ravaging the prince-bishopric, especially looting and robbing the monasteries, heading northeastwards towards the Brunswick-Lunenburgian Principality of Lunenburg-Celle
Principality of Lüneburg
The Principality of Lüneburg was a territorial division of the Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg within the Holy Roman Empire, immediately subordinate to the emperor. It existed from 1269 until 1705 and its territory lay within the modern-day state of Lower Saxony in Germany...
. Having crossed the latter's border the Guard turned westwards into the Bremian prince-archbishopric, by-passing the fortified Buxtehude and Stade, leaving behind a wake of devastation on the countryside and in the monasteries (Altkloster, Neukloster, both localities of today's Buxtehude).
Since prince-archiepiscopal forces secured Vörde the Guard circumvented them southerly, not sparing the Zeven
Zeven
Zeven is a town in the district of Rotenburg, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It has a population of around 14,000. The nearest large towns are Bremerhaven, Bremen and Hamburg. It is situated approximately 22 km northwest of Rotenburg, and 40 km northeast of Bremen...
nunnery. Finally on Chrismas Eve arriving downstream the Weser in Lehe
Bremerhaven
Bremerhaven is a city at the seaport of the free city-state of Bremen, a state of the Federal Republic of Germany. It forms an enclave in the state of Lower Saxony and is located at the mouth of the River Weser on its eastern bank, opposite the town of Nordenham...
the Black Guard tried to invade Wursten, however, the free peasants there repelled their attack near Weddewarden
Bremerhaven
Bremerhaven is a city at the seaport of the free city-state of Bremen, a state of the Federal Republic of Germany. It forms an enclave in the state of Lower Saxony and is located at the mouth of the River Weser on its eastern bank, opposite the town of Nordenham...
on 26 December. So the Guard turned northeastwards, looting Neuenwalde nunnery underways, into Hadeln, repressing the joint forces of Rode and the cities – lacking support by Bremian knights and the Ditmarsians –, recapturing it for Magnus in early 1500. For the Hadelers, however, this invasion meant no less slaughtering, looting and incendiary than for the rural population in the prince-archbishopric.
By early December Rode had to do what he exactly did not want to do, and had committed not to do in his election capitulation. Without sufficient military forces at his hand Rode turned for help to Duke Henry IV the Elder, who was actually allied with Magnus. In return Rode had to offer appointing Henry's 12-year old son Christopher as his coadjutor, a position usually (as coadiutor cum iure succedendi), and in this case indeed, entailing the succession to the respective see. This exactly accomplished Henry’s the Elder own expansionist ambitions, so he quitted the alliance with Magnus und John V and agreed to militarily support Rode. Rode, who had been elected to maintain Bremen's independence, thus had to deliver the prince-archbishopric to a successor, who would just weaken and subject it to princely interests.
Henry IV the Elder and his troops were now hunting the Black Guard. Magnus, unable to pay the mercenaries so that they turned even the more oppressive for the local population, was like the Sorcerer's Apprentice
The Sorcerer's Apprentice
The Sorcerer's Apprentice is the English name of a poem by Goethe, Der Zauberlehrling, written in 1797. The poem is a ballad in fourteen stanzas.-Story:...
, who could not get rid of "the spirits that he called". By mid-January 1500 King John of Denmark hired the Guard and guaranteed for its safe conduct first southeastwards via Lunenburg-Cellean Winsen upon Luhe and Hoopte, crossing the Elbe by Zollenspieker Ferry
Zollenspieker Ferry
The Zollenspieker Ferry is a ferry across the Elbe river in Germany. It crosses between Zollenspieker, a part of the quarter Kirchwerder of the Bergedorf borough of the city-state of Hamburg, and Hoopte, part of the town Winsen , in the state of Lower Saxony, and is about south-east of Hamburg...
to the Hamburg-Lübeckian bi-urban condominium (Beiderstädtischer Besitz) of Bergedorf
Bergedorf (quarter)
Bergedorf is a quarter in the homonymous borough of the Free and Hanseatic city of Hamburg in northern Germany. In 2006, the population was 41,019.-History:The quarter was first mentioned in 1162...
and Vierlande. From there the Black Guard headed northwestwards again through Holstein
Holstein
Holstein is the region between the rivers Elbe and Eider. It is part of Schleswig-Holstein, the northernmost state of Germany....
in order to subject Ditmarsh. It were the Ditmarsians then, who destroyed the Black Guard utterly in the Battle of Hemmingstedt
Battle of Hemmingstedt
The Battle of Hemmingstedt took place on February 17, 1500 south of the village of Hemmingstedt, near the present village of Epenwöhrden, in the western part of present-day Schleswig-Holstein in Germany. It was an attempt by Duke Friedrich and Duke Johann to subdue the peasantry of Dithmarschen,...
on 17 February 1500 and thus the Danish King John's dream of subjecting them.
Mediated by Duke Eric I of Brunswick and Lunenburg
Eric I, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg
Eric I, the Elder was Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg from 1495 and the reigning prince of Calenberg-Göttingen.- Ancestry :Eric I was born on 16 February 1470 in Neustadt am Rübenberge at the castle of Rovenburg....
, Prince of Calenberg and Henry IV, Rode and Magnus had concluded peace already on 20 January 1500. Hadeln was restored to Magnus, while the Wursteners rendered homage to Rode on 18 August, who in return had confirmed their autonomy, thus in fact little had changed as compared with the status quo ante
Status quo ante
Status quo ante is Latin for "the way things were before" and incorporates the term status quo. In law, it refers to the objective of a temporary restraining order or a rescission in which the situation is restored to "the state in which previously" it existed...
. The free peasants in Stadland and Butjadingen liberated themselves from the Oldenburgian yoke in April 1500. This increased their attitude of independence. Rode's administration calculated the damages caused by the Black Guard to be about 200,000 guilders, while the pay for the prince-archiepiscopal soldiers amounted to 10,500 guilders. This had deteriorated Rode's finances, who had to borrow 8,314 guilders from different creditors, many members of the cathedral chapter, and pawned them all the prince-archiepiscopal castles except of his residential castle in Vörde.
In the course of the inquiries for the Vörde Register Rode learned about the fact that the free peasants of Kehdingen had established their own bodies of representation (Hauptleute), and held jurisdiction with their own judges, ignoring the imposed prince-archiepiscopal reeve
Reeve (England)
Originally in Anglo-Saxon England the reeve was a senior official with local responsibilities under the Crown e.g. as the chief magistrate of a town or district...
s, about which Rode complained in 1500. In the Vörde Register Rode states that cruelty and pressure of the prince-archiepiscopal bailiffs against the serfs drove many into flight leaving behind deserted villages and untilled land turning into wasteland.
Already on 1 February Rode and the cathedral chapter officially appointed Christopher, a foreign prince, as coadjutor. Rode and chapter had agreed to pay for Christopher's necessary papal dispensation from the canon-law
Canon law
Canon law is the body of laws & regulations made or adopted by ecclesiastical authority, for the government of the Christian organization and its members. It is the internal ecclesiastical law governing the Catholic Church , the Eastern and Oriental Orthodox churches, and the Anglican Communion of...
age limit, he was too young to be coadjutor, while Duke Henry IV the Elder guaranteed military support for the prince-archbishopric. On 7 May 1501 Pope Alexander VI dispensed him from being under age, which cost the Bremian see 1,500 Rhenish guilder
Rhenish guilder
Rhenish guilder is the name of the golden, base currency coin of the Rhineland in the 14th and 15th centuries.- Formation :...
s. Alexander VI confirmed Christopher as coadjutor under the proviso that he should only ascend to office having come of age (27 years), which was in 1514.
Rode, supported by troops from Wolfenbüttel, successfully suppressed the Stedingers. On 25 May 1501 Rode concluded a treaty with Duke Henry IV the Elder, also joined by Count John XIV stipulating the subjection of Stadland and Butjadingen, with the Count of Oldenburg being promised the enfeoffment with Butjadingen as Bremen's vassal
Vassal
A vassal or feudatory is a person who has entered into a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. The obligations often included military support and mutual protection, in exchange for certain privileges, usually including the grant of land held...
. In September 1501 Rode, supported by Wolfenbüttel and Oldenburg, failed to conquer Stadland and Butjadingen for the prince-archbishopric. The rest of Rode's reign remained peaceful.
In 1502 Rode's revenues improved, the cathedral chapter granted him an exceptional double procuration charge (Prokurationsgeld), which was levied from the archidiocesan clergy south of the Elbe. After Rode's appeal to the estates of the prince-archbishopric, meeting for Tohopesaten
Diet (assembly)
In politics, a diet is a formal deliberative assembly. The term is mainly used historically for the Imperial Diet, the general assembly of the Imperial Estates of the Holy Roman Empire, and for the legislative bodies of certain countries.-Etymology:...
in Basdahl
Basdahl
Basdahl is a municipality in the district of Rotenburg, in Lower Saxony, Germany.-History:Basdahl belonged to the Prince-Archbishopric of Bremen, established in 1180. Its parliament, the Bremian Estates , convened in diets usually in Basdahl, with Bremervörde serving as capital with the...
, they decided a onetime plough tax (Pflugschatz) on 23 April 1502, which amounted to 1,798 guilders collected by the chapter until 1503. These higher revenues allowed Rode to prompt the construction of the huge new northern nave to Bremen Cathedral
Bremen Cathedral
Bremen Cathedral , dedicated to St. Peter, is a church situated in the market square in the center of Bremen, in northern Germany. The cathedral belongs to the Bremian Evangelical Church, a member of the Protestant umbrella organisation named Evangelical Church in Germany...
, which is still preserved. Also the parapet
Parapet
A parapet is a wall-like barrier at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony or other structure. Where extending above a roof, it may simply be the portion of an exterior wall that continues above the line of the roof surface, or may be a continuation of a vertical feature beneath the roof such as a...
of the rood screen
Rood screen
The rood screen is a common feature in late medieval church architecture. It is typically an ornate partition between the chancel and nave, of more or less open tracery constructed of wood, stone, or wrought iron...
in the western quire, an important piece of art, was commissioned by Rode and finished by Evert van Roden in 1512.
Rode's attempt failed to reclaim alienated Bremian territory in Alt- and Neubruchhausen
Bassum
Bassum is a town in the district of Diepholz, Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated approx. 35 km northeast of Diepholz, and 25 km south of Bremen....
, in the course of the succession squarrels on the extinct comital line of Hoya Lower County. In 1503 Rode and Edzard I, Count of East Frisia
Edzard I, Count of East Frisia
Edzard I, also Edzard the Great, was count of East Frisia from 1491 till his death in 1528.Edzard succeeded his brother Enno in 1492. He fought with George, Duke of Saxony over Friesland and Groningen...
concluded a 5-year non-aggression treaty on the thing
Thing (assembly)
A thing was the governing assembly in Germanic and introduced into some Celtic societies, made up of the free people of the community and presided by lawspeakers, meeting in a place called a thingstead...
site in Lehe, near today's Geeste
Geeste (river)
The Geeste is a river in northwestern Germany, running through Lower Saxony and Bremen. It is the most downstream tributary of the River Weser and joins it near Bremerhaven...
ferry. So Rode assured, that neither the East Frisians, aiming at subjecting Butjadingen, nor himself, having failed so far to do so, would take that area.
As to the interior, in 1503 Rode exceptionally broke his self-commitment (as in his election capitulation) of not allowing ministerialis and nobility to build new fortified castles of their own by permitting von der Lieth family to fortify their residence in Niederochtenhausen (a part of today's Bremervörde
Bremervörde
Bremervörde is a town in the north of the district Rotenburg, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated at the Oste river near the mid of the triangle, which is formed of the rivers Weser and Elbe respectively the cities of Hamburg, Bremen and Cuxhaven....
). Rode tried to prevent the new fortified manor house from becoming a vassal stronghold against him, the liege lord
Liege Lord
Liege Lord was an American speed/power metal band, active in the 1980s and considered to be a pioneer of the genre. It was formed by Matt Vinci, Anthony Truglio and Frank Cortese....
, but in vain, the von der Lieths gradually usurped deserted villages and arable land and settled them with their serfs.
Accompanied by Legate
Papal legate
A papal legate – from the Latin, authentic Roman title Legatus – is a personal representative of the pope to foreign nations, or to some part of the Catholic Church. He is empowered on matters of Catholic Faith and for the settlement of ecclesiastical matters....
Cardinal Raymond Peraudi
Raymond Peraudi
Raymond Peraudi was a French Augustinian, papal legate, and Cardinal.He was bishop of Gurk in 1491, bishop of Maguelone in 1498, bishop of Toul shortly in 1501, and bishop of Saintes in 1505.- External links :*...
, Christopher, simultaneously Prince-Bishop of Verden since 1503, entered the city of Bremen in 1504 and Rode involved him more and more with government affairs. From 1505 on Rode lived a quite retired life in Vörde. Rode acquired the forrestous Wingst Ridge
Wingst (ridge)
The Wingst is a ridge, up to 74 metres high, in northern Lower Saxony, Germany.- Geography :The ridge is located in northeast part of the district of Cuxhaven, just a few kilometres south of the mouth of the River Elbe on the North Sea coast, and west of the lower reaches of the Oste between...
, previously an old Billungian possession, which he considered a private acquisition in favour of his family.
In 1510 Rode reorganised St. Mary's Monastery in Stade and the Harsefeld
Harsefeld
Harsefeld is a municipality situated south-west of Hamburg...
Monastery following the reform ideas of the Bursfelde Congregation
Bursfelde Congregation
The Bursfelde Congregation, also called Bursfelde Union, was a union of predominantly west and central German Benedictine monasteries and nunneries working for the reform of Benedictine practice. It was named after Bursfelde Abbey.-Background:...
, also replacing the abbots of both monasteries. In Stade Rode then appointed a probable relative as new abbot, named Gerhard Rode. In 1511 Rode prompted the edition of the Missale
Roman Missal
The Roman Missal is the liturgical book that contains the texts and rubrics for the celebration of the Mass in the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church.-Situation before the Council of Trent:...
secundum ritum Bremense. He recruited the prince-archiepiscopal councillors mostly from indigenous families, partially from cleric background, partially from ministerialis and nobility, only lower ranks were also staffed with foreigners. Stade's burgomaster Claus von der Decken was apparently the only higher ranking official representing city interests.
Rode is famous for his works as statistician and chronicler. In 1498 he had ordered to compile a register, Registrum bonorum et iurium ecclesiae Bremensis, also known as Johannes Rhodii Chronicon Bremense, of all the franchises and privileges pertaining to Vörde Castle, which was still in progress in 1510. This register, partially re-edited by Gottfried Leibniz
Gottfried Leibniz
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz was a German philosopher and mathematician. He wrote in different languages, primarily in Latin , French and German ....
in 1710, is valuable because it goes far beyond the purpose given in its title. It includes information about customary law, copies of deeds covering the time between 1160 and 1507, dealing with treaties, decisions, decrees, memoranda, comments and forms used in all three fields of Bremian administration, the religious archdiocese proper, the Ecclesiastical Province of Bremen, and the secular prince-archbishopric. Rode prompted the compilation of similar land books , for the possessions in other prince-archiepiscopal areas, which, however, mostly have never been completed or were later lost, except of the one dealing with the southern Elbe Marshes (Altes Land
Altes Land
Altes Land is an area of reclaimed marshland straddling parts of Lower Saxony and Hamburg. The region is situated downstream from Hamburg on the southwestern riverside of the Elbe around the towns of Stade, Buxtehude, Jork and the Samtgemeinde of Lühe...
, Hadeln and Kehdingen
Kehdingen
Kehdingen is the name of a landscape in the north German district of Stade on the lower reaches of the River Elbe. It extends roughly from the mouth of the Oste in the north to the town of Stade in the south...
) and with Wursten.
With the comprehensive registration and listing of all privileges, estates and franchises Rode established a new office, the rent master (Rentmeister), first held by Matthäus von Hoya, in charge of collecting recurrent prince-archiepiscopal revenues. Rode also installed a chancery for the regular prince-archiepiscopal correspondence, and appointed a chancellor, Bertold Rese, a cleric from Mainz, recorded since 1509, thus establishing and stabilising a permanent bureaucracy.
Rode further rationalised the office of the landdrost, with the new incumbent Hermann von Mandelsloh, appointed in consensus with the chapter ("mit weteme und willen des … Capittelss") and sworn to strict instructions in 1500. Rode mostly enjoyed the support of the cathedral chapter among the estates. However, the relations to the cities were ambivalent. Rode enjoyed their support, when his and their interests were equal, like averting foreign intrusions, but he complained about their usurpaption of privileges, collecting duties from merchants, he considered prince-archiepiscopal. Rode died on 4 December 1511 in Vörde
Bremervörde
Bremervörde is a town in the north of the district Rotenburg, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated at the Oste river near the mid of the triangle, which is formed of the rivers Weser and Elbe respectively the cities of Hamburg, Bremen and Cuxhaven....
Castle and was buried in Bremen Cathedral
Bremen Cathedral
Bremen Cathedral , dedicated to St. Peter, is a church situated in the market square in the center of Bremen, in northern Germany. The cathedral belongs to the Bremian Evangelical Church, a member of the Protestant umbrella organisation named Evangelical Church in Germany...
.
Landdroste during Rode's reign
Dates and names following Schleif:- 1497–1499: Balthasar Schulte
- 1499–1500: Jürgen Bremer
- 1500–1505: Hermann von Mandelsloh (aka Koborch)
- 1505–1507: vacancy
- 1507–1510: Martin von Heimburg
- 1510–1515: vacancy
Legacy
Rode's election capitulation became the blue print for those of his successors, repeating most of the contents and adding more restrictions developed from the experiences during the reigns of every deceased incumbent. Rode's grave slab is preserved now standing upright on the western wall of the northern transeptTransept
For the periodical go to The Transept.A transept is a transverse section, of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In Christian churches, a transept is an area set crosswise to the nave in a cruciform building in Romanesque and Gothic Christian church architecture...
in Bremen Cathedral
Bremen Cathedral
Bremen Cathedral , dedicated to St. Peter, is a church situated in the market square in the center of Bremen, in northern Germany. The cathedral belongs to the Bremian Evangelical Church, a member of the Protestant umbrella organisation named Evangelical Church in Germany...
.
Rode's purchase of the Wingst Ridge for his family was later disputed by Prince-Archbishop Christopher, who claimed it as prince-archiepiscopal estate. Christopher wanted to enfeoff his son, Christian of Bremen (aka Carsten/Karsten Hillen) with the estate. However, Rode's nephew and namesake, Johann Rode, representing their family, defended the estate. In 1533 the dispute developed into a bloody feud involving Christopher's two prince-bishoprics, Bremen and Verden.
Rode's coat of arms
Rode's coat of arms is recorded in Erfurt's enrolment list. It is also presented in the upper right and lower left quarters as given on the front page of the Missale secundum ritum ecclesie Bremense, which has been edited on Rode's instigation under his supervision, as shown on the right. Rode's coat of arms shows in an azure (blue) fieldField (heraldry)
In heraldry, the background of the shield is called the field. The field is usually composed of one or more tinctures or furs. The field may be divided or may consist of a variegated pattern....
two wings in or (gold)
Or (heraldry)
In heraldry, Or is the tincture of gold and, together with argent , belongs to the class of light tinctures called "metals". In engravings and line drawings, it may be represented using a field of evenly spaced dots...
flanking a modest Jousting
Jousting
Jousting is a martial game or hastilude between two knights mounted on horses and using lances, often as part of a tournament.Jousting emerged in the High Middle Ages based on the military use of the lance by heavy cavalry. The first camels tournament was staged in 1066, but jousting itself did not...
helmet in or turned dexter (shield bearer's right, but viewer's left). The crest
Crest (heraldry)
A crest is a component of an heraldic display, so called because it stands on top of a helmet, as the crest of a jay stands on the bird's head....
consists of two buffalo horns in argent (silver)
Argent
In heraldry, argent is the tincture of silver, and belongs to the class of light tinctures, called "metals". It is very frequently depicted as white and usually considered interchangeable with it...
banded in azure flanking an argent helmet. The supporter, not shown here, is an ape-like haired wild man
Wild man
The wild man is a mythical figure that appears in the artwork and literature of medieval Europe, comparable to the satyr or faun type in classical mythology and to Silvanus, the Roman god of the woodlands.The defining characteristic of the figure is its "wildness"; from the 12th century...
with face, hands and feet in gules (red)
Gules
In heraldry, gules is the tincture with the colour red, and belongs to the class of dark tinctures called "colours". In engraving, it is sometimes depicted as a region of vertical lines or else marked with gu. as an abbreviation....
, referring to the family name Rode, which means in Low Saxon the red (one), (Latinised: Rufus). On the front page of the Missale secundum ritum ecclesie Bremense the Rode family coat of arms combines in a quartering
Quartering (heraldry)
Quartering in heraldry is a method of joining several different coats of arms together in one shield by dividing the shield into equal parts and placing different coats of arms in each division....
with the coat of arms of the Prince-Archbishopric of Bremen.
Contemporary namesakes
The surname Rode and the given name Johann were quite common in Rode's lifetime. Therefore he is sometimes confused with namesakes also serving as clerics.- His namesake and paternal uncle Johann Rode the Elder (d. 9 December 1477) was a cleric too. In 1426 Johann Rode the Elder advanced to canonCanon (priest)A canon is a priest or minister who is a member of certain bodies of the Christian clergy subject to an ecclesiastical rule ....
at the Collegiate Church of St. Ansgar's in Bremen, later ProtonotaryProtonotary apostolicIn the Roman Catholic Church, protonotary apostolic is the title for a member of the highest non-episcopal college of prelates in the Roman Curia or, outside of Rome, an honorary prelate on whom the pope has conferred this title and its special privileges.-History:In later antiquity there were in...
and Corrector bullarum at the papal curiaRoman CuriaThe Roman Curia is the administrative apparatus of the Holy See and the central governing body of the entire Catholic Church, together with the Pope...
in Rome. Since 1457 Johann Rode the Elder served as cathedral provost first at Hamburg Cathedral and thereafter at Bremen Cathedral (1460–1477). In 1460 Pope Pius II sent him out as arbiter between the city council of LunenburgLüneburgLüneburg is a town in the German state of Lower Saxony. It is located about southeast of fellow Hanseatic city Hamburg. It is part of the Hamburg Metropolitan Region, and one of Hamburg's inner suburbs...
and foreign prelates, negotiating in Lunenburg and Hamburg. However, only King Christian I of Denmark-Norway and SwedenChristian I of DenmarkChristian I was a Danish monarch, king of Denmark , Norway and Sweden , under the Kalmar Union. In Sweden his short tenure as monarch was preceded by regents, Jöns Bengtsson Oxenstierna and Erik Axelsson Tott and succeeded by regent Kettil Karlsson Vasa...
solved the conflict in 1462. - Rode's Hamburg namesake Johannes Rode (aka Johannes de Hamburgo) was a CarthusianCarthusianThe Carthusian Order, also called the Order of St. Bruno, is a Roman Catholic religious order of enclosed monastics. The order was founded by Saint Bruno of Cologne in 1084 and includes both monks and nuns...
from the CharterhouseCharterhouseA Charterhouse is a Carthusian monastery. The word is derived from Chartreuse, the first monastery of the order having been established in a valley of the Chartreuse Mountains.It can refer to numerous monasteries:It can also refer to:...
Mariengarten near PraguePraguePrague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
, recorded for the years 1400–1430. He published the Epistole perutiles inter legendumq[ue] suaues: fratris Johannis Carthusiensis ordinis ad quosdam studentes Pragenses de Hamburg, whose third part is also known under the separate title: Viridarium clericorum. - Magister Johann Rode, secretary of the Senate of Lübeck and as such delegated as patron of Our Lady ChurchSt. Mary's Church, LübeckThe Lutheran Marienkirche in Lübeck was constructed between 1250 and 1350. For many years it has been a symbol of the power and prosperity of the old Hanseatic city, and as Germany's third largest church it remains the tallest building of the old part of Lübeck. It is larger than Lübeck Cathedral...
there, later serving as dean. He was ridiculed in satirical songs between 1528 and 1530. - Johann Rode, a canon of Lübeck CathedralLübeck CathedralThe Lübeck Cathedral is a large brick Lutheran cathedral in Lübeck, Germany and part of Lübeck's world heritage. It was started in 1173 by Henry the Lion as a cathedral for the Bishop of Lübeck. It was partly destroyed in a bombing raid in World War II , and later reconstructed. The organ by Arp...
, who contributed an "Epigramma ad lectorem" to Hinrich Boger's poems published as Etherologium in 1506. - Maybe one of the last two namesakes is identical with another Johann Rode, serving definitely until 1481, possibly until 1497, as Catholic priest in LundenLundenLunden is a municipality in the district of Dithmarschen, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is situated on the river Eider, approx. 16 km north of Heide.Lunden is part of the Amt Kirchspielslandgemeinde Eider....
in Ditmarsh, subject to Bremen archdiocese and under Bremen's loose prince-archiepiscopal overlordship, whose work as chronicler shows a good knowledge of Lübeck. - Dr. Johann Rode from StadthagenStadthagenStadthagen is the capital of the district of Schaumburg, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated approx. 20 km east of Minden and 40 km west of Hanover. The city consists of the districts Brandenburg, Enzen-Hobbensen, Hörkamp-Langenbruch, Krebshagen, Obernwöhren, Probsthagen, Reinsen...
(Urbin daginaeus), "Summus legatus" of Wittenberg, is mentioned in a work of Marschalkus Thurius in 1522.
Works
- Johann Rode von Wale (Johann Roden Bok), Johannis Rode Archiepiscopi Registrum bonorum et iurium ecclesiae Bremensis, Richard Cappelle (ed.), Bremerhaven: Heimatbund der Männer vom Morgenstern, 1926.
- Missale secundum ritum Bremense, Strasbourg: Renatus Beck, 1511