The East Frisian chieftains (german: Häuptlinge, Low German: ''hovetlinge / hovedlinge'') assumed positions of power in East Frisia during the course of the 14th century, after the force of the old, egalitarian constitution from the time of

Frisian Freedom Frisian freedom ( fy, Fryske frijheid; ; ) was the absence of feudalism and serfdom in Frisia, the area that was originally inhabited by the Frisians. Historical Frisia included the modern provinces of Friesland and Groningen, and the area of We ...

had markedly waned.

Early history

East Frisia was not under any centralised rule, as was common elsewhere at the time of

feudalism Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was the combination of the legal, economic, military, cultural and political customs that flourished in medieval Europe between the 9th and 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a way of structur ...

during the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

. By the 12th and 13th centuries the "free Frisians" as they called themselves had organised themselves into quasi-cooperative parishes (''Landesgemeinden''), in which every member had equal rights, at least in principle. This fundamental equality applied to all owners of farmsteads and their attached estates in their respective villages and church parishes. The public offices of the judges or '' Redjeven'' (Latin: ''consules'') were appointed by annual elections. In practice, several ''nobiles'' stood out amongst these ''universitas'': the public offices were frequently occupied by members of large and wealthy families. From the 13th century, the status symbols of these ''nobiles'' were

stone houses In geology, rock (or stone) is any naturally occurring solid mass or aggregate of minerals or mineraloid matter. It is categorized by the minerals included, its Chemical compound, chemical composition, and the way in which it is formed. Rocks ...

(''stins'', the precursors of the later chieftains' castles) as well as small armies of mercenaries (''Söldnerheere'').

Chieftain families

Remarks

Literature

Sources

* ''Hanserecesse. Die Recesse und andere Akten der Hansetage 1256 – 1430'', Abt. I, Bd. 4, hrsg. v. Hansischer Geschichtsverein, Leipzig 1872–77. * ''Urkundenbuch der Stadt Lübeck'', Abt. I, Bd. 4, hrsg. v. Verein für Lübeckische Geschichte und Altertumskunde, Lübeck 1873. * ''Ostfriesisches Urkundenbuch'', hrsg. von Ernst Friedländer, Bd. 1 und 2, Emden 1878 und 1881.

Secondary sources

*Dieter Zimmerling: ''Störtebeker & Co. : die Blütezeit der Seeräuber in Nord- und Ostsee''. Verlag Die Hanse, Hamburg, 2000, *Hartmut Roder: ''Klaus Störtebeker – Häuptling der Vitalienbrüder'', in: his (ed.): ''Piraten – Herren der Sieben Meere'', Bremen, 2000. * Heinrich Schmidt: ''Das östliche Friesland um 1400. Territorialpolitische Strukturen und Bewegungen'',in: Wilfried Ehbrecht: ''Störtebeker: 600 Jahre nach seinem Tod''. Porta-Alba-Verlag, Trier, 2005, , pp. 85–110. * Heinrich Schmidt: ''Mittelalterliche Kirchengeschichte'', in: Rolf Schäfer (ed.): ''Oldenburgische Kirchengeschichte''. Isensee, Oldenburg, 1999, * Heinrich Schmidt: ''Piraten gern gesehen'', in: DAMALS, Das Magazin für Geschichte und Kultur, 38th year, April (4) 2006, pp. 30–36. * Heinrich Schmidt: ''Politische Geschichte Ostfrieslands'', Leer, 1975. * Matthias Puhle: ''Die Vitalienbruder: Klaus Störtebeker und die Seeräuber der Hansezeit'', 2nd edn., Campus Verlag, Frankfurt, 1994, . {{refend Chieftains