Midlum, Lower Saxony
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Midlum ( N. Low Saxon: ''Millm'') is a village and a former municipality in the district of Cuxhaven, in
Lower Saxony Lower Saxony is a States of Germany, German state (') in Northern Germany, northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ' of the Germany, Federal Re ...
,
Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
. Since 1 January 2015 it is part of the municipality
Wurster Nordseeküste Wurster Nordseeküste is a municipality in the district of Cuxhaven, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It takes its name from the historic region Land Wursten and the North Sea coast. It was formed on 1 January 2015 by the merger of the former municipali ...
.


History

Originally Midlum was considered part of the
Land of Hadeln Land Hadeln is a historic landscape and former administrative district in Northern Germany with its seat in Otterndorf on the Niederelbe, Lower Elbe, the lower reaches of the River Elbe, in the Elbe-Weser Triangle between the estuaries of the E ...
. In 1219 six members of the family of the Lords of Diepholz,Elke Freifrau von Boeselager, „Das Land Hadeln bis zum Beginn der frühen Neuzeit“, in: ''Geschichte des Landes zwischen Elbe und Weser'': 3 vols., Hans-Eckhard Dannenberg und Heinz-Joachim Schulze (eds.), Stade: Landschaftsverband der ehem. Herzogtümer Bremen und Verden, 1995 and 2008, vol. I 'Vor- und Frühgeschichte' (1995), vol. II 'Mittelalter (einschl. Kunstgeschichte)' (1995), vol. III 'Neuzeit (2008)', (=Schriftenreihe des Landschaftsverbandes der ehem. Herzogtümer Bremen und Verden; vols. 7–9), ISBN (vol. I) , (vol. II) , (vol. III) , vol. II: pp. 321–388, here p. 373. owning estates in and near Midlum, founded the Midlum Nunnery and endowed them to it.Nicola Borger-Keweloh, „Das Kloster Neuenwalde – wie es zur Gründung kam“, in: ''Niederdeutsches Heimatblatt'' (No. 718, October 2009), p. 2. The Diepholz Lords then owned the Hollburg Castle between and Midlum on the brink of the
Wesermünde Geest The Wesermünde Geest (; Northern Low Saxon: ''Wersermünner Geest'') is the collective name for several geest ridges in the west of Cuxhaven district and Bremen's in northern Germany. The ridges are separated from one another by wetlands. These ...
ridge,Otto Edert, ''Neuenwalde: Reformen im ländlichen Raum'', Norderstedt: Books on Demand, 2010, p. 27. . allowing a good view over the lower Land of Wursten, then a corporation of free Frisian peasants under only loose overlordship of the
Prince-Archbishopric of Bremen The Prince-Archbishopric of Bremen () was an Hochstift, ecclesiastical principality (787–1566/1648) of the Holy Roman Empire and the Catholic Church that after its definitive secularization in 1648 became the hereditary Bremen-Verden, Duchy of ...
. Rather than establishing the
nunnery A convent is an enclosed community of monks, nuns, friars or religious sisters. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The term is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglican Comm ...
as their proprietary monastery the Diepholz family made it over to the
cathedral chapter According to both Catholic and Anglican canon law, a cathedral chapter is a college of clerics ( chapter) formed to advise a bishop and, in the case of a vacancy of the episcopal see in some countries, to govern the diocese during the vacancy. In ...
of the
Prince-Archbishopric of Bremen The Prince-Archbishopric of Bremen () was an Hochstift, ecclesiastical principality (787–1566/1648) of the Holy Roman Empire and the Catholic Church that after its definitive secularization in 1648 became the hereditary Bremen-Verden, Duchy of ...
. However, the Diepholz family adopted the advocacy (
Vogt An , sometimes simply advocate, (German, ), or (French, ), was a type of medieval office holder, particularly important in the Holy Roman Empire, who was delegated some of the powers and functions of a major feudal lord, or for an institutio ...
ei) over the nunnery, later passed on to the Knights of
Bederkesa Bad Bederkesa (Low German: ''Beers'') is a village and a former municipality in the district of Cuxhaven, in Lower Saxony, Germany. Since 1 January 2015 it is part of the town of Geestland. It is situated approximately 20 km northeast of ...
who were related by marriage.Otto Edert, ''Neuenwalde: Reformen im ländlichen Raum'', Norderstedt: Books on Demand, 2010, p. 29. . In 1227 Prince-Archbishop confirmed and thus recognised the foundation of the convent.Adolf Hofmeister, „Der Kampf um das Erbe der Stader Grafen zwischen den Welfen und der Bremer Kirche (1144–1236)“, in: ''Geschichte des Landes zwischen Elbe und Weser'': 3 vols., Hans-Eckhard Dannenberg and Heinz-Joachim Schulze (eds.) on behalf of the Landschaftsverband der ehem. Herzogtümer Bremen und Verden, Stade: Landschaftsverband der ehem. Herzogtümer Bremen und Verden, 1995 and 2008, vol. I 'Vor- und Frühgeschichte' (1995; ), vol. II 'Mittelalter (einschl. Kunstgeschichte)' (1995; ), vol. III 'Neuzeit' (2008; ), (=Schriftenreihe des Landschaftsverbandes der ehem. Herzogtümer Bremen und Verden; vols. 7–9), vol II, pp. 105–157, here p. 41. Midlum's St. Pancras Church, which existed before, was integrated into the convent. No remains of cloister or conventual outbuildings remain, and there are only few documentary references to them.June Mecham
"Neuenwalde"
(section: State Of Medieval Structure), on
''Monastic Matrix: A scholarly resource for the study of women's religious communities from 400 to 1600 CE''
retrieved on 15 January 2015.
It is possible that the convent followed
Cistercian The Cistercians (), officially the Order of Cistercians (, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint Benedict, as well as the contri ...
customs without formal incorporation.June Mecham
"Neuenwalde"
(section: Foundation Information), on
''Monastic Matrix: A scholarly resource for the study of women's religious communities from 400 to 1600 CE''
retrieved on 15 January 2015.
The convent started the typical Cistercian practice to build up a large autark integrated production (Eigenwirtschaft).Bernd Ulrich Hucker, „Die landgemeindliche Entwicklung in Landwürden, Kirchspiel Lehe und Kirchspiel Midlum im Mittelalter“ (first presented in 1972 as a lecture at a conference of the historical work study association of the northern Lower Saxon Landschaftsverbände held at Oldenburg in Oldenburg), in: ''Oldenburger Jahrbuch'', vol. 72 (1972), pp. 1—22, here p. 20. Unlike unsettled and undeveloped areas where Cistercians usually founded new monasteries the farmlands donated to the convent were held by feudal tenants and sparsed in and around Midlum. The convent (cf.
Lowland Clearances The Lowland Clearances were one of the results of the Scottish Agricultural Revolution, which changed the traditional system of agriculture which had existed in Lowland Scotland in the seventeenth century. Thousands of cottars and tenant far ...
) transforming them into dependent agrarian workers or cotters (smallholders who need additional work) and (most of) their fields into the convent's
demesne A demesne ( ) or domain was all the land retained and managed by a lord of the manor under the feudal system for his own use, occupation, or support. This distinguished it from land subinfeudation, sub-enfeoffed by him to others as sub-tenants. ...
. This transformation posed an immediate hardship for the feudal tenants on the
geest Geest (, , ) is a type of landform, slightly raised above the surrounding countryside, that occurs on the plains of Northern Germany, the Northern Netherlands and Denmark. It is a landscape of sandy and gravelly soils formed as a glacial outw ...
in and around Midlum. On outlying estates the convent founded its Vorwerk of which today forms a locality of Midlum. All over the parish of Midlum, e.g. in Sorthum, Northum, Wenckebüttel and Esigstedt,Heinrich Rüther, ''Urkundenbuch des Klosters Neuenwalde'', ed. on behalf of the Stader Verein für Geschichte und Altertümer with support by the Bremian Knighthood, Hanover: Hahn'sche Buchhandlung, 1905, deeds no. 4, 5, 10 and 11. the convent acquired the overlordship to farmlands from those lords who held it before, in order to round off its demesne. The convent cleared the latter two villages from peasants which were thus abandoned. Along the low side of the Wesermünde Geest ridge towards the
marsh In ecology, a marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous plants rather than by woody plants.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p More in genera ...
y Land of Wursten there is a narrow swampy strip of wasteland called the Wursten ''Sietland''.Bernd Ulrich Hucker, „Die landgemeindliche Entwicklung in Landwürden, Kirchspiel Lehe und Kirchspiel Midlum im Mittelalter“ (first presented in 1972 as a lecture at a conference of the historical work study association of the northern Lower Saxon Landschaftsverbände held at Oldenburg in Oldenburg), in: ''Oldenburger Jahrbuch'', vol. 72 (1972), pp. 1—22, here p. 19. While the Wursten Frisians claimed the Sietland as their
commons The commons is the cultural and natural resources accessible to all members of a society, including natural materials such as air, water, and a habitable Earth. These resources are held in common even when owned privately or publicly. Commons ...
, the convent started to include it into its demesnes. In the valley cuts of the geest between Holßel and
Nordholz Nordholz is a village and a former municipality in the district of Cuxhaven, in Lower Saxony, Germany. Since 1 January 2015 it is part of the municipality Wurster Nordseeküste. It is situated approximately 25 km north of Bremerhaven, and 1 ...
the convent impounded little becks in order to lay out stewponds for the fish as
fasting Fasting is the act of refraining from eating, and sometimes drinking. However, from a purely physiological context, "fasting" may refer to the metabolic status of a person who has not eaten overnight (before "breakfast"), or to the metabolic sta ...
dishes at
lent Lent (, 'Fortieth') is the solemn Christianity, Christian religious moveable feast#Lent, observance in the liturgical year in preparation for Easter. It echoes the 40 days Jesus spent fasting in the desert and enduring Temptation of Christ, t ...
. The convent's demesne expansion meant the exclusive usage of geest forests,
mire A peatland is a type of wetland whose soils consist of Soil organic matter, organic matter from decaying plants, forming layers of peat. Peatlands arise because of incomplete decomposition of organic matter, usually litter from vegetation, du ...
s and
heath A heath () is a shrubland habitat found mainly on free-draining infertile, acidic soils and is characterised by open, low-growing woody vegetation. Moorland is generally related to high-ground heaths with—especially in Great Britain—a coole ...
s, previously also commonly used by the free Frisian peasants from the mostly treeless Land of Wursten in order to gain
turf Sod is the upper layer of turf that is harvested for transplanting. Turf consists of a variable thickness of a soil medium that supports a community of turfgrasses. In British and Australian English, sod is more commonly known as ''turf'', ...
, firewood, timber and the fertilising plaggen. Thus the demesne expansion posed a massive threat for the material survival of the Wursten Frisians as free peasants. Without fuel, timber or fertiliser they could not help it but would sooner or later have to commendate themselves to feudal lords from the geest. In the same time knightly families from the geest aimed at subjecting the Wursten Frisians to their feudal overlordship in order to gain more from unpaid feudal labour and by compelling feudal dues and duties.Bernd Ulrich Hucker, „Die landgemeindliche Entwicklung in Landwürden, Kirchspiel Lehe und Kirchspiel Midlum im Mittelalter“ (first presented in 1972 as a lecture at a conference of the historical work study association of the northern Lower Saxon Landschaftsverbände held at Oldenburg in Oldenburg), in: ''Oldenburger Jahrbuch'', vol. 72 (1972), pp. 1—22, here p. 14. In the Wursten War (1256–1258) the Wursten Frisians repelled a knightly invasion to subject them to manorial (seigniorial) jurisdiction. The defeated knights hat to withdraw deep into the Bederkesa Bailiwick and exposed the boundary adjacent to the Land of Wursten, among others the Midlum parish. After the victory the Land of Wursten occupied the Midlum parish. The unsettled geest strips within Midlum's municipal boundary then adopted the new name Wursten Heath (Wurster Heide) since. However, the convent and the nuns were treated with great care not to deliver Prince-Archbishop Gebhard any pretext. The Wursten Frisians remembered the ordeal of the free Stedingen peasants in 1234, who refused to accept feudal overlordship too, but whom Gebhard had excommunicated and against whom he induced and fought a papally confirmed
crusade The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and at times directed by the Papacy during the Middle Ages. The most prominent of these were the campaigns to the Holy Land aimed at reclaiming Jerusalem and its surrounding t ...
, all after few Stedingers had slain an itinerant monk. Under the rule of the
consuls A consul is an official representative of a government who resides in a foreign country to assist and protect citizens of the consul's country, and to promote and facilitate commercial and diplomatic relations between the two countries. A consu ...
of the Land of Wursten the demesne expansion of the convent was successfully hindered.Bernd Ulrich Hucker, „Die landgemeindliche Entwicklung in Landwürden, Kirchspiel Lehe und Kirchspiel Midlum im Mittelalter“ (first presented in 1972 as a lecture at a conference of the historical work study association of the northern Lower Saxon Landschaftsverbände held at Oldenburg in Oldenburg), in: ''Oldenburger Jahrbuch'', vol. 72 (1972), pp. 1—22, here p. 21. Soon the Midlum parish and its peasant population became integral parts of the Land of Wursten. The convent declined and blamed this to its location among the "perverse and bad people he Wursten Frisians striving for criminal and unallowed aims", as recorded in a convent deed. For them and Bremen's Prince-Archbishop (ruling from 1273 to 1306) hindering the convent's demesne and manorial expansion could be nothing else but an unallowed aim. This finally led to the relocation of the convent out of Wursten Frisian control to Wolde, present Altenwalde. Even after the move the convent asserted most of its feudal possessions and privileges in the Midlum parish.Bernd Ulrich Hucker, „Die landgemeindliche Entwicklung in Landwürden, Kirchspiel Lehe und Kirchspiel Midlum im Mittelalter“ (first presented in 1972 as a lecture at a conference of the historical work study association of the northern Lower Saxon Landschaftsverbände held at Oldenburg in Oldenburg), in: ''Oldenburger Jahrbuch'', vol. 72 (1972), pp. 1—22, here p. 22. In 1331 the commoner Gerhard de Merne (= Marren, Süder- and Nordermarren near Midlum) usurped the tithe from Esigstedt, protested by the convent, the enfranchised beneficiary, and only left again to the nuns after the pastors of the Wursten parishes had intervened. In 1399 the convent concluded with the consuls of the Land of Wursten that they guaranteed safe-conduct through the Midlum parish for the pilgrims on their way to the Altenwalde Holy Cross Chapel. With the final subjection of the Land of Wursten in 1524, long been claimed by the Prince-Archbishopric of Bremen, it became part of that imperial estate. In 1648 the Prince-Archbishopric was transformed into the
Duchy of Bremen Bremen-Verden, formally the Duchies of Bremen and Verden (; ), were two territories and immediate fiefs of the Holy Roman Empire, which emerged and gained imperial immediacy in 1180. By their original constitution they were prince-bishoprics of th ...
, which was first ruled in
personal union A personal union is a combination of two or more monarchical states that have the same monarch while their boundaries, laws, and interests remain distinct. A real union, by contrast, involves the constituent states being to some extent in ...
by the Swedish Crown - interrupted by a Danish occupation (1712–1715) - and from 1715 on by the
Hanoverian The adjective Hanoverian is used to describe: * British monarchs or supporters of the House of Hanover, the dynasty which ruled the United Kingdom from 1714 to 1901 * things relating to; ** Electorate of Hanover ** Kingdom of Hanover ** Province of ...
Crown. In 1807 occupied by the Napoleon, his ephemeric client-state the
Kingdom of Westphalia The Kingdom of Westphalia was a client state of First French Empire, France in present-day Germany that existed from 1807 to 1813. While formally independent, it was ruled by Napoleon's brother Jérôme Bonaparte. It was named after Westphalia, ...
annexed the Duchy in 1810, before
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
annexed it year after. In 1813 the Duchy was restored to the
Electorate of Hanover The Electorate of Hanover ( or simply ''Kurhannover'') was an Prince-elector, electorate of the Holy Roman Empire located in northwestern Germany that arose from the Principality of Calenberg. Although formally known as the Electorate of Brun ...
, which - after its upgrade to the
Kingdom of Hanover The Kingdom of Hanover () was established in October 1814 by the Congress of Vienna, with the restoration of George III to his Hanoverian territories after the Napoleonic Wars, Napoleonic era. It succeeded the former Electorate of Hanover, and j ...
in 1814 - incorporated the Duchy in a
real union Real union is a union of two or more states, which share some state institutions in contrast to personal unions; however, they are not as unified as states in a political union. It is a development from personal union and has historically been ...
and the Ducal territory, including Flögeln, became part of the new Stade Region, established in 1823.


References

{{Authority control Cuxhaven (district)