Vitalienbrüder | |
 One of the few contemporary representations of the Victual Brothers from a wall painting inBunge church,Gotland,Sweden,c. 1405 | |
| Successor | Likedeelers |
|---|---|
| Formation | 1393 |
| Dissolved | 1440 |
| Headquarters | Visby,Gotland,Sweden |
| Location | |
Region | Northern Europe |
| Methods | Privateering,blockade running, piracy |
Key people | |
TheVictual Brothers (German:Vitalienbrüder) were a loosely organized guild ofprivateers who later turned topiracy. They affectedmaritime trade during the 14th century in both theNorth andBaltic Seas.[1]
They were initially hired in 1392 by the Dukes ofMecklenburg to support their fight againstQueen Margaret I of Denmark, who was besiegingStockholm. Named after the Latin wordvictualia ('provisions'), their mission was to supply the city with goods. They initially had the support of most of theHanseatic league apart fromLübeck. Over time, they became notorious pirates, attacking coastal towns around theBaltic region, so that the maritime trade in the Baltic Sea virtually collapsed. At the peak of their power in 1394, they took over the island ofGotland. Their influence in the Baltic region declined after theTeutonic Order drove them out of Gotland in 1398.
After being expelled, the remaining Victual Brothers, now calling themselves theLikedeelers ('equal sharers'), continued their piracy and expanded their activities into the North Sea and along the Atlantic coast, raiding as far as France and Spain. Their most famous leader wasKlaus Störtebeker. The Likedeelers kept up their attacks into the early 15th century, including a major raid onBergen in 1429.
During the 14th century, QueenMargaret I of Denmark was battlingAlbert of Mecklenburg forScandinavian supremacy. Albert had beenKing of Sweden since 1364 and Duke ofMecklenburg since 1383. The Vitalian Brotherhood were hired in 1392 by theDukes of Mecklenburg to fight againstDenmark, after Queen Margaret had imprisoned Albert and his sonEric of Mecklenburg in order to subdue theKingdom of Sweden. While Queen Margaret's forces were besiegingStockholm, theblockade runners who came to be known as the Victual Brotherhood engaged inwar at sea and shipped provisions to keep the city supplied. The name Victual Brothers is derived from theLatin word"victualia"—meaning provisions—and refers to their first mission, which was to supply the besieged city.[2][3]
The Victual Brothers were organised as abrotherhood orguild. Their main naval enemy in 1392 was the powerful Hanseatic town ofLübeck, which supported Denmark in the war. Apart from Lübeck, theHanseatic League initially supported the Victual Brothers. Most of the Hanseatic towns had no desire for a victory for Denmark, with its strategic location for control of the seaways. For several years from 1392, the Victual Brothers were a strong power in theBaltic Sea. They had safe harbours in the cities ofRostock,Ribnitz,Wismar andStralsund. They soon turned to openpiracy and coastal plunder. In 1393 they sacked the town ofBergen for the first time and in 1394 they conqueredMalmö. They occupied parts ofFrisia andSchleswig. They also plunderedTurku,Vyborg,Styresholm,Korsholm and Faxeholm castle atSöderhamn inHälsingland.[4]
At the climax of their power, the Victual Brothers occupied the island ofGotland, Sweden, in 1394 and set up their headquarters inVisby. They also operated from theTurku archipelago;Knut Bosson, who was the chief ofTurku Castle from 1395 to 1398, had allied himself with the people of Mecklenburg, which is why he supported the hijacking activities of the Victual Brothers and allowed them to operate in the area.[5] Maritime trade in the Baltic Sea virtually collapsed, and the herring industry suffered from their depredations. Queen Margaret even turned to KingRichard II of England and sought to charter English ships to combat the pirates. From 1395 onwards, Queen Margaret gained the upper hand politically. She united Denmark, Sweden andNorway and formed theKalmar Union. The Hanseatic League was forced to cooperate with her, foreshadowing its eventual decline. King Albert of Sweden conceded Gotland to the alliedTeutonic Order as apledge (similar to afiefdom). An invasion army underKonrad von Jungingen (1355–1407), the Grand Master of the Order, conquered the island in 1398, destroying Visby and driving the Victual Brothers out of Gotland.[6][7]
After the Victual Brothers' defeat and expulsion from Gotland in 1398, the Hanseatic League tried repeatedly but unsuccessfully to completely control the Baltic Sea. Many Victual Brothers still remained at sea. When they lost their influence in theGulf of Bothnia, theGulf of Finland and Gotland, they operated from theSchlei, the mouth of the riverEms and other locations inFriesland. The successors to the Victual Brothers gave themselves the nameLikedeelers ("equal sharers"): they shared with the poor coastal population. They expanded their activities into theNorth Sea and along theAtlantic coastline, raidingBrabant and France and striking as far south as Spain.[citation needed]
Their most famous leader was CaptainKlaus Störtebeker, who first appears in the record as a Victual Brother around 1394.[8] TheLow German wordStörtebeker means "Down the beakerful". He allegedly got his name because he could swallow four litres of beer without taking the beaker from his mouth. However, it might simply be afamily name fromWismar. In 1401 theHamburg warshipDie Bunte Kuh (literallyThe Colorful Cow), leading a smallfleet under CommanderSimon of Utrecht, caught up with Störtebeker's forces nearHeligoland. After three days' running battle, Störtebeker and his crew were finally overpowered, trapped and executed.[9]
This was not the end of piracy and coastal raiding by the Likedeelers. In 1429, some 28 years after the execution of Störtebeker, members of the Victual Brothers attacked and plundered the important trading town of Bergen, eventually burning it to the ground. Until about 1440, maritime trade in both the North and Baltic Seas was seriously in danger of attack by the Likedeelers.[citation needed]
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