Skipper Clement

Skipper Clement (c. 1484; † September 9, 1536 in Viborg, actually Klemen Andersen ) was a Danish captain and privateer on the side of Christian II, who became known as the leader of the peasant revolt of 1534 later.

He was born in Vedsted, Vendsyssel. His family were probably farmers and small traders. In the early 1520s he was a merchant in Aalborg Schiffer - hence his nickname - and vice-admiral under Christian II Even after Christian had fled in 1523 in the Netherlands and his uncle Friedrich had become I King, Clement held his king faithfully and served him as a privateer. In Christian 's failed attempt to recapture 1531/32 Norway, he was there.

King Frederick's death in 1533 led to the Graf feud. While the Lutheran part of the nobles Christian III. preferred and the Catholic his younger brother, John, was the dethroned King Christian II, who was a prisoner in Sønderborg castle, the king, the wish of the people. When the Danish Imperial Council in July 1534 finally Christian III. elected to the king, was already a major part of Denmark in the hands of Count Christopher of Oldenburg and his allies. Then arose in September 1534, the peasants under their leader Skipper Clement. The peasant revolt spread in many parts of Jutland and the suppressed hatred of the peasants against the nobility was a long row seats of nobility in Jutland in flames. However, allied Skipper Clement not with Count of Oldenburg and the cities of Copenhagen, Malmö and Lübeck.

After the war against Lübeck was completed in November 1534 with the Peace of Stockelsdorf, was King Christian III. his forces to focus on the suppression of the uprising. The army of the king under his commander Johann Rantzau said the peasant army and struck it on the run. Quick and without encountering much resistance, Rantzau penetrated into the north of Jutland, and last Clements forces were included in Aalborg, where they were defeated after a few days of the siege on December 18, 1534. The defenders Skipper Clements, between 700 and 800 men were crushed, after which the city was approved for plunder.

Skipper Clement himself escaped the carnage in Aalborg indeed, but a few days later was betrayed and captured by a farmer. On September 9, 1536, he was beheaded outside the Cathedral at Viborg. His body was quartered and attached to four poles, crowned his head with a lead crown.

The peasant uprising Skipper Clement was the last in Denmark. In the memory of Skipper Clement was transfigured into a national hero and 1931 honored with a monument in North Jutland.