Victual Brothers: Encyclopedia II - Victual Brothers - Guild of the Victual Brothers

Victual Brothers - Guild of the Victual Brothers

When Queen Margaret and Albrecht of Mecklenburg were battling for Scandinavian supremacy and Margaret's forces had besieged Stockholm, privateers named Victual Brothers acceded sea-war-activities and the shipping of goods to keep the city supplied with food. The name Victual Brothers is derivated from the Latin word "victualia" — meaning provisions — and refers to their first mission, which was to bring supplies to the besieged town of Stockholm.

Victual Brothers were organised as a brotherhood or guild and attracted people from all over Europe. Their main naval enemy in 1392 was the powerful Hanseatic town of Lübeck, which supported Denmark. Apart from Lübeck, the Hanseatic League encouraged the Victual Brothers at first. Most of the Hanseatic towns had no desire to see Denmark victorious, because its location was strategic for the defence of the seaways. For several years from 1392 on the Victual Brothers were a strong power to be reckoned with in the Baltic Sea. They had safe harbours in the cities of Rostock, Ribnitz, Wismar and Stralsund. Soon they went their own way, more or less turning to open piracy and coast robbery. In 1393 they sacked the town of Bergen for the first time and in 1394 they conquered Malmö. They also plundered Åbo, Vyborg, Faxeholm, Styresholm and Korsholm and occupied parts of Frisia and Schleswig for some time.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Guild of the Victual Brothers", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki