Kirchenakte Documented events from judgments, reports and church documents
17 Mar 1230-27 May 1234 · 4 years · show in timeline

Crusade against the Stedingers 1232 to 1234, peasants on the Lower Weser declared heretics for refusing to pay dues

The Stedingers, free peasants on the lower Weser, refused to pay tithes and rent to the Archbishop of Bremen and defeated his army in 1229. A Bremen synod declared them heretics in 1230; Pope Gregory IX had the crusade against them preached in 1232 and 1233, with the same indulgence as for the Holy Land. On 27 May 1234 they were crushingly defeated at Altenesch. The Catholic church historian Hefele and the Catholic Encyclopedia state that the Stedingers were not heretics.

Period
17 Mar 1230-27 May 1234 (4 years)
Country
Germany
Institutions
Archdiocese of Bremen
Archbishop Gerhard II of Bremen
Pope Gregory IX
Dominicans
Category
Crusade, Persecution
Level of evidence
B two independent scholarly sources · what does this mean?
Persons
Gerhard II of Bremen (Archbishop of Bremen (1219-1258), had the Stedingers declared heretics)
Gregory IX (Pope, had the crusade against the Stedingers preached)
Hermann of Lippe (brother of the archbishop, fell in 1229 fighting the Stedingers)
The hermit of Stitswerd preaches against the crusade into the land of the Stedingers, around 1230
The hermit of Stitswerd preaches against the crusade into the land of the Stedingers, around 1230 Image: unbekannt, Public domain, Source

What happened to the people

Who was affected? Victims and numbers

  1. In the spring of 1234 a large crusading army marched against the western Weser marshes. The battle of Altenesch on 27 May 1234 brought death to almost the entire tribe of the Stedingers; only a few escaped to the neighbouring Frisians. According to the Cologne Annals, 2000 Stedingers are said to have fallen.
    Evidence: Carl Joseph von Hefele (Herder, Freiburg 1886), Bd. 5, 2. Aufl., § 659, S. 1022
    „der Tag von Altenesch (27. Mai 1234) brachte fast dem ganzen Stedingerstamm Tod und Verderben; nur Wenige entkamen dem Blutbad zu den benachbarten Friesen“
    Conciliengeschichte. Nach den Quellen bearbeitet, Bd. 5, 2. Auflage, Bd. 5, 2. Aufl., § 659, S. 1022. Original
    Evidence: Carl Joseph von Hefele (Herder, Freiburg 1886), Bd. 5, 2. Aufl., § 659, S. 1022, Anm. 2
    „Nach den Annales Colonienses maximi sollen 2000 Stedinger gefallen“
    Conciliengeschichte. Nach den Quellen bearbeitet, Bd. 5, 2. Auflage, Bd. 5, 2. Aufl., § 659, S. 1022, Anm. 2. Original
    Evidence: Catholic Encyclopedia (1913), Wikisource, Artikel Stedingers
    „on 27 May, 1234, the Stedingers were completely defeated near Bremen“
    Stedingers (Johann Peter Kirsch), Artikel Stedingers. Original

How were they charged and sentenced?

  1. Because he could not subdue them by force of arms, the archbishop resorted to the "spiritual sword": a diocesan synod in Bremen on 17 March 1230 declared the Stedingers heretics and excommunicated them. They were accused of contempt for the sacraments, violence against clerics, consulting demons and wax images.
    Evidence: Carl Joseph von Hefele (Herder, Freiburg 1886), Bd. 5, 2. Aufl., § 659, S. 1019
    „So außer Stande, gegen die selbstbewußten Ansiedler seine Rechte mit Waffengewalt zur Geltung zu bringen, griff der Erzbischof jetzt zum geistlichen Schwert.“
    Conciliengeschichte. Nach den Quellen bearbeitet, Bd. 5, 2. Auflage, Bd. 5, 2. Aufl., § 659, S. 1019. Original
    Evidence: Carl Joseph von Hefele (Herder, Freiburg 1886), Bd. 5, 2. Aufl., § 659, S. 1019
    „auf welcher die Stedinger für Ketzer erklärt und als solche verurtheilt wurden“
    Conciliengeschichte. Nach den Quellen bearbeitet, Bd. 5, 2. Auflage, Bd. 5, 2. Aufl., § 659, S. 1019. Original
    Evidence: Catholic Encyclopedia (1913), Wikisource, Artikel Stedingers
    „A synod held at Bremen, 17 March, 1230, accused them, in addition to the acts of violence above-mentioned, of contempt for the authority of the Church and for the sacraments, as well as of superstitious practices; it also excommunicated them.“
    Stedingers (Johann Peter Kirsch), Artikel Stedingers. Original
  2. On 29 October 1232 (Catholic Encyclopedia: 9 October), Pope Gregory IX ordered the Bishops of Lübeck, Minden and Ratzeburg to preach the crusade against the Stedingers. The bull accused them of shedding blood like water, of having nailed clerics to the wall in the shape of a cross and of consulting demons, and called on the faithful with promises of indulgence to march against them.
    Evidence: Carl Joseph von Hefele (Herder, Freiburg 1886), Bd. 5, 2. Aufl., § 659, S. 1020
    „die erste Kreuzzugsbulle gegen die Stedinger vom 29. October 1232“
    Conciliengeschichte. Nach den Quellen bearbeitet, Bd. 5, 2. Auflage, Bd. 5, 2. Aufl., § 659, S. 1020. Original
    Evidence: Carl Joseph von Hefele (Herder, Freiburg 1886), Bd. 5, 2. Aufl., § 659, S. 1020
    „Die Bischöfe sollen darum ihre Gläubigen gegen diese gottlosen Teufels verehrer aufrufen und durch Ablaßversprechen für einen Zug wider sie gewinnen.“
    Conciliengeschichte. Nach den Quellen bearbeitet, Bd. 5, 2. Auflage, Bd. 5, 2. Aufl., § 659, S. 1020. Original
    Evidence: Catholic Encyclopedia (1913), Wikisource, Artikel Stedingers
    „on 9 Oct., 1232, Gregory IX issued a Bull commanding the Bishops of Lübeck, Minden, and Ratzeburg to preach a crusade against them“
    Stedingers (Johann Peter Kirsch), Artikel Stedingers. Original

What happened to those affected?

  1. The first crusade failed in the winter of 1232/33. In the summer of 1233 the eastern Stedingers were defeated and their land devastated. A further bull of 17 June 1233 promised all participants the same indulgence as crusaders to the Holy Land.
    Evidence: Catholic Encyclopedia (1913), Wikisource, Artikel Stedingers
    „An army was collected and advanced against the Stedingers, but it was defeated in the winter of 1232-33.“
    Stedingers (Johann Peter Kirsch), Artikel Stedingers. Original
    Evidence: Carl Joseph von Hefele (Herder, Freiburg 1886), Bd. 5, 2. Aufl., § 659, S. 1021
    „der zunächst den Oststedingern galt; sie wurden besiegt und ihr Land verwüstet“
    Conciliengeschichte. Nach den Quellen bearbeitet, Bd. 5, 2. Auflage, Bd. 5, 2. Aufl., § 659, S. 1021. Original
    Evidence: Carl Joseph von Hefele (Herder, Freiburg 1886), Bd. 5, 2. Aufl., § 659, S. 1021
    „denselben Ablaß, wie den Kreuzfahrern in's heilige Land“
    Conciliengeschichte. Nach den Quellen bearbeitet, Bd. 5, 2. Auflage, Bd. 5, 2. Aufl., § 659, S. 1021. Original

Background

Course of events

  1. The archbishop's army under his brother Hermann of Lippe lost to the peasants on Christmas Eve 1229; Hermann fell. According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, the Stedingers then destroyed churches and monasteries and mistreated and killed priests.
    Evidence: Carl Joseph von Hefele (Herder, Freiburg 1886), Bd. 5, 2. Aufl., § 659, S. 1019
    „allein Hermann verlor gegen sie am Weihnachtsabend 1229 Schlacht und Leben“
    Conciliengeschichte. Nach den Quellen bearbeitet, Bd. 5, 2. Auflage, Bd. 5, 2. Aufl., § 659, S. 1019. Original
    Evidence: Catholic Encyclopedia (1913), Wikisource, Artikel Stedingers
    „His army, however, was defeated in 1229, whereupon the Stedingers destroyed churches and monasteries, and ill-treated and killed priests.“
    Stedingers (Johann Peter Kirsch), Artikel Stedingers. Original

Why? Justification and motives (according to the sources)

  1. The Stedingers were a people of Frisians and Saxons who had moved to the lower Weser at the end of the 12th century and had brought the land under cultivation. They refused to pay the tithe to the Archbishop of Bremen and to perform labour services as serfs. Archbishop Gerhard II (1219-1258) therefore sent troops against them.
    Evidence: Carl Joseph von Hefele (Herder, Freiburg 1886), Bd. 5, 2. Aufl., § 659 „Die Stedinger“, S. 1018
    „Es war dieß ein Mischvolk von Friesen und Sachsen, das gegen Ende des 12. Jahrhunderts an die Gestade der unteren Weser eingewandert und das Land urbar gemacht hatte.“
    Conciliengeschichte. Nach den Quellen bearbeitet, Bd. 5, 2. Auflage, Bd. 5, 2. Aufl., § 659 „Die Stedinger“, S. 1018. Original
    Evidence: Catholic Encyclopedia (1913), Wikisource, Artikel Stedingers
    „The Stedingers refused to pay tithes and to perform forced labour as serfs. These duties were demanded of them with considerable severity, and Archbishop Gerhard II of Bremen (1219-58) sent troops against them.“
    Stedingers (Johann Peter Kirsch), Artikel Stedingers. Original
  2. The Catholic church historian Hefele judged in 1886 that these charges could not be taken to mean any real heresy; the actual "error" had been the armed resistance to the demands of the archbishop. The Catholic Encyclopedia also writes that the Stedingers were not heretics.
    Evidence: Carl Joseph von Hefele (Herder, Freiburg 1886), Bd. 5, 2. Aufl., § 659, S. 1019
    „der eine Haupt- und Grundirrthum ist offenbar nichts Anderes, als der bewaffnete Widerstand gegen die Forderung des Erzbischofs von Bremen“
    Conciliengeschichte. Nach den Quellen bearbeitet, Bd. 5, 2. Auflage, Bd. 5, 2. Aufl., § 659, S. 1019. Original
    Evidence: Catholic Encyclopedia (1913), Wikisource, Artikel Stedingers
    „The Stedingers were not heretics“
    Stedingers (Johann Peter Kirsch), Artikel Stedingers. Original

Who received the assets, who profited?

  1. At its core the dispute was about dues to the Church of Bremen: Archbishop Hartwig II had already enforced that the Stedingers paid rent and tithe to the Archbishopric of Bremen. When Archbishop Gerhard II wanted to collect these dues again, they resisted and attacked some of his messengers. According to the Cologne Annals, only the refusal of the tithe was held against them, and for that they were excommunicated.
    Evidence: Carl Joseph von Hefele (Herder, Freiburg 1886), Bd. 5, 2. Aufl., § 659, S. 1018
    „Dem Versuche, sich auch der Zins- und Zehntpflicht gegen das Bremer Erzstift zu entziehen, trat aber Erzbischof Hartwig II. mit Entschiedenheit und Erfolg entgegen.“
    Conciliengeschichte. Nach den Quellen bearbeitet, Bd. 5, 2. Auflage, Bd. 5, 2. Aufl., § 659, S. 1018. Original
    Evidence: Carl Joseph von Hefele (Herder, Freiburg 1886), Bd. 5, 2. Aufl., § 659, S. 1019
    „widersetzten sich die Bewohner der Wesermarschen und vergriffen sich sogar an einzelnen Boten des Erzbischofs“
    Conciliengeschichte. Nach den Quellen bearbeitet, Bd. 5, 2. Auflage, Bd. 5, 2. Aufl., § 659, S. 1019. Original
    Evidence: Carl Joseph von Hefele (Herder, Freiburg 1886), Bd. 5, 2. Aufl., § 659, S. 1022
    „sie legen ihnen nur Zehntverweigerung zur Last“
    Conciliengeschichte. Nach den Quellen bearbeitet, Bd. 5, 2. Auflage, Bd. 5, 2. Aufl., § 659, S. 1022. Original

Response of the Church

  1. As early as 18 March 1234, in a letter to his legate, Gregory IX no longer spoke of heresy but only of a dispute between the archbishop and the Stedingers. On 21 August 1235 (Catholic Encyclopedia: 24 August 1236) he ordered the survivors to be released from the ban after penance and satisfaction; here too there was no longer any mention of heresy.
    Evidence: Carl Joseph von Hefele (Herder, Freiburg 1886), Bd. 5, 2. Aufl., § 659, S. 1021
    „Hier ist nicht mehr von häretischen Irrthümern und anderen kirchlichen Verbrechen die Rede“
    Conciliengeschichte. Nach den Quellen bearbeitet, Bd. 5, 2. Auflage, Bd. 5, 2. Aufl., § 659, S. 1021. Original
    Evidence: Carl Joseph von Hefele (Herder, Freiburg 1886), Bd. 5, 2. Aufl., § 659, S. 1022
    „Von Häresien oder Irrlehren ist auch in diesem päpstlichen Schreiben keine Rede mehr“
    Conciliengeschichte. Nach den Quellen bearbeitet, Bd. 5, 2. Auflage, Bd. 5, 2. Aufl., § 659, S. 1022. Original
    Evidence: Catholic Encyclopedia (1913), Wikisource, Artikel Stedingers
    „on 24 August, 1236, Gregory IX commanded that they should be relieved from excommunication after performing penance and satisfaction“
    Stedingers (Johann Peter Kirsch), Artikel Stedingers. Original

Scholarly literature and reference works

  1. Scholarly literature
    Carl Joseph von Hefele (Herder, Freiburg 1886): Conciliengeschichte. Nach den Quellen bearbeitet, Bd. 5, 2. Auflage, 1 January 1886. Original (retrieved 15 Oct 2026)
  2. Reference work
    Catholic Encyclopedia (1913), Wikisource: Stedingers (Johann Peter Kirsch), 1 January 1913. Original (retrieved 15 Oct 2026)
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