Background information about Moritz Degetow - dead before 1676.
Hello!
I am looking for any and all background information about a person called Moritz Degetow in the Norwegian sources.
My hypothesis is that he came from the town of Degtow in Grevesmühlen in present day Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Or from the greater Lübeck area.
I have been in contact with Stadtarchiv Lübeck and we were unable to locate him in any of the relevant letters relating to the Hanse shipping on Bergen. I was unable to find anything on him through ARIADNE or ARCINSYS.
As far as I have understood from speaking with various german academics at conferences, Degetow is a somewhat unusual name, seemingly Slavonic in origin. (Ref: https://mvdok.lbmv.de/mjbrenderer?id...ument_00002847 p. 38) In the sources it could possibly be spelled Degetow, Degetau, Tegetau, Degetov and from a Norwegian source we also see it spelled Degeton. There is a monastery mentioned in Degtow as early as 1233 in the Codex diplomaticus Lubecensis. Lübeckisches Urkundenbuch (1858).
The matriculation protocols of the university of Rostock also have some names related to Degtow. Ie. Johannes Degethovious Lübecensis in 1619; Johannes Gothardus Degetow from Holstein in 1653 (probably identical with the scribe in Lübeck from 1673-1685); Nicolaus Degetow from Holstein in 1653; The rector at the University of Rostock was married to a Margaretha Degetow who died in 1650.
http://matrikel.uni-rostock.de/periode/1619Ost
http://purl.uni-rostock.de/matrikel/100017298.
https://www.digitale-bibliothek-mv.d.../#topDocAnchor
However, I cannot find Moritz Degetow in these matriculation records.
What I have on him and his life from Danish and Norwegian source:
The first time I have found him in the Danish and Norwegian sources is at a court of appeal session at Omgang, in Finnmark, in 1653. He is referred to as the “fullmektig” something of a replacement, temporary office holder, proxy, of the regional governor (“lensherre”) Jørgen Friis (from the noble Danish family). In other words, he operated the position of regional governor while he was absent. He was seemingly a client of the regional governor and most likely he came to Finnmark together with him in 1651.
Two things happened to him in 1659: firstly, he was given royal permissions to travel to Lübeck and from there immediately to Finnmark. This, in my view, somewhat strengthens the hypothesis that he originated in the greater Lübeck area. Secondly, he was appointed as captain of Vardøhus fortress in Finnmark.
He participated in the defence of Copenhagen in 1659 and is mentioned the city’s male population register of 1659 (https://slaegtsbibliotek.dk/910360.pdf p. 52 ;https://slaegtsbibliotek.dk/925053.pdf “Mouridtz Degetou captain in Norway” p. 129). He still owned that house in 1661. In 1664 he is referred to as a burgher in Copenhagen at a session of the Norwegian supreme court (“herredag”). The case revolved around roughly 5 tons of stockfish that Degetow had sold to some merchants in Bergen.
I have not found Degetow in any sources from Finnmark after 1670. A magistrate by the name of Niels Knag, notes in his topographical study on Finnmark (written 1694), that on the island Årøya right by Alta a: “fortification was built in previous times which is still there, close to it there was a house called the King’s house, and there was a captain there by the name of Mouritz Degeton…” (https://www.digitalarkivet.no/db60037055000007 p.11). The chronology is unclear. It is possible that Degetow spent some years at this fortification in western Finnmark after 1670, that he returned to Denmark, or he might have been dead.
He is most certainly dead in 1676 as the guardian of his children are mentioned at a court session in the Danish town of Kolding. On the 26.07.1676. Jens Trulsen the schoolmaster, asked for a testimony from the court that he had, on behalf of the children of the deceased “Mourids Degetou,” announced the belongings they had inherited from their deceased aunt (mother’s side) Maren Sørensdatter, for sale (https://www.brejl.dk/Bjarne/kolding2.html p. 99). This Maren was married to Jens Pedersen who was a city councillor in Kolding from the 1650s. He travelled to Lübeck 18.08.1669. This inheritance is mentioned on several occasions, the latest in 1697 (same source as above p. 207).
If anyone has any information about him, or can provide evidence to confirm or debunk my hypothesis of Degtow / the greater Lübeck areas as the place of origin, I would be most grateful!
Best regards,
Haakon
I am looking for any and all background information about a person called Moritz Degetow in the Norwegian sources.
My hypothesis is that he came from the town of Degtow in Grevesmühlen in present day Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Or from the greater Lübeck area.
I have been in contact with Stadtarchiv Lübeck and we were unable to locate him in any of the relevant letters relating to the Hanse shipping on Bergen. I was unable to find anything on him through ARIADNE or ARCINSYS.
As far as I have understood from speaking with various german academics at conferences, Degetow is a somewhat unusual name, seemingly Slavonic in origin. (Ref: https://mvdok.lbmv.de/mjbrenderer?id...ument_00002847 p. 38) In the sources it could possibly be spelled Degetow, Degetau, Tegetau, Degetov and from a Norwegian source we also see it spelled Degeton. There is a monastery mentioned in Degtow as early as 1233 in the Codex diplomaticus Lubecensis. Lübeckisches Urkundenbuch (1858).
The matriculation protocols of the university of Rostock also have some names related to Degtow. Ie. Johannes Degethovious Lübecensis in 1619; Johannes Gothardus Degetow from Holstein in 1653 (probably identical with the scribe in Lübeck from 1673-1685); Nicolaus Degetow from Holstein in 1653; The rector at the University of Rostock was married to a Margaretha Degetow who died in 1650.
http://matrikel.uni-rostock.de/periode/1619Ost
http://purl.uni-rostock.de/matrikel/100017298.
https://www.digitale-bibliothek-mv.d.../#topDocAnchor
However, I cannot find Moritz Degetow in these matriculation records.
What I have on him and his life from Danish and Norwegian source:
The first time I have found him in the Danish and Norwegian sources is at a court of appeal session at Omgang, in Finnmark, in 1653. He is referred to as the “fullmektig” something of a replacement, temporary office holder, proxy, of the regional governor (“lensherre”) Jørgen Friis (from the noble Danish family). In other words, he operated the position of regional governor while he was absent. He was seemingly a client of the regional governor and most likely he came to Finnmark together with him in 1651.
Two things happened to him in 1659: firstly, he was given royal permissions to travel to Lübeck and from there immediately to Finnmark. This, in my view, somewhat strengthens the hypothesis that he originated in the greater Lübeck area. Secondly, he was appointed as captain of Vardøhus fortress in Finnmark.
He participated in the defence of Copenhagen in 1659 and is mentioned the city’s male population register of 1659 (https://slaegtsbibliotek.dk/910360.pdf p. 52 ;https://slaegtsbibliotek.dk/925053.pdf “Mouridtz Degetou captain in Norway” p. 129). He still owned that house in 1661. In 1664 he is referred to as a burgher in Copenhagen at a session of the Norwegian supreme court (“herredag”). The case revolved around roughly 5 tons of stockfish that Degetow had sold to some merchants in Bergen.
I have not found Degetow in any sources from Finnmark after 1670. A magistrate by the name of Niels Knag, notes in his topographical study on Finnmark (written 1694), that on the island Årøya right by Alta a: “fortification was built in previous times which is still there, close to it there was a house called the King’s house, and there was a captain there by the name of Mouritz Degeton…” (https://www.digitalarkivet.no/db60037055000007 p.11). The chronology is unclear. It is possible that Degetow spent some years at this fortification in western Finnmark after 1670, that he returned to Denmark, or he might have been dead.
He is most certainly dead in 1676 as the guardian of his children are mentioned at a court session in the Danish town of Kolding. On the 26.07.1676. Jens Trulsen the schoolmaster, asked for a testimony from the court that he had, on behalf of the children of the deceased “Mourids Degetou,” announced the belongings they had inherited from their deceased aunt (mother’s side) Maren Sørensdatter, for sale (https://www.brejl.dk/Bjarne/kolding2.html p. 99). This Maren was married to Jens Pedersen who was a city councillor in Kolding from the 1650s. He travelled to Lübeck 18.08.1669. This inheritance is mentioned on several occasions, the latest in 1697 (same source as above p. 207).
If anyone has any information about him, or can provide evidence to confirm or debunk my hypothesis of Degtow / the greater Lübeck areas as the place of origin, I would be most grateful!
Best regards,
Haakon