Occupation: Land-owner (Proprietær)
Reference: KG2 note
From the earliest records on Peder Poulsen Kofoed we see that he was
a tax-paying farm-owner without the "free-man" privileges his
relatives around Rønne enjoyed. Peder fathered five children in his


first marriage, to Elsebeth Gagge: one son and four daughters; she
and all of their children died in 1585. After Elsebeth Gagge died he


inherited her property, as there was no male relation after her. The


properties were the 14', 16', 17' and 25' Vornedegårde (Vdg.) in Åker


parish (and as well he owned a mill). As Elsebeth Gagge's status was


that of a "free-woman" it was necessary to obtain Royal permission to


keep the farms. This was granted to him by Royal decree on July 3,
1598; however, this did not make Peder a free-man, but he did obtain
something equally as good: The King's decree of 1598 gave him the
right to own those farms "as free as anyone else on Bornholm owned
his farm". Christian IV's brother-in-law, the Holstein Duke Johan
Adolf, a well educated and enlightened nobleman, visited Kofoedgård
in 1602 together with five squires and their entourage: "as many as
could be seated around four long tables". Although the affair
totalled a hefty 22 Rigsdalers, Peder Kofoed could not but praise God


for his good fortune in making the aquaintance of such an important
and influential man. To do this he shared the cost of manufacturing
a magnificient new bell dedicated to the church in Østermarie in
1604. It is one of two bells that ring for the people in Østermarie
to this very day. It was unthinkable to have Kofoedgård converted to
a "frigård"; however, as it was now established that Peder had the
right to own free-man property, it was possible to obtain land
already designated as such. Finally in 1606 he got the opportunity to


buy the free-property of Baggård in Klemensker parish. Now "Peder
Kofoed af Baggaard" could met on equal footing with the other free-
men of Bornholm. In 1572 a meeting was held by Bornholm's Parliament
to establish who had the right to the status of "Frimand" (Free-man)
on Bornholm. Of course, that meeting had a broader purpose: a war in


which Lübeck and Danmark had fought side-by-side had ended two years
previously, and there was another three years before the Lübeck 50
year claim to Bornholm was to expire; although Lübeck claimed that it


had been given a further 50 years. In this predicament it was wise
for the King to establish locally situated allies; and Bornholm's
influential free-men, who normally would have been snubbed by the
King and the true nobility, were now in a position to receive
benevolent treatment from the Danish government. At the
"Frimandsmødet" held on September 6, 1572 there were 17 men named as
being in attendance: Peder Poulsen Kofoed, the brothers Jens and Hans


Madsen Kofoed, Oluf Bagge, Peder Uf, Peder Myre, Jørgen Gagge, also
ten other men only listed by their father's name; and at which
occassion three Danish Parlimentary advisers (Rigsråder) had been
sent to preside over the meeting. The Kofoeds had no written proof
of their free-men status; they were only able to give heartfelt and
solemn words about faithful service. It seems they had an inkling of


things to come, and therefore begged the King not to let himself be
"seduced" by Lübeck's representative Sweder Ketting, "because you
might expect that Lübeck only plotted to keep our island under their
yoke." This is the first record in which we find the Kofoeds being
mentioned as "frimænd". We know that they were related to Oluf Bagge


and Peder Uf, and probably to several of the others. The question
remains: did they already have claim to free-man status, or did they


take advantage of the King's need for loyal followers - seeking
acknowledgement of that status from their peers on Bornholm? It
seems that they had to make certain commitments to the King in
exchange for the full rights to free-man status. Peder Poulsen
Kofoed, named as a "Frimand", was one of the delegates who on May 6,
1608, in København, confirmed and selected Prince Christian as the
future King of Danmark. He also, along with Hans Madsen Kofoed (1572-


1623), took part in the following festivities in Lund, Skåne (now
part of Sverige/Sweden), where the nobility swore their allegiance to


Prince Christian in the year 1610. By the altar in the demolished
Østermarie Church there was a gravestone with the initials "P.K.",
for Peder Kofoed, which depicted his coat-of-arms, the hoof or "foot"


of a cow. The name Kofoed comes from the older name of KoFod or "Cow


Foot". Engraved also is "E.H.G.D." for: Elsebeth Henning Gagge's
daughter; her coat-of-arms depicts a jaw-bone. It seems that the old
Bornholm Kofoed families used the cow-foot as their coat-of-arms;
from obvious association with their name, rather than through their
connection to the Duchy of Holstein. The so-called "Østermarie
family" (aka Julius Bidstrup's "Family B") adopted the sign of the
cow-foot into their arms around 1590. Besides the gravestone of
Peder Kofoed, it can be seen in the seal of his brother the Mayor
Esbern Kofoed. From then on the cow-foot was used repeatedly by this


branch of the Kofoed family; among them Mayor Poul Kofoed of Svaneke,


who in 1673 adorned his seal with a tiny, not too martial-looking
helmet sprouting three flowers. In 1595 Hans Madsen Kofoed (c.1542-
1623), of the "Rønne family" (Bidstrup's "Family A"), incorporated
the image of a truss (gavlsparren) in his seal; this later became the


most widely incorporated image in later Kofoed seals and coats-of-
arms. A truss is that part of a building which forms the foundation
upon which its roof is built. As depicted in the Kofoed coat-of-arms


it looks rather like an upside down "V", i.e. the two beams of a
roof's supporting structure. That image was used to convey the idea
that the Kofoed family was a foundation upon which others could rely
for strengh of leadership. His oldest son Mads Kofoed used this
image from 1608, and his descendants used it as well. The "Danish
Coat-of-Arms" registry shows that 18 families carry the truss as part


of their coat-of-arms. The image of the truss seems to have come from


the Uf family of Skåne. Noblemen of the Uf family settled on
Bornholm around the year 1400, and quite a few of the native
Bornholmer Kofoeds married into that family, and it seems that they
adopted the Uf's coat-of-arms with its depiction of a truss. Later,
as the "Rønne family" and the "Østermarie family" began to inter-
marry the image of the "truss" can be seen together with that of the
"cow-foot". Reference: In "Familien Koefoed A og B" Julius Bidstrup
(published 1886), Peder Kofoed's father was a Mads Kofoed, however
according to later research done by Jørn Klindt it is proven that he
was the son of Poul Kofoed; see "På sporet af de første Kofod'er", by


Jørn Klindt, published 1979 , page 77.