Wetheman or Vedeman (died c. 1170) was a Danish nobleman who in 1151 or 1152 founded a lay confraternity in

Roskilde Roskilde ( , ) is a city west of Copenhagen on the Danish island of Zealand. With a population of 53,354 (), the city is a business and educational centre for the region and the 10th largest city in Denmark. It is governed by the administrative ...

to help fight the

pagan Paganism (, later 'civilian') is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions other than Christianity, Judaism, and Samaritanism. In the time of the ...

Wends Wends is a historical name for Slavs who inhabited present-day northeast Germany. It refers not to a homogeneous people, but to various people, tribes or groups depending on where and when it was used. In the modern day, communities identifying ...

. A layman, he was its first commander and led the defence of the coast from Wendish pirates. He also played a prominent role in

the crusades The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and at times directed by the Papacy during the Middle Ages. The most prominent of these were the campaigns to the Holy Land aimed at reclaiming Jerusalem and its surrounding t ...

and wars of King Valdemar I and Bishop Absalon of Roskilde. In 1164, the king put him in charge of the town of

Wolgast Wolgast () is a town in the district of Vorpommern-Greifswald, in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. It is situated on the bank of the river (or strait) Peenestrom, vis-a-vis the island of Usedom on the Baltic Sea, Baltic coast that can be accessed ...

after its capture. Wetheman and his confraternity are known only from the chronicle of

Saxo Grammaticus Saxo Grammaticus (), also known as Saxo cognomine Longus, was a Danish historian, theologian and author. He is thought to have been a clerk or secretary to Absalon, Archbishop of Lund, the main advisor to Valdemar I of Denmark. He is the author ...

, who was writing around 1200. He appears to have had access to a copy of the confraternity's statutes. According to his paraphrase, all members of the confraternity were equal in status. Before battle, they made confession as if dying. On campaign, their behaviour was ascetic. They took little food and slept at their oars. If any Christian captives of the Wends were recovered on campaign, they were to be clothed and freed. They otherwise had the right to the booty, but if the city of Roskilde contributed to their funding the citizens had a right to half the booty. The confraternity apparently had the right to seize any ship as required so long as the owner was recompensed with an eighth of the booty. Saxo credits them with achieving many victories over numerically superior enemies while sustaining little or no loss. Wetheman's confraternity may be compared to the earlier

confraternity of Belchite The Confraternity of Belchite was an "experimental" community of knights founded in 1122 by Alfonso the Battler, king of Aragon and Navarre, and lasting until shortly after 1136. Members could enlist permanently or for a set time, vowing "never to ...

in Spain for its confessional and crusading character. It may also have had some characteristics of a

guild A guild ( ) is an association of artisans and merchants who oversee the practice of their craft/trade in a particular territory. The earliest types of guild formed as organizations of tradespeople belonging to a professional association. They so ...

formed by the merchants of Roskilde for their protection or of a town militia. The movement later spread, picking up members among the rural population of

Sjælland Zealand ( ) is the largest and most populous island in Denmark proper (thus excluding Greenland and Disko Island, which are larger in size) at 7,031 km2 (2715 sq. mi.). Zealand had a population of 2,319,705 on 1 January 2020, comprising ...

. Although it was apparently private organization, it took over the function normally fulfilled by the '' leding''. Janus Møller Jensen credits its popularity and success to its religious character. It was "evidently sanctioned by the Church, but it may also have been licensed by the king."

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Bibliography

* * * {{refend 12th-century deaths 12th-century Danish nobility Christians of the Wendish Crusade 1170s deaths Year of birth missing