(historical character)
In the Middle Ages many German families settled in Turku. The Frese’s were among the most famous. In the early 15th Century one of the richest merchants of Turku as well as a long-term mayor was Jakob Frese. He was also a member of the influencial guild of the Three Holy kings. His fortune Jakob Frese presumably acquired through trade with the town of Danzig (contemporary Gdansk). The export items from Turku to Danzig mostly through Tallinn included above all seal-oil, butter, skin, fur and fish. In return the most important import items included salt, wheat and different fabrics. Pirates and privateers were the greatest threat to the merchant’s ships especially in the 15th Century. Jakob Frese moved from Turku to Tallinn in his old age. There he entered matrimony once more and received one more child in addition to the two children from the earlier marriage. His son Henricus worked as a dean in Turku in the 1460’s. The father Jakob passed away in Tallinn in 1455. Just before he died he had completed a testament. There was indeed a lot to divide, for the fortune totalled 9000 Riga marks. The will did arouse a long lasting argument in which the opposite sides searched for justice all the way from the pope in Rome.
LINKS
Niilo Olavsson Knight
O doulce amour
Claudin de Sermisy (c.1490-1562)
