LL-L "What does it mean?" 2008.06.07 (03) [E]

Sat Jun 7 18:11:14 UTC 2008

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L O W L A N D S - L - 07 June 2008 - Volume 03
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From: R. F. Hahn <sassisch at yahoo.com>
Subject: What does it mean?

Hi, Luc, and thanks for the response about this *boddeme* thing.

I get your point, and you and whoever advanced the ship theory may well be
correct.

Here is what swayed me (and I'm still not totally married to it):

   1. As Jonny mentioned, *boddem* also denotes shallow coastal waters. Even
   in German the loanword *Boddom* is still used to refer to certain
   stretches of shallow water along the Baltic Sea coast. So, I simply meant
   coastal waters, in this case those then regarded as being part of Danish
   territory. Yes, *Boddem* still means 'bottom' in Modern Low Saxon, but I
   don't think the German idea of *Boden* comes into it (leave alone *Blut
   und Boden*).

   2. This volume contains hundreds of Hanseatic documents, mostly
   correspondence, of a four-year period in the 15th century. Yet this short
   letter is the only one mentioning *boddem(e)*. If it means 'ship' and
   'ships', why are *ship* and *schepe* mentioned everywhere else rather
   than *boddeme*? If *boddom *is indeed a type of ship, was it meant to
   refer specifically to a type that only the Danes used? If so, does anyone
   know so from Danish history?

I agree that there is some awkwardness in translating "... and enemy's
merchandise maketh enemy's (territorial) waters." My immediate "intuitive"
interpretation was that this was a reference to real or *de facto* piracy,
namely claiming an area to be one's own to justify "confiscating" ships and
their contents. What this person wrote was a blatant threat, the message
being something like, "The Danes stole from me [probably by way of
"confiscating" his merchandise], and I'm going to make them pay back. So,
everyone, stay away from their territorial waters, or else we'll treat you
as the enemy!" How would he take revenge other than doing to them what they
did to him? Since he and his cohorts did not represent a sovereign nation
(and may or may not have acted without the blessings of the Hanseatic
League), they cannot be seen as a counterpart of Denmark, a sovereign
nation, even if it was considered an intrusive colonial power in that area
which the Hanseats had rather have power over in their usual *de facto*manner.

Let's remember that the borderline between "legitimate" and "illegitimate"
aggression has always been a thin one. One person's confiscation was another
person's piracy. What is now Northern Germany only had very loose
administrative structure at the time, not much overall power despite
Frankish annexation about 500 years earlier. Much of the time, the Hanseatic
Trading League ruled supreme on account of its economic power. In real
terms, it dominated domestic ports and their hinterlands and elsewhere
claimed territories by way of trading posts. As they did in Bergen,  Let's
also remember that the League had begun as a defense force against piracy,
so it was not only a benign merchants' association.

But wait! There's more! A clarifying message from our Arthur just arrived,
and I will let it speak for itself.

Regards,
Reinhard/Ron

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From: Arthur Jones <arthurobin2002 at yahoo.com>
Subject: What does it mean?

Dear Ron, Luc, jah anthareis:

"...vynde boddeme maket vynde gut unde vynde gut maket vynde boddeme..."

In the Hanseatic League, and thence into maritime parlance generally,
"boddeme" meant the hold or other cargo space of a commercial ship. Maritime
law still uses the term "Bottomry Brief" for a type of promissory note or
lien note to secure title to a cargo. The German legal term is
"Bodmereibrief".

Thus, I believe the translation should be "enemy cargo maketh the hold to
enemy; and an enemy hold maketh the cargo to enemy."

Goljai thuk.

Arthur
ARTHUR A. JONES

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