The
Land of Wursten was a rather autonomous
Frisian farmers' republic in
Northern Germany under only loose overlordship of the
Prince-Archbishopric of Bremen. Bremian knightly families aimed at subjecting the
Wursten Frisians. The
Lords of Diepholz owned the Hollburg Castle between and
Midlum on the brink of the
Wesermünde Geest ridge, allowing a good view over the lower Land of Wursten. In 1219 six Diepholz Lords, related as cousins, owning estates in and near Midlum, founded the
Midlum Nunnery and endowed them to it. Rather than establishing the nunnery as their
proprietary monastery the Diepholz family made it over to the
cathedral chapter of the Bremen archdiocese. The convent's actual original affiliation to a monastic order is not documented. No hint is recorded that the convent strove to be incorporated into the Cistercian Order. It is also possible that the convent followed Cistercian customs without formal incorporation. However, the convent started the typical Cistercian practice to build up a large autark integrated production (Eigenwirtschaft). Unlike unsettled and undeveloped areas where Cistercians usually founded new monasteries the farmlands donated to the convent were held by feudal tenants and sparsed in and around Midlum. The convent (cf.
Lowland Clearances) transforming them into dependent agrarian workers or
cotters (smallholders who need additional work) and (most of) their fields into the convent's
demesne. On outlying estates the convent founded its
Vorwerk of which today forms a locality of Midlum. All over the parish of Midlum, e.g. in Sorthum, Northum, Wenckebüttel and Esigstedt, the convent acquired the overlordship to farmlands from those lords who held it before, While the Wursten Frisians claimed the Sietland as their
commons, the convent started to include it into its demesnes. The convent's desmesne but also
manorial expansion just added up to these tensions. the demesne expansion of the convent was successfully hindered. Soon the Midlum parish and its peasant population became integral parts of the Land of Wursten. Prince-Archbishop Gilbert considered the convent his outpost to wield influence in the free peasant areas of the
Lands of Hadeln and of Wursten as well as among separatist noble vassals such as the . On 17 April 1289 Gilbert assigned the tithe of Northum to the convent. Even after the move the convent asserted most of its feudal possessions and privileges in the Midlum parish, then a part of Wursten. In 1331 the commoner Gerhard de Merne (= Marren, Süder- and Nordermarren near Midlum) usurped the tithe from Esigstedt, protested by the convent, the enfranchised beneficiary, and left it again to the nuns only after the pastors of the Wursten parishes had intervened. In 1399 the consuls of the Land of Wursten concluded with the convent that they guaranteed safe-conduct through the Midlum parish for the pilgrims on their way to Wolde (present Altenwalde). In 1517 Prince-Archbishop opened a campaign to subject the Wursten Frisians. and envoys of the prince-archbishop met on the Wursten
thingstead in order to fix the amount and to discuss the levying of the taxes. The parties flew into a fury and in the end the Wursten Frisians slew Dean , archdeacon of Hadeln and Wursten, Engelbert von der Malsburg, prince-archiepiscopal
landdrost, and 16 more prince-archiepiscopal envoys. For the upcoming prince-archiepiscopal response the Wursten Frisians allied with their former enemy Duke Magnus I of Saxe-Lauenburg, who confirmed their autonomy in return for rendering him homage. On 8 September 1518 ducal forces arriving by ship and Wursten fighters attacking from the land side razed the brandnew prince-archiepiscopal in . The Wursten Frisians saw their chance and covered the borderland adjacent to Wursten, including the Neuenwalde convent seigniorial bailiwick, with raids and attacks. In 1518 Prioress Wommella Wachmans appealed to the Wursten Consuls not to incite or even undertake the ravaging of houses and looting of grain and firewood from the convent's feudal tenants. The troops of Christopher the Spendthrift finally subjected the Wursten Frisians in the
Battle of Mulsum on 9 August 1524. In 1525 the Wursten Consuls had to conclude the
Treaty of Stade, which incorporated Wursten into the prince-archbishopric, did away with the Wursten constitution, including the election of consuls and subjected the Wursten Frisians to feudal dues and duties and prince-archiepiscopal bailiffs (Vögte), wielding authoritarian force over the Wursten Frisians. In 1648 the elective monarchy of the Prince-Archbishopric was transformed into the heritable monarchy of the
Duchy of Bremen, which was first ruled in
personal union by the Swedish Crown and from 1715 on by the
House of Hanover. In 1823 the Duchy was abolished and its territory became part of the
Stade Region within the
Kingdom of Hanover. ==References==