Vitalienbrüder | |
 One of the few contemporary representations of the Victual Brothers from a wall painting in Bunge church, Gotland, Sweden, c. 1405 | |
| Successor | Likedeelers |
|---|---|
| Formation | 1393 |
| Dissolved | 1440 |
| Headquarters | Visby, Gotland, Sweden |
| Location |
|
Region | Northern Europe |
| Methods | Privateering, blockade running, piracy |
Key people | |
The Victual Brothers (German: Vitalienbrüder) were a loosely organized guild of privateers who later turned to piracy. They affected maritime trade during the 14th century in both the North and Baltic Seas.[1]
They were initially hired in 1392 by the Dukes of Mecklenburg to support their fight against Queen Margaret I of Denmark, who was besieging Stockholm. Named after the Latin word victualia ('provisions'), their mission was to supply the city with goods. They initially had the support of most of the Hanseatic league apart from Lübeck. Over time, they became notorious pirates, attacking coastal towns around the Baltic region, so that the maritime trade in the Baltic Sea virtually collapsed. At the peak of their power in 1394, they took over the island of Gotland. Their influence in the Baltic region declined after the Teutonic Order drove them out of Gotland in 1398.
After being expelled, the remaining Victual Brothers, now calling themselves the Likedeelers ('equal sharers'), continued their piracy and expanded their activities into the North Sea and along the Atlantic coast, raiding as far as France and Spain. Their most famous leader was Klaus Störtebeker. The Likedeelers kept up their attacks into the early 15th century, including a major raid on Bergen in 1429.