Springorum Origins in Bochum and Westphalia (1400

This page examines the earliest known occurrences of the Springorum name in Bochum and the surrounding region of Westphalia between 1400 and 1600. Drawing on early civic records, legal documents, and later testamentary evidence, it brings together the first documented name bearers who appear in and around the town long before the emergence of a provable line of descent. At this stage, the focus lies not on a single continuous pedigree, but on identifying recurring individuals, family clusters, and the historical setting in which the name took shape. These early references provide essential context for understanding how a stable and traceable Springorum lineage eventually emerged in the late sixteenth century.

Bochum in the 15th century

Long before Reinhard Springorum enters the record, the name Springorum already appears repeatedly in fifteenth- and sixteenth-century sources, and always in or around Bochum; this overview brings together those early mentions, where family ties are sometimes clear, sometimes only suggested, inviting a first attempt at imagining what the earliest Springorum pedigree may have looked like.

Brief historical overview: Bochum 1400-1600

Around 1400, Bochum was a modest town in the County of Mark, set along the Westphalian Hellweg—the main east–west artery through Westphalia. It functioned more as a local court seat (Gogericht) and market town than as a major trading hub. The first mayors appear in the record in 1407, and in 1438 a knight endowed the Rodden-Gut in Gerthe to fund a charitable guesthouse (Gasthaus) and hospital for the poor—evidence of emerging civic institutions and organized social care.

Bochum Town Fire 1517

The defining catastrophe was the great city fire of Mark’s Day, 25 April 1517. Starting in the house of a townsman named Johann Schrivers genn. Springorum, flames raced through dense timbered streets and thatched roofs, destroying virtually the whole town, including the old parish church. Rebuilding took years: the church (today’s Propsteikirche St. Peter und Paul) received its net vaulting in 1536 and a completed tower by 1547; municipal reconstruction stretched across the decade. During the fire, Bochum’s main parish church was destroyed by fire also. To finance the construction of a new church, a tax was levied. From the so-called “Kirchensteuer” list of 1525, we know that the town of Bochum at that time consisted of roughly one hundred houses and 157 inhabitants. Two hundred years later, in 1722, the town had grown to 350 houses, 135 of which were still roofed with thatch.

Epidemics

Epidemics repeatedly stalled recovery. In addition to an outbreak of the so-called “English sweat” in 1529, Bochum was hit by several waves of plague during the sixteenth century, recorded in 1542, 1544, 1583, and 1589. The plague of 1544 was so severe that inhabitants were said to have fled into the surrounding woods. The impact of these epidemics can also be seen on an individual level: Agnes Springorum, who died in 1542, fell victim to the plague of that year. Together with another major town fire in 1581, these repeated blows kept both population numbers and prosperity fragile.

Politically, Bochum lay within the County of Mark, which from 1521 formed part of the United Duchies of Jülich-Cleves-Berg. This broader political framework shaped administration, taxation, and confessional policy in the region. Within that setting—and aided by Bochum’s position along the Hellweg route through nearby Wattenscheid and Bochum itself—the town slowly and cautiously rebuilt toward the end of the sixteenth century.

Politics, War and Religion

In the 15th and 16th centuries, Bochum was part of the County of Mark and had to follow the politics of its rulers. The town itself saw little fighting, but people still felt the effects of wars and rising taxes. After 1520, the Reformation brought new Protestant ideas that spread through the region and clashed with the old Catholic traditions. Parish life and church appointments often became a point of conflict. During the Schmalkaldic War (1546–1547), the struggle between Protestants and Catholics touched Bochum as well, adding to the uncertainty already caused by fire, plague, and poverty.

The Springorums Origins: A Tentative Pedigree

Generation -7 (earliest documented name bearers)

The Springorum name first appears in early-15th-century Bochum. Two figures belong to this generation: Celce Springorum, recorded in 1423, and Diederich Springorum, documented in 1441 with his wife Karden and their children Baten and Johann (der Ältere). Although a familial connection between Celce and Diederich is possible, it is not explicitly attested, and they are therefore treated as parallel members of the same generation.

Celse Springorum (c. 1370 – ?)

Celce Springorum is the earliest known individual with the Springorum name in surviving documents. The first record of her dates to 21 December 1423. In a charter from 1423 two brothers, Johan and Diderich van Lutsikendorp, sold a hereditary estate “by the bridge at Bochum” (now the site of the Bishop’s house) to Celce Springorum. The deed includes all associated lands, woods, and rights, and affirms that the purchase was fully paid, with no remaining claims by the sellers or their heirs. Witnesses and seals authenticate the transaction.

Diederich Springorum (c. 1395 – ?)

Diederich Springorum is one of the earliest securely documented member of the Springorum family in Bochum and appears in a relatively large number of mid-15th-century legal records, indicating a sustained presence in the town’s documentary record. A particularly significant deed from 1441 records his sale of an annual monetary rent from his house and farmstead behind the Bungener house and explicitly names his wife and sons, providing rare early evidence for the composition of the Springorum family and marking the starting point of the documented lineage. Later records show Diederich as a property owner, lender, administrator, and legal witness, roles that reflect financial security, literacy, and a respected position within the Bochum community; together with his wife Karden, he stands at the beginning of the documented history of the Springorum family.

Generation -6

Johann Springorum (der Ältere), proven son of Diederich and Karden, is securely documented and represents the continuation of the Bochum Springorum household into the later 15th century.

Generation -5

This generation consists of Johann Schriver and Nese Springorum, who are securely identified as the parents of the next generation. Nese Springorum is proven to be a daughter of Johann Springorum der Ältere, anchoring this family group firmly within the established Springorum lineage. Their placement advances the later Schriver genannt Springorum line by one generation.

Nese Springorum (c. 1445 – ?)

Nese Springorum—also recorded as Neese or Niese and possibly a diminutive or variant of Agnes—was the daughter of Johann Springorum (der Ältere). She married Johann Schriver, who served as a judge in Essen, and together they had a son named Johann Schriver genannt Springorum. The adoption of the maternal family name by their son suggests that Nese belonged to a socially prominent and well-established family, whose name carried sufficient recognition to be preserved across generations.

Generation -4

Johann Schriver genannt Springorum, proven son of Johann Schriver and Nese Springorum, marks the point at which Springorum functions as a stable hereditary identifier in Bochum records. He stands at the transition between late-medieval naming practice and early-modern family continuity.

Johann Schriver (genannt Springorum) (c. 1475 – ?)

Generation -3

The parents of the mid-sixteenth-century sibling group were Johann Springorum and Margarete von den Hembecke, as recorded in the will of their daughter Agnes. Although little is known about their individual lives, their place within the family line is firmly established through the clear and consistent documentation of their children.

Johann Springorum I (c. 1505 – c. 1560)

Johann Springorum was the father of Agnes Springorum and stands at the head of this branch of the family. He and his wife Margaretha Bluden (both deceased by 1568) are named as the parents of Gerrit and Agnes in a legal agreement drawn up that year. This document, made when Gerrit and Agnes prepared for a journey, not only confirms Johann’s role as their father but also shows how his children arranged the management and future inheritance of their property in Bochum.

Generation -2

This generation consists of the siblings Johann, Agnes, Gerrit, Sibert, Anna, and Diederich Springorum. Johann is particularly well documented, appearing repeatedly as a witness in his role as Gerichtsschreiber. Agnes and Gerrit are likewise well attested: on 14 January 1568, they concluded a mutual inheritance contract before departing on a journey abroad. Later that same year, during an outbreak of plague, Agnes drew up her will in Cologne and founded a charitable endowment in Bochum to provide dowries for impoverished brides. Taken together, the surviving records of this sibling group point to considerable wealth as well as a strong position within civic society.

Johann Springorum II (c. 1540 – ?)

Johann Springorum was active in the second half of the sixteenth century as a court scribe (Gerichtsschreiber) in Bochum. In this official capacity, he appears as a witness in legal and financial transactions recorded before the local court. His role places him within the educated urban administrative elite of Bochum, closely connected to civic governance and judicial practice.

Agnes Springorum (1542 – 1568)

Agnes Springorum came from a well-established burgher family that had risen into the urban elite of late-medieval and early-modern Westphalia. Although not of noble rank, the Springorums were prominent property owners, active in legal and administrative affairs, and repeatedly recorded in civic, judicial, and church sources. Their position was reinforced through strategic marriages: Nese Springorum married the Essen judge Johann Schriver, whose son became known as Johann Schriver genannt Springorum; subsequent marriages connected the family to judges and city officials in Bochum and beyond, securing both status and name across generations. Agnes’s own financial position reflects this background: at only twenty-six or twenty-seven years of age she was able to dispose freely of a considerable fortune, including a charitable donation of 100 thalers in her will, a sum far beyond the means of ordinary townspeople. This level of wealth and legal autonomy underscores how firmly the Springorum family had established itself among the urban elite, where women as well as men could own, manage, and transfer substantial assets.

Generation -1

With Agnes Springorum born in 1542 and Reinhard Springorum in 1593, it is reasonable to assume that at least one intervening generation separates them.

Generation 0

Once we arrive at Reinhard Springorum, the picture changes. From that point onward, the line of descent is clear: subsequent generations are consistently documented, and their descent from Reinhard can be traced and proven without gaps.

Reinhard Springorum (1593 – 1666)

Reinhard Springorum, born in Dortmund in 1593, stands at the earliest securely documented point of my Springorum lineage. Identified in multiple church records as Stallmeister, he appears repeatedly in baptismal and burial entries connected to his family, anchoring him firmly in the ecclesiastical sources of the early seventeenth century. While other individuals bearing the Springorum name are mentioned in earlier sixteenth-century records and local pedigrees, none can be conclusively linked to Reinhard due to the absence of verifiable baptismal evidence. As such, he represents both the point where earlier traces fade and the foundation from which the documented family history reliably begins.

From early name bearers to a documented family line

These early Bochum references provide the background against which a clearly traceable family line begins to emerge in the seventeenth century, when the Springorum name becomes firmly established in Dortmund and the surrounding Ruhr area.

Next: Springorum Families from Dortmund and the Ruhr Area (1600–1750)