In April 1499 Count John XIV of Oldenburg invaded the Weser and North Sea marshes of Stadland and Butjadingen, both of which the Prince-Archbishopric of Bremen claimed overlordship over, in order to subject their free peasants. Bremen's prince-archbishop Johann Rode tried to form a military alliance to repel these invasions, and prevent further ones, first rallying the cities of Bremen, Hamburg and Stade, as they considered the areas downstream of the rivers Elbe and Weser their own front yard: essential for their free maritime trade connections. Rode won the Ditmarsians too, for a defensive alliance to protect Wursten, concluded on 1 May 1499."Das Land Hadeln bis zum Beginn der frühen Neuzeit", in Boeselager 1995, vol. II, pp. 321–388, here p. 332. On 1 August the alliance, now also including Buxtehude, committed themselves to supply 1,300 warriors and equipment to defend Wursten and/or invade Hadeln.
