Jürgen Wullenwever was a burgomaster in charge of the Hanseatic city of Lübeck in the years 1533-35. It was an age of deep changes in religion, society, and politics. New commercial routes brought wealth to the Dutch and damaged Lübeck, while new democratic claims arose from the spread of Lutheranism. The death of King Frederick I and the vacant throne of Denmark triggered the Count’s Feud. Wullenwever became embroiled in it by pledging his word to different contending parts, while asking in return for their military support against the Dutch merchant ships. This war produced poverty and discontent in Lübeck. The citizenry and Emperor Charles V had him arrested, taken to trial and beheaded. An analysis based on the documentation of the time, collected by the historian Georg Waitz, can help to understand the events and the controversial role of Wullenwever.