General letter

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The general letter was a privilege letter from the dukes Bernhard and Heinrich from 1392 and was addressed to the subjects of the dukes of Celle in the Principality of Lüneburg .

prehistory

After Wilhelm II of Lüneburg died in 1369 without male descendants, the older Lüneburg house became extinct. In accordance with the Guelph house laws and William's wish, Duke Magnus II Torquatus of Braunschweig would have been entitled to inheritance. However, Emperor Charles IV considered the imperial fiefdom to have reverted to the Reich and enfeoffed Albrecht von Sachsen-Wittenberg and his uncle Wenzel with the principality, which triggered the War of the Lüneburg Succession . Only after the battle of Winsen in 1388, in which Wenzel lost his life, the Wittenbergers renounced their claims and the principality was finally secured to the Guelphs.

The War of the Lüneburg Succession had led to a great deal of power among the estates in the principality. In order to secure the support of the cities and the lower nobility, both the Guelphs and the Ascanians were forced to guarantee the estates extensive privileges and to pledge them numerous justice and castles . Although the dukes of Celle emerged victorious from the conflict, they were faced with massive financial problems. When the dukes approached the city of Lüneburg in 1392 with a new financial request, an extensive contract was concluded in return for a loan of 50,000 marks, the Lüneburg Sate , in which the estates in three letters, the general letter, the city letter and the letter to the prelates , numerous privileges were confirmed and the dukes submitted to the jurisdiction of a body formed by the estates .

content

The general letter was addressed to all subjects of the Celle dukes in the Principality of Lüneburg and is divided into 20 articles. In the first article, the dukes emphasize their readiness to use their power for the benefit of all subjects. The following 18 articles deal in detail with the rights and duties of subjects and dukes. The Dukes assure their subjects to receive all the privileges and righteousness, and warrant them from customs and escort Regal left rightful duties alter altitude to want and no new Bede demand. Nine further articles are devoted to the administration of justice in the Principality. The rights of knights and prelates in financial legal disputes are dealt with, the dukes assure no influence on the appointments of lower jurisdiction , i. H. on the appointment of judges in the wooden and goat courts , to want to and assure not to want to restrict the competencies of the existing court instances. In further articles, the dukes express their will to protect their subjects from wars and feuds, assure that they will not build any further castles and that they will only billet army camps on their property with the permission of the knights concerned. The final 20th article reiterated the will of the dukes to fulfill their obligations; witnesses and the date of the agreement are also given.

validity

The general letter initially retained its legal validity regardless of the continued existence of the Lüneburg Sate . In 1428, the general letter was confirmed by Duke Bernhard again, individual articles retained their legal validity until the 17th century. In a review by Duke Georg Wilhelm from 1682, reference was made to the general letter for the last time.

Lore

Three original documents have been preserved from the general letter. Contemporary copies are in the Privilege Book of the City of Lüneburg and in the Lüneburg Satebuch. The common letter was first published in the 18th century.

literature

  • Michael Reinbold: The Lüneburg Sate. A contribution to the constitutional history of Lower Saxony in the late Middle Ages. Lax, Hildesheim 1987. ISBN 3-7848-3656-9 , pp. 65-77 and pp. 231-232.