Heinrich Lersner

This article deals with the Hessian politician Heinrich Lersner. For the administrative lawyer, see Heinrich von Lersner .

Heinrich Lersner or Lersener (* 1506 in Marburg ; † March 9, 1576 in Frankenberg (Eder) ) was a Hessian politician who served Landgrave Philip I from 1550 to 1560 and Landgrave Ludwig IV from 1567 to 1569 as Chancellor.

Origin and family

Heinrich Lersner comes from the later noble family Lersner and was the second eldest son of the long-time Landgrave Hessian civil servant Ludwig Lersner, who accompanied Landgrave Philipp to the Worms Reichstag in 1521 as well as Elisabeth Nederhober, daughter of the Marburg mayor and alder Johannes Nederhober. Heinrich's brothers Jakob, Johann and Christoph also embarked on a political career. Jakob Lersner (born July 15, 1504 in Marburg; † March 5, 1579 there) was initially a monk, later professor of law and served Heinrich the Younger of Braunschweig and Philip of Hesse as diplomats. Johann Lersner (* 1512 in Marburg; † January 19, 1550 there) worked on behalf of Philip as envoy to the Burgundian court . Christoph Lersner (born April 18, 1520 in Marburg, † April 11, 1603 in Friedberg) worked in the offices of Prince Albrecht of Mecklenburg , Heinrich of Braunschweig and Philipp of Hesse.

From 1530 Heinrich Lersner was married to Elisabeth Nußpicker, daughter of the Hessian chamber master Georg Nusspicker (Nusbicker). Her eldest son, Hermann Lersner, was a professor and vice chancellor at Marburg University for many years .

Life

Heinrich Lersner studied together with his brother Jakob in Heidelberg in 1519 and in Erfurt in 1520 and then worked as secretary to the Hessian Landgrave Philipp in many diplomatic missions. In 1532 he worked as the Hessian envoy to Denmark, from 1540 onwards he acted as Philip's representative at the Schmalkaldic League and led the negotiations with the Saxon Elector Johann Friedrich .

In July 1540, the reformer Martin Bucer certified the Hessian landgrave that Heinrich Lersner was one of his most capable employees. Philip then sent Lersner to King Christian III in the fall of 1540 . from Denmark to inform him about the piquant matter of his morganatic marriage to Margarethe von der Saale .

Moritz von Sachsen had stayed at the court of the Hessian landgrave since his marriage in January 1541 to Agnes , Philip's daughter, and there he received the news of the death of his father Heinrich († August 18, 1541). Philip the Magnanimous then gave his son-in-law precise advice on his behavior after the takeover of the government in Dresden and decided to appoint the three Hessian councilors Rudolf Schenk zu Schweinsberg († 1551), Hermann von Hundelshausen († after 1562) and Heinrich Lersner to support the boy Turn off Herzogs. Since then, Heinrich Lersner has traveled frequently on diplomatic missions between the Hessian and Saxon courts. He also officiated in 1542 and 1543 as Chancellor of the Duchy of Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel, which was conquered by troops of the Schmalkaldic League.

During the Schmalkaldic War , Lersner tried to mediate politically between the Ernestine Saxon Elector Johann Friedrich and the Albertine Saxon Duke Moritz, and between Philip of Hesse and Moritz. On January 2 and 4, 1547, he negotiated with the Saxon Duke in Leipzig about the form of the surrender of the Schmalkaldic League. Moritz offered the Hessian ambassador peace conditions based on the model of the Treaty of Kaaden , under which Duke Ulrich von Württemberg had received his land back in 1534 . After the agreement with Hesse, the Duke of Saxony intended to mediate with the Emperor Charles V in favor of the Protestant princes with the help of the Roman-German King Ferdinand . However, this project failed because Philip the Magnanimous only wanted to surrender “by grace” , while Ferdinand from the Schmalkaldic League, on the other hand , demanded “submission to grace and injustice” .

Heinrich Lersner was in the entourage of Duke Moritz during the Battle of Mühlberg (April 24, 1547). This commissioned him to demand the surrender of the Saxon elector. However, Johann Friedrich rejected his cousin's request and instead kept the Hessian diplomat in his ranks. After the defeat of the Electoral Saxon army, Lersner escaped capture by imperial horsemen with a lot of luck. Soon afterwards he wrote a detailed report on the course of the battle and sent it to Philip. The Hessian landgrave then falsely accused Lersner of having negligently caused Philipps to be captured by the emperor in June 1547 in Halle . Annoyed by this, Lersner quit his job with Philipp. However, a little later he was ready to manage the affairs of government for Philip's underage son Wilhelm , together with the councilors Rudolf Schenk zu Schweinsberg , Simon Bing and Wilhelm von Schachten .

Heinrich Lersner served as Chancellor of Wilhelm and Philip from 1550 to 1560. In 1552 he was involved in the drafting of the Passau Treaty and in 1552 obtained Philip's release from the emperor. Lersner worked after 1560 as an assessor at the court court in Marburg and after the death of Philip in 1567 again took over the office of chancellor, which he gave up again in 1569 for health reasons. After that he was no longer politically active and died in 1576.

literature

• Wieland Held : 1547 - The Battle of Mühlberg / Elbe - Decision on the way to the Albertine Electorate of Saxony , Sax-Verlag, Beucha 1997, ISBN 3-930076-43-8 .
• Johannes Herrmann: Moritz von Sachsen (1521 - 1553) - Prince, Imperial and Peace Prince , Sax-Verlag, Beucha 2003, ISBN 3-934544-47-9 .
• Günther Wartenberg : Moritz von Sachsen - On the politics of the first Albertine Elector between Reformation and Empire , In: Günter Vogler (Ed.): European rulers - Your role in shaping politics and society from the 16th to the 18th century , Böhlau, Weimar 1988, ISBN 3-7400-0078-3 .

Web links

• Lersner, Heinrich. Hessian biography. (As of March 9, 2020). In: Landesgeschichtliches Informationssystem Hessen (LAGIS).

Individual evidence

1. ^ Editing:  "Lersner, von.". In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 14, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1985, ISBN 3-428-00195-8 , p. 322 f. ( Digitized version ).