Johann VII Droste zu Hülshoff

Johann VII von Droste zu Hülshoff (* 1467 ; † 1539 ) was a councilor and mayor of the city of Münster before the Reformation and landowner of Hülshoff Castle .

Life

Origin and family

Johann VII., From the 11th known generation of Droste zu Hülshoff , was the eldest son of the mayor of Münster Johann VI. Droste zu Hülshoff and his wife Christina von Strick. He inherited Hülshoff Castle and other estates from his father . He had a younger brother Bernhard, to whom, according to his father's will, he had to hand over properties in Roxel , Havixbeck , Altenberge , Sendenhorst and Amelsbüren , which, however, returned to Gut Hülshoff after the death of his son. A sister Anna married Johann von Warendorp Warendorf (noble family) - a former relatives of the same name had been mayor of Münster 31 times between 1379 and 1418, another branch of the family ruled the most important Hanseatic city of Lübeck for generations . Another sister Margaretha was a nun in the Niesing monastery in Münster. The third sister was the first of two Abbesses of Droste zu Hülshoff in Hohenholte Monastery .

Johann VII married Benedicta von Warendorp in 1494 , who brought an important bridal treasure of 750 gold guilders into the marriage, which he immediately invested. With her he had two sons, his successor Heinrich I von Droste zu Hülshoff , Johann, scholaster in Stift St. Martini (Münster) and the daughter Adelheid, cellaress in the monastery of St. Aegidii (Münster) .

Councilor and Mayor of Münster

Historic town hall of Münster

Like his ancestors, Johann VII was a councilor and in 1494 and 1502 a generally respected mayor of Münster, which at that time flourished economically and culturally as a "suburb" of the Westphalian Hanseatic cities . His tenure on the city council coincided with that of his father and his uncle, Mayor Everwin II of Droste zu Handorf . At an advanced age, the latter two experienced the turmoil of the Reformation in Münster. In 1525, Johann VII was involved when protesting citizens submitted an extensive complaint to the city council in front of the town hall, in which u. a. It was demanded that the spiritual institutions should stop their economic activities, which the guild (merchants) n was a thorn in the side. The city council then set up a committee, of which John VII was a member, to visit the cathedral chapter and to confiscate its tools, letters and bills. The cathedral chapter replied evasively and left the city, the bishop sued the city. John VII seems to have continued to support the reform demands that were justified up to that point and, together with others, made it possible for reform preacher Bernd Rothmann to go on a study trip to the cities of the Reformation, during which he became so radicalized that he became the main preacher of the Anabaptist movement . Because of the radicalization that had now set in, the council members from the Droste family resigned from their offices in 1530 and left the city, although the town courtyard on Krummen Timpen was still the family's main residence. They advised Bishop Franz von Waldeck and tried in vain to mediate between him and the emerging Anabaptist empire in terms of religious freedom . In 1532, both family members, as lay judges of the Überwasser parish, together with Protestant-minded spokesmen for the guild (merchants), also had to bring reform demands to the Abbess Ida von Merveldt . The Protestants nonetheless accused both of “sticking with the shorn band” (i.e. the Catholic clergy).

Escape to Hülshoff

In 1530, Johann VII tried in vain to rescue valuables and documents from the family's town courtyard on Krummen Timpen to Hülshoff Castle on a cart . When he was finally finished with the loading, the new city rulers had closed the city gates and only allowed the carter to go out with the horses. John VII had to secretly sneak out of the city on foot; the truckload - with the irreplaceable medieval family archive - had to stay behind. Nothing ever came up again because the Anabaptist Empire in the city confiscated all valuables and burned all documents. Johann VII's sister Margaretha also had to flee from the St. Aegidii Monastery (Münster) in 1534 to avoid the Anabaptists in Hülshoff.

Siege and recapture of Münster

Recapture of Münster from Anabaptist rule

In 1535, Johann VII as vassal of Bishop Franz von Waldeck, together with his cousins ​​and his son Heinrich I von Droste zu Hülshoff, had to take part in the siege and recapture of the city of Münster with 4 horses and a brush . When he came to his looted parental home, the town courtyard on Krummen Timpen, with his son and 9 servants, tears are said to have come to him. In 1538 he was invited by the bishop to the state parliament to discuss the costs of the war, while his own property had suffered greatly from the fighting. In the same year, the 70-year-old Johann VII had to go to war again with the bishop against the Count of Oldenburg before he died at the age of 72.

literature

• Wilderich from Droste to Hülshoff : 900 years of Droste to Hülshoff. Verlag LPV Hortense von Gelmini, Horben 2018, ISBN 978-3-936509-16-8
• J. Holsenbürger: The gentlemen v. Eckenbrock (by Droste-Hülshoff) and their possessions. Münster iW 1869.