Achatius of Zehmen

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Achaz von Zehmen (also Achatz, Achacy von Cema, Czema, Czemen or de Cemin) (* around 1485 - † May 24, 1565 in Königsberg , buried in Stuhm ) was voivode of Marienburg , multiple Starost , Polish civil servant and diplomat as well as advocate of the German homeland law in Prussia Royal share under the Polish crown and important advisor to Duke Albrecht von Brandenburg-Ansbach .

Stuhm town and castle around 1600
Gravestone of Achatius von Zehmen in Stuhm in 1909
Stone slab in Marienburg or reconstruction of Monument AvZ 2003
Katharina zu Dohna, b. von Zehmen, daughter of Achaz vZ
Light gray: Ducal Prussia
Colored: Royal Prussia with its voivodships in personal union with the Kingdom of Poland and Lithuania
Saint Anne Church in Stuhm

career

Achaz von Zehmen was Starost in royal Prussia on Stargard, Schlochau, Christburg, Stuhm and Mewe. He was a pawn in ducal Prussia on Pr. Holland (Pr. Mark and Liebemühl). In 1517 he became sub-chamberlain of Marienburg, 1519 chamberlain of Pomerania, 1531 castellan of Danzig, 1546 voivode of Marienburg. He was also an advisor and friend of Albrecht von Brandenburg-Ansbach, Duke of Prussia, and in 1523 royal Polish envoy on behalf of King Sigismund I in Nuremberg. He was a deputy at various Polish Diets, e.g. B. in Petrikau 1562 and Warsaw 1563/64. He made a considerable fortune through his thrifty and skilful housekeeping. This enabled him to help Duke Albrecht and now and then to the Polish king and others with loans.

Live and act

He lived in the conflict of protecting the interests of the Polish king on the one hand and maintaining the German character of West Prussia and Prussia on the other. It is his merit that he was able to achieve both more or less amicably in peaceful ways. He was way ahead of his warlike times. Through his knowledge of human nature and kindness, he was able to avoid major conflicts up to a certain point. In 1523, as a Polish envoy, he met the Grand Master of the Teutonic Order Albrecht von Brandenburg-Ansbach in order to thwart his plans to abdicate and to submit the proposals of the Polish government to him. These talks formed the basis for the Krakow Peace Treaty of April 8, 1525. The remaining territories of the Order were converted into a secular Duchy of Prussia, and Achatius von Zehmen was among the dignitaries who were given to Duke Albrecht on May 26, 1525 on behalf of the King took the oath of peace in Königsberg.

He repeatedly succeeded in preserving the West Prussian special constitution with its own judicial and financial administration, which was a result of the Second Peace of Thorn in 1466. For the identity of Kgl. Prussia (West Prussia) and Hzgl. In Prussia (East Prussia), the Reformation and the adoption of Evangelical teaching were very important. Achaz von Zehmen was at first a secret supporter of the new teaching. After the provocative appearance of Bishop Stanislaus Hosius from 1549 he soon became the recognized head of the Evangelicals in Prussia. Despite the strong opposition of the bishop, Zehmen obtained through his active efforts a religious privilege at the Polish court for Danzig, Elbing and Thorn. The Reformation in Prussia had finally gained a foothold.

Achatius von Zehmen was an important advisor to Duke Albrecht. Worth mentioning here are the regimental notel of 1542 (priority of locals in filling higher public posts), the settlement of the Osiandrian dispute between the theology professor Andreas Osiander and followers of Philipp Melanchthon at the Royal Albertus University in Königsberg , and the preservation of dynastic relationships to the Brandenburg royal courts, the imperial court and the German Reichstag. Of outstanding importance was his commitment and his advisory work in the bride show for the Duke of 1549 and the will of 1555.

This will ensured that the claims of the Brandenburg agnates were secured while maintaining the supreme guardianship rights of the Polish king , thus creating the basis for a permanent existence of the duchy. On the other hand, the Kingdom of Poland endeavored to finally submit its "fiefdom" directly to the crown. The price that Achatius von Zehmen had to pay for standing up was the loss of his crown possessions / star oysters shortly before his death.

family

Achaz von Zehmen came from the old Meissnian-Saxon noble family von Zehmen . His father Nicolaus came to Prussia with the Teutonic Order , his mother Dorothea von Baysen was the daughter of the first governor of the Land of Prussia. Achatz married Justina Helene von Merklichenrade from the Powarschen house around 1513/1515, with whom he had the children Christoph, Achatz, Fabian, Anna, Helene, Katharina, Justine, Euphrosyne and Barbara. These and his grandchildren sometimes married important families such as Borcke , Fahrensbach , Radziwiłł , Dohna or Leszczyński , which underlines the importance of his family and his class. His brother Fabian I von Zehmen (voivode of Pomerania and Marienburg) and his children Christoph, Achaz II (voivode of Pomerania) and Fabian II were granted the status of imperial baron by the German emperor in 1576 . His daughter Catharina married Peter Burggraf zu Dohna, the ancestor of all Prussian Dohnas.

literature

  • Richard Fischer:  Zehmen, Achaz von . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 44, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1898, pp. 770-773.
  • Richard Fischer: Achatius von Zehmen, Woywode von Marienburg . In: Journal of the West Prussian History Association . Vol. 36 (1897), pp. 1-167.
  • Hanns-Moritz von Zehmen: Genealogical news about the Meißnian nobility of Zehmen, 1206 to 1906 . Wilhelm Baensch, Dresden 1906.
  • Reinhard von Flanss: The von Zehmen (Czema) in West Prussia. 1884.
  • Almut Bues: The notes of the Dominican Martin Gruneweg (1562-ca. 1618) about his family in Danzig, his trade trips in Eastern Europe and his monastic life in Poland. Harrassowitz, 2009, ISBN 978-3-447-05269-6 .
  • Martin Stupperich: Osiander in Prussia: 1549–1552. Verlag De Gruyter, 1973, ISBN 3-11-176372-2 .
  • Walther Hubatsch: Regesta Historico Diplomatica Ordinis S. Mariae Theutonicum 1198–1525 I / 3. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1973, ISBN 3-525-36155-6 . (engl.)
  • Hans Joachim Borchert: Marienburger history book; Dates, events and names. RG Fischer Verlag, 2006, ISBN 3-8301-0942-3
  • Friedrich Günther: The ellipse. Verlag Traute Rothbart, 1986, ISBN 3-9801262-0-X , A historical novel from the later years of Canon Nikolaus Koppernigk and his political time. Central and fictional fictional character Joachim Rheticus (cartographer and envoy of the Hanseatic City of Danzig) brings to life important characters from around 1539, such as Nikolaus Koppnigk, Achatius von Zehmen and Duke Albrecht. A novel in the field of tension between the Reformation and the old faith, between science and church dogma, against the background of the East Prussian landscape and the old Frauenburg.
  • Stefan Hartmann: Duke Albrecht of Prussia and Livonia (1560–1564): Regesta from the Ducal Letter Archives and the East Prussian Folios , Böhlau Verlag, Cologne, bound 1st edition, 573 pages, January 1, 2008, ISBN 978-3-412- 20081-7 , many mentions of activities and issues with which Achatius v. Zehmen was entrusted.
  • Ernst Theodor Thiele: The legation system in Prussia in the 16th century , Musterschmidt Wissenschaftlicher Verlag, Göttingen, Frankfurt, Berlin 1954, bookbindery W. Thiele Hameln, 157 pages, cf. Pp. 33/34/105.
  • Heinz Neumeyer: Church history of Danzig and West Prussia from a Protestant perspective: From the beginnings of the Christian mission to the end of the 18th century , G. Rautenberg, 1971 - 240 pages, cf. Achatius von Zehmen p. 81 / 85–87 / 90.
  • Leopold Prowe: West Prussia in its historical position on Germany and Poland , print and publisher Ernst Lambeck, Thorn 1868, separate print from the Säcular program of the Gymnasium in Thorn, second edition. Mention and explanation of Achatius von Zehmen p. 45–47, p. 52
  • Gottfried Schramm: The Polish Aristocracy and the Reformation 1548–1607 , publications of the Institute for European History Mainz, Volume 36, Department Universal History, editor Martin Göhring, Franz Steiner Verlag GmbH, Wiesbaden 1965. Comprehensive explanations on Achatius von Zehmen, pp. 116–135

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Zehmen, Achatius von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Czema, Achacy; Zehmen, Achatz von
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Prussian civil servant in the Prussian Royal Share and in the Duchy of Prussia
DATE OF BIRTH around 1485
DATE OF DEATH May 24, 1565
Place of death Koenigsberg