Balthasar (Mecklenburg)

Balthasar (left), memorial statue in the Doberan Minster (with his nephew Erich II. )

Balthasar von Mecklenburg (* 1451 ; † March 16, 1507 in Wismar ) was Duke of Mecklenburg , coadjutor and administrator of the Hildesheim Monastery (1471–1474) and the Schwerin Monastery from 1474–1479.

Life

Balthasar was the youngest son of Henry IV , the fat man and Dorotheas , the daughter of the Brandenburg margrave Friedrich I. He embarked on a spiritual career after reaching the age of majority. As early as 1470, the cathedral chapter, with the consent of Bishop Werner, postulated him as his coadjutor. At that time, Balthasar was studying at the University of Rostock , whose honorary rector he had already become in 1467 and was to become a second time in 1470. The prospect of being the administrator of Hildesheim Abbey with a bishopric was struck in 1470 at armed force by Duke Heinrich, as was an exchange for what had meanwhile become vacantDiocese of Schwerin , wrong.

Apparently, the postulation as coadjutor Bishop Werner did not automatically secure the succession by Herzig Balthasar. A new application had to be made. On March 10, 1474, in a reverse of the postulate and the cathedral chapter, the clergy of the Schwerin diocese were found because of an embassy to Rome and the aid to it. Another application on April 12th was successful in Rome, because on April 18th, with reference to the death of Bishop Werner, confirmation came only as Pastor et Administrator . At the age of 22, Balthasar could neither become bishop in Hildesheim nor in Schwerin at the time.

Baptismal bowl donated by Balthasar in 1474 in the Langen Trechow chapel with his coat of arms

It can be proven that Duke Balthasar never held the title of bishop, but allowed himself to be satisfied with the legally impeccable titulatures: Dei gracia dux Magnopolensis, princeps Slavie inferioris, comes Zwerinensis, Stargardie et Rotztockcensis terrarum dominus, necnon eadem et apostolice sedibus et apostolice Zwerinensie Zwerinensie temporalibus pastor et administrator.

There are no spectacular events for Balthasar's term in office to report from the Schwerin diocese. The surviving documents or other serious references to Balthasar's work show that he had taken his assignment seriously. On July 4th, 1475 the privileges of the Doberan Monastery were confirmed as well as the spiritual jurisdiction in the Archdeaconate Kröpelin . Ten days later in Bützow he confirmed the custom that the newly entering prebendaries in Parchim had to entertain the other clergy within two months after this custom had temporarily become out of order due to a donation for books and jewels. In August he awarded an indulgence for a chapel to be built in the Alt-Wismar cemetery . On October 4th, Baltasar confirmed the visit to the House of Brothers of Living Together in Rostock . On October 25th, by limiting the voting age to 20 years, he tried to influence the right of appointment within the cathedral chapter of Schwerin and also to reorganize the prebends there. On March 31, 1476, the brothers enjoyed renewed confirmation of their common life in Rostock by the interim local ordinary and received a rule. The Rühn monastery received a donated vicariate and on April 25, 1477, at the request of the dean and the chapter zu Bützow, Balthasar confirmed its order of worship, facilities and privileges.

After the death of his deeply indebted father Heinrich IV. On March 9, 1477, Duke Magnus II tried to find better provisions for his brother Balthasar than the administration of the Schwerin Abbey granted him. He negotiated with Bishop Gebard von Halberstadt and his cathedral chapter about a possible candidacy by Balthasar for this episcopal see, but the desired goal was not achieved here either.

After being found guilty when the monastery was ceded, on February 16, 1479, Balthasar agreed with the cathedral chapter of Schwerin to give up his ecclesiastical offices and returned to lay, secular status. Since Balthasar had never received higher orders , only a unilateral declaration of intent was required for this step.

On January 13, 1480, through the mediation of his mother, a division contract was signed between him and his older brothers. His brother Albrecht VI. received large parts of the former principality of Werle , while Balthasar and his brother Magnus II jointly administered the rest of the duchy. After Magnus' death he administered the land together with his sons, without taking much part in it.

On November 7, 1487, Balthasar got engaged to Margarete, the sister of his sister-in-law Sophie, the wife of Duke Magnus, a daughter of Duke Erich II of Pomerania . The wedding was supposed to take place on August 24, 1485, but probably didn't take place until autumn 1487. The marriage remained childless. Duchess Margarete outlived her husband by almost 20 years. She died on March 27, 1526 and was buried in the church of the Dominican monastery in Wismar.

1479 he was at the Holy grave to Jerusalem for the Knights of the Holy grave defeat.

Balthasar died on March 16, 1507 (or less likely March 17) in Wismar , where he spent the last part of his life, and was buried in the Doberan Minster . The statue is on a pillar of the Pribislav Chapel in the Doberan Abbey. Balthasar is also kneeling next to the ducal coat of arms on the carved main altar retable in Güstrow Cathedral .

seal

The seal used by Duke Balthasar as administrator was round. In the middle is the coat of arms with shield holders. The inscription reads: S. BALTASARI. DUCIS. MAGNOPOLLEN. ADMINISTRATOR Q. ECCLIE ZWER

In the secular days that followed, Balthasar first used his brother's seal and gave the reason for the lack of his own seal. For the later period, Duke Balthasar, as the postulated administrator of the Schwerin monastery, arranged the fields of his engraved coat of arms as follows: Mecklenburg, Schwerin monastery, Schwerin county, Rostock. A crowned bull with its head looking forward serves as a shield holder on the right, a griffin on the left.

literature

• Alfred Rische: Directory of the bishops and canons of Schwerin with biographical remarks. Ludwigslust 1900.
• Josef Traeger : The bishops of the medieval diocese of Schwerin. St. Benno Verlag Leipzig 1984, pp. 150-155.
• Josef Traeger: The Bishops of the Diocese of Schwerin . In: The Stiftsland of the Schwerin bishops around Bützow and Warin. St. Benno Verlag Leipzig 1984, p. 97.

Web link

• Family tree of the House of Mecklenburg

Individual evidence

1. ^ Dietrich Schröder: Papist Mecklenburg . Wismar 1741 p. 2215.
2. ^ Adolf Bertram: The bishops of Hildesheim . 1896 p. 97.
3. ↑ State Archives Stettin, General Spiritual Documents, No. 109b.
4. ↑ Landeshauptarchiv Schwerin Lhas Regesten I. Clandrian, March 13, 1476th
5. ^ Dietrich Schröder: Papist Mecklenburg . Wismar 1741, p. 2272.
6. ↑ LHAS Regesten II. Clandrian No. 162a.
7. ^ Friedrich Lisch: Mecklenburgische Jahrbücher . Volume 50 (1885) pp. 200-201.
8. ^ Alfred Rische: Directory of the bishops and canons of Schwerin. 1900 p. 20.
9. ↑ Elmar Bordfeld: “History of the Order of Knights from the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem”, p. 125 (PDF; 8.0 MB), accessed on February 19, 2012

predecessor	Office	successor
Werner Wolmers	Administrator of Schwerin 1474–1479	Nicholas II of Pentz
Henry IV.	Duke of Mecklenburg 1477–1507 (co-regent of Magnus II , Heinrich V and Albrecht VII )	Heinrich V , Albrecht VII.