Bernhard of Mila

Bernhard von Mila (also Myla, Mühlen, * 1498 (?); † 1561 in Herbsleben ) was a Swedish admiral , Saxon colonel and governor. From 1542 to 1547 he was governor of the Wolfenbüttel residence and from 1552 in command of Grimmenstein Castle near Gotha.

Live and act

Bernhard von Mila came from a noble family from Lower Lusatia. Nothing is known about his early life. In 1524 he was an admiral in the Swedish service in the battle for the island of Gotland . In 1539 he is attested as an electoral Saxon colonel and bailiff in Wittenberg.

From 1542 to 1547 he was governor of Wolfenbüttel in the service of the Elector of Saxony. The city was conquered in 1542 by troops of the Schmalkaldic League . The fortress walls were razed and the opponent of the Reformation, Duke Heinrich zu Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel, was expelled from his residence. Von Mila introduced the Reformation to the principality during his five-year reign. This resulted in violence and vandalism, for example the iconoclasm and the destruction of the Riddagshausen monastery , led by Abbot Lambert von Balven , in 1542.

After the Schmalkaldic troops withdrew from Wolfenbüttel, Bernhard von Mila was presumably in command of Grimmenstein Castle near Gotha in 1552 . In 1554 he took over office and Herbsleben Castle .

As an energetic warlord, Bernhard von Mila enjoyed contemporary importance. Martin Luther was one of his friends during his time in Wittenberg . Luther's sentence has been handed down: "Righteous people speak few words, but when they speak, the deed is there, as can be seen in Bernharden von Myla." In his time as governor of Wolfenbüttel, the excesses of the Schmalkald troops may not have been carried out directly Bernhard von Mila promoted, but at least tolerated.

literature

• Dieter Lent : Mila (also Myla, Mühlen), Bernhard von . In: Horst-Rüdiger Jarck, Dieter Lent u. a. (Ed.): Braunschweigisches Biographisches Lexikon: 8th to 18th century . Appelhans, Braunschweig 2006, ISBN 3-937664-46-7 , p. 499f.
• Additional entry in: Ludwig Ferdinand Spehr :  Balven, Lambert von . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 2, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1875, p. 35 f.
• Entry. In: Johann Heinrich Zedler : Large complete universal lexicon of all sciences and arts . Volume 22, Leipzig 1739, column 1690.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Information on the year of birth and death according to the website Herbslebener Schützenverein "Sankt Sebastian 1380" eV: History - Sankt Sebastian Brotherhood of 1380 ( Memento from July 27, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
2. ↑ Cf. Dieter Lent: Mila (also Myla, Mühlen), Bernhard von . In: Horst-Rüdiger Jarck, Dieter Lent et al. (Ed.): Braunschweigisches Biographisches Lexikon: 8th to 18th century . Appelhans Verlag, Braunschweig 2006, p. 499.
3. ↑ Cf. Dieter Lent: Mila (also Myla, Mühlen), Bernhard von . In: Horst-Rüdiger Jarck, Dieter Lent u. a. (Ed.): Braunschweigisches Biographisches Lexikon: 8th to 18th century . Appelhans Verlag, Braunschweig 2006, p. 500; Ludwig Ferdinand Spehr :  Balven, Lambert von . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 2, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1875, p. 35 f.
4. ↑ Information from the website Herbslebener Schützenverein "Sankt Sebastian 1380" e. V .: History - Saint Sebastian Brotherhood of 1380 ( Memento of the original from July 27, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
5. ↑ Quoted after the entry. In: Johann Heinrich Zedler : Large complete universal lexicon of all sciences and arts . Volume 22, Leipzig 1739, column 1690.
6. ↑ Cf. Dieter Lent: Mila (also Myla, Mühlen), Bernhard von . In: Horst-Rüdiger Jarck, Dieter Lent u. a. (Ed.): Braunschweigisches Biographisches Lexikon: 8th to 18th century . Appelhans Verlag, Braunschweig 2006, p. 500.