Breide Rantzau (governor, 1506)

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Breide Rantzau (* around 1506 in Bollingstedt ; † October 13, 1562 ) was a Holstein knight and Danish governor in the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein .

family

Breide Rantzau came from the Holstein noble family Rantzau . His father Hans Rantzau (1452–1522) was bailiff at Gut Neuhaus and Schmoel in what is now the Plön district , while his mother Margarethe (1477–1547) came from the Brockdorff family, which also belonged to the Holstein nobility . He had numerous siblings, of which the eldest Melchior Rantzau was of great importance in the government of the Danish King Christian III. and Balthasar Rantzau became Bishop of Lübeck in 1536 .

Life

During the count feud , Breide Rantzau served in Christian III's army. Right at the beginning, in August 1534 near Nyborg on Funen , he was captured by the Dutch mercenary leader Eberhard Ovelacker, who was recruited by Christoph von Oldenburg, and was brought to Copenhagen , the center of Christian III's opponents, and was soon exchanged.

In 1536 his brother Melchior closed Rantzau on behalf of Christian III. an alliance with Karl von Egmond , the Duke of Geldern . Breide Rantzau led the army together with Johann Rantzau , which should bring support to the Landsknechtsführer Meinhart von Hamme . However, the project failed. Breide Rantzau was taken prisoner. After Karl von Egmond had submitted and Melchior Rantzau had negotiated a peace treaty for Denmark, Breide was released again. Back in Denmark he received the rank of a royal council and was bailiff first in Sønderborg and from 1539, succeeding his brother in Hadersleben . As a diplomat he succeeded his brother, who died in 1539, and negotiated a. a. together with Johan Rantzau in 1543 an alliance with William of Jülich-Cleves-Berg , who, however, in Guelders Third Succession War against Emperor Charles V defeated.

When Johann Rantzau resigned his offices in 1545, Breide Rantzau succeeded him as governor of the royal shares of Schleswig-Holstein and bailiff of Segeberg . After his brother, Bishop Balthasar Rantzau, had been kidnapped in 1545 and the negotiations dragged on and on, Breide Rantzau tried at the beginning of 1547 to take the law into his own hands and attacked the wedding of one of the suspected aides in the Margraviate of Brandenburg . At this point, however, Balthasar was already dead.

In 1551 Breide Rantzau resigned from the governorship. In 1555 he switched to the service of Duke Hans . In 1559 he took part in the conquest of the peasant republic of Dithmarschen as a ducal war council and took over Johann Rantzau's position after his wounding. In this position he advised against a direct attack on Meldorf .

In addition to his other offices, Breide Rantzau was Probst (legal representative) of the Preetz Monastery . He was married to Catharina Heest.

literature

personal data
SURNAME Rantzau, Breide
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Rantzau, Breyde (different spelling)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Holstein knight and Danish governor in the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein
DATE OF BIRTH around 1506
PLACE OF BIRTH Bollingstedt
DATE OF DEATH October 13, 1562