Caspar Christian Vogt from Elspe

Caspar Christian Vogt von Elspe (* 1632 ; † 14 July 1703 ) was Drost von Medebach , Marsberg and Kogelenberg - Volkmarsen . He came from a Protestant family but converted to Catholicism. He wrote a justification about this step. Forgotten after his death, he later became known as a historian. In 1694 he was the first to use the term Süderland / Sauerland .

Title copper for Caspar Christian Voigt by Elspes Agnitio veritatis religionis (Cologne, 1682). Voigt von Elspe is sitting in the carriage. This crushes the reformers Luther and Calvin. (Original today in the Hildesheim Cathedral Library)

Life

Early life

He came from the family of the bailiffs von Elspe and was the son of Bernhard Christoph Vogt von Elspe zu Borghausen (* 1582; ​​† 1644/1645) and his wife Walburga Lucia von Fürstenberg († after 1629). The Stirpe estate had entered the marriage through the mother . This line of the Elspe Bailiffs has been named after him ever since. As a later son, Caspar had no claim to the inheritance of property. Since his ancestors in his father's family had also changed to the new faith at the time of Elector Gebhard I von Waldburg, who converted to Protestantism , entry into a monastery or monastery was not possible. Since two of his brothers died as soldiers during the Thirty Years War, a career in the military was out of the question for Caspar Christian. He should therefore study. It is unclear where and whether he received a high school education. It is theoretically possible that he attended the Catholic grammar school in Attendorn , which was founded in 1637 . Since he himself stated that he was brought up and instructed in the Lutheran religion, this is rather unlikely. A visit to the Archigymnasium in Soest is possible. But he probably received lessons from private tutors. From 1653 he studied law in Heidelberg .

Marriage and family

Von Elspe married his first wife, Matthilde (or Mechthild), Maria Elisabeth von Gaugreben , heiress of Siedlinghausen and Brunskappel , in 1657 . Their father was the former imperial sergeant-major Christof Wolrad von Gaugreben, who fell in 1635 and left behind heavy debts after his death. He became a landowner through his wife, but he also had to take over the debts. Over seventy creditors asked for their money back. This led to protracted litigation over issues of which possessions were allodial and which were fiefdoms . There was also a dispute over court rights and ownership of the Wildenberg estate . In Siedlinghausen, von Elspe had new manor buildings built. He built a new manor house, had towers and a moat built.

Von Elspe had children with his wife: Johann Wilhelm Jobst, Johanna Maria, Ludolf Hildebrand and Christof Wolrate. After 1686 he married Catharina Engel Freiin von Sepholtsdorf, his second wife. This marriage remained childless.

In the service of the electors

Von Elspe entered the service of Cologne Elector Maximilian Heinrich , who often stayed near Siedlinghausen as a result of mining in Silbach and Ramsbeck . First he was Drost von Medebach . Not least for political reasons, he converted to Catholicism in 1682. Part of the family remained Protestant. Neither his first wife nor the children - although a son attended the Jesuit college in Paderborn - followed his example and did not convert to Catholicism.

The Medebach office , in which there were still numerous Protestants due to the influence of the Counts of Waldeck , was shaped by a long-lasting re-Catholicisation process from an agreement with Waldeck in 1663 until the 18th century. Von Elspe prides itself on having received the Catholic faith, especially in the Free County of Düdinghausen. In fact, he didn't really excel at this.

He also continued his civil service career under Elector Joseph Clemens von Bayern .

Von Elspe held the Drosten office temporarily until Jobst Georg von Schade , from whose family the Droste von Medebach had come from for a long time, was of legal age. Von Elspe resigned this office around 1682. He had previously been appointed treasurer of the Electorate of Cologne in 1688 . At the same time he was Drost of the offices of Marsberg and Kogelenberg- Folkmarsen.

plant

Von Elspe was a representative of the baroque scholarship. He wrote most of his works in Latin. His life and writings were forgotten soon after his death.

Conversion font

About his conversion to Catholicism Elspe wrote a justification. This work served the public and the sovereign to justify his politically motivated conversion religiously and philosophically. The book is dedicated to Elector Maximilian Heinrich . It is noteworthy that he not only knew the work of René Descartes , but also specifically referred to it. He also referred to the Jesuit Jacob Masen . In addition to practical reasons, because no other church besides the Catholic church was nearby, he also gave the influences of the Minorites from Brilon and the Jesuits from Arnsberg .

Historical work

In various historical writings, he mainly wrote about political and legal issues. One motivation for this was that he was forced to obtain the indebted goods of his father-in-law through numerous lawsuits. This was the reason to deal with the historical and legal conditions of the region. Instead of paying the creditors for money, he offered them learned historical and legal writings. This earned him a certain reputation in the regional nobility. He thereby gained knowledge that was necessary for his later writings.

He wrote a description and history of the duchies of Engern and Westphalia (Historia Angriae et Westphaliae) in originally Latin from the source texts available to him. He also wrote the Historia nobilitatis Westphaliae. This work is dedicated to the regional knighthood and their coat of arms. Von Elspe also wrote the Historia juris publici Westphaliae, Coloniensis dicesis. These were mainly about the state and legal constitution of the Duchy of Westphalia.

Von Elspe also collected information about his family. These were later published by Johann Diederich von Steinen under the title Historisch-genealogische Nachrichten von den Vouchten v. Elspe compiled and published. Johann Suibert Seibertz also assigned him a Deductio familiae illustris Voigt from Elspe .

Lore history

His work was not printed during his lifetime and only survived in manuscripts until the 18th century. These came to a Dr. Rademacher in Soest, some of them were owned by descendants of the author.

The tradition was disordered and the author's handwriting was difficult to read, so that reconstruction by the later court and government councilor Heinrich Anton Gosmann was difficult in the middle of the 18th century. Parts were published by Johann Diederich von Steinen in the sources of Westphalian history. Johann Suibert Seibertz continued the reconstruction in the 19th century.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Seibertz also mentions 1701 as the date of death at one point. Klueting believes 1703 is more likely, since his son was enfeoffed with the father's property in 1704. The places of death and burial are unknown; s. Harm Klueting: Caspar Christian Voigt from Elspe . In: Robert Stupperich (Ed.): Westfälische Lebensbilder . Vol. 16. Publications of the Historical Commission of Westphalia XVII A. Aschendorff, Münster 2000, p. 121.
2. ↑ History of Bad Fredeburg ( Memento of the original from October 12, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
3. ↑ Lt. In 1644 he and other people bought the mineral atlas Germany / North Rhine-Westphalia, the Churfüst Ernst mine in Bönkhausen near Sundern . His children distributed the Borghausen inheritance in 1645, according to Gräfl. Plettenberg Archive Heeren, archive part Bamenohl, finding aid from Dr. Diestelkamp, ​​Files IV No. 25 (33).
4. ↑ ^{a b c d e f} Harm Klueting: Caspar Christian Voigt von Elspe . In: Robert Stupperich (Ed.): Westfälische Lebensbilder . Vol. 16. Publications of the Historical Commission of Westphalia XVII A. Aschendorff, Münster 2000.
5. ↑ Genealogy
6. ↑ August Heldmann: The three churches of Augsburg confession in the Free County of Düdinghausen . In: Zeitschrift für Kirchengeschichte XXIII, Gotha 1902, pp. 278 ff. (On von Elspe pp. 308-310).

Fonts

• Agnitio Veritatis Religionis Romano-Catholicae Et Apostolicae Caspari Christiani Voigt Ab Elspe Domini In Siedlinghausen Et Braunscappel, & c. ... Coloniae Agrippinae: Metternich, 1682.
• Ducatus Angriae et Westphaliae delineatio… 1694. Printed in: Johann Suibert Seibertz : Sources for Westphalian history. Vol. 3. Arnsberg, 1869 ( Google Books ).
• Geographical guide to the duchies of Engern and Westphalen . = Johann Diederich von Steinen : Westphälische Geschichte , VII. Piece. Dortmund 1749 ( digitized version ).

literature

• Harm Klueting : Caspar Christian Voigt from Elspe . In: Robert Stupperich (Ed.): Westfälische Lebensbilder . Vol. 16. Publications of the Historical Commission of Westphalia XVII A. Aschendorff, Münster 2000, pp. 108–132.
• Johann Suibert Seibertz: Caspar Christian Frhr. Voigt from Elspe. Introduction to: Sources on Westphalian History. Vol. 3. Arnsberg 1869, pp. 1-12.