Caspar IV. Lerch

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The fourth Caspar Lerch von Dirmstein

The fourth Caspar Lerch von Dirmstein (born December 13, 1575 in Dirmstein ; † April 17, 1642 in Mainz ), who is also called Lerckel or Lerckell ("Lerchlein") in some documents - presumably because of inherited family stature - was a knight from the wealthy Lerch von Dirmstein family . Because of his written legacy (see section Works ), he is today the most important member. In his time he was the outstanding representative of the lower nobility in his place of birth in the Palatinate and an important administrative specialist in southwest Germany .

family

origin

The mother Dorothea Lerch von Dirmstein geb. from Eltz-Langenau († 1603)

Caspar Lerch traced the origin of his family back to a noble family Frambalcken von Dirmstein . For himself two different years of birth have been handed down, 1573 and 1575. The first is probably due to a reading error and is demonstrably wrong; because his mother cannot have given birth to two children within three months. He came from - as the third of eight children - the second marriage of the third Caspar Lerch (* February 1, 1540, † October 18, 1590). After the early death of his first wife, he had married Dorothea von Eltz-Langenau († January 10, 1603). From his father's first marriage to Anna Elisabeth Magdalena von Flersheim († 1567) he had three half-siblings, including Christoph Lerch von Dirmstein, who was married to the sister of Worms Bishop Philipp I von Rodenstein (1564-1604).

Caspar Lerch's younger sister Anna Lerch von Dirmstein (1580–1660) was the last abbess of the Rupertsberg monastery near Bingen and successor to St. Hildegard . When the Swedes threatened the monastery during the Thirty Years' War , she fled to Cologne in 1632 , taking with her the head, heart and tongue of the saint. She hid the other relics of the body and Hildegard's dress in the grave vault on the Rupertsberg. Thanks to their efforts, all of Hildegard's relics escaped destruction and finally reached the Eibingen monastery via Mainz , where they are still venerated today. Caspar Lerch made notes about the fate of the bones and the related activities of his sister.

His sister Agatha Lerch von Dirmstein married Gottfried von Heppenheim called vom Saal in 1608 . They were the parents of the Mainz cathedral dean and chancellor of Heidelberg University , Johann von Heppenheim called vom Saal († 1672), who founded the Mainz seminary together with his grand cousin, Elector Johann Philipp von Schönborn, in 1660 .

Marriage and offspring

The fourth Caspar Lerch married Martha Brendel von Homburg in 1602 (born April 26, 1584 in Dirmstein; † June 2, 1646 in Rome ). He had nine children with her, including four sons. His second daughter Maria Magdalena Dorothea (born August 26, 1612 in Tauberbischofsheim ) married Philipp Friedrich Sturmfeder von Oppenweiler in 1640 , making his family feel at home in Dirmstein. When the male line of the Lerch family died out in 1699 because the sons or grandsons of the fourth Caspar Lerch had no further male descendants, the inheritance fell to the Sturmfeder von Oppenweiler family . Since then, its members have been nicknamed Erbsassen Lerch von und zu Dirmstein .

Caspar Lerch's great-grandson Marsilius Franz Sturmfeder von Oppenweiler (1674–1744) became legendary through his quarrel with the authorities. In 1738 he had partially encrypted details about it immortalized on the Michelstor of the Sturmfeder Castle, which was later named after him . There are carved inscriptions and a sculpture above the archway. This shows his allegedly victorious fight against the devil , who symbolizes the mayor as the representative of the sovereign. The last bearer of the family name Sturmfeder died in 1901.

Both on the successor to Caspar Lerch's “Burg” and on Sturmfeder's Castle, an old stone from the transition from the 16th to the 17th century was walled in during the construction phase. The identical inscription indicates the interdependence of the family with the history of both mansions:

CASPAR LERCH THE THIRD VND DOROTHEA ZV ELTZ EHELEVT
CASPAR LERCH THE VIRTE VND MARTHA BRENDELIN EHELEVT

At the gate of the Dirmsteiner Spitalhof there are two more inscriptions, CASP on the left . LERCH 1602 and on the right CASPAR LERCH VÕ DVRMSTEIN .

relationship

Caspar Lerch's father was related through his first wife to the family of Philipps von Flersheim (1481–1552), the former bishop of Speyer , through his second wife to the family of Eltz , from which the archbishops of Trier and Mainz emerged . Caspar Lerch himself was connected to the families of the Mainz and Worms bishops through his marriage . His wife Martha was the niece of Archbishop of Mainz Daniel Brendel von Homburg (1523–1582), who was the brother of her father Eberhard. Lerch's nephew, a son of his wife's sister, was the later Bishop of Worms Johann Karl von und zu Franckenstein (1610-1691).

buildings

  • Successor to Caspar Lerch's "Castle"

  • Archway with Caspar Lerch's inscription

  • The castle of the Lerch heirs Sturmfeder

education and profession

Caspar Lerch was trained in law and languages in Speyer , Würzburg , Mainz and Dole .

One after another he was in the service of different masters. First he was (1600–1611) treasurer of the bishop of Speyer , Eberhard von Dienheim , then (1611–1619) electoral Mainz bailiff in Tauberbischofsheim and finally from 16 April 1622 director of the knighthood of the Upper Rhine . He also wrote numerous legal works and a chronicle of his gender, the Annales .

In 1612 he had an inscription chiseled on the city ​​gate of Tauberbischofsheim, which underlines his importance for the region as "electoral Mainz bailiff here":

CASPAR: LERCH: VON: DURMSTEIN: CHUR
= PRINCIPAL: MENZISCHER: AMBTMAN: ALHY: AD 1612

politics

Because Caspar Lerch in war Thirty Years avowed Catholic partisans was, he had temporarily under repression, especially by Protestant - Swedish troops to suffer. His possessions in Dirmstein, especially his "castle" on what was then the southern edge of the upper village , were plundered several times , his book collection went up in flames, and in 1621 he and his family were forced to flee and spend many years in exile . For ten years he lived on the Brendelscher Hof estate in the Mainzer Klaragasse, which was part of his wife's legacy, then he had to take refuge in Cologne for five years . He was only able to return to Mainz in 1636 and to Dirmstein in 1640, two years before his death.

Works

The extensive written estate of Caspar Lerch is stored in the state archives of Ludwigsburg and Speyer . The most important scriptures are:

  • Old Gravamina of the Holy Empire concerning Freye, Graven, Lord, Knighthood and nobility . 1623 (reprint 1624).
  • Annales. Family chronicle . more than 300 pages (about 1602–1610).
  • In reply to Landgraf Georg etc of Hesse . 1629.
  • Ferdinand II. Mandati poenalis etc . 1630.
  • Credible denckwürdige copiae and report dess etc principal Clagproducts . 1623.
  • Thorough report on the errors of the Rhenish knighthood with Landgrave Georg von Hessen . Marburg 1633.
  • Imperial special decree . 1624, OCLC 252487977 .
  • Kayserliche lapels and versigelte Schadloßhaltungen etc .
  • Ordo equestris Germanicus Caesareus bellopoliticus . I. and II. Part. Möres, Mainz 1625, OCLC 615315726 ( reader.digitale-sammlungen.de ).
  • Ordo equestris Germanicus Caesareus bellopoliticus . III. and IV. part. Mainz (1631/32).
  • Rhythmica adhortatoria de libertate nobilium .
  • Sacri Romani ... Mainz 1625.
  • Statutum generale deß Holy Roman Empire Freyen Without indirect knightly nobility on the Upper and Lower Rhine River . 1627.

literature

  • Michael Martin: The Lerch von Dirmstein family . S. 63-76 .
  • Hans-Helmut Görtz: Family table of the Lerch von Dirmstein . S. 77-81 .
Both in: Michael Martin (Ed.): Dirmstein - Adel, Bauern und Bürger . Chronicle of the Dirmstein community. Self-published by the Foundation for the Promotion of Palatinate Historical Research , Neustadt an der Weinstrasse 2005, ISBN 3-9808304-6-2 .
  • Caspar Lerch von Dirmstein: Annales . (Family chronicle, more than 300 pages, subsequent dating by historical science, 1602–1610).
  • Caspar Lerch from Dürmstein, Iulius Knaubes, Anna Kunigunda Lerch from Dürmstein, Caspar Magnus Lerch from Dürmstein, Jacob Caspar Lerch from Dürmstein, Maria Magdalena Dorothea Lerch from Dürmstein, Martha Lerch from Dürmstein, Michael Caspar Henrich Lerch from Dürmstein / Inheritance statutes De Non Alienando & Dissipando: Renewed Uff Trium Regum In Anno 1617 . 1617, OCLC 838593211 ( gdz.sub.uni-goettingen.de ).

Web links

References and comments

  1. ^ Genealogical website on Dorothea von Eltz-Langenau. geneall.net, accessed August 16, 2015 .
  2. ↑ a b c d Michael Martin: The Lerch family from Dirmstein . 2005, p. 65-68 .
  3. ^ Document regist , from which the sisterhood between Christoph Lerch von Dirmstein and Bishop Philipp von Rodenstein results,  in the German Digital Library , accessed on November 13, 2013.
  4. ↑ Michael Martin: Sources on the history of Dirmstein and the Lerch von Dirmstein family . 2004, ISBN 3-9808304-4-6 , pp. 154 ( text excerpt ).
  5. ^ Deed of documents from 1602 with the names of Anna Lerch von Dirmstein's parents  in the German Digital Library , accessed on December 30, 2018.
  6. ^ Anton Philipp Brück (ed.): Hildegard von Bingen, 1179–1979 . Festschrift for the 800th anniversary of the death of the saints. 2nd Edition. Verlag der Gesellschaft für Mittelrheinische Kirchengeschichte, Mainz 1998, ISBN 3-929135-19-1 , p. 374-376 .
  7. ↑ St. Hildegard and the wine. abtei-st-hildegard.de, accessed on August 16, 2015 (history of the St. Hildegard Abbey with mention of the abbess Anna Lerch von Dirmstein).
  8. ↑ Ich, Gottfried von Heppenheim… gau-heppenheim.de, accessed on August 16, 2015 (story of the couple).
  9. ^ Lecture on Johann von Heppenheim. Diocese of Mainz, February 18, 2014, accessed on August 16, 2015 .
  10. ↑ Hans-Helmut Görtz: Family table of the Lerch von Dirmstein . 2005, p. 77-81 .
  11. ↑ Eberhard Brendel von Homburg. geneall.net, accessed August 15, 2012 .
  12. ↑ Former city gate. Panoramio, accessed February 17, 2013 .
  13. ↑ The names Oberdorf and Niederdorf for the two settlement centers of the municipality are derived from the location above and below at the Eckbach , which flows through Dirmstein from west to east.
personal data
SURNAME Lerch, Caspar IV.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Lerch von Dirmstein, Caspar IV .; Lerckell, Caspar
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Southwest German nobleman and administrative specialist
DATE OF BIRTH December 13, 1575
PLACE OF BIRTH Dirmstein
DATE OF DEATH April 17, 1642
Place of death Mainz