Christoph (Württemberg)
Christoph von Württemberg (born May 12, 1515 in Urach ; † December 28, 1568 in Stuttgart ) was the fourth reigning Duke of Württemberg from 1550 to 1568 . He was the son of Duke Ulrich and his wife Sabina of Bavaria .
Life
Wandering years
Only a few months after Christoph was born, his mother fled to her parents' court in Munich in November 1515. The young Christoph initially stayed with his older sister Anna with his father in Stuttgart . When the Swabian Federation mobilized against Duke Ulrich, he brought his children to Hohentübingen Castle . After the surrender of the castle and the exile Ulrich in 1519, the boy was Christoph to Innsbruck at the court of Emperor Charles V sent. Charles V was a grandson of Maximilian I, who died in the same year, and followed him to the imperial throne. Christoph grew up here and was able to gain important political experience.
Meanwhile, Württemberg had come under Austrian administration. Christoph's mother Sabina made efforts to secure the succession to the throne for her son, but this remained uncertain for the time being. At the Reichstag in Augsburg in 1530 Ferdinand was given the Duchy of Württemberg as a hereditary fiefdom. In the meantime, after narrowly escaping being kidnapped by roaming Turkish troops during his stay in Wiener Neustadt in 1529, Christoph traveled with the emperor as a noble boy through Central Europe: in January 1531 he attended Ferdinand's election as king in Cologne and the coronation in Aachen and was then in the Netherlands. Via Württemberg he came to the Reichstag in Regensburg in 1532 and moved on to Vienna, where he stayed at the army show of Emperor Charles V against the Turks. In the summer of 1532 he was completely penniless, as he received neither from King Ferdinand nor from Emperor Karl. He saw himself in the role of the uncomfortable heir and feared being sidelined or murdered. He was supposed to follow the emperor's entourage via Italy to distant Spain, but only came with him as far as Carinthia and from there fled with his friend and teacher Michael Tifferus via Salzburg to Bavaria, where he then went into hiding in order not to be discovered by the persecutors of the Habsburgs . From 1532 to 1534 he stayed in secret places in Bavaria and Switzerland. In the winter of 1533/34 he appeared at a meeting of the Swabian Federation to stand up for the interests of his dynasty.
Count of Mömpelgard
After the battle of Lauffen in 1534, Duke Ulrich regained power over Württemberg and introduced the Reformation there. At the same time, with Ulrich's return, Christoph's claim to his successor was secured, even though the father had a distant relationship with the son. From 1534 to 1542 Christoph was in French service with King Francis I of France at the behest of his father . When Duke Ulrich and his son realized that their conflict could lead to the loss of the duchy for the dynasty, they came closer again. Duke Christoph turned to Protestantism and in the Treaty of Reichenweier in 1542, the Württemberg county of Mömpelgard on the left bank of the Rhine was awarded as governor. In 1544, through the mediation of his father, he married Anna Maria von Brandenburg-Ansbach , daughter of Georg from a Protestant dynasty, which strengthened his confessional position.
Reformer of the state and regional church
When Duke Ulrich died in 1550, the imperial interim was in effect in Württemberg . In the Passau Treaty of 1552, Christoph was able to achieve a cancellation of the interim, but had to avert an imperial felony procedure with high monetary payments . In the following years, Duke Christoph reorganized the entire state and church administration by issuing extensive "ordinances". The reform of the regional church was codified in the “ Great Church Order ” of 1559, a legal foundation. The most important advisor in religious questions was the reformer Johannes Brenz . Württemberg theologians exerted great influence on other Protestant regional churches. The fruit trees on the roadsides were planted on his order.
Castle modifications and elaboration of building regulations
In addition to the four-wing extension of the Old Palace in Stuttgart, Duke Christoph had several Württemberg castles and residential palaces rebuilt in the Renaissance style: including the Hohenasperg and Hohenurach fortresses , the former imperial castle Grüningen and castles in Waiblingen , Leonberg , Schorndorf , Tübingen , Neuenbürg , Grafeneck , Blaubeuren , Kirchheim unter Teck and Böblingen (1568). The coordination of the extensive construction work was in the hands of the court builder Aberlin Tretsch , who played a key role in the twelve-year development of the Württemberg building code issued in 1568.
In 1556, Christoph, realizing that the time of the travel kingship was over, had some renovations stopped, especially since "otherwise only strange birds nest in it".
family
In 1544 he married Anna Maria von Brandenburg-Ansbach , daughter of Georg, through the mediation of his father . The couple had the following children:
- Eberhard (born January 7, 1545 in Mömpelgard; † May 2, 1568 in Göppingen)
- Hedwig (born January 15, 1547 in Basel, † March 4, 1590 in Marburg); ⚭ Ludwig IV of Hessen-Marburg
- Elisabeth (born March 3, 1548 in Mömpelgard, † February 18, 1592 in Durlach); ⚭ 1. Georg Ernst Graf von Henneberg-Schleusingen , ⚭ 2. Georg Gustav Count Palatine von Veldenz-Lauterecken
- Sabina (born July 2, 1549 in Mömpelgard, † August 17, 1581 in Rotenburg adFulda); ⚭ Wilhelm IV of Hessen-Kassel
- Emilie (born August 19, 1550 in Mömpelgard, † June 4, 1589 in Simmern); ⚭ Reichard Count Palatine of Simmern
- Eleonore (born March 22, 1552 in Tübingen, † January 12, 1618 in Lichtenberg); ⚭ 1. Joachim Ernst I, Prince of Anhalt , ⚭ 2. Georg I of Hessen-Darmstadt
- Duke Ludwig I (born January 1, 1554 in Stuttgart; † August 28, 1593 there)
- Maximilian (born August 27, 1556 in Stuttgart; † March 17, 1557 ibid)
- Ulrich (born March 11, 1558 in Stuttgart; † July 7, 1558 ibid)
- Dorothea Maria (born September 3, 1559 in Stuttgart, † March 13, 1639 in Hilpoltstein); ⚭ Otto Heinrich Count Palatine von Sulzbach
- Anna (born June 12, 1561 in Stuttgart, † July 7, 1616 in Haynau); ⚭ 1. Johann Georg von Ohlau and Wohlau , ⚭ 2. Friedrich IV. Von Liegnitz
- Sophie (born November 20, 1563 in Stuttgart, † July 21, 1590 in Vacha ); ⚭ Friedrich Wilhelm I, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg
literature
- Friedrich Wilhelm Bautz : Christoph, Duke of Württemberg. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 1, Bautz, Hamm 1975. 2nd, unchanged edition Hamm 1990, ISBN 3-88309-013-1 , Sp. 1011-1012.
- Ute Beckmann: Monuments of the Renaissance in the 19th Century. In: G. Ulrich Grossmann, Petra Krutisch: Renaissance of the Renaissance. Volume 2: Essays (= writings of the Weser Renaissance Museum Castle Brake. Volume 6). Deutscher Kunstverlag, Munich / Berlin 1992, ISBN 3-422-06087-1 , pages 174–185, here: 183 (on the Herzog-Christoph-Monument).
- Balthasar Bidembach: Kurtzer and warffter report of the highly commendable and Christian life and the blissful death of the lucid high-born prince and Mr. Christoffen Herzogen zu Württemberg and Theck… . Brunn, Tübingen 1629 ( digitized version ).
- Franz Brendle : Dynasty, Empire and Reformation. The Württemberg dukes Ulrich and Christoph, the Habsburgs and France (= publications of the Commission for Historical Regional Studies in Baden-Württemberg. Series B: Research. Volume 141). Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 1998, ISBN 3-17-015563-6 .
- Viktor Ernst (ed.): Correspondence from Duke Christoph von Wirtemberg. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 1899–1907.
- Eberhard Fritz: Duke Christoph of Württemberg. In: Siegfried Hermle (ed.): Reformation history of Württemberg in portraits. Hänssler, Holzgerlingen 1999, ISBN 3-7751-3416-6 , pp. 227-254.
- Bernhard Kugler: Christoph, Duke of Wirtemberg. 2 volumes. Ebner & Seubert, Stuttgart 1868–1872.
- Landesmuseum Württemberg (Ed.): Christoph 1515–1568. A renaissance prince in the age of the Reformation . Süddeutsche Verlags-Gesellschaft, Ulm 2015, ISBN 978-3-88294-471-6 (catalog for the exhibition in the Landesmuseum Württemberg, Stuttgart, 2015-2016).
- Matthias Langensteiner: For the country and Lutheranism. The politics of Duke Christoph von Württemberg (1550–1568) (= Stuttgart historical research. Volume 7). Böhlau, Cologne / Weimar / Vienna 2008, ISBN 978-3-412-20096-1 .
- Volker Press : Duke Christoph von Württemberg (1550–1568) as imperial prince. In: Wolfgang Schmierer u. a. (Ed.): From Southwest German History. Festschrift for Hans-Martin Maurer. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 1994, ISBN 3-17-013158-3 , pp. 367-382.
- Gerhard Raff : Hie good Wirtemberg all the way. Volume 1: The House of Württemberg from Count Ulrich the Founder to Duke Ludwig. 6th edition. Landhege, Schwaigern 2014, ISBN 978-3-943066-34-0 , pp. 511-530.
- Paul Friedrich von Stälin : Christoph, Duke of Württemberg . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 4, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1876, pp. 243-250.
- Robert Uhland: Christoph, Duke of Württemberg. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 3, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1957, ISBN 3-428-00184-2 , p. 248 f. ( Digitized version ).
- Christophorus, Hertzog zu Württemberg. In: Johann Heinrich Zedler : Large complete universal lexicon of all sciences and arts . Volume 5, Leipzig 1733, column 2256 f.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Apple history on Apfelgut Sulz
- ^ Hermann Römer : Markgröningen in the context of Landesgeschichte II., 1550 to 1750 , Markgröningen 1930, p. 4.
Web links
- Literature by and about Christoph in the catalog of the German National Library
- Works by and about Christoph in the German Digital Library
- Matthias Langensteiner: Duke Christoph von Württemberg (1515-1568), published on April 19, 2018 in: Stadtarchiv Stuttgart, Stadtlexikon Stuttgart
predecessor | Office | successor |
---|---|---|
Ulrich |
Duke of Württemberg 1550–1568 |
Ludwig |
Ulrich |
Count of Mömpelgard 1542–1553 |
George I. |
personal data | |
---|---|
SURNAME | Christoph |
ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Duke Christoph of Württemberg |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Duke of Württemberg |
DATE OF BIRTH | May 12, 1515 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | Urach |
DATE OF DEATH | December 28, 1568 |
Place of death | Stuttgart |