Christoph Forstner

Coat of arms of those Forstner zu Dambenoy

Christoph Forstner , actually Christoph von Forstner (born October 7, 1598 at Birkenstein Castle in Neufelden , † December 29, 1667 in Mömpelgard ) was a high-ranking Württemberg official and author of political writings. From 1634 to 1667 he was Chancellor of the County of Württemberg-Mömpelgard . He was considered an important Tacitus commentator, where he benefited from his dual role as a scholar and politician.

Live and act

His father, Paul Forstner, was the chief magistrate at Pürnstein Castle, which belonged to the Austro-Bohemian aristocratic Harrach family. After an upbringing in the Protestant environment of his home country, he enjoyed a university education in Tübingen and Vienna . He then traveled to Italy and France for several years as a cavalier tour .

In Tübingen he was a student of Thomas Lansius and Christoph Besold at the Collegium Illustre and the University of Tübingen , to which he also dedicated his first publication.

In 1625 he congratulated the new Doge Giovanni I. Cornaro on his inauguration with a speech on behalf of the Germans studying in Padua . Forstner was then accepted into the St. Marcus Order . He turned down a call from Cardinal Melchior Khlesl and other high state officials to take up the service of the Roman-German Emperor , because this would have made conversion to the Catholic faith inevitable. Soon afterwards he came to the imperial court in Vienna and to the Reichstag in Regensburg as envoy of the House of Hohenlohe .

In 1630 the Württemberg chancellor Jakob Löffler appointed him to the position of Mömpelgardian vice chancellor , three years later he became chancellor and held this office for 33 years until his death. During his participation in embassies of the dukes of Württemberg to France and in the Westphalian peace negotiations , he rendered excellent service and was rewarded with the Dambenoy fief near Mömpelgard .

family

Forstner and his descendants called themselves Forstner von Dambenois and Dambenoy, respectively , after the estate .

His younger brother, Wolfgang von Forstner (born June 27, 1620, † September 9, 1680) became the Württemberg chief counselor and court master of Johann Friedrich von Württemberg in 1655 , margrave court and marriage judge of Baden-Durlach in 1664, and chamber master of Württemberg in 1670 , governor of Urach and 1677 secret regimental council .

A son of Christoph Forster, Ludwig Christoph († 1690) was Mömpelgardian chamber master and secret councilor , another son, Heinrich Friedrich von Forstner († 1687) was court marshal at the Bavarian and later at the Württemberg court. His son, Georg Friedrich von Forstner († 1717 in Milan ), was brought up together with Duke Eberhard Ludwig von Württemberg and, as his confidante, chamberlain , steward and 1708 court marshal . In 1716 he left the Duke's court in a dispute because of the political intrigues of his mistress Wilhelmine von Grävenitz , and published numerous compromising texts against the ducal house of Württemberg. His property was confiscated at the instigation of Grävenitz and the family archive was destroyed. His sudden death in Milan in 1717 sparked rumors of a poisoning. Georg Friedrich's sister was a lady- in- waiting in Darmstadt , where she had a liaison with Landgrave Ernst Ludwig for some time .

Publications

• Hypomnematum Politicorum Centuria , 1623, dedicated to Thomas Lansius and Christoph Besold
• Ad Corneliu Tacitu, Notae politicae , 1628
• Epistola de Comitiis Electoralibus Ratisbonae 1631 celebratis
• Epistola negotium Pacis Osnabrugo-Monasteriensis concernentes
• Epistola sive Judicium de moderno Imperii Statu

u. a.

literature

• Paul Friedrich von Stälin :  Forstner, Christoph von . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 7, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1877, p. 191 f (scholar and politician).

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Michael Stolleis: History of Public Law in Germany : Volume Reichspublizistik und Polizeiwissenschaft, 1600–1800, Munich, 1988, p. 102.