Christoph Welsinger

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Christoph Welsinger (* in the 15th or 16th century) was a doctor of law , a German episcopal council and then chancellor of the prince-bishopric and bishopric of Strasbourg during the episcopates of Wilhelm von Hohnstein and especially Erasmus Schenk of Limburg . Through the consultation and the repeated deputization, which he exercised for the spiritual princes, among other things at the Reichstag, he was actively involved in the political events of the Holy Roman Empire and the regional politics of the Landgraviate of Alsace. The Alsatian bicultural family Welsinger acted as a link between the French and German territorial states, acting as envoys and mediators in one or the other country.

Welsinger family

Episcopal Palace of Strasbourg

In some sources one reads the patronymic variant Wölsinger. In the 16th century, three dignitaries named Welsinger are mentioned in the documents and sources, depending on the language of the office:

  • Christoph (Christoff, Christophe);
  • Philipp (Philippe);
  • Hans-Jakob (Jean-Jacques);

In the correspondence from Cardinal Jean du Bellay we learn that Christoph and Philip are brothers. Philipp is as bailiff of Meimbach and governor of the Coming of the Hospitaller Order of Colmar presented.

The source of the relationship with Hans-Jakob has not been proven beyond doubt. Nevertheless, as Jean Sturm on April 25, 1546 to Jean du Bellay wrote a letter, which he enclosed with an official letter from the Prince Bishop of Strasbourg, the supervisor of Chancellor Christoph Wels Inger, and he through the mediation of the so-called Zabern was observed Anthony, wish astonishingly he realized that the Hans-Jakob Welsinger matter should be resolved quickly. (Zabern was the residence of the Strasbourg bishop.) Sturm, the messenger Antonius and Bishop Erasmus represent the Strasbourg party here, which apparently has an interest in the French side represented by du Bellay solving the Welzinger case. The Welsinger case, which sounds secret in the letter, was actually the death of the royal secretary Hans-Jakob. Between France and Strasbourg it appeared to be clear what was being referred to, suggesting that all parties knew who was affected and that the incident may embarrass one or the other.

Hans Jakob Wels Inger was called "Notarius and Secretarius" by the French on May 12, 1543 King François I. used. He held his office for about two years, because the royal decree of April 30, 1546 appointed Pierre Potier, Lord of Saint-Helix, in place of the late Jean-Jacques Welsinger. To this end, the royal orderly of March 9, 1545 determined that a down payment in favor of Jacques Brûlard for the office of royal notary and secretary, which the death of Jean-Jacques Welsinger had left vacant, was to be made. The Welsinger family had to be wealthy because they could hold positions that were often bought for a fee; this is the case of Hans-Jakob, who was supposed to pay half a gold mark as a right to enter the college of notaries and secretaries of the king. In return, these officials were relieved of all fees, duties and taxes that, according to feudal and manorial law, should legitimately be due to the sovereign.

Christoph and Philipp had a sister Marie († December 27, 1579), who married Apollinaris Kyrser from Pforzheim in 1521 ( Kyrser , who was related by marriage to Christof Welsinger, Chancellor of Strasbourg). He attended the University of Tübingen , received his doctorate in 1535 and taught at the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg . He was cathedral dean of Basel until December 27, 1579.

The ideal and affinity-creating connection with his brother Philipp Welsinger can also be established by the fact that Kyrser was Chancellor of the Order of St. John around 1561. Marie Welsinger and Apollinaris Kyrser lived in Freiburg, a university town that was in close contact with the other university towns of Strasbourg and Basel .

Envoy and advisor to the Reichstag

Reichstag of Augsburg, Reichsfürstenrat

The final formula of the Reichstag in Augsburg 1555 lists all the imperial estates and their councils present, which are supposed to seal the resolution of the Reichstag. The following names can be read among the spiritual princes: Erasmus Bishop of Strasbourg and Landgrave in Alsace , Christoff Welsinger (without mentioning his function at the side of the prelate).

Christoph Welsinger is expressly cited as Chancellor in Worms only from 1545 onwards in the Reich farewells . One could deduce from this that he previously served as the episcopal council and was then promoted.

From the register of 1521 it can be seen that Christoph Welsinger began his advisory and deputy role in the service of Bishop Wilhelm von Hohnstein , who was ill with gout, at the Reichstag in Regensburg in 1541. The bishop, who just died in 1541, was represented by Welsinger. Wilhelm von Hohnheim had Eitelhans Rechburger as his loyal ambassador and advisor for years. Christoph Welsinger was his successor in this office. Therefore, Welsinger worked mainly for Bishop Erasmus Schenk of Limburg . For the six following diets, Bishop Erasmus was represented by envoys or other signed imperial estates. So he never appeared on the ecclesiastical bench of the Imperial Councilor for 11 years. In contrast, Christoph Welsinger took part in each Reichstag either alone or with other deputies.

  • In 1544 Bernhard von Eberstein and Christoph Welsinger signed in Speyer.
  • 1545 in Worms signed in the order Chancellor C. Welsinger, Notary Beyerlein, Wolfgang Götz and Adam Klett.
  • In 1546 Welsinger was alone in Regensburg.
  • In 1547/48 the chancellor is also alone.
  • In 1550/51 the bishop was represented by Bishop Otto von Augsburg, but Welsinger is also present, as is Georg von Wangen zu Geroldseck on Wasichen.
  • In 1555 in Augsburg, where the famous Augsburg religious peace was sealed, Christoph Welsinger stood alone as the spokesman for the Principality of Strasbourg.

At the Reichstag of 1556, Welsinger was credited for not only representing his prince-bishopric efficiently, but also having come with the power of procuration from other ecclesiastical rulers and thus being able to better support the position of the prelates in the imperial council . The royal commissioners advised the king against issuing warnings to the absent clergy himself. Numerous dignitaries and princes were missing from the ecclesiastical bench in 1555. In order for the king to remain impartial, it should be taken over by the sovereigns or superiors, such as the archbishops of Cologne and Salzburg, the Duke of Bavaria or the Upper Austrian government in Ensisheim . The latter was supposed to arrange for the Reichstag to be sent from Strasbourg, Murbach and Basel. With the exception of Trento, the king decided not to have the above missing status warned and waited. On September 15, 1556, the royal commissioners reported that fortunately the ecclesiastical bank had always been stronger, namely because, among others, the Strasbourg envoy Welsinger had arrived with 4 votes. He had the power of attorney from the diocese of Basel , Kloster Murbach and his brother-in-law, the Johannitermeister .

Settlement of the imperial estates in the 16th century

Christoph Welsinger gives a good insight into the travel and subsistence costs that had to be raised for a stay at a Reichstag in the 16th century. The accounts of the envoy of the Strasbourg bishop in Nuremberg from July 28th to September 7th, 1542, make it easy to imagine the expenses for an official delegation in order to be able to participate in the political debates and decisions of the empire.

The accounting begins with Welsinger's departure from Zabern in Alsace on July 28th. A clerk named Klett accompanies him. A carter drives the cart with four horses. You need 9 days to arrive in Nuremberg. He stays and gets food at the Gasthaus Zum Ochsenfelder and the Riglerin for the month of August.

The statement includes the prices for the outward and return journey, the overnight stays and meals, various extra expenses and expenses. The total amount is 120 guilders, 2 batzen and 1 kreuzer, a considerable sum for the circumstances at the time.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Alois Postina: The Strasbourg Bishop Johann Delfius 1553-1582. In: Hermann Grauert, Max Jansen (Hrsg.): Festgabe zum September 7, 1910. Buchdruckerei der Herderschen Verlagshandlung, Freiburg, 1910, pp. 233–245
  2. ^ Corporis actorum et gravaminum religionis of the Holy Roman Empire. Religious complaints made at the Reichstag in Regensburg by Protestants against Catholics and this against them, 2nd volume, Frankfurt and Leipzig, Matthäi Birckner's blessed Erden Buchhandlung, 1724, p. 29: “D. Cansler Christoff Welsinger "
  3. ^ Karl Hahn: The Catholic Church in Strasbourg under Bishop Erasmus of Limburg. Frankfurt, 1940
  4. ↑ Political Correspondence. Braunschweig, Vol. III, pp. 591–592, plus letter no. 671, p. 312, where the royal secretary and notary, Hans-Jakob Welsinger, as the agent and mediator of the French king, grants the Duke of Braunschweig financial support .
  5. ↑ Margrave Philibert enfeoffs the Bishop of Strasbourg Chancellor Christoph Wölsinger with the Heimhofershaus next to the Herberg Baldtraith in Baden.  in the Deutsche Digitale Bibliothek Landesarchiv Baden-Württemberg Ref. 37 No. 242 (cf. online record in the State Archive: Holdings 37, No. 242 and Holdings 436, U 100 )
  6. ↑ Loris Petris, Remy Scheurer: Correspondance du Cardinal Jean du Bellay. Librairie Dioz, 1969, Société de l'Histoire de France, Paris, 2008, Vol III, pp 364-370
  7. ↑ Abraham Tessereau: Histoire de la grande chronologique chancellerie de France. Chez Pierre Emery, Paris, 1710, tI
  8. ↑ a b Abraham Tessereau: Histoire chronologique de la grande chancellerie de France. t. I, Paris, 1710, pp. 103-109
  9. ↑ Ordonnance n ° 14,826th Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Paris, March 9, 1545, ms.fr.5127 fol.2.
  10. ↑ Bookkeeping of the College of Royal Notaries and Secretaries, March 17, 1514
  11. ↑ Horst Ruth: The structure of persons and offices of the University of Freiburg (1520-1620). Inaugural dissertation to obtain a doctorate from the philosophical faculties of the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg i. Br., June 15, 2001 ( online at the Freiburg document server "FreiDok" of the University of Freiburg)
  12. ^ Aedes privilegati. University of Freiburg, August 25, 1543 - around December 29, 1561
  13. ↑ Before 1555 for the harvest, part Engelstr. 3; 1557 to the great Palatinate, Kaiserstr. 35.
  14. ^ Closing formula of the Reichstag in Augsburg 1555, Paragraph 144: Sealing by the imperial estates. ( Text online in the Westphalian History Internet portal at the Westphalia-Lippe Regional Association, lwl.org)
  15. ↑ R. Aulinger and S. Schweinzer-Burian: Habsburg and imperial presence on the imperial days of Emperor Charles V (1521–1555) as reflected in the imperial register of 1521. A prosopographical record. In: F. Hederer, C. König, KN Marth, C. Milz (eds.): Spaces of action. Facets of Political Communication in the Early Modern Era. Festschrift for Albrecht P. Luttenberger on his 65th birthday (Munich 2011), pp. 109–164 and table p. 91
  16. ↑ a b c see R. Aulinger, S. Schweinzer-Burian, table p. 145
  17. ↑ a b c see R. Aulinger, S. Schweinzer-Burian, table p. 177
  18. ↑ a b c German Reichstag files. Younger series, Vol. 19, Part I, Bavarian Academy of Sciences, Historical Commission. Verlag FA Perthes, 2005, 733 pages, p. 437
  19. ↑ a b c Silvia Schweinzer-Burian: The Reichstag in Nuremberg 1542. Munich, 2010, vol. 13, p. 155, doc. 16b
  20. ↑ Mentioned in Horst Zimmer: The History of German Crafts. Reinhard Welz Vermittler Verlag eK, 2005, p. 120
  21. ↑ The widow Margaretha of Sebold Ochsenfelder, a citizen of Nuremberg, gives the old hospital St. Elisabeth there over three pieces of land (adjoining is Hans Nagel) to the Stain in: Landesarchiv Baden-Württemberg Ref. R-Rep. 12k No. 27, year 1602. Online reference  in the German Digital Library

Remarks

  1. ↑ Quotation from Ordonnance n ° 14826: "Provisions en faveur Jacques Brûlart de l'affaire de notaire et secrétaire du Roi vacant par la mort de Jean-Jacques Welsinger".
  2. ↑ The German master, Bremen, Brixen, Eichstätt, Freising, Magdeburg, Minden, Münster, Paderborn, Strasbourg, Trient and the abbot of Murbach Abbey in Alsace were missing .
  3. ↑ In a statement of travel expenses from two councilors from the Electoral Saxony in 1542 one learns that the innkeeper is called Sebald Ochsenfelder. In: German Reichstag files. Younger series, Vol. 19, Part I, Bavarian Academy of Sciences, Historical Commission. Verlag FA Perthes, 2005, 733 pages, p. 154
  4. ↑ The following inns are often mentioned about the Nuremberg hosts and lodging providers during the Reichstag: Zum Ochsenfelder, Zu der Gulden Gans, zum Wilden Mann, Zwu Mayor ask, Riglerin, Tucher, Ullstetterin, in: Deutsche Reichstagakten. Younger series, Vol. 19, Part I, Bavarian Academy of Sciences, Historical Commission. Verlag FA Perthes, 2005, 733 pages, p. 955
personal data
SURNAME Welsinger, Christoph
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Chancellor of the Prince-Bishop of Strasbourg
DATE OF BIRTH 15th century or 16th century
DATE OF DEATH 16th century or 17th century