Clau Maissen

Clau Maissen (also Nicolaus Maissen ; * 1621 in Sumvitg ; † May 26, 1678 in Chur ) was Landammann and district judge from Surselva in the Swiss canton of Graubünden .

Life

Clau Maissen came from a respected middle-class family from Sumvitg. His parents were the sack master of the judicial community Cadi Padrut Maissen and Catrina Maissen, née Waller. It is not known where Clau Maissen received his education and studied. Without knowledge of politics, written correspondence and foreign languages, it would not have been possible for him to pursue a political career up to the highest offices.

At the age of 23, Maissen became governor of Sumvitg, and at 30, in 1651, he became governor of Disentis. Further years of office followed in 1652, 1653, 1658, 1659, 1670 and 1671.

At the age of 42, Maissen was first elected district judge of the Upper Confederation in 1663 , the highest office of the federal government, which he also held for a one-year term in 1669 and 1672. From 1665 to 1667 Maissen was governor of the Valtellina. He was also twice a member of the Syndication Commission, a nine-member supervisory authority that reported on Valtellina before the Bundestag. One of the highlights of his political career was probably the general Bundestag of the Three Leagues , which took place in Ilanz in 1663, 1669 and 1672 . As the acting district judge of the host federal government, he was given the honor of heading the Bundestag.

Maissen worked politically with his friend, the cathedral dean Matthias Schgier , against the French party and led with him for a time the Spanish party in Bünden. In 1651 the two succeeded in becoming the long-time judge and leader of the French party Konradin the Elder. Eliminate J. de Castelberg from all political offices.

Thanks to Spanish and episcopal protection, in particular Prince-Bishop Ulrich VI. de Mont , from then on Maissen held the important political offices in the Disentis region, in the Gray Bund and in the Free State of the Three Leagues with practically no interruption.

Process and end

Coat of arms of Clau Maissen in the judges' hall in the Sursilvan Museum

His opponents in the Surselva from the aristocracy, politics and the French party, as well as personal enemies, brought a lawsuit against him in Disentis. Maissen's request for an impartial court was denied; Prosecutors, judges and executors were his political opponents. The criminal court of Disentis, which was prosecuting Maissen from January 1676, had burned 28 witches and had one man hanged six months earlier in Disentis.

The court met under the leadership of the most influential families of the Cadi from 1676 to 1678. The final judgment fell on February 9, 1677. The indictment against Maissen contained a total of 44 counts and he was found guilty on all counts. His fortune was confiscated, declared outlawed and expelled from the country. Maissen fled to his friend Matthias Schgier in the rule of Rhäzün .

However, since the power of the Disentis authorities ended at the border of the Disentis judicial community, Maissen's opponents were dependent on the help of the other judicial community. But the church association and the ten-court association openly sided with Maissen and at the end of August 1677 set up a neutral commission of experts on the Davos Bundestag to review the process. The judgment in favor of Clau Maissen appeared in the spring of 1678.

That is why the Disentis prosecutors had Clau Maissen killed on May 26, 1678 in Planggis, west of Chur, by two hired murderers while he was on the way to Domat / Ems. The two murderers, Martin Beer and Christian Zein from Tujetsch , were caught just one day after the crime, brought to court at Rhäzüns Castle and executed by the Chur executioner in mid-July 1678.

Others

In 1670 Clau Maissen bought the Tenigerbad . He expanded the bathing room into a bath house and built a wooden house with several rooms and a dining room. In 1674 he built the Nossa Dunna della Neiv (Our Lady of the Snow) chapel next to the spring , which is still standing today.

literature

Aluis Maissen: The trials against district judge Nikolaus Maissen 1676–1678. - About legal assistance in criminal justice , in JHGG 136, 2006, pp. 39-100. Special print 1–62.
Aluis Maissen: "Coat of arms and seal of district judge Nikolaus Maissen", in Swiss Archives for Heraldry, Issue 2009 – II, pp. 176–192.
Felici Maissen / Aluis Maissen: "Landrecht Nicolaus Maissen. Sia veta e siu temps 1621-1678. - Per il treitschienavel onn de sia mort 1678-1978". Ediziuns Deseretina, Mustér 1985, 163 p.
Anton von Castelmur: District Judge Nikolaus Maissen 1621-1678. , in JHGG 58, 1928, 1-99

Web links

Felici Maissen: Maissen, Clau. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .

Individual evidence

↑ Handbook of Graubünden History; Verlag Bündner monthly newspaper ; Chur 2000
↑ Aluis Maissen: The Trials of Landrichter Nicholas Maissen 1676-1678. - About legal assistance in criminal justice, in JHGG 2006, pp. 39–100, special edition pp. 1–62.
↑ Konrad J. Kuhn: The health resort Tenigerbad in Somvixertal: On the history of spas, tourism and the hotel industry in the Bündner Oberland In: Bündner monthly newspaper - magazine for Bündner history, regional studies and building culture, 1/2008. Chur: Casanova. Pp. 3-39.

personal data
SURNAME	Maissen, Clau
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Maissen, Nicolaus; Maissen, Nicholas
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Bündner Landammann and Landrichter
DATE OF BIRTH	1621
PLACE OF BIRTH	Sumvitg
DATE OF DEATH	May 26, 1678
Place of death	Chur

[1] Handbook of Graubünden History; Verlag Bündner monthly newspaper ; Chur 2000

[2] Aluis Maissen: The Trials of Landrichter Nicholas Maissen 1676-1678. - About legal assistance in criminal justice, in JHGG 2006, pp. 39–100, special edition pp. 1–62.

[3] Konrad J. Kuhn: The health resort Tenigerbad in Somvixertal: On the history of spas, tourism and the hotel industry in the Bündner Oberland In: Bündner monthly newspaper - magazine for Bündner history, regional studies and building culture, 1/2008. Chur: Casanova. Pp. 3-39.