Cord Mente

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Cord Mente , also Cor (d) t , Curd , (* around 1500 in Braunschweig ; † 1574 ) was a German bell and gun founder . From 1532 to 1550 he was gunsmith and equipment master of the city of Braunschweig, subsequently ducal equipment master in Wolfenbüttel .

Life

The son of the bronze caster Hinrik Mente d. J. came from a well-known Braunschweig foundry family. The reputation of Braunschweig foundry was so important in Mente's time that Landgrave Philipp von Hessen sent his master craftsman to Braunschweig for an assessment in 1532.

Equipment master of the city of Braunschweig

After the city of Braunschweig had joined the Protestant Schmalkaldic League in 1531 , there was a threat of a renewed dispute with the Guelph sovereign. During this time, Mente poured a large number of guns for the city, for which bells, candlesticks and church utensils were melted down. In 1532, Mente was appointed rifle and equipment master for life by the city council. In 1542 he took part in the siege of the ducal residence city of Wolfenbüttel by the troops of the Schmalkaldic League. The fortress surrendered on August 12, 1542. After the battle of Mühlberg in 1547, however, the Schmalkaldic rule collapsed and the city of Braunschweig had to cast 12 artillery pieces for Emperor Karl V.

In ducal service

The tensions between the Council of the City of Braunschweig and Duke Heinrich d. J. led in 1550 that Mente's multiple unauthorized leaving the city was interpreted as a conspiracy with the enemy. He fled to Wolfenbüttel and entered ducal service in 1556 at the latest. The appointment to the Supreme Equipment Master dated October 25, 1561. This was renewed by Duke Julius on December 26, 1570 for three years. In 1570/71 Mente organized a test shooting with a newly invented ammunition, the Harzer Schlacken-Kanonenkugeln. Since 1569 these were cast in large numbers from by-products of ore smelting and also exported. He wrote a written report on this in 1574. Mente was also involved in construction work, including the reconstruction of the Wolfenbüttel defenses, the expansion of the summer residence in Hesse and the renovation of the Harzburg .

Mente is important for the famous manuscript collection of the Wolfenbütteler Herzog August Bibliothek insofar as he gave Duke Julius a manuscript from the 15th century on the art of fencing on June 17, 1555. This became the collection's first entry.

Mente died around 1574 as a wealthy citizen and was buried in the Marienkapelle in Wolfenbüttel. The Cort-Mente-Straße ( with t! ) Is named after him.

family

Mente was married to Margareta Behren (1501–1597), daughter of the councilor of the new town Hans Behren. In 1546 he bought a house at Weberstrasse 43. In Wolfenbüttel, the family had lived in a house on the Damme from 1561, today at Schlossplatz 19. The youngest son Julius († 1595), who can be found in Goslar, worked like his father as a bronze caster.

Works

The two works preserved in the Wolfenbüttel main church BMV , a richly decorated bell from 1566 and the baptismal font originally created for the castle chapel from 1571 are of particular importance. Other works by Mentes are listed below:

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Horst-Rüdiger Jarck (Ed.): Braunschweigisches Biographisches Lexikon. 8th to 18th centuries , Braunschweig 2006, p. 495.
  2. ↑ Werner Spieß : History of the City of Braunschweig in the Post Middle Ages , Volume 1, Braunschweig 1966, p. 322.
  3. ↑ Cord Meckseper (Ed.): Stadt im Wandel , exhibition catalog Volume 2, Stuttgart 1985, p. 1116f.
  4. ^ Sabine Wehking : DI 76, No. 104, in: Deutsche Insschriften Online
  5. ↑ Christine Wulf, DI 58, No. 319, in: Deutsche Insschriften Online
  6. ↑ Sabine Wehking, DI 36, No. 66 †, in: Deutsche Insschriften Online
  7. ↑ Werner Arnold, DI 19, No. 94, in: Deutsche Insschriften Online
  8. ↑ Sabine Wehking, DI 66, No. 145, in: Deutsche Insschriften Online
  9. ↑ Horst Hülse, DI 42, No. 46 †, in: Deutsche Insschriften Online
  10. ↑ Christine Wulf, DI 58, No. 344 †, in: Deutsche Insschriften Online
  11. ↑ Sabine Wehking, DI 36, No. 83 †, in: Deutsche Insschriften Online
personal data
SURNAME Mente, cord
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Mente, Curd
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German bell and gun founder
DATE OF BIRTH around 1500
PLACE OF BIRTH Braunschweig
DATE OF DEATH 1574