Eberhard von Saunsheim

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Eberhard von Saunsheim (Seinsheim) (* around 1385 at Gnötzheim Castle (?); † December 27, 1443 at Horneck Castle ) was a German Master (Teutonic Order) .

Life

Eberhard von Saunsheim entered the Teutonic Order in 1400 . In 1418 he was Komtur in Heilbronn and probably also in Würzburg . After the resignation of Dietrich von Weitershausen , he was elected by the chapter of the order as superior of the Balleien in the Holy Roman Empire . He took office on April 17, 1420.

The branches of the Teutonic Order in the Reich and in Livonia pursued different goals than Prussia . They came to light when Władysław II Jagiełło and Vytautas attacked the area of ​​the Order: Grand Master Paul von Rusdorf sought a quick settlement in the Peace of Lake Melno (1422); on the other hand, Saunsheim and several imperial princes put mercenaries on the march. The dissent between Saunsheim and Rusdorf intensified with the Peace of Brest (1435) . Saunsheim opposed Rusdorf's resilient policy because he wanted to prevent a silent co-government of the estates in Prussia and to spare the German balleien further war costs.

In order to secure the rule of the order in the Balleien with their extensive free float in the south and west of the empire, Saunsheim moved the administrative center to Horneck Castle as early as 1420 . He converted it for residential purposes and built a hospital in Gundelsheim . Legal titles were secured and property increased, and individual properties were directly subordinated to his administration. In doing so, he created the conditions for his own sovereignty . In 1438 he replaced the use of the chamber houses with the regular payment of fixed taxes . The Deutschordensballei Franconia was closely linked to the finance department of the Deutschmeisteramt through individual services by those coming .

The conflict with Rusdorf over the right to participate and control over the administration of the Grand Master was unsolved. By referring to the forged "Oreln Statutes" named after Grand Master Werner von Orelen in 1436/37, Saunsheim declared in 1439 the Grand Master's office in Rusdorf due to inadequate government activity. With the backing of Emperor Sigismund (HRR) , the Imperial Princes and the Council of Basel , he made himself Grand Master-Governor. Rusdorf countered this illegal procedure by dismissing Saunsheim, but was prompted to resign at the end of 1440 by a convention revolt. The pretext was the alleged preference for the Low German language in Prussia (the so-called tongue dispute) and the growing class movement in the Prussian Confederation . De facto , Saunsheim received the recognition of Oreln's statutes from the new Grand Master Konrad von Erlichshausen . They were valid from the election of the new Grand Master to the proclamation of the Duchy of Prussia (1525). Saunsheim also enforced the exclusion of the grand master's right of visitation .

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Carl August Lückerath:  Saunsheim, Eberhard von. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 22, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 2005, ISBN 3-428-11203-2 , p. 464 f. ( Digitized version ).
personal data
SURNAME Saunsheim, Eberhard von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Seunsheim, Eberhard von; Sawensheim, Eberhard von
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Religious, German master of the Teutonic Order
DATE OF BIRTH around 1385
PLACE OF BIRTH Gnötzheim Castle
DATE OF DEATH December 27, 1443
Place of death Horneck Castle