Egidius Valenzyn

Egidius Valenzyn (alternate spelling: Gillis Valenzyn * 16th century ; † 23. January 1600 in Aachen ) was a German alderman and mayor of the imperial city of Aachen .

Live and act

Egidius Valenzyn was the son of Mattheis Valenzyn from his second marriage to Katharina Fibis and was first documented on July 29, 1577 in his capacity as secretary of the Aachen Marienstift . At the height of the Aachen religious unrest, he was considered to be one of the most loyal representatives of the Catholic party and in 1581 was one of those Catholics who, after the Protestants in the city council had fought for power and their supporters roamed the city, went into exile in Jülich had fled. Nevertheless, Valenzyn continued to maintain his contacts with the city and was supposed to be elected as secular magistrate in the broadcast court in 1590 , but he was again expelled from the city with the other Catholic candidates.

In 1597 there was a memorable "double election" for the mayor's office, in which both three evangelical councilors from the evangelical portion, and again two candidates from the Catholic portion of the population, Egidius Valenzyn and Wilhelm von Wylre, elected mayor in absentia who, however, could not take up their office from exile. It was not until in 1598 that already in 1593 by Emperor Rudolf II. Imposed outlawry had been completed final against the Reformed forces by imperial troops, the Catholic exiles could return to Aachen. After his return, Valenzyn was elected to the chairman of the aldermen in the same year and finally to the mayor of the city of Aachen in 1599. However, he was unable to finish his term because he died unexpectedly on January 23, 1600. Shortly before he had been enfeoffed with the Aachener Heppionsmühle, an old copper mill in Heppionsgasse, today's Elisabethstrasse.

In 1602, his widow, who was not known by name, was awarded a severance payment of 1,800 Reichstalers for economic and personal damage suffered by her husband during the religious unrest.

Literature and Sources

• Luise Freiin von Coels von der Brügghen: The lay judges of the Royal See of Aachen from the earliest times until the final repeal of the imperial city constitution in 1798 . In: Journal of the Aachen History Association . tape 50 , 1928, ISSN  0065-0137 , pp. 340-341 , No. 264 ( pp. 340/341 ).
• Luise Freiin von Coels von der Brügghen: The Aachen mayors from 1251 to 1798 . In: Journal of the Aachen History Association . tape 55, 1933/34 , pp. 65 ( aachener-geschichtsverein.de [PDF; 1.7 MB ]).