Enno II (East Frisia)

Enno II.

Enno II grave above the crypt of the great church in Emden .

Count Enno II of East Friesland (* 1505 ; † September 24, 1540 in Emden ) from the house of Cirksena was ruler of the county of East Friesland from 1528 until his death in 1540 . He ruled largely together with his brother Johann . However, he remained Catholic, while Enno was a Lutheran denomination and continued to campaign for the Reformation in East Frisia, but in contrast to his father unilaterally promoted Lutheranism .

Otherwise, Enno II fell clearly from his father Edzard , who was called "the great". He lost Jeverland forever for East Frisia by not keeping his father's promise to marry. Enno and his brother Johann should have married their inherited Jever daughters, but Enno felt strong enough to get Jeverland in another way. Maria von Jever was seriously offended by this infidelity and was a bitter enemy of Enno for her entire life. And so she made sure that Jeverland fell to Oldenburg after her death .

On Butjadingen renounced Enno however, voluntarily, when he Anna von Oldenburg took to wife. That left only the Harlingerland under the rebellious and belligerent chief Balthasar von Esens . Enno expelled the Junker Balthasar in 1530, but he returned with the help of the Duke of Geldern , devastated East Frisia and so Balthasar von Enno had to be recognized as chief in Harlingerland again. In this so-called Geldrian feud , Enno did not make a happy figure either (see, inter alia, Battle of Jemgum ).

In 1538, Enno secretly planned an attempt at a Counter-Reformation and sought support from theologians at Cologne University . Adolf Eichholz († 1563) as dean of the law faculty confirmed the corresponding written agreements in December 1538.

Furthermore, Enno played a major role in the destruction of many East Frisian monasteries , whose properties he made money to fill his war chest. Enno II died at the age of 35. After his death, his widow Anna took over government affairs.

family

See also : Stammliste der Cirksena

He married Anna von Oldenburg (1501–1575) daughter of Count Johann V von Oldenburg and Anne von Anhalt-Zerbst . The marriage had six children:

• Elisabeth, born January 10, 1531 , † September 6, 1555 (married Count Johann V von Schaumburg-Pinneberg in 1553 ) (1531–1560)
• Edzard II , born June 24, 1532 , † September 1, 1599
• Anna, born January 3, 1534 , † May 20, 1552
• Hedwig , born June 29, 1535 , † November 4, 1616 (married on October 8, 1562 Duke Otto II of Braunschweig-Harburg ) (1528–1603)
• Christoph, born October 8, 1536 , † September 29, 1566 in Komárom (Hungary) from the "Hungarian disease" (probably typhus )
• Johann , born September 29, 1538 , † September 29, 1591 .

literature

• Martin Tielke : Biographical Lexicon for East Frisia . East Frisian landscape, Aurich

1. 1995, ISBN 3-925365-75-3 .
2. 1997, ISBN 3-932206-00-2 .
3. 2001, ISBN 3-932206-22-3 .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Martin Tielke: ENNO II. In: Biographisches Lexikon für Ostfriesland . East Frisian landscape, Aurich.
2. ↑ Cf. Friedrich Ritter: An attempt at counter-reformation by Count Ennos II (1538) . In: Yearbook of the Society for Fine Art and Patriotic Antiquities in Emden 21 (1925), pp. 197–215, esp. Pp. 204f, 210f and 214, note 17 ( PDF; 28.0 MB on the website of the East Frisian Landscape ) ; Henning P. Juergens: Johannes a Lasco in East Friesland. The career of a European reformer (late Middle Ages and Reformation 18). Mohr-Siebeck, Tübingen 2002, p. 419.
3. ↑ Alexander Rittmann: hungaric disease . In: Pest medical-surgical press 8 (1872), pp. 1–21, especially p. 7 ( Google Books ).

predecessor	Office	successor
Edzard the Great	Count of East Friesland 1528–1540	Anna