Fidel to believe

Fidel Zurlauben (born March 1, 1675 in Zug , † February 26, 1731 in Lucerne ) was the last political representative of the Zurlauben family from Zug in Switzerland .

Life

Fidel as the patron and head of the Zurlauben family

After the death of his brother Beat Jakob II (1660-1717), Fidel Zurlauben rose to the highest position in the family hierarchy. He began his political career as a town clerk in Zug, the most lucrative of all offices. He then ruled as Obervogt von Oberrüti, in 1708 he became bailiff in the Rhine Valley , in 1709 city ​​clerk in parallel , 1717 staff leader (the highest office in the city of Zug, which was "traditionally" occupied by members of the Zurlauben between 1678–1728) as well as city and district council, 1718 governor (representative of the Ammann from the city and office of Zug) and finally Ammann in 1722 .

In order to live up to his role as head of the family in everyday political life and to be able to act for the good of the family, his position of power was based on the power of disposal over a number of important patronage resources , which enabled him to build up and maintain a broad clientele . Of particular importance was on the one hand his work as a pension distributor and on the other hand as the holder of the salt monopoly .

As a pension distributor, Fidel had the special privilege of being able to distribute the French royalties. The Zurlauben family was determined to take on this influential work on site due to their close contacts with the French crown. As the local confidante of the French crown, Fidel Zurlauben was able to set up the lists of people with the money recipients and thus finance a broad clientele. The distribution system gave him considerable room for maneuver and made him a personality with high socio-economic status. Fidel Zurlauben served as a pension distributor from 1712 until his fall in 1729.

In addition to his work as a pension distributor, Fidel Zurlauben had also owned the salt shelf, which was one of the most important resources of political patronage, since the death of his brother Beat Jakob II. After the incorporation of the Free County of Burgundy (1678), Zug received a treatise from the French king in 1691 for 600 barrels of discounted Burgundy salt. The Zug council ceded the treatise to Beat Jakob II Zurlauben on November 3, 1691. Six years later, he also became the main leaseholder of the salt trading shelf for Halle salt and in 1706 finally became the owner of the sea salt contract. After his death in 1717, Fidel took over his brother's lucrative salt trade .

Fidel Zurlauben did not know how to consolidate his position of power in the long term. During his time as an influential patron, he made many enemies outside, sometimes within the family.

The fall of Fidel Zurlauben

Fidel Zurlauben's political career ended on July 18, 1729, when, during the turmoil of the first hard and linden trade , he was sentenced by the Zug authorities to 101 years of exile and a large amount of reparation. After his position of power had already been weakened on the one hand by conflicts within the family and on the other hand the growing resentment of the population at the powerful patron had begun to discharge publicly, a court case was initiated against Fidel. Despite several attempts at bribery, he was no longer able to evade trial and conviction. The Zug council cited disobedience to the authorities as well as fraud and corruption in relation to the salt and pension business as reasons for the harsh sentence. Because the council knew that the verdict against a representative of the influential Zurlauben would attract a great deal of attention, it wrote a defense document entitled Series facti, that is: Faithful and sincere draft, of the Royal Burgundian, unfaithfully run by the old Ammann Fidel Zurlauben Saltz trade, accompanied by the all too edgy, up to then unknown pension business. Including the final judgment issued under the 18th of July for the rest of the year . In the document, the Zug council takes a detailed position on the allegations against Fidel and the reasons for his conviction.

The destructive verdict from the salt trial not only ended Fidel's career, but also the 300-year-old power of the Zurlauben sex in Zug. Fidel fled to Lucerne during the trial, where he died in 1731.

Genealogical keywords

The following information comes from Kurt-Werner Meier's work on the Zurlauben family:

• Parents: Born in Zug as the twelfth child of Ammann Beat Jakob I. (1615–1690) and Maria Margaretha Pfyffer von Wyer.
• Marriages: First married around 1695 to Maria Katharina Atlanta Adelheid Meyer von Baldegg; second marriage on August 26, 1726 with Maria Katharina Segesser von Brunegg.
• Children from the first marriage:
  • Maria Margaretha Katharina, * November 23, 1696, † October 16, 1753
  • Anna Katharina Beatrix, * December 1, 1697, † November 30, 1738
  • Maria Barbara Josepha, * February 16, 1699, † November 22, 1750
  • Maria Anna Verena, * 1701, † 1757
  • Maria Louisa Franziska, * May 25, 1703, † March 4, 1708
  • Plazidus Anton Leonz, born November 15, 1704
  • Beat Gerold Fidel, born October 3, 1706, † Lille October 22, 1742 (captain in French service)
  • Rudolf Beat Jakob Anton, * April 27, 1708, † July 23, 1777 (captain, lieutenant colonel in French service)
  • Maria Esther Atlanta, born February 15, 1711
  • Maria Franziska Elisabeth, * May 12, 1714, † 1715

An overview of Fidel's military and political career

• Around 1690 foreign studies in Lucerne and Paris
• Captain in French service
• 1696–1698 twin lord of Oberrüti and caretaker of St. Wolfgang
• 1700/01, 1701/02 member of the weekly court
• 1706–1729 Governor of the Free Offices
• 1708–1710 governor in the Rhine Valley
• 1709–1717 town clerk
• 1717–1729 City and District Councilor
• 1717–1728 staff leader
• 1717 Hereditary Marshal of Muri
• 1717 court lord of Anglikon and Hembrunn
• 1718–1722 governor
• 1722-1725 Ammann

swell

• Series facti, that is: Faithful and sincere draft of the royal Burgundian salt trade, unfaithful by old Ammann Fidel Zurlauben, accompanied by the all too edgy, up to then unknown pension business. Including the final judgment issued under the 18th of July for the rest of the year. Given in a public truck out of high authority felch . Train 1729.
• Zurlauben Collection. Regesta and registers for the Acta Helvetica , arr. by Urs Amacher, Kurt-Werner Meier, Josef Schenker, Rainer Stöckli. Aarau 1976 ff.

literature

• Konrad Bossard: Ammann Schumacher and his time, or the history of the unrest in Zug from 1728–1736 , in: Der Geschichtsfreund 12, 1856, pp. 68–140. ( doi : 10.5169 / seals-110920 )
• Fabian Brändle: The ascetic prophet. Joseph Anton Schumacher and the “Harten und Lindenhandel” in Zug 1728–1735 , in: Ders., Demokratie und Charisma. Five Landsgemeindekonflätze in the 18th century, Zurich 2005, pp. 165–192.
• Hans Koch: The black Schumacher: The hard and linden trade in Zug 1728-1736 . Train 1940.
• Kurt-Werner Meier: The Zurlaubiana. Ownership analyzes. A Zug family collection. The foundation of the Aargau Cantonal Library . Aarau 1981.

Web links

• Zurlaubiana
• Urs Amacher: Zurlauben, Fidel. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .

Individual evidence

1. ^ Meier: p. 954 f.
2. ^ Meier: p. 955 f.