Friedrich Wilhelm (Teschen)

Friedrich Wilhelm von Teschen (Czech Fridrich Vilém Těšínský , Polish Fryderyk Wilhelm cieszyński ; born November 9, 1601 , † August 19, 1625 in Cologne ) was Duke of Teschen from 1617 to 1625 . He came from the Teschen branch of the Silesian Piasts , which went out with his death.

Life

Friedrich Wilhelm's parents were Duke Adam Wenzel from Teschen and Elisabeth, daughter of Duke Gotthard Kettler of Courland and Semgallen , who died ten days after his birth. Friedrich Wilhelm initially remained under the supervision of his father, who entrusted him to Protestant teachers, including the scholar Balthasar Exner from Hirschberg . Between 1607 and 1609 it was noted in Exner's works that he had received the poetic laurel from Emperor Rudolf II and that he was responsible for the education and studies of the Prince Frederick William of Teschen ( Poeta Caesareus - Morum ac Studiorum Director ).

After Friedrich Wilhelm converted to Catholicism with his father at Christmas in 1609, the Protestant educators were removed and his further education and training handed over to Catholic teachers. The Breslau bishop Charles of Austria probably also exerted an influence in this process . He was an advocate of the Counter-Reformation and, through his mother Maria of Bavaria, a cousin of the Bavarian Duke Maximilian I , who was the most powerful Catholic prince in the empire at the time and who founded the Catholic League in 1609 . This is probably why Friedrich Wilhelm was sent to the Munich court by his father at the end of 1614. At that time, Munich was one of the centers of revitalized Catholicism and had the largest Jesuit college in Germany. This visited Friedrich Wilhelm at the expense of the Spanish King Philip III . His classmates included two sons of the Bohemian Colonel Marshal Wilhelm Slavata . With the selection of the place of study for his son, Duke Adam also intended a political rapprochement between Teschen and Habsburg Spain and the Duchy of Bavaria .

After the father's death in 1617, a committee appointed by the emperor took over the guardianship of Friedrich Wilhelm, while the reign of the duchy was in the hands of Friedrich Wilhelm's sister Elisabeth Lukretia . The guardianship body consisted of the Wroclaw Bishop Karl of Inner Austria, the Duke of Troppau and Jägerndorf, Karl I of Liechtenstein , and the Governor of Opole - Ratibor Hans Christoph I Proskowski of Proskau . During the guardianship, counter-reformation measures were increasingly carried out and Friedrich Wilhelm's sister married Gundaker von Liechtenstein , a brother of Charles I of Liechtenstein. The evangelical preachers had to leave the duchy and the churches were reassigned to the Catholics. These measures were reversed after the election of King Friedrich in 1618 against the will of Friedrich Wilhelm.

In November 1619 Friedrich Wilhelm came of age. From Munich he tried to take over the administration of his duchy. On the other hand, the Silesian Princes' Congress required him to first recognize King Friedrich, who had already fled. Nevertheless, a few months later, Friedrich Wilhelm managed to get the parish church of Teschen to become Catholic again.

In July 1620, Friedrich Wilhelm belonged to the retinue of the Bavarian Duke Maximilian I, who marched with his troops to Upper Austria and then to Bohemia . Presumably he took on November 8th. J. participated in the battle of the White Mountain . After that he became seriously ill and made a vow to Madonna von Tuntenhausen . In 1621 he is recorded in the Miracle Book of the Tuntenhausen pilgrimage church with a miraculous healing. He then probably took part in further campaigns and only returned to his duchy in 1623, for the first time in nine years, to take possession of it. An earlier return was not possible due to the effects of the Thirty Years' War. In 1620 Polish troops ( Lisowczycy ) besieged the duchy and destroyed Skotschau and Schwarzwasser . In 1622 imperial troops under Karl Hannibal von Dohna fought with the Protestant army of the Jägerndorfer Duke Georg the Pious , who held Teschen.

In March 1624, Friedrich Wilhelm took part in the Silesian Princes' Day for the first time. In 1625 he and his entourage went to Breda via Brussels to take part in the Spanish-Dutch war on the side of the Spaniards . On the return journey he fell seriously ill in August 1625 and died in a hostel in Cologne. Before that, he made a notarial will there, with which he made his sister Elisabeth Lucretia the heir of the Duchy of Teschen including the Lords of Skotschau , Schwarzwasser and Jablunkau . Legacies received & a. the Capuchin order and the Dominican monastery in Teschen. 2,000 Reichstaler were to be distributed to the poor, the Tuntenhausen pilgrimage church was given a diamond gem and Emperor Ferdinand II was appointed executor of the will. Friedrich Wilhelm's body was transferred to Teschen and buried in the Dominican church.

Friedrichs Wilhelm died unmarried and without legitimate descendants. The illegitimate daughter Magdalena conceived by him was probably not born until after his death in 1625. In any case, it was not mentioned in Friedrich Wilhelm's will. It was not until 1640 by Emperor Ferdinand III. legitimized. After 1661 she died as Maria Magdalena von und zu Hohenstein .

Since the Teschen branch of the male line died out with Friedrich Wilhelm, the Duchy of Teschen was to revert to the Crown of Bohemia as a settled fiefdom . Friedrich Wilhelm's sister Elisabeth Lukretia opposed this and therefore led a long legal battle over her property rights to the Duchy of Teschen. It was not until 1638 that it received the approval of Emperor Ferdinand III. , after which she was allowed to keep the duchy for life for personal use.

literature

• Norbert Conrads : The politics of recatholization in Teschen . In: Silesia in early modernity: On the political and intellectual culture of a Habsburg country . New research on Silesian history. ed. v. Joachim Bahlcke . Weimar 2009, ISBN 3-412-20350-5 , pp. 21-38.
• M. Landwehr von Pragenau: History of the city of Teschen. Würzburg 1976, p. 5f. u. 47.
• Rudolf Žáček: Dějiny Slezska v datech . Praha 2004, ISBN 80-7277-172-8 , p. 160 u. 451.

Web links

• Genealogy Teschen

Individual evidence

1. ↑ See note 30 in Norbert Conrads: Schlesien in der Frühmoderne. In the previous literature it is erroneously stated that the governor was Friedrich von Oppersdorf at the time.
2. ^ Year after cs: Fridrich Vilém Těšínský
3. ^ Historical Commission for Silesia : History of Silesia / The Habsburg Time 1526–1740. ISBN 3-7995-6342-3 , pp. 54 and 64.

predecessor	Office	successor
Adam Wenzel	Duke of Teschen 1617–1625	Elisabeth Lucretia