Friedrich von Fürstenberg (Landdrost)

Friedrich von Fürstenberg-Herdringen (born March 1, 1576 at Bilstein Castle; † August 9, 1646 ) was an Electorate of Cologne (Land-) Droste in the Duchy of Westphalia , hereditary pledgee of the offices of Bilstein and Fredeburg, and landowner in Herdringen and other estates.

Friedrich von Fürstenberg

Live and act

Friedrich was the son of the land drosten Kaspar von Fürstenberg and his wife Anna (born von Spiegel zu Peckelsheim ). He was brought up to the Jesuit college in Fulda at the age of eight . Originally, Friedrich was intended for the clergy, which is why the father sought clerical positions and benefices at an early age . Friedrich received his first ordinations as early as 1584. In 1587 Friedrich moved to Paderborn with his brother Johann Gottfried , where they were further taught by a new tutor. A year later they went to Trier for further studies with the teacher . In the same year his father got him the benefice of a dean from Wormbach . Friedrich then studied at the University of Cologne . During his studies, Friedrich had doubts about his spiritual destiny. This led to violent conflicts with his father in 1596. Since the younger brother agreed to convert to the clergy, the family peace could be saved. Friedrich completed his legal studies in 1600 with the defense of his thesis " de practis ".

As early as 1599, the Elector Ernst of Bavaria had appointed him Drosten of all offices of his father. In 1602, Elector Johann Adam von Bicken also gave him the Electoral Mainz offices that his father had given up in his favor. With the appointment of the new Mainz Elector Johann Schweikhard von Kronberg , von Fürstenberg led several embassies as "secret council", for example to Prague in 1605 to welcome Emperor Rudolf II , in 1606 to Landgrave in Hesse-Kassel , in 1607 to the Reichstag in Regensburg where he was at the same time Father was present as the Cologne envoy.

In 1607, his father gave him the offices of Waldenburg and Lenne as well as the offices of Bilstein, the parent company Burg Waterlappe , the Vorwerk Hengstebeck and the salt fountain in Werl , in addition to the offices in Fritzlar and Naumburg, which had already been transferred. These transfers were related to Friedrich's marriage to Anne Maria von Kerpen in 1608, although the preparation took several years. Fürstenberg had 15 children with this woman, five of whom died. Of the six male descendants, five entered the clergy. Among these were the later Paderborn prince-bishop Ferdinand , the provincial commander Franz Wilhelm , the papal secret chamberlain and cathedral dean Wilhelm and the cathedral provost Johann Adolf . The son of the same name, Friedrich , was also canon before he took over the family inheritance. Later he owned some rents and possessions, including half of the vineyards near Mainz . After 1618, his uncle, Prince-Bishop Dietrich von Fürstenberg from Paderborn , gave him the Herdringen estate as a gift.

With a document dated February 1, 1610, he was appointed senior officer of the Königstein office. He held this position inside until 1619. In 1618 Friedrich took over the remaining possessions of his late father in the Duchy of Westphalia . In this context he was appointed to the Westphalian Council and also to the Princely Paderborn Council. In 1619 he took part in the Electoral Mainz election of Ferdinand II . After Wilhelm of Bavaria gave up the Landdrostenamt in 1624, Friedrich was appointed his successor as the highest electoral official in the Duchy of Westphalia. As such, he was the representative of the sovereign Elector Ferdinand of Bavaria .

Von Fürstenberg is considered to be one of the main people responsible for the persecution of witches in the Duchy of Westphalia . Since the Fürstenberg family held the lordly office of Fredeburg as a pledge, he was able to initiate the persecution of witches there in his own name, as well as in his patrimonial Oberkirchen . In addition, at the instigation of the Elector and Landdrosten, official witchcraft commissions were also active.

Baroque high grave of Friedrich von Fürstenberg in the church of the Wedinghausen Abbey in Arnsberg

Friedrich von Fürstenberg's term of office falls during the Thirty Years' War . In negotiations with the Landgrave of Hesse, Von Fürstenberg tried in vain to obtain the evacuation of the Duchy of Westphalia from Hessian troops. Instead, Friedrich was captured by the Hessians near Meschede in 1637 and interned in Lippstadt . A letter of protection from the Swedish Chancellor Axel Freiherr von Oxenstierna offered no protection. He was only released a year later. Since von Fürstenberg no longer felt safe after his capture in the Duchy of Westphalia, he stayed mainly in the Elector's Bonn residence and became his advisor on political issues. After the death of his wife on March 15, 1646, he resigned from his office and died a few months later in Bonn.

In his memory, his son Ferdinand von Fürstenberg , Prince-Bishop of Paderborn and Münster , had a monumental tomb erected for his father in the monastery church of Wedinghausen Monastery . There is an inscription on it, probably written by Ferdinand himself: “ He took great care early on in virtue and knowledge. He increased both of them where many lose them: at the courts of the princes. That is why men learned and godly were valued by him so highly, that is why he was held in great esteem by men who were learned and godly. ".

In addition to Ferdinand, he had 15 other children, most of whom died in childhood, but some held high and highest offices:

1. Anna Ursula (born and died 1609)
2. Maria Katharina (born January 28, 1611) married Jörg Christoph Freiherr von Haslang
3. Anna Barbara (* 1612), Capuchin
4. Ursula (born June 17, 1614 - † June 30, 1667), dean of Heerse Abbey
5. Dietrich Kaspar (born March 9, 1615), Canon of Mainz, Speyer and Canon of St. Alban
6. Friedrich von Fürstenberg (1618–1662)
7. Ottilia, married Bernhard von Plettenberg zu Lehnhausen in 1643
8. Johann (died as a child)
9. Hans Gottfried (* 1622, died as a child)
10. Anna Wilhelma (1620–1624)
11. Wilhelm von Fürstenberg (1623–1699)
12. Ferdinand von Fürstenberg (1626–1683)
13. Franz Wilhelm von Fürstenberg (born September 29, 1628, † September 2, 1688), Teutonic Knight, Landkomtur in Westphalia zu Brackel
14. Johann Adolph (born March 16, 1631; † April 14, 1704), Provost of Paderborn, Canon of Hildesheim and Münster
15. Anna Helene (died as a child)
16. Anna (died as a child)

Remarks

1. ↑ Hans Mieles: Friedrich von Furstenberg, Dorst 1618 to 1646, from Bilstein country castle and town, p 94, 1975 Lennestadt
2. ↑ on the tradition of academic training in the early modern period with the von Fürstenberg family, which is remarkable for the nobility, cf. Horst Conrad: "Splendor Familiae." Generational discipline and politics in the von Fürstenberg family. A sketch. In: Südwestfalenarchiv 6th year 2006 p. 112.
3. ^ Sources for the transfer of ownership in 1607
4. ↑ Notes on the marriage contract
5. ↑ Appointment to the Electoral Mainz Council
6. ↑ cit. according to Rehermann, p. 66.

literature

• Karl Feaux de Lacroix: History of Arnsberg. Arnsberg, 1895 [Reprint Werl, 1983] p. 336, p. 351.
• Ernst Heinrich Rehermann: Friedrich von Fürstenberg (1576-1646) In: Michael Gosmann (Hrsg.): Fürstenberger sketches - forays through 700 years of Westphalian families and regional history. Arnsberg, 1995 pp. 63-67
• Dr. Alfred Bruns, The witch persecution in the former criminal jurisdiction , in: Witches - Jurisdiction in the Electoral Cologne Sauerland , edited by the Schieferbergbau-Heimatmuseum Schmallenberg-Holthausen, 1984, p. 214
• Friedrich Stöhlker: The Kurmainzer Oberamtmen in Königstein (1581–1781); in: Heimatliche Geschichtsblätter, Königstein im Taunus, 1957, Issue 4, pp. 43–45