Geldrische feud (East Frisia)

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The Geldrische Feud was a dispute between Count Enno II and Johann von Ostfriesland on the one hand and Balthasar von Esens and Duke Karl von Geldern on the other. In this war, which was waged from 1531 to 1534 (Peace of Logum), East Friesland suffered severe devastation.

prehistory

The Counts of East Friesland from the House of Cirksena had had problems with Junker Balthasar von Esens, Lord of the Harlingerland, for some time . In 1530 Enno II finally moved to Esens , defeated Balthasar and forced him to a humiliating peace. Enno II took away a large part of his former domain from him with Wittmund , Westerholt , Ochtersum , Dunum and Werdum . In addition, Balthasar had to accept Enno as a liege lord and kneel to ask for a contract to be signed. Balthasar thought about revenge. He found help in 1531 from the Catholic Duke Karl von Geldern , who was not sympathetic to the Cirksena, since the Reformation had been introduced in East Frisia under Enno's father Edzard .

course

In 1531 Balthasar's troops invaded East Frisia and devastated the country. In the course of the campaign, Balthasar destroyed the residence, the previous building of today's Old Town Hall and the St. Andrew's Church in the north as well as the monasteries Mariental , Appingen, Sielmönken and Dykhusen. Maria von Jever seized the opportunity and drove the East Frisian occupation out of the Jeverland .

The Mariental monastery in the north should be given special mention. The family crypt of the Cirksena family was located there until it was destroyed by Balthasar. It was then moved to the Great Church of Emden , which is now the Johannes a Lasco Library . The grave of Ennos II can still be seen there today.

Count Johann, Count Ennos' Catholic brother, also made rich booty in a retaliatory campaign in Harlingerland, pillaging and murdering just like Balthasar in East Friesland. However, the Junker had made enough booty in East Frisia to restore his homeland, while the counts were largely left with the destruction.

Balthasar finally subordinated the Harlingerland to the fiefdom of Geldern and continued to arm with the strong duke behind him. In 1533 the troops of Duke Karl von Geldern and Balthasars von Esens, led by the notorious mercenary leader Meinhart von Hamme , moved to the Rheiderland with 2,000 men . At first Enno was able to stand up to the army at the Dieler Schanze and drive them out of the country. A second attempt by Meinhard von Hamme was successful. He marched across the Rheiderland in a hurry and with a view to secrecy, and holed up in the well-fortified church of Jemgum .

On October 14, 1533 the battle of Jemgum took place . There the count's troops acted so awkwardly tactically that their outnumbered troops were shot down and driven into wild flight. Although only a comparatively small number of 400 men were killed, the East Frisian victims included numerous nobles who had ridden at the head of their army. As a result of the battle, the Coldeborg was taken, and both Leer and Oldersum were plundered and set on fire.

Von Ham then withdrew from East Friesland, but came back a few weeks later with reinforcements from Geldern and continued the campaign. In 1534 Albert von Bakemoor had to hand over Greetsiel , the family seat of the Cirksena, to Balthasar von Esens. Enno II had lost the feud and was forced to make peace.

End of the Geldrian feud

In 1534, Enno II concluded a peace treaty in Logum with Karl von Geldern, the liege lord of Balthasar. Balthasar got the rule of Esen back with Wittmund . The peace of 1530 was thus revised. In addition, Enno undertook to pay 12,000 Emden guilders in four annual installments for the war costs incurred by the Duke of Geldern .

Effects

Large parts of East Frisia were destroyed by the turmoil of the Saxon feud and the Geldrian feud. Count Enno II had learned from his defeat and remained cautious in the period that followed. But Balthasar started a conflict with the people of Bremen from 1537, drunk with victory , by issuing letters of piracy. Thereupon the Bremen procured the imposition of the imperial ban on Balthasar, which was pronounced on June 21, 1538. In July 1540 the people of Bremen besieged Esens, supported by Maria von Jever. Balthasar died of an illness on October 18, 1540, during the siege. Shortly afterwards the fighting ended and in the course of the year a peace treaty was concluded with the Bremen people through the mediation of the Hessian Landgrave Philipp , in which Balthasar's sister was installed as the new regent of the Harlingerland under the suzerainty of the Bremen people.

literature

  • Karl-Ernst Behre , Hajo van Lengen (Ed.): Ostfriesland. History and shape of a cultural landscape. East Frisian Landscape, Aurich 1995, ISBN 3-925365-85-0 .
  • Eckart Kroemer, Heino Schmidt, Hajo van Lengen: Ostfriesland (= Landscapes of Lower Saxony and their problems. Vol. 5, ZDB -ID 585200-6 ). Lower Saxony State Center for Political Education, Hanover 1987.