Heinrich IV. (Sayn)

Heinrich IV. Count of Sayn

Heinrich IV von Sayn , Lord of Homburg , Montclair and Meinsberg (* 1539 ; † January 17, 1606 at Sayn Castle , today Bendorf on the Rhine) was the last male Count of Sayn-Sayn of the Sayn-Sponheimer line.

Heinrich, the middle of the three sons of Count Johann V. von Sayn and Elisabeth von Holstein-Schauenburg , became a cleric at the father's request . Initially canon , he was from 1565 under the archbishops Friedrich IV. Von Wied and Salentin von Isenburg cathedral dean in Cologne . After the death of his uncle Count Sebastian II , who ruled the county of Sayn together with Heinrich's brother Hermann von Sayn , he inherited the northern victory area of the county in 1573 with the Freusburg as his residence. Connected with this was the conversion to the confession of the Wittenberg Reformation , which Sebastian and Hermann had introduced in their countries after a long hesitation in 1561.

Heinrich soon married Jutta von Mallinkrodt in February 1574, a former nun whom he had already met as Cologne cathedral dean in the monastery of St. Querin in Neuss . Whether Jutta von Mallinkrodt was leading the life of a courtesan at that time remains uncertain. But the marriage remained childless and ultimately failed. Jutta von Mallinkrodt died on February 28, 1608 at Friedewald Castle , which Heinrich had built in the Renaissance style. In the meantime, Heinrich had a liaison with a maid. Two sons emerged from this relationship, but due to their illegitimate descent, they were not entitled to inheritance.

When Count Hermann died on March 17, 1588, Heinrich reunited the county under his leadership. On December 22nd, 1589, he decreed the first church ordinance, printed in Frankfurt am Main the following year . She gave instructions to superintendents , pastors and other church and school servants as to how they should behave in the teaching of the divine word, the administration of the holy sacraments, in ceremonies and other matters related to church service . In doing so, he continued to contribute to the renewal of church life in the Saynian land. At his side was Superintendent Magister Leopold Optichtyus, who had studied in Wittenberg and Marburg . Heinrich also ensured an orderly school system in the County of Sayn: In the church ordinance of 1589, for example, he stipulated that every parish church should have a school in which the young people were to read, write and especially teach their catechism .

Heinrich knew that after his death the county fell to Hermann's only daughter Anna Elisabeth, who was in a relationship with Count Wilhelm von Sayn-Wittgenstein . Wilhelm, however, was brought up according to the Reformed Confession. Heinrich therefore worried about the continued existence of the Lutheran denomination in his country. When Henry IV, because of increasing weakness, the husband of his niece, who henceforth Wilhelm III. Count von Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn , who handed over the government on September 12, 1605, had the Lutheran denomination guaranteed in Sayn. But Wilhelm expelled all Lutheran pastors from the country within a year and appointed Reformed preachers .

Heinrich died on January 17, 1606 at Sayn Castle , the ancestral seat of the Counts of Sayn, and was buried on March 17, 1606 in the family crypt under the choir of the Evangelical Church in Hachenburg .

It was one of his merits that he gave the Freusburg its current appearance; he was the builder of the south wing with the bay window carried by stone mythical animals . The Count was also the builder of Altenkirchen Castle , which has since been demolished. French castles, which he saw on a trip to France , inspired him to design the castle in Friedewald, which is now considered a pearl among the princely castles of the German Renaissance .

literature

• Matthias Dahlhoff: History of the County of Sayn . Dillenburg 1874.
• Hans Fritzsche: Count Heinrich IV. Von Sayn , in: Life pictures from the Altenkirchen district . Altenkirchen 1975.
• Friedrich Hennes: On the history of the Reformation in the county of Sayn . in: Festschrift for the 400th anniversary of the Reformation in the county of Sayn . Düsseldorf 1961.