Hieronymus Roth (politician, 1606)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Hieronymus Roth (* 1606 ; † 1678 in the fortress Peitz , Lausitz ) was lay judge in Kneiphof , one of the three cities of Königsberg . He was a politician and one of the most headstrong and strongest personalities in the city's history.

Life

Little is known about the life of Hieronymus Roth, but it is certain that he was a merchant and citizen representative in Königsberg. He was the leader of the opposition to Elector Friedrich Wilhelm , who, as sovereign in the Duchy of Prussia, increased the Königsberg tax burden and at the same time reduced the privileges of the estates.

Through the Treaty of Wehlau , the elector had achieved the abolition of Polish suzerainty in the Duchy of Prussia in 1657 . The estates feared that the integration of Prussia into the emerging absolutist state of Brandenburg-Prussia would curtail their relative independence and did not recognize the elector as their new ruler. Their spokesman was Hieronymus Roth. His resistance began in the state parliament, to which he belonged as a representative of his hometown. The electoral-ducal government exerted pressure on the Königsberg administration to initiate a process for high treason against Roth in the name of the authorities, but this was refused. Roth was only throttled in his enthusiasm by being recalled from the state parliament on November 4, 1661. But he remained unmolested.

Roth went to the Polish court in 1662 to ask the king for help. He promised the liberation of the Prussian residents of Brandenburg, but never kept his promise due to a chronic lack of money and soldiers. When the Konigsbergers refused to pay the excise or taxes to the elector, he threatened with violence; it came to the Konigsberg uprising .

The elector confirmed several privileges for the nobility and reassured them, but only in order to be able to deal exclusively with Hieronymus Roth: He represented the backbone of the urban opposition. Friedrich Wilhelm marched into Königsberg with troops at the end of October 1661, had Hieronymus Roth arrested and sentenced to long imprisonment for high treason. He was imprisoned in the Peitz fortress in Lusatia . After Roth's elimination, the Prussian estates paid homage to the Brandenburg elector on 17/18. October 1663 solemnly in Königsberg Castle . Roth's detention conditions were very relaxed until 1668, when it was discovered that he was engaged in secret correspondence with Königsberg. In 1676, Roth asked in a letter to the elector for his release, which was not granted, so that he died in custody in 1678.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Christopher Clark : Prussia. Rise and Fall ("Iron Kingdom"). Pantheon-Verlag, Munich 2006, ISBN 978-3-570-55060-1 , page 85f

literature

personal data
SURNAME Roth, Hieronymus
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Schöppenmeister and politician
DATE OF BIRTH 1606
DATE OF DEATH 1678
Place of death Peitz Fortress , Lausitz