Jacob Henot

Jacob Henot (* around 1545, possibly in Limont near Waremme , Prince Diocese of Liège ; † November 17, 1625 in Cologne ) was a postal organizer and postmaster . He was initially in the service of the Augsburg postmaster Seraphin II von Taxis . In 1586 he was appointed imperial postmaster in Cologne by Rudolf II . Henot was married to Adelheid de Haen (* around 1545, † 1604).

Postal history requirements

After the uprisings in the Netherlands in the second half of the 16th century, there were payment difficulties on the Dutch postal line paid for by Spain from Antwerp via Brussels , Rheinhausen , Augsburg , Innsbruck and Trento to Italy. The post office keepers in Württemberg in particular repeatedly refused to forward mail. In the last quarter of 1576 the post office in Brussels was closed. Seraphin II of Taxis from Augsburg was looking for an alternative connection to Antwerp and therefore set up a post office in Cologne. The route led from Cologne via Wöllstein to Augsburg. After the disruptions in the Netherlands, Emperor Rudolf II also demanded a reorganization of communications in the empire. His most important helper was the postmaster from Cologne, Jacob Henot.

Henot's career

Jacob Henot and his wife came to Cologne as a Walloon refugee in 1571. On October 17, 1576 he acquired the citizenship of Cologne. After successful negotiations with the Cologne Council in November 1577, the Augsburg postmaster Seraphin II von Taxis appointed his assistant Johann Menzinger as post administrator in Cologne. He put Jacob Henot at his side. Together they set up a foot messenger post route to Wöllstein. In February 1578 Menzinger was transferred to Rheinhausen, and Henot took over the office. On March 4, 1578, the municipal messenger service set up its own mail relay from Augsburg via Frankfurt and Cologne to Antwerp. At the beginning of November 1578 Seraphin was back in Cologne and confirmed Henot in his office.

Post organizer and postmaster in Cologne

In 1579 the emperor tried to settle the quarrels in the Netherlands under his auspices. During the Cologne Pacification Days, from July 1579, Henot converted the foot messenger post route to Wöllstein into a riding course and organized a riding relay to Antwerp between July 15 and October 3. Henot wanted to become independent from Seraphin and on July 20, 1579 applied to Emperor Rudolf II for the post office in Cologne. Seraphin responded and wrote a counter application. However, on June 10, 1580, the emperor chose Henot as Cologne postmaster.

After Leonhard I von Taxis was reinstated as the Spanish postmaster in Brussels on October 25th, tensions arose between Seraphin II and Leonhard, as both applied to the Augsburg Postal Commission for the postmaster general post in the Reich. Henot, who supported Leonhard von Taxis, then received the appointment as Spanish postmaster for the Cologne post office on December 14, 1580. In return, Henot campaigned in 1581 for the post generalate to be given back to Leonhard. The Archduke of Tyrol, however, rejected both candidates. After Seraphin von Taxis died in 1582, Henot tried again to secure the general postmaster's office for Leonhard I. von Taxis. Finally, Rudolf II agreed against conditions.

During Henot's visit to Brussels from January to March 1584, Leonhard von Taxis agreed to pay the accrued debts and commissioned his son Lamoral and Jacob Henot to pay 3,000 kroner from Spanish funds to the post office keepers in the empire. But Lamoral had other goals. He wanted to overthrow Henot and sought the post of general postmaster himself in the empire. Lamoral married the eldest daughter of Seraphins von Taxis in Augsburg in April 1584, demanded the postmaster's office from the Augsburg Postal Commission and in July 1584 demanded that the Cologne post office be filled with a confidante named Johann Baptista Bosco. Henot successfully resisted it.

With the support of the Tyrolean Archduke and the Augsburg Postal Commission, the Kaiser agreed on July 14, 1585 to make Lamoral Postmaster General in the Reich. Due to the objection of the Spanish King Philip II and Leonhard's protest, the appointment was not made.

Emperor Rudolf II obliged Henot to ensure a functioning postal service on the route from Cologne, Rheinhausen, Augsburg, Innsbruck and Trento to Italy and on August 8, 1586 appointed him imperial postmaster in Cologne. In the years 1586 and 1587, Henot tried to motivate the post office keepers to start work again. This attempt failed in the end due to payment difficulties. From October 29, 1587, work in the post offices was again stopped. In 1588 Henot was in Prague . He had been promised the post of postmaster and let him make plans to reform the Habsburg post office. However, it failed.

In 1589 Henot made a second attempt to persuade the post office keepers in Tyrol, Italy and Württemberg to resume work. Since the emperor did not agree to the concluded treaties, Henot traveled to Brussels at the end of December 1589 to include Leonhard in the agreement. In 1590 and 1591, Henot and the Emperor's post commissioner in Cologne, Count von Manderscheid , tried to secure the financing of the route Cologne, Augsburg, Innsbruck and Trento. There was opposition from Lamoral von Taxis and from Joseph Calepio, the representative of the post office keepers between Wöllstein and Augsburg. In Cologne itself, the city's messenger service and the former postmaster Bosco worked against Henot.

From May 12, 1592 to May 1594, Henot stayed in Prague. In February / March 1594 he drew up a debit and credit account for postal finances for the emperor. Creating a Reichspost that was independent of taxis and self-sustaining despite the accrued debts had proven impracticable. On June 16, 1595, Rudolf II appointed Leonhard von Taxis postmaster general in the empire. This was the only one able to make a satisfactory debt repayment. Under his leadership, Spain was also ready to pay the post office owners on the route to Italy. Henot traveled to Innsbruck with his son Hartger in December 1595 and on December 28, 1595 concluded a settlement with the post office owners. In January 1596 he negotiated in several Italian cities. In Württemberg, too, Peter de Herbais and Joseph Calepio concluded agreements with the post office owners. All of these treaties were approved by the emperor on March 3, 1596.

On July 27, 1596, Henot received an annual grant of 500 guilders for the four post stations between Cologne and Wöllstein. On September 15, 1596 Henot received an imperial letter of protection. In the postal regulations of October 16, 1596, all post holders were sworn in to the Brussels postmaster general Leonhard I. von Taxis and Jacob Henot. From January 5, 1597, the first Ordinari relay of the Imperial Post Office rode from Augsburg to Brussels. On July 21, 1597, Henot concluded a three-year contract with Leonhard in Brussels about the post office in Cologne.

On November 6, 1597, there was a tightened imperial mandate against secondary messengers. Over the next few years, this triggered increased protests by all municipal courier services. Henot in particular often used violence against the auxiliary messenger system. On May 29, 1598, Henot engaged the Frankfurt messenger master Weigand Uffsteiner as the imperial postmaster in Frankfurt for the postal route Cologne - Frankfurt. On August 17, 1600, a new contract was signed between Henot and Leonhard for the Cologne post office, which was to apply for the life of the Cologne postmaster.

Dismissal and reinstatement

From mid-1601 to March 24, 1604, Henot stayed at the imperial court in Prague. There, however, he could not prevent Emperor Rudolf from issuing a decree on October 25, 1603, removing Henot from his post as postmaster in Cologne. The decisive factor was Lamorals' offer from Taxis to operate the route from Cologne to Wöllstein itself, waiving the annual subsidy of 500 guilders. On April 5, 1604, the Cologne Council accepted the change in the Cologne post office. The new postmaster was Johann von Coesfeld , who was married to a lady from the Taxis family. In 1605 Henot tried again with another trip to Prague to get the re-establishment in office. With the help of his sons Hartger and Seraphin , he also tried the Elector of Mainz . An expert opinion of December 11, 1608 was in Henot's favor. Even the secret advice of the emperor chose him. On June 11, 1609, the Elector of Cologne, Duke Maximilian of Bavaria, the Elector of Saxony and the later Emperor Ferdinand spoke out in favor of a reinstatement of Henots. All efforts were unsuccessful. After the death of Emperor Rudolf II in 1612, his successor Matthias showed no interest. It was only when Ferdinand II became emperor in 1619 that Henot's prospects improved. At the beginning of 1623 Hartger Henot renewed his father's request and was successful. By resolution of the Reichshofrat on March 13, 1623, Jacob Henot was finally awarded the post office in Cologne. Emperor Ferdinand commissioned Karl von Manderscheid and Johann von der Hövelich with the reinstatement. It took place on April 3, 1623. While a contractual agreement was reached with Lamoral von Taxis on August 2 and October 2, 1623, his son Leonhard II von Taxis continued to fight the consequences of the imperial decision.

Henot's death and the consequences

With Henot's death on November 17, 1625 in Cologne, Leonhard II von Taxis improved his position in the legal dispute considerably. On February 23, 1626, Johann von Coesfeld resumed work as postmaster in Cologne. Henot's family had previously tried in vain to hide his death. Subsequently, Henot's son, Canon Hartger Henot, tried unsuccessfully to become his father's successor. On December 30, 1626, Coesfeld submitted a new postage tax to the Cologne council. Now Leonhard II appeared in Cologne and on January 18, 1627 concluded a contract with the Cologne council that was advantageous for Cologne. On January 10, 1627, Jacob Henot's daughter Katharina was arrested as a witch , tortured to no avail, sentenced by a secular court without a confession, and on May 19, 1627, strangled and burned. Her brother, Canon Hartger Henot, had tried in vain for a release from prison and rehabilitation. All claims for damages against the taxis have been discontinued. Leonhard II von Taxis emerged victorious from the post war in Cologne.

Legitimate offspring

More than 20 children, most of whom died of adolescence. Among the surviving descendants are known

• Everhard Henot († 1613), cleric, Dr. theol., Dean of St. Kunibert
• Franziska (Wilhelmine Margarethe Franziska) Henot, nun in the monastery of St. Klara, († around 1641), arrested in 1627 as an alleged witch.
• Hartger Henot (born February 7, 1571 in Cologne - † December 4, 1637), lawyer, cleric, canon
• Katharina Henot (* between 1570 and 1580; † May 19, 1627, execution as an alleged witch), ∞ with Heinrich Neuden († after 1604). Between 1595 and 1604 Neuden worked for Henot as a postal administrator in the Cologne post office.
• Seraphin Henot († 1626 or later), worked in the postal service in Frankfurt until 1604. No records after 1626.

Literature (selection)

• Wolfgang Behringer, In the sign of Mercury, Göttingen 2003 ISBN 3-525-35187-9
• Martin Dallmeier, Sources for the History of the European Postal Service, Kallmünz 1977
• Engelbert Goller, Jakob Henot, inaugural dissertation, Bonn 1910

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Vlaamse Stam, July-Aug. 2014