Jacob Kurz von Senftenau

The coat of arms of the Kurtz von Senftenau

Senftenau Castle in Lindau (Lake Constance)

Jacob Kurz Freiherr von Senftenau (* 1553 ; † March 11, 1594 ) (partly also Kurtz von Senftenau , Latinized: Jacob Curtius , Czech: Jakub Kurz ze Senftenavy ) was Imperial Vice Chancellor of the Holy Roman Empire .

Life

He came from Tyrol and was Lord of Senftenau and Toblach. He studied in Siena and Bologna Law . He graduated with a doctorate.

Kurz von Senftenau was a member of the Imperial Court Council from 1570 to 1586 under Emperor Rudolf II . Between 1585 and 1594 he was the imperial secret council. In 1582 the emperor sent him to the Cologne elector Gebhard I von Waldburg to ask him whether it was correct that the elector had left the clergy and still wanted to remain elector. The latter replied evasively, but had an edict distributed in which he confirmed his separation from the Catholic Church.

Kurz von Senftenau had been the administrator of the Imperial Court Chancellery from 1587 and was also officially Vice Chancellor shortly before his death.

He was married to Ursula Weber since 1581. Several children were born from the marriage. The son Johann Baptist Jacob Kurz von Senftenau was initially the imperial envoy to the Ottoman Empire and later joined the Jesuit order .

Kurz was apparently very wealthy. He had lent the prelates of Styria 12,500 guilders. Archduke Matthias instructed its members after the death of Kurz to reimburse the current taxes in order to pay the estate's debt to the widow.

Kurz von Senftenau was interested in literature and the natural sciences. He is even said to have built astronomical devices himself. In Prague he mediated between the scholars and the court. This applies, for example, to John Dee's attempt to come into contact with the emperor. Among other things, he was one of the patrons of the late humanist and poet Nicodemus Frischlin at the imperial court. He also promoted Tycho Brahe . He also lived in his summer palace in Prague . Johannes Kepler later lived there for a time. He is buried in St. Thomas Church in Prague.

literature

• Ingrid Matschinegg: Austrians as university visitors in Italy (1500–1630). Regional and social origins - careers - prosopography . Diss., Graz 1999, p. 272
• Franz Karl Wißgrill : scene of the rural Lower Austrian nobility . Vol. 5 Vienna, 1804 p. 345 GoogleBooks

Web links

• Entry on documenta.rudolphina.org

Individual evidence

1. ^ Johann Daniel Wilhelm Richter: History of the Thirty Years War . Vol. 1, Leipzig 1840, p. 314
2. ↑ Ferdinand Hutz: Styriaca from the Stiftsarchiv Herzogenburg  ( page can no longer be accessed , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 881 kB)  
3. ↑ Erich H Peter Roitzsch: The Voynich manuscript an unsolved riddle of the past . Monsenstein and Vannerdat 2008, p. 93
4. ^ David Friedrich Strauss: Nicodemus Frischlin . Frankfurt 1856, p. 404
5. ^ John Robert Christianson: On Tycho's Island . Cambridge Press, 2002, p. 218
6. ↑ cf. Letter from Jacob Kurz von Senftenau to Tycho Brahe from 1590 (English translation)
7. ^ Copernicus and Keppler. Two Europeans connect Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic . P. 48  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF)