Jacob von Zitzewitz

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Jacob von Zitzewitz , (* 1507 in Muttrin , † March 10, 1572 in Stettin ) is considered the greatest statesman of Pomerania in the Reformation era .

Life

Jacob von Zitzewitz was born in 1507 as the youngest son of Kaspar von Zitzewitz auf Muttrin and Pelagina von Münchow. His father, a ducal councilor at the court of Bogislaw X. , sent Jacob, who was around 14 years old, to study at German, French and Italian universities. Returning only in 1538, he first entered the service of Barnim IX (XI) of Pomerania-Stettin, but moved to the court of Philip I of Pomerania-Wolgast the next year . Duke Philip I soon entrusted him with the representation of the Chancellor and sent him to the Diets of Regensburg in 1541, Nuremberg in 1543 and Worms in 1544. In 1543, Zitzewitz in Speyer had to declare Pomerania's withdrawal from the Schmalkaldic League . The Duke of Wolgast appointed him Chancellor for 6 years in 1546.

After the battle of Mühlberg , the victorious Emperor Charles V threatened Pomerania with retaliation, although the Pomerania had only provided a small contingent of auxiliary troops. The Pomeranian dukes sent Zitzewitz to negotiate in the imperial camp and in 1547 to the Reichstag in Augsburg. Here, however, he was unsuccessful. Only after further negotiations at the court of Charles V in Brussels could he persuade the emperor to conclude a treaty of atonement. Pomerania had to pay 90,000 guilders as the price for the pardon, recognize the Augsburg Interim and submit to the decisions of the Reich Chamber of Commerce. Zitzewitz was charged with collecting the imperial fines from the estates, which he managed to do in a short time despite their resistance.

In the following years he tried to reform the Pomeranian state. He tried to improve the administration, the reorganization of the coinage as well as the police and judicial legislation in accordance with the Reichstag resolutions. The fact that he had little success in this was mainly due to the lack of support from the dukes against the resistance of the landed nobility. He was only able to get his way through regulating church conditions. In 1552 he asked Duke Philip I for his release, which the latter refused. In the same year he was sent to Passau as a representative of Pomerania for the Prince's Day. On behalf of Charles V he had to negotiate with the warring princes in the field camp outside Frankfurt and took part in the conclusion of the Passau Treaty . When Emperor Duke Philip I was appointed negotiator in the dispute between Margrave Albrecht Alkibiades of Brandenburg, the Bamberg and Würzburg monasteries and the Duchy of Braunschweig in 1553 , Jacob von Zitzewitz was sent to Frankfurt as a deputy. The fact that his brother Joachim von Zitzewitz was in the service of the margrave as a general was an advantage for his negotiations. On this trip he reached Hungary and sent pessimistic letters about the state of the empire home.

During the Livonian conflict he managed to keep Pomerania out of the war through negotiations. In the same year he succeeded in pushing through the election of Prince Johann Friedrich as Bishop of Cammin and thus securing the diocese of the ducal house. In 1558 he resigned from the Chancellery and was appointed captain of the Wolgast office. However, he remained the Duke's advisor and was sent to the Reichstag in Augsburg in 1559 . There he was a member of a committee that should clarify the Livonian affairs.

When Duke Philip I of Pomerania-Wolgast died in 1560, Zitzewitz was pushed into political sideline, while his opponents, including Ulrich von Schwerin , came to power while the dukes were underage. He withdrew to his estates, but corresponded with the young dukes, the councilors and foreign royal courts. He only returned to active politics in 1563 when negotiations with the Swedes took place in Pasewalk. In 1565 during the Seven Years of Northern War he was sent to Copenhagen and Stockholm as an intermediary . As a confidante of Duke Johann Friedrich, he was again entrusted in 1567 with the coordination of the entire Pomeranian policy and followed this to Stettin when Duke Barnim IX (XI) withdrew from the government. There he was appointed President of the Court of Justice and the highest overseer over the entire government apparatus. An abundance of power that no Pomeranian official had before him. In 1570 he chaired the peace negotiations of the Nordic warring parties in Stettin and in particular led the negotiations with Brandenburg.

When a marriage project proposed by Zitzewitz between the Danish king and Princess Margarethe failed, he was exposed to a smear campaign by his numerous enemies. At the same time, the bankruptcy of the Loitze bank led to financial disasters for numerous members of the Pomeranian landed gentry. Jacob von Zitzewitz, also ruined and declared responsible for the losses because of the brokerage of an unpaid loan to the predecessor of the Polish king, put an end to his life on March 10, 1572.

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personal data
SURNAME Zitzewitz, Jacob von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Zitzewitz, Jakob von
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Pomeranian statesman
DATE OF BIRTH 1507
PLACE OF BIRTH Mother
DATE OF DEATH March 10, 1572
Place of death Szczecin