Jakob Kettler

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Duke Jakob Kettler

Jakob Kettler, Duke of Courland (born October 28, 1610 in Goldingen (now Kuldīga in Latvia ), † January 1, 1682 in Mitau ) was Duke of Courland .

He was the grandson of the last German Order Master Gotthard Kettler . Duke Jakob was characterized by an extremely clever and effective economic policy. He led his small country to an early economic boom, so that he is revered in this region to this day.

Life

Duke Jakob was born in Goldingen as the only son of Duke Wilhelm Kettler and his wife Sophie, daughter of Duke Albrecht Friedrich of Prussia . His mother died in 1610, the year he was born. In 1615 his father was driven out of Courland after a failed coup against the ruling nobility and the title of duchy was declared forfeit. He took Jakob with him into exile and had the boy educated at the Berlin court until 1621. The young prince, who was already enrolled at the University of Leipzig at the age of 13 and was appointed honorary rector (a form of distinction not uncommon for princely sons), acquired the reputation of being a highly educated man very early on Was clearly superior to peers.

After long stays abroad between 1634 and 1637, which took him to Amsterdam , Paris , Warsaw and probably also England , he returned to his homeland and from 1638 took over part of the affairs of government from his uncle, Duke Friedrich Kettler, and with the Duke's death Friedrich took control of the small country in 1642.

The economic innovations that Duke Jakob introduced in Courland included the establishment of blacksmiths, the construction of glass works , saltpeter and soap mills , paper mills and cloth factories. He also brought Dutch specialists to Courland to build the first shipyard . The social institutions that can be traced back to him include the first hospital and a madhouse .

On the island of Tobago in the Caribbean and West Africa , on James Island, named after him, not far from the mouth of the Gambia , Duke Jacob had Courland colonies established.

progeny

On October 9, 1645, Duke Jakob married Luise Charlotte von Brandenburg (1617–1676), the eldest daughter of Elector Georg Wilhelm von Brandenburg in Königsberg . The following children were born from the marriage:

⚭ Sophie Amalie of Nassau-Siegen (1650–1688)
⚭ Elisabeth Sophie of Brandenburg (1674–1748)
  • Charlotta (September 17, 1651 - December 1, 1728), abbess of Herford
  • Maria Amalia (1653–1711) ⚭ Landgrave Karl von Hessen-Kassel
  • Karl Jakob (20 October 1654 - 29 December 1677) (friend of François Le Fort )
  • Ferdinand (1655–1737), Prussian general, Duke of Courland from 1730 to 1737
  • Alexander (* October 16, 1659; † after June 26, 1686), Prussian colonel, dies of injury during the siege of Ofen

literature

  • Walter Eckert: Courland under the influence of mercantilism (1561 - 1682). A contribution to the constitutional, administrative, financial and economic history of Courland in the 16th and 17th centuries . Löffler, Riga 1926.
  • Robert Hassencamp : A Brandenburg-Bergisches Eheproject in 1641 , in: Contributions to the history of the Lower Rhine. Yearbook of the Düsseldorfer Geschichtsverein 10 (1895), pp. 225–243.
  • Enn Küng: The captivity of Duke Jacob von Kurland in Ivangorod 1659–1660 , in: Research on Baltic history 10 (2015), pp. 69–91.
  • Wilhelm Maier: The planned marriage of Philipp Wilhelm von Pfalz-Neuburg with the sister of the Great Elector , in: Annals of the Historical Association for the Lower Rhine, in particular the old Archdiocese of Cologne 87 (1909), pp. 162-173.
  • Heinz Mattiesen:  Jakob Kettler. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 10, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1974, ISBN 3-428-00191-5 , pp. 313-315 ( digitized version ).
  • Theodor Schiemann :  Jakob Kettler . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 13, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1881, pp. 540-546.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Mattiesen, Heinz, Jakob Kettler in: Neue Deutsche Biographie 10 (1974), pp. 313–315 ( online version )
  2. ^ Moritz Conrad Posselt: The General and Admiral Franz Lefort: His life and his time (page 68), Frankfurt am Main, 1866;

Web links

predecessor Office successor
Friedrich Kettler Duke of Courland
1639–1682 		Friedrich Kasimir Kettler
personal data
SURNAME Kettler, Jakob
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Jakob Herzog zu Courland
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Grandson of the last Teutonic Order Master Gotthard Kettler and ruler of the Courland
DATE OF BIRTH October 28, 1610
PLACE OF BIRTH Goldingen
DATE OF DEATH January 1, 1682
Place of death Mitau