Johann Adam von Bicken
Johann Adam von Bicken (born May 27, 1564 at Hainchen Castle ; † January 11, 1604 in Aschaffenburg ) was Archbishop and Elector of Mainz from 1601 to 1604 and thus Arch Chancellor of the Holy Roman Empire .
Life
Johann Adam von Bicken, of the von Bicken family , was born on May 27, 1564 at the family's ancestral castle, Hainchen Castle in Siegerland . His father was the Electorate Mainz Marshal Philipp von Bicken, his mother Anna Brendelin von Homburg , a sister of Elector Daniel Brendel von Homburg .
He received elementary instruction in Würzburg and Mainz, where he must have studied the seven liberal arts customary at the time , after which he continued his studies at the Jesuit Academy in Pont-à-Mousson (1582–1584), Bourges , Toulon and in Italy . He spoke French and Italian.
Already at the age of less than 10 years Johann Adam von Bicken received a canonical in the Mainz cathedral chapter from his uncle, the then ruling Archbishop of Mainz and Elector Daniel Brendel von Homburg .
In 1590, Archbishop and Elector Wolfgang von Dalberg appointed him to his electoral chancellery, in which he took on various administrative tasks. B. participation in the Reichstag (HRR) in Regensburg in autumn 1597 .
In 1595 he was elected to the cathedral choirmaster , but he was not ordained a priest , which was actually required as a condition for this office.
Johann Adam von Bicken died at the age of 39, after less than four years of reign, of a throat ailment on January 11, 1604 in Aschaffenburg . The transfer of his body from Aschaffenburg to Mainz took place by ship, where he was solemnly buried in the cathedral on January 23, 1604.
Elector
The election of Johann Adam von Bicken as elector and archbishop of Kurmainz on May 15, 1601, i.e. 10 days after the death of his predecessor Wolfgang X von Dalberg , seems to have taken place without a dissenting vote. The new sovereign received congratulations on his election from the imperial side as well as from Pope Clement VIII , but the pallium was only handed over to him on March 30, 1602 in Mainz due to financial demands of the Roman Curia. However, his election was confirmed by the Consistory of the Cardinals on August 27, 1601.
Confessionalization
With Johann Adam, the process of confessionalization began in the Archbishopric of Mainz , which was based on inner conviction and the endeavor to secure power. For example, he required his officials to profess the Catholic faith, or in some places he replaced Lutheran preachers or pastors with Catholic priests. In imitation of the papal jubilee year of 1600, Johann Adam had a public commitment to the Catholic faith made in the Mainz archbishopric. These celebrations took place in Mainz in mid-August 1602, with the main celebrations taking place with processions and a central mass on the Feast of the Assumption (August 15, 1602). In the other cities and areas of the archbishopric , Johann Adam von Bicken also had such declarations carried out, which were intended to strengthen the Catholic creed. Participation in processions and mass was mandatory for all subjects.
The archbishopric's mountain of debt seems to have been relatively high, pastoral projects such as the construction and maintenance of a seminary could not be carried out due to lack of funds. Johann Adam von Bicken also resisted another increase in the Turkish tax by Emperor Rudolf II , but could not prevent this.
An alliance of the Catholic imperial estates against the Palatinate seemed urgent to him, but did not materialize because of his early death.
Witch trials
The image of the young elector, who was concerned with securing and expanding the Catholic faith, is severely clouded by the fact that he gave in to efforts to hunt witches . The archbishop, like his successor Johann Schweikhard von Kronberg , had hundreds of witch trials carried out in Kurmainz . From 1601 to 1604, under Elector Johann Adam von Bicken, 650 executions of alleged witches took place throughout the Hochstift.
Similar massive persecutions in southern Germany can only be proven in the witch trials series of the Hochstifte Bamberg and Eichstätt as well as in Würzburg and Ellwangen .
A later chronicler wrote: “Our Rheingau with the rest of the Erzstifte (might) praise the divine caution that Archbishop Johann Adam's reign was shortened, if two thirds of his subjects would have died as alleged magicians and fiends of death by fire if they were extended. "
A contemporary of the regent commented on his reign: “In 1603 the most honorable gentleman made greater efforts to eradicate two epidemics. One was the art of the sorcerers and witches , the other that of heresy. Against the former he ordered strict questioning and judicial investigations and in some places numerous women were burned as witches. "
On August 5, 1603, the archbishop had the reformed pastor Anton Praetorius , a fighter against witch trials and torture, arrested in Oberwöllstadt , but released him from prison a few weeks later after protests by Heidelberg Elector Friedrich IV .
See also: Diocese of Mainz and Kurmainz
reception
While the other actions of the bishop have largely faded, his uncompromising implementation of the Counter-Reformation in connection with the persecution of witches is often mentioned on various websites.
Contemporary music: In Avantasia , a metal opera by Tobias Sammet , the front man of the band Edguy , written and composed in 2002, Bishop Johann Adam von Bicken plays a role in connection with witch trials in the diocese of Mainz.
literature
- Anton Philipp Brück : Johann Adam von Bicken. Archbishop and Elector of Mainz 1601 - 1604 . In: Archive for Middle Rhine Church History . 23 (1971). Pp. 147-187.
- Friedhelm Jürgensmeier: The diocese of Mainz. From Roman times to the Second Vatican Council. Publisher Josef Knecht. Frankfurt am Main. 1988. pp. 207-210. ISBN 3-7820-0570-8
- Horst Heinrich Gebhard: Witch trials in the Electorate of Mainz in the 17th century. Aschaffenburg 1989
- Erika Haindl: Wizards and witch madness, Against the forgetting of the victims of the witch trials in the Electoral Mainz Office Hofheim in the 16th and 17th centuries. Hofheim aT, 2001, p. 30
- Anton Ph. Brück: Johann Adam von Bicken. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 10, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1974, ISBN 3-428-00191-5 , p. 497 ( digitized version ).
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Traudl Kleefeld: Against forgetting. Witch persecution in Franconia - places of remembrance. J. H. Röll, Dettelbach 2016. p. 40.
| predecessor | Office | successor |
|---|---|---|
| Wolfgang X. von Dalberg |
Archbishop Elector of Mainz 1601–1604 |
Johann Schweikhard von Kronberg |
Peter von Aspelt | Matthias von Buchegg | Baldwin of Luxembourg (administrator) | Henry III. von Virneburg (1346–1353 schism) | Gerlach of Nassau (1346–1353 schism) | Johann von Luxemburg-Ligny | Ludwig von Meissen | Adolf I of Nassau | Conrad II of Weinsberg | Gottfried von Leiningen | Johann II of Nassau | Conrad III. by Dhaun | Dietrich Schenk von Erbach | Diether von Isenburg | Adolf II of Nassau | Diether von Isenburg (2nd) | Adalbert III. of Saxony (administrator) | Berthold von Henneberg | Jakob von Liebenstein | Uriel von Gemmingen | Albrecht of Brandenburg | Sebastian von Heusenstamm | Daniel Brendel von Homburg | Wolfgang von Dalberg | Johann Adam von Bicken | Johann Schweikhard von Kronberg | Georg Friedrich von Greiffenclau | Anselm Casimir Wambolt von Umstadt
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Bicken, Johann Adam von |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Archbishop and Elector of Mainz |
| DATE OF BIRTH | May 27, 1564 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Hainchen Castle |
| DATE OF DEATH | January 11, 1604 |
| Place of death | Aschaffenburg |