Johann Albrecht I (Mecklenburg)
Johann Albrecht I, Duke of Mecklenburg , in older literature also Johann or Johannes (* December 23, 1525 in Güstrow ; † February 12, 1576 in Schwerin ), was the ruling Duke of Mecklenburg in the Mecklenburg-Güstrow region from 1547 to 1556 and in part of the country Mecklenburg-Schwerin from 1556 to 1576. 1549 began Johann Albrecht I in the parliament the Reformation by the overall state of Mecklenburg.
Life
Johann Albrecht was the eldest son of Duke Albrecht VII of Mecklenburg [-Güstrow] and his wife Anna of Brandenburg . His parents had Johann Albrecht trained by the " papist vicar " Johannes Sperling until he was 13 . Then in 1539 his father sent him to the court of his brother-in-law, the Protestant Elector Joachim II of Brandenburg . Together with the elector's eldest son, Johann Georg , he attended the newly founded university in Frankfurt an der Oder from 1541 to 1544 . He returned to Mecklenburg as a staunch supporter of Protestantism . At the request of his father, however, he fought on the imperial side in the Schmalkaldic War .
After the death of his father in 1547 he was enfeoffed with the duchy by Emperor Charles V , together with his brothers Ulrich and Georg . He managed the Güstrow part of the country alone for the time being, since his brother Ulrich in 1550 as the successor to his cousin Magnus III. Administrator of the diocese of Schwerin and his brother Georg fought in the Schmalkaldic War and fell in 1552 before Frankfurt am Main .
As a staunch supporter of Protestantism , Johann Albrecht I, in contrast to his father Albrecht VII , resolutely advocated the introduction of the Reformation in his countries. In June 1549 Johann Albrecht I enforced the Lutheran faith for the united states in the Sternberg state parliament , which can be seen as the introduction of the Reformation in Mecklenburg. In February 1550 he won the Margrave Johann von Brandenburg-Küstrin to sign a defensive alliance with Duke Albrecht of Prussia , to whose daughter Anna Sophie he became engaged and whom he later married. On May 22, 1551, he secretly formed an alliance with the other Protestant princes of Northern Germany in the Treaty of Torgau . The Treaty of Torgau formed the legal framework for the prince uprising against Emperor Charles V , in which Johann Albrecht I also participated.
His uncle Heinrich V ruled the Schwerin part of the country . After Heinrich's death in 1552, his brother Ulrich raised claims to the inheritance and lodged a protest with the emperor. A fierce inheritance dispute broke out, which was only settled in 1556 with the “Ruppin power” of the Brandenburg Elector Joachim II . Ulrich achieved that Johann Albrecht was forced to consent to the "Treaty of Wismar" on March 11, 1555. In this power , while maintaining the joint state government with his brother “Amt und Hauß” Schwerin was transferred as regent of the western part of the country, while Ulrich chose the eastern part of the country, the former rule Werle with the residence Güstrow.
Duke Johann Albrecht was considered a patron of art and science and a modern Renaissance prince who was open to scientific knowledge of his time. He fought for the Reformation and modernized the state. He owned an extensive library, the substantial remains of which later ended up in the Rostock University Library . He was interested in scientific instruments, dealt with astronomy and cartography and employed Tilemann Stella as his librarian and cartographer. Both of them used a joint trip to the Imperial Court in Vienna in 1560 to study architecture and modern fortress construction techniques, which were then used in Mecklenburg. The prince's court in Wismar as well as the development of various princely castles into modern fortresses can be traced back to the intentions of Johann Albrecht, although the necessary effort was not always in proportion to the financial leeway. The brick Renaissance style he favored was named after him in the course of its rediscovery in the 19th century, the Johann Albrecht style . One of his most important achievements is the establishment of several high schools in Güstrow ( cathedral school 1552), in Schwerin ( Fridericianum 1553) and in Parchim (1564).
Marriage and offspring
On February 24, 1555 he married Anna Sophie of Prussia (June 11, 1527 - February 6, 1591), the daughter of Duke Albrecht of Prussia . The couple had three children:
- Albrecht (* 1556; † 1561), Duke of Mecklenburg
- Johann VII. (* 1558; † 1592), Duke of Mecklenburg [-Schwerin] 1576–1592
- Sigismund August , Duke of Mecklenburg (* 1560; † 1600)
effect
The Johann Albrecht style was named after Johann Albrecht in the Mecklenburg architecture of historicism .
literature
- Friedrich Wilhelm Schirrmacher : Johann Albrecht I. Duke of Mecklenburg . 2 vol. Wismar, 1885.
- L. Schultz: Johann Albrecht I. In: General German Biography (ADB). Volume 14, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1881, pp. 239-243.
- Hildegard Thierfelder : Johann Albrecht I .. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 10, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1974, ISBN 3-428-00191-5 , p. 499 ( digitized version ).
Web links
- Literature on Johann Albrecht I (Mecklenburg) in the state bibliography MV
- Family tree of the House of Mecklenburg
| predecessor | Office | successor |
|---|---|---|
|
Albrecht VII. |
Duke of Mecklenburg [-Güstrow] 1547–1556 |
Ulrich III. |
|
Henry V. |
Duke of Mecklenburg [-Schwerin] co-regent: Philipp 1556–1576 |
John VII |
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Johann Albrecht I. |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Mecklenburg, Johann Albrecht I. von (wrong name form) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Duke of Mecklenburg |
| DATE OF BIRTH | December 23, 1525 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Guestrow |
| DATE OF DEATH | February 12, 1576 |
| Place of death | Schwerin |