Johann I (Denmark, Norway and Sweden)

Johann I.

Johann I.

John I , called Hans (born June 5, 1455 in Aalborg ; † February 20, 1513 there ) was King of Denmark (1481–1513), Norway (1483–1513) and Sweden (1497–1501 as King John II.) and Duke of Schleswig and Holstein .

Life

Johann was the third son of King Christian I of Denmark and his wife Dorothea of ​​Brandenburg . His two older brothers had died as young children. His surviving younger siblings were Margarethe , who killed the Scottish King James III. married and became the great-grandmother of Maria Stuart , and Friedrich , who was fifteen years younger than him , who was also King of Denmark and Norway from 1523–1533.

King in Denmark, Norway and Sweden

After Christian I's death on May 22nd, 1481, John succeeded him as King of Denmark. Here the takeover of government went smoothly, as the Danish Landthingen had already paid homage to Johann in 1467 and his mother, the queen widow Dorothea, supported him as heir to the throne. In Denmark, which was formally an elective monarchy until 1660/61 , the official election act took place on May 5, 1482 by the Danish Imperial Council and confirmed Johann as the ruling king. Although his father had him elected as his successor by the imperial councils of Sweden and Norway shortly after his own election as Swedish king within the Kalmar Union in 1458, Sweden insisted on its sovereignty and the right to be its king itself after Christian's death to choose. The Norwegian Imperial Council approved the election of King John in Halmstad on January 13, 1483 , while Sweden remained independent under its imperial administrator Sten Sture . In order to be able to assert himself against Sten Sture, Johann concluded a treaty with Tsar Ivan III in 1495 . which resulted in a common war against Sweden . In 1497 the war ended with Johann attaining the Swedish throne thanks to the support of the Swedish nobility, who were dissatisfied with Sten Sture, which he could only hold until 1501, when Svante Sture led an uprising of the nobility against him. Although Johann was awarded the crown in Kalmar in 1505 and Sweden was obliged to pay tribute by the Roman-German King Maximilian I , he did not get the crown back. Instead, Russia canceled the treaty with Denmark in 1508 and allied with Sweden. The Hanseatic merchants , whose privileges Johann curtailed as competition for the local economy, allied themselves with Sweden. Like his father Christian I, Johann ensured that the Danish Landthinge elected his son Christian, born in 1481, as heir to the throne and paid homage to him. In Norway, the homage took place two years later. On the one hand, Johann wanted to ensure a smooth succession in the kingdom, on the other hand, he wanted to ward off his brother Friedrich's claims to a partition of Denmark. Duke Friedrich had acquired the title of “Heir to Norway” to confirm his claims. In addition, in 1494 the Danish assembly of estates decided that Denmark could only be divided among different gentlemen with the consent of the imperial estates.

The transfer of the office of fleet commander by Johann I in 1510 to the nobleman Henrik Krummedike is seen in Denmark as the foundation of the Danish Navy , which immediately proved itself in the war against Sweden and Lübeck .

Duke of Schleswig and Holstein

The Treaty of Ripen of 1460, which was supposed to prevent an inheritance from the sovereignty, allowed the Schleswig-Holstein knighthood to choose a duke from the king's sons. The Queen Mother Dorothea thought in dynastic categories and, after her eldest had been established as King of Denmark, wanted to see her younger son Friedrich taken care of with the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein. Dorothea pursued a targeted consolidation of finances by systematically redeeming pledged goods and thus becoming a powerful feudal owner in Schleswig as well as in Holstein. Without their participation, the estates could not make any fundamental decisions. In 1482 Dorothea urged the estates to elect her son Friedrich as Duke of Schleswig and Holstein. However, these initially demanded that King John officially renounce his candidacy, as they would otherwise see peace in the duchies as threatened. Johann refused a waiver and repeatedly demanded that the bishop of Lübeck give him Holstein. The bishops of Lübeck had received from Emperor Sigismund in 1434 the right to carry out the enfeoffment of the Duchy of Holstein as his representative. An agreement was only reached at the Kiel state parliament at the end of 1482, after which both brothers were elected dukes. Johann took over the regency for him until his brother came of age in 1489.

Division and common rule in Schleswig-Holstein

Eight years after the two dukes came to power, negotiations began to divide Schleswig-Holstein into two domains, as Duke Friedrich reached the age of majority. The negotiations for Friedrich were conducted by his mother Dorothea and on August 10, 1490 the partition contract was signed and sealed at the Siegesburg . According to the principle "The elder shares, the younger chooses", King John gave his brother the first choice. This decided on the part that was named Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorf after the residential palace. Johann got the share that was called Schleswig-Holstein-Segeberg and a third part remained, which was ruled jointly by the two princes. The individual parts of the country with offices, cities and landscapes were so distributed over both duchies that Schleswig-Holstein could not develop a separation. A look at the map after the division gives the impression that the individual areas act more like a bracket and hold Schleswig and Holstein together even more closely. This satisfied the estates' demands for the indivisibility of the two duchies. The common rule was expressed in the fact that both brothers carried the title Duke of Schleswig and Holstein, joint state parliaments were held, enfeoffments were made in both names, taxes could only be levied jointly and bishops, monasteries, knights and nobles were subordinate to both dukes. Both regents were responsible for national defense. The supposed sovereignty over Hamburg and Dithmarschen also remained undivided by the two princes. The partition agreement, however, did not provide for a united government.

War against Dithmarschen

Christian I went on a pilgrimage to Rome in 1473 and met with Emperor Friedrich III in Rothenburg ob der Tauber. together. At Christian's request, the emperor raised the counties of Holstein and Stormarn to a duchy and declared Dithmarschen to be part of Holstein. The Dithmarsch peasant republic did not recognize this regulation, argued that it belonged to the Archdiocese of Bremen and obtained a papal bull which also confirmed this membership. Christian I did not gain control of Dithmarschen until his death. In 1493, the Dithmarschers secured political and military support by extending the protective alliance with Lübeck , which the Hanseatic cities of Lüneburg and Hamburg also joined. In 1500 both dukes tried to incorporate the peasant republic of Dithmarschen into their duchy , referring to the imperial feudal letter . Johann and Friedrich equipped an army for the conquest of the peasant republic, which included around 150 knights from the noble families of Schleswig and Holstein as well as a large number of mercenaries. Two cousins ​​of King Johann, Counts Adolf and Otto von Oldenburg, also joined the army. On February 17, 1500, this contingent suffered a crushing defeat in the battle of Hemmingstedt . Most of the knights and the two Oldenburg counts died in the battle. The king and his brother only barely escaped to Meldorf and then fled to their duchies.

After Johann's death on February 20, 1513 in Aalborg, his son Christian became King of Denmark and Sweden and Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Segeberg.

Marriage and offspring

In 1478 he married Christina von Sachsen , daughter of Elector Ernst von Sachsen , and had the following children with her:

• Johann (* 1479)
• serious
• Christian II (July 1, 1481 - January 25, 1559)
• Jakob (* around 1484 - † October 29, 1566)
• Elisabeth (June 24, 1485; † June 10, 1555) ∞ Joachim I , Elector of Brandenburg
• Franz (July 15, 1497 - April 1, 1511)

ancestors

Christian V. of Oldenburg

Dietrich von Oldenburg (1390–1440)

Agnes von Honstein

Christian I (Denmark, Norway and Sweden) (1426–1481)

Gerhard VI. (Holstein-Rendsburg) (1367–1404)

Heilwig of Schleswig and Holstein (approx. 1398 / 1400–1436)

Elisabeth of Braunschweig

John I (Denmark, Norway and Sweden) (1455–1513)

Friedrich I. (Brandenburg) (1371-1440)

Johann (Brandenburg-Kulmbach) (1406–1464)

Elisabeth of Bavaria (1383–1442)

Dorothea of ​​Brandenburg-Kulmbach (1430–1495)

Rudolf III. (Saxony-Wittenberg) (around 1373-1419)

Barbara of Saxony-Wittenberg (1405–1465)

Anna († 1395)

See also

• Family table of the Danish kings

literature

• The princes of the country. Dukes and Counts of Schleswig, Holstein and Lauenburg , Carsten Porskrog Rasmussen a. a. (Ed.) on behalf of the Society for Schleswig-Holstein History, Neumünster: Wachholtz, 2008, ISBN 978-3-529-02606-5 .
• Kai Fuhrmann: The knighthood as a political corporation in the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein from 1460 to 1721. Edited by the ongoing deputation of the Schleswig-Holstein prelates and knighthood. Ludwig, Kiel 2002. ISBN 3-933598-39-7 .
• J. Greve: Geography and history of the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein. Schwers'sche Buchhandlung, Kiel 1844.

Web links

Commons : Johann I. (Denmark, Norway and Sweden)  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ^ Kai Fuhrmann: The knighthood as a political corporation in the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein from 1460 to 1721 . Edited by the ongoing deputation of the Schleswig-Holstein prelates and knighthood. Ludwig, Kiel 2002. ISBN 3-933598-39-7 , p. 74.
2. ^ Union Denmark Norway since 1450, viewed on March 12, 2012 .
3. ↑ Carsten Porskrog Rasmussen u. a. (Ed.): The princes of the country. Dukes and Counts of Schleswig, Holstein and Lauenburg , 2008, p. 83.
4. ^ Journal 4/2010 of the Danish Post on the occasion of the stamp anniversary issue 500 years of the Navy
5. ^ J. Greve: Geography and history of the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein . Schwers´sche Buchhandlung, Kiel 1844, p. 210.
6. ^ Kai Fuhrmann: The knighthood as a political corporation in the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein from 1460 to 1721 , p. 79.
7. ^ J. Greve: Geography and History of the Duchies of Schleswig and Holstein , p. 211.
8. ^ Kai Fuhrmann: The knighthood as a political corporation in the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein from 1460 to 1721 , p. 80.
9. ^ J. Greve: Geography and history of the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein , p. 206.
10. ↑ For the names of the fallen knights, see Kai Fuhrmann: The knighthood as a political corporation in the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein from 1460 to 1721 , p. 83. J. Greve: Geography and history of the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein , p. 214 speaks of a total army strength of 13,500 men.
11. ↑ Only Christian and Elisabeth are attested in all chronicles, while the chroniclers of the 16th century give different information about the names and dates of the other children. Hermann Hamelmann , for example, mentions Christian, Elisabeth and Franziskus in his Oldenburg Chronicon from 1599 (p. 218), but cites an older Saxon chronicle that Johann and Jakob also knew.

predecessor	Office	successor
Christian I.	King of Denmark 1481–1513	Christian II
Christian I.	King of Norway 1481–1513	Christian II
Sten Sture the elder	King of Sweden 1497–1501	Sten Sture the elder