Johann II. (East Frisia)

Count Johann II (born September 29, 1538 in Aurich ; † September 29, 1591 at Stickhausen Castle ) from the house of Cirksena was co-ruler of the county of East Friesland from 1561 until his death in 1591 . He ruled together with his brother Edzard II.

In 1558 the primogeniture of Johann's mother, Countess Anna , was abolished, presumably to curb the impending influence of the Wasa family in the county, which was made possible by the marriage of their eldest son Edzard to Katharina , the eldest daughter of the Swedish King Gustav I. , was justified. She thereby took Edzard's right to sole rule over the county, which de facto resulted in a division of East Frisia, because Johann, like his mother, represented the Calvinist , Edzard II the Lutheran faith.

Life

In 1559 Johann was taken to Stockholm by his brother Edzard to his wedding. After the wedding he traveled with the entourage of the wedding couple, who arrived in Vadstena on December 11, 1559. In the following days, he went an affair with Cecilia , the sister of the bride and daughter of Swedish King Gustav I. a. He was caught there, arrested publicly on December 14, 1559, locked in prison and sentenced to death. Through the intercession of his mother, Countess Anna , another European nobleman, including Queen Elizabeth I of England , he was released from prison on October 10, 1560. After that Johann never married.

After the death of the second-born son Christoph in 1566, the power struggle that had already arisen between the brothers Edzard and Johann intensified, which on the one hand significantly blocked the exercise of sovereign power and strengthened the nobility and the Emden bourgeoisie. On the other hand, the fratricidal struggle ultimately formed the basis for the coexistence of the creeds in East Frisia: Since neither of the two could prevail against the other, the Lutheran Edzard did not succeed in setting up a Lutheran regional church.

After Johann's death in 1591, Edzard II was the sole ruler of the county of East Friesland, but his authority had suffered greatly due to the constant disputes. The weakening of the Count's House was a major influencing factor with regard to the differences that led to the so-called " Emden Revolution ".

See also

• Cirksena tribe list

Literature and Sources

• Martin Tielke (Ed.): Biographical Lexicon for East Frisia . 4 volumes. Ostfriesische Landschaftliche Verlags- und Vertriebsgesellschaft, Aurich 1993–1997, ISBN 3-925365-75-3 (Vol. 1), ISBN 3-932206-00-2 (Vol. 2), ISBN 3-932206-22-3 (Vol . 3), ISBN 3-932206-62-2 (vol. 4).

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Tollstrop, Jakob Philip: Wadstena och dess omgifning . Wadstena 1832, p. 93 .
2. ↑ Celsio, Olao: History of King Gustav the First . tape 2 . Copenhagen / Leipzig 1753, p. 430-431 .
3. ↑ Tollstrop, Jakob Philip: Wadstena och dess omgifning . Wadstena 1832, p. 94 .
4. ^ Geijer, Erik Gustaf: The History of the Swedes . London 1845, p. 140 .
5. ↑ Celsio, Olao: History of King Gustav the First . tape 2 . Copenhagen / Leipzig 1753, p. 432 .

predecessor	Office	successor
Anna	Count of East Friesland 1561–1591	Edzard II.