Johann IV. (Mecklenburg)
Johann IV., Duke of Mecklenburg (* approx. 1378; † October 16, 1422 in Schwerin ) was Duke of Mecklenburg from 1384 to 1422 . Until 1395 he was under guardianship and from 1396 to 1422 he was co-regent of his uncle Albrecht III. , as well as his cousin Albrecht V.
biography
Johann IV. Was the only son of the Mecklenburg Duke Magnus I and his wife Elisabeth, born. Princess of Pomerania-Wolgast.
After his father's death in 1384, he was initially under the tutelage of his cousin Albrecht IV and his uncle Albrecht III. , as a result of their death or imprisonment, Johann I and his son Johann II took over from the Mecklenburg-Stargard line, together with several representatives of the Mecklenburg knighthood, the guardianship business until Albrecht III was released. From 1396 Johann ruled with Albrecht III. or Albrecht V. , together the land.
Since Duke Erich I had died of the plague on Gotland in 1397 , Albrecht III sent him. his young nephew Johann there to protect the Mecklenburg claims to rule over the island. However, Johann IV turned out to be too weak to assert himself against the leaders of the Vitalienbrüder .
“ The Germans had 900 riflemen; the leader's name was Enis, a German, a relative of Albrecht; another was called 'Maekingborg', also a relative of Albrecht. "
It is very likely that "Enis" was Johann IV, while "Maekingborg" might be his cousin, Duke Erich. Since the Vitalienbrüder withdrew from any control by John IV, the Teutonic Order finally saw itself forced to put an end to the pirate nuisance and to take the island.
After returning to Mecklenburg, Johann IV ruled the country at the side of his uncle, without setting any impulses of his own. Even after Albrechts III. The reign of John IV did not take shape after death. He was an extremely weak ruler who was overwhelmed by the consequences of the failed Nordic policy. Nor was Johann IV able to involve leading members of the Mecklenburg knighthood in state politics. However, since large parts of the country were pledged to them, Johann's power of government was in fact limited to a narrow area around the Schwerin residence . The peace could no longer be maintained. The robbery and feuding system of the Mecklenburg lower nobility took over during these years. Due to the late medieval agricultural crisis and the associated decline in income, Johann was also unable to redeem pledged bailiwicks quickly and thus regain control of the entire duchy and fundamentally remedy the grievances.
His most important legacy was something else: on February 13, 1419, together with Albrecht V von Mecklenburg and the council of the Hanseatic City of Rostock, he founded the University of Rostock as the first university in Northern Germany and the entire Baltic region.
His first marriage was to Jutta von Hoya , who died in 1415. In 1416 he married Katharina , daughter of the Saxon-Lauenburg duke Erich IV. She had previously been married to Johann VII. Von Werle.
children
- Heinrich IV , the fat , Duke of Mecklenburg
- Johann V , Duke of Mecklenburg
literature
- Wolf Karge, Hartmut Schmied, Ernst Münch : The history of Mecklenburg. Hinstorff, Rostock 1993 [reprinted several times; currently in bookshops in 4., exp. Edition (2004). ISBN 978-3-356-01039-8 ] p. 203.
Individual evidence
- ↑ The historian Ernst Boll wrongly calls him Johann III in the "History of Meklenburg. First Part".
- ↑ The Icelandic Flatøannaler , quoted in. after Matthias Puhle , p. 53.
- ^ Matthias Puhle, p. 54.
- ^ Tobias Pietsch: Leading groups in the late medieval lower nobility of Mecklenburg . Kiel 2019.
Web links
| predecessor | Office | successor |
|---|---|---|
|
Magnus I and Albrecht IV. |
Duke of Mecklenburg 1384-1395 (until 1388 with Albrecht IV. ) |
Albrecht III. |
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Johann IV. |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Johann IV., Duke of Mecklenburg |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Duke of Mecklenburg (1384-1395) |
| DATE OF BIRTH | before 1370 |
| DATE OF DEATH | October 16, 1422 |
| Place of death | Schwerin , Duchy of Mecklenburg , Holy Roman Empire |