Johann Schweikhard von Kronberg

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Archbishop Elector Johann Schweikhard von Kronberg
Coat of arms wall with Kronberg's coat of arms at Johannisburg Castle in Aschaffenburg

Johann Schweikhard von Kronberg (born July 15, 1553 in Kronberg im Taunus , † September 17, 1626 , in Aschaffenburg ) was Archbishop and Elector of Mainz from 1604 to 1626 and thus Arch Chancellor of the Holy Roman Empire . His name is sometimes spelled Schweickhardt or Schweikard, and the modification of Kronenberg also appears .

Life

youth

The Elector's family was the long-established aristocratic Kronberg family of the Archbishopric of Mainz. Johann Schweikhard was the third son of the Kurmainzer Marshal, Grand Court Master and Oberamtmann zu Höchst and Hofheim Hartmut XIII. (1517–1591) and his first wife Barbara von Sickingen (1522–1577).

Destined for the clergy from his earliest youth, his older brothers took over secular posts in the archbishopric, he was accepted into the Mainz cathedral chapter through the influence of his father, in 1564 cathedral vicar and in 1566 canon of St. Alban in Mainz . He was then sent to Rome for training at the Collegium Germanicum , where he befriended the Jesuit Johann Busaeus (1543–1611), who later taught theology at the University of Mainz .

After his return to Mainz, he was appointed provost of the St. Peter monastery before Mainz by the papal legate Cardinal Morone . In 1582 he became cathedral capitular , and on March 3 of the same year he was elected scholaster. Shortly afterwards he became dean . He resigned from the post of provost of St. Peter in 1589. As early as 1588 he had become provost of St. Alban and in 1599 provost of the Marienstift . Also in 1599 he became treasurer of the secular court of the archbishopric.

Elector

After the death of his predecessor Johann Adam von Bicken , he was elected the new Archbishop of Mainz on February 17, 1604 with only a few votes against. On the one hand, the fact that Emperor Rudolf II stood up for him, his high reputation, which he had earned, and that he belonged to the moderate Catholic tendency with regard to the Reformation spoke in favor of his election . On the other hand, there was fear of the opposing candidate, the Würzburg bishop Julius Echter von Mespelbrunn , whose zeal for restoration, which made him hateful among the Protestants. In addition, the merger of two dioceses in the hands of the Elector of Mainz seemed inappropriate. After the papal confirmation of his election, he was ordained bishop in November 1604, and on July 19, 1605 Rudolf II enfeoffed him with the archbishopric.

Many Catholic imperial estates met his assumption of office with suspicion, whereas the Protestant imperial estates welcomed the election of a person known to be peaceful and forgiving. The attitude of Johann Schweikhard was certainly also due to the fact that his grandfather Hartmut XII. was an avid supporter of Martin Luther's teachings , which earned him the charge that he was under the influence of his Protestant relatives.

The archbishop's coat of arms at the entrance to the Kronberg-Gymnasium Aschaffenburg

Even if he did not correspond to the wishes of the most ardent advocates of the true doctrine, he nonetheless continued the Counter-Reformation begun by his predecessors and also ended it in the Archbishopric. He massively promoted the spiritual orders of the Capuchins and Jesuits , who pushed the Counter-Reformation, and granted them the right to establish monasteries and colleges several times, for example in Augsburg in 1612 and in Aschaffenburg in 1620. The Jesuits also founded the Kronberg grammar school , later named after the archbishop, in Aschaffenburg , which still exists today as a linguistic and humanistic grammar school. However, he avoided harsh measures taken by the Protestants, for example in 1618 he granted the city of Erfurt the free exercise of faith.

In terms of Reich politics, he wanted to see the status of the Catholic Church fully preserved. On the other hand, Johann Schweikhard hoped through personal contact, avoidance of provocative measures against the Protestants and diplomatic skill to bridge the conflict between the two denominations.

Despite his disappointment with the acceptance of the Bohemian crown by the Palatinate Elector Friedrich V , which was viewed by the Catholic side as a violation of the imperial constitution, and the beginning of the Thirty Years' War , he continued to try to maintain a good relationship with the Protestant imperial estates and take measures that could make it difficult to regain peace.

Johannisburg Castle from the Main Bridge
Reichstaler 1619

Accordingly, he turned against the interference of the French king Heinrich IV. In the inheritance dispute over the county Jülich-Kleve and against the invasion of the Spaniards into the Palatinate after the defeat of Frederick V in the battle of the White Mountain . He also only agreed to the election of Matthias , who had ousted his brother Rudolf II from the throne, after long reluctance and remained reserved towards him throughout his reign.

He considered the election and reign of Ferdinand II to be extremely important for the continued existence of the empire and supported it as best he could.

He had the city of Mainz fortified with a fortification that bore his name for a long time, and in 1623 he brought Bergstrasse back to the archbishopric after it had been pledged to the Elector of the Palatinate by his predecessor. In Aschaffenburg he had a splendid palace built by the Strasbourg architect and master builder Georg Ridinger , in Renaissance style , as the second residence of the Mainz electors and archbishops .

Witch trials

Under Johann Adam von Bicken and Johann Schweikhard von Kronberg there was a hysterical increase in the fear of witches. In Schweikhard's service was Heinrich Schultheiss , later notorious witch judge in Westphalia.

Johann Schweikhard von Kronberg brought a system into the witch trials in Kurmainz . He ordered an investigation order with 18 general and 98 special questions to be served on all courts. During his reign from 1604 to 1626, a total of 361 executions of alleged witches took place. In 1611 84 people were executed as witches in Kleinwallstadt . Witch hunts also began in Lohr in the Electorate of Mainz , killing over 170 people.

From 1604 to 1629, documents relating to the deaths of 1779 people as victims of witch persecution have been preserved for the Mainz Archbishopric. The witch trials in the archbishopric achieved a social discipline on a larger scale. Witch trials were also used as a means of Counter-Reformation, but also as a means of filling the coffers, as the property of those found guilty was confiscated. This money came in very handy for the construction of the new Johannisburg Palace in Aschaffenburg.

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 .

death

Bishop Schweikhard von Kronberg died in Aschaffenburg . The mourning sermon "Lament, praise and consolation" written by his confessor Father Johann Reinhard Ziegler in 1626 on the occasion of "Christ Blessed, September 17th, Anno 1626, in Aschaffenburg, the absence of Mr. Johann Schweickhardten, Ertzbischoffens zu Meyntz" reports it Pressure appeared. His body was brought to Mainz and buried in St. Martin's Cathedral. His heart and intestines (entrails) are buried in the Jesuit church in Aschaffenburg.

literature

Web links

Commons : Johann Schweikhard von Kronberg  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
  • Illustration from 1627: Iohannes Suiccardus, Moguntinae Archpiscopus ( digitized )

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Götz Czymmek: The Aschaffenburg Castle and Georg Ridinger. A contribution to the architecture of the Electorate of Mainz under Elector Johann Schweickhardt von Cronberg. Cologne 1978.
  2. ↑ Traudl Kleefeld: Against forgetting. Witch persecution in Franconia - places of remembrance. J. H. Röll, Dettelbach 2016, p. 40.
  3. ^ Father Ziegler's funeral sermon given to Elector Johann Schweikhard von Kronberg .
  4. ↑ Intestina = heart, brain, tongue and intestines came in a lead box, this in a wooden coffin. Both were covered with a stone slab with the inscription: COR CEBERUM EXTAQUE JO. SUICARDI ARCHIEp. MOGUNTINI OBIIT AO CHRISTI 1626 XVII. SEPT. - Alois Grimm: Aschaffenburg house book . Volume II: Old town between Dalbergstrasse and the castle ... Geschichts- und Kunstverein e. V., Aschaffenburg 1991, ISBN 3-87965-053-5 .
predecessor Office successor
Johann Adam von Bicken Elector Archbishop of Mainz
1604–1626 		Georg Friedrich von Greiffenclau
personal data
SURNAME Kronberg, Johann Schweikhard von
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Archbishop and Elector of Mainz (1604–1626)
DATE OF BIRTH July 15, 1553
PLACE OF BIRTH Kronberg im Taunus
DATE OF DEATH 17th September 1626
Place of death Aschaffenburg