Johann VII. (Oldenburg)

Johann VII. (Old count: XVI.)

Elisabeth von Schwarzburg-Blankenburg, wife of Johann VII.

Count Johann der Deichbauer or Johann VII. Von Oldenburg and Delmenhorst (born September 9, 1540 in Oldenburg ; † November 12, 1603 ibid) from the House of Oldenburg was the ruling Count of Oldenburg . His parents were Count Anton I and Sophie von Sachsen-Lauenburg .

Life

Youth and taking office

Johann was together with the three sons of the Danish king Christian III. Educated at the Copenhagen court from 1552 to 1557 . The Danish royal family had been related to the Earl's House of Oldenburg for more than a hundred years, and in 1570, together with the dukes of Gottorp, who were also related, were granted feudal entitlement to Oldenburg. At the age of 17 he undertook his cavalier tour to the court of the Elector August of Saxony . Then he joined several campaigns by Christian III. he fought in the Three Crown War and was awarded the Danish Elephant Order . He then returned to Oldenburg and when his father, who had ruled the county efficiently but with brutal ruthlessness, died in 1573, Johann took office in Oldenburg at the age of 33.

Conflict with Anton II.

The constant dispute with his brother Anton II (1550-1619) over the county of Delmenhorst was over Johann's entire reign . After four years of sole rule, Anton II demanded the split of the county of Delmenhorst from Oldenburg in equal parts. This actually came about through the contract of November 3, 1577 in such a way that Johann awarded the income of Harpstedt , Delmenhorst , Varel and some Vorwerke Anton II for 10 years , the representation of both territories to the outside, the feudal sovereignty over the vassals of House of Oldenburg as well as the competence over the law firm as the highest court but retained. In 1587 the dispute flared up again and had to be decided in 1597 by an arbitration ruling by the Imperial Court Council in Prague . This clearly favored Anton, so that Johann did not recognize the saying. The provincial estates from the city of Oldenburg, the knighthood and the common landscape that he called up rejected the division on December 14, 1594. The state limbo of the counties, which occurred as a result of this unsolved dispute, thus remained until the reign of Anton Günther (1583–1667).

Takeover of the rule of Jever

In the northwest, however, Johann was able to expand his property significantly. Through negotiations with Fraulein Maria von Jever he succeeded in inheriting the Jever rule in 1575 , despite the protests of the Counts of East Friesland, who in turn wanted to take over Jeverland. Maria's aversion to the Aurich Counts was so deep that she appointed Johann as her heir in her will on April 22, 1573 and also determined that no member of the Oldenburg family should enter into marital association with the East Frisian Count's house or conclude contracts with him Ostfriesland could receive inheritance claims on Jever. After Maria's death on February 20, 1575, Jever, whose estates had already paid homage to Johann in 1574, fell to Oldenburg, which, thanks to its fertile coastal zones, its wealth of horses and cows, resulted in a remarkable gain in financial resources and an improvement in the strategic position of Oldenburg East Frisia meant. From Maria Johann also took over the inheritance claims of the Jever chief family Wimeken to the rule Kniphausen . In 1592, the Imperial Court of Justice in Speyer granted Johann the right of inheritance to Kniphausen, but Johann's assertiveness was not enough to actually take over power.

Since Johann constantly feared a sudden attack on Jever by the East Frisian counts, the close ties between the rulership and the county of Oldenburg were of great importance to him. He pushed ahead with the construction of a road connection between Jever and Oldenburg, which was outside the East Frisian control, and tried to create a land connection by gradually damming the large western jade ingress between Sande and the Frisian Wehde . The greatest challenge was breaking through the Black Brack . The raging current repeatedly ruined the construction of a dam. In addition, Edzards II of East Friesland practiced to prevent by renewed complaints to the Reich Chamber of Commerce. In fact, the East Frisian lawyers managed to get the court to stop construction, but only after Johann's death (1604). Johann supervised the construction of the later Ellenser Damm of Neuchâtel Castle , but was not to see its completion. For his efforts to dike the Jadebusen and Butjadingens , which were costly , Johann received the title of “dyke builder”.

Administrative reforms

Furthermore, Johann tried to transform his rule into a modern micro-state. Above all, he regulated the practice of jurisprudence, which was often hindered or completely suppressed by his predecessors. The count's chancellery , which served as the highest court in civil, criminal and consistorial matters, was given chancellery rules in 1573, which have unfortunately been lost. The tasks of the regional courts in Oldenburg, Delmenhorst, Ovelgönne , Neuchâtel and Jever have been redefined.

Reform of the Oldenburg Church

In 1573, Johann also issued a church ordinance for the counties of Oldenburg and Delmenhorst. This shows in a striking way the historical delay in the history of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Oldenburg , as this only happened 47 years after the first Protestant church ordinances on German soil in 1526 in Hesse and Schwäbisch Hall.

After the proclamation of the Oldenburg church order, Johann Hermann Hamelmann appointed the first superintendent of the Oldenburg church. While the pastors of the two counties signed the church ordinance without exception, it was more difficult for the Jeverland clergy to swear to the new church law and two of them had to look for a new spiritual master after refusing to accept the strictly Lutheran order. In 1577 Johann signed the concord formula and in 1580 the concord book . The unity of the Lutheran creed was only enforced later by Hamelmann.

Family and succession

In 1576 he married Countess Elisabeth von Schwarzburg-Blankenburg in Delmenhorst (born April 13, 1541, † December 26, 1612).

After his death he was succeeded by his son Anton Günther as Count of Oldenburg, who profited extensively from his father's great achievements in building dykes, church and administrative reform. The countess widow Elisabeth retired to Neuchâtel Castle.

literature

Friedrich Wilhelm Schaer: Johann XVI. (Vii.). In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 10, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1974, ISBN 3-428-00191-5 , p. 508 f. ( Digitized version ).
Johann VII. In: Hans Friedl u. a. (Ed.): Biographical manual for the history of the state of Oldenburg . Edited on behalf of the Oldenburg landscape. Isensee, Oldenburg 1992, ISBN 3-89442-135-5 , pp. 361-363 ( online ).

Web links

Commons : Johann VII. (Oldenburg) - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

↑ See BSLK , p. 15 and p. 763.

predecessor	Office	successor
Anton I.	Count of Oldenburg 1573–1603	Anton Günther

personal data
SURNAME	John VII
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Johann the dike builder; Johann VII. Count of Oldenburg and Delmenhorst; Johann XVI. Count of Oldenburg and Delmenhorst
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	German nobleman, Count of Oldenburg and Delmenhorst
DATE OF BIRTH	September 9, 1540
PLACE OF BIRTH	Oldenburg
DATE OF DEATH	November 12, 1603
Place of death	Oldenburg

[1] See BSLK , p. 15 and p. 763.