Johannes Heinrich Wedemann

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Johannes Heinrich Wedemann , also: Hans Heinrich Wedemann (* around 1620 perhaps in Schwerin ; † July 15, 1685 in Lübeck ) was a German lawyer and chancellor of Mecklenburg-Schwerin .

Life

So far only scant information has been found on the life of the lawyer Johannes Heinrich Wedemann. Presumably he came from Schwerin or from the (Mecklenburg-) Schwerin part of the country. He was the son of the Schwerin chapter syndicate Joachim Wedemann and inherited from him the former canon curia in Schwerin, where the Hôtel de Paris later stood.

From 1639 he completed a law degree in Rostock and probably in Helmstedt , where he ( Johannes Henricus Wedemannus Sverino-Megapolitanus ) after a dissertation submitted in 1648 on September 25, 1649 as Dr. iur. utr. received his doctorate.

In the 1650s Wedemann seems to have settled in Schwerin as a lawyer. At least since the beginning of the 1660s he worked for Schwerin government authorities. In January 1661 he was appointed to the ducal (government) councilor in the chamber college of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, on October 21, 1662 to the secret council in the service of the (ruling) duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Christian Ludwig I , whose favor he soon became won. In 1663 Wedemann represented the Duke's interests at the Reichstag in Regensburg . On March 30, 1665 he appointed him vice-chancellor, and finally on March 7, 1670 as chancellor of his Schwerin government agency.

Exposed to the rapidly and constantly changing moods of his sovereign, threatened several times with loss of favor and imprisonment in the so-called "lead chambers" (dungeon) of Schwerin Castle, Wedemann apparently administered the high-ranking government office of the ducal chancellor until his death. Naturally, his name appears frequently in royal correspondence from this period. Together with the director of the ducal judicial office, Alexander Kirchberg , he played a major role in the judgments at witch trials in Mecklenburg in the 1660s. In contrast to his sovereign, Wedemann, together with Kirchberg, advocated an extremely harsh judgment practice, which usually ended in death for the accused.

When Kirchberg had fallen out of favor with the Duke in 1677 and Wedemann had stood up for him, dark clouds came together over him. By fleeing to Lübeck, the Chancellor (initially) got to safety.

The opinions of the few analysts differ about Wedemann's future fate. Sometimes it is said that Wedemann remained in office despite these events, then again, due to the events "he falls out of favor, takes the prospect of dismissal on his own initiative, moves with the family to Lübeck in 1679, where he himself disregards all of the Duke's demands Christian Louis, who has bestowed reconciliation on him, remains, but gives his required 'bona consilia'. "

Wedemann died on July 15, 1685 in Lübeck. In September, his body was transferred to Schwerin to be buried in Wedemann's hereditary funeral. Today his name appears almost exclusively in depictions of the person and reign of the Mecklenburg Duke Christian Ludwig I. His widow still owned his father's house in Schwerin in 1687.

Works

  • Diss. Inaug. de Substitutionibus (Helmstedt, 1648).

literature

  • August Johann Carl Zur Nedden: Contributions to the history of the Grand Ducal Justice Chancellery in Schwerin. (Continuation). In: Yearbooks of the Association for Mecklenburg History and Archeology, Vol. 46 (1881). Pp. 169-283 (here pp. 237, 241).
  • Steffen Stuth: Courtyards and residences. Investigations into the courts of the dukes of Mecklenburg in the 16th and 17th centuries. Bremen: Edition Temmen, 2001. ISBN 3-86108-778-2 . (See pp. 212, 220, 223, 224).
  • Sebastian Joost: Between hope and powerlessness. Foreign policy as a means of enforcing sovereign power in Mecklenburg (1648-1695). Berlin: Lit, 2009. ISBN 978-3-8258-1062-7 . (See p. 72, note 132, and numerous other references).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Register of the years XXXI to XL of the Mecklenburg Yearbooks and annual reports of the Association for Mecklenburg History and Archeology Schwerin: Stillersche Hofbuchhandlung 1887, p. 301
  2. ^ A b Franz Schildt: The diocese of Schwerin in the Protestant era. (I. Part) In: Yearbooks of the Association for Mecklenburg History and Archeology. (1882), pp. 146–241, here p. 160 ( full text ( memento of the original dated September 16, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to instructions and then remove this notice. ) @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / portal.hsb.hs-wismar.de
  3. ↑ Matrikeleintrag Easter 1639: John Hinricus Wedemann Suerinensis ( Online ).
  4. ↑ Honoribus In Utroque Iure Summis, Et Privilegiis Doctoralibus ... Dn. Johanni Henrico Wedemanno, IU Candidato Eximio: Illustriss. & Amplißimo Consessu, solenni Maiorum ritu, In Academia Iulia VII. Kl. Octobres Anni MDCIL Collatis, Feliciter Helmestadii: Mullerus, 1649 ( digitized from the Herzog August Library )
  5. ↑ Probably not as early as 1667, as other sources say.
  6. ^ Katrin Moeller: Witch persecutions Mecklenburg, Duchy on www.historicum.net
  7. ^ August Johann Carl Zur Nedden: Contributions to the history of the Grand Ducal Justice Chancellery in Schwerin. (Continuation). In: Yearbooks of the Association for Mecklenburg History and Archeology, Vol. 46 (1881). Pp. 169-283 (here pp. 237, 241).
  8. ↑ State Main Archives Schwerin, 2.12-2 / 4 Government Colleges and Courts, No. 587
personal data
SURNAME Wedemann, Johannes Heinrich
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Wedemann, Hans Heinrich; Wedemann, Johann Heinrich
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German Chancellor
DATE OF BIRTH around 1620
PLACE OF BIRTH uncertain: Schwerin
DATE OF DEATH July 15, 1685
Place of death uncertain: Lübeck