Johannes Sastrow

Johannes Sastrow (* 1515 in Greifswald ; † 1545 in Acquapendente , Italy ) was a Pomeranian legal scholar, provost and poeta laureate .

Life

Johannes Sastrow was the older brother of the Stralsund mayor Bartholomäus Sastrow . He was born in Greifswald in 1515 as the son of Nikolaus Sastrow, a cloth merchant and later an elder in Stralsund's clothing store. His father had to leave Greifswald in 1523 because of a feud and settled in Stralsund , where he established his cloth trade and was considered a “rich man on Fährstrasse”. Johannes studied theology and law in Wittenberg . He had contacts with Philipp Melanchthon and Martin Luther . Allegedly he wrote a mourning poem for the death of Erasmus of Rotterdam .

Around 1541 Johannes traveled to Speyer with his brother to represent his father's interests before the Imperial Court of Justice. Due to political disputes in Stralsund, he had been placed under house arrest for some time and had therefore suffered enormous losses in his long-distance trade. This led to various legal disputes that finally ended up before the Reich Chamber of Commerce in Speyer. Johannes took a position as provost of the cathedral in Speyer, while Bartholomew found his livelihood in a law firm.

In 1545 Johannes Sastrow died in Acquapendente. To settle his estate, Bartholomäus Sastrow traveled to Italy in 1546. Bartholomäus Sastrow suspected that his brother had died in Italy because of his Reformed faith.

Poeta Laureate

Charles V awarded Johannes Sastrow this title in 1544. Associated with the title was a lifelong financial reward, which was not granted to all scholars who were honored with this title. John had written mock poems of Henry VIII of England when he had Thomas More executed in 1535 and Robert Barnes in 1540 . The trigger for the title can also have been a Carmen on Charles V, who entered a letter of arms for John and the title mentioned.

literature

• Theodor Pyl:  Sastrow, Bartholomäus . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 30, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1890, pp. 398-408.
• Antje Wittstock: Melancholy and ascetic work ethic in Bartholomäus Sastrow . In: Corinna Laude; Gilbert Heß (Hrsg.): Concepts of productivity in the change from the Middle Ages to the early modern period . Berlin, Akademie-Verlag 2008, pp. 119–140.
• Ursula Brosthaus: Bourgeois Life in the 16th Century. The autobiography of the Stralsund mayor Bartholomaus Sastrow as a source of cultural history. Bohlau, Cologne 1972.