Klaus Kursell

Klaus Kursell († 3. June 1570 in Tallinn ) was 1,558 on Mr. Sommerpahlen , 1567 Mr. Castle Leal and Matzal , 1567-1570 Swedish field Obrist, leader of the German courtiers in Estonia .

Life

Klaus came from the German-Baltic Kursell family . His parents were Jürgen von Kursell and Ebba von Uexküll . His father's goods were under Russian occupation at the time when Swedish rule began.

In September 1561, five pennons of German courtiers with a strength of 1200 horsemen were named among the Swedes . Klaus Kursell was one of the five Rittmeister. His brother Heinrich Kursell, his brother-in-law Johann Uexküll zu Padenorm and his nephew Jürgen Fahrensbach also served for his flag, which comprised 326 riders . Heinrich Dücker was a lieutenant with him . In 1561 he took Padis for the Swedes in order to protect it from Kettler and Duke Magnus . The following winter he took garrison in Reval . Under the command of Clas Christierson Horn , with whom a complex relationship was subsequently to relax, the German courtiers advanced on May 20, 1562 against Pernau , which they initially took from the Poles. From August 1562, Kursell directed the first operation against Weißenstein . The actual siege of Weißenstein lasted from October 30, 1562 until the castle fell on November 20, 1562.

At this point, Kursell, who has now become a confidante and spokesman for all German courtiers to the Swedes, pointed out to his commandant Horn for the first time that the wages were in arrears, a problem that the Swedish side never seriously resolved and ultimately led to Kursell's personal catastrophe. In May 1563 Kursell turned to King Erich about outstanding pay and wagon money . Instead of paying his German riders, the king ordered them to be withdrawn from Estonia and deployed against Denmark in the Swedish heartland. For the time being, however, Kursell garrisoned again in the winter of 1563/1564. The contradiction between outstanding payment and the order to march to Sweden ultimately led to the apostasy of half of the German riders. In this situation Kursell took a loan from the Revaler citizenship and advanced the pay. In return, he was later to receive goods from Pernau. From autumn 1564 Kursell and his ensign were in the royal camp and were successfully used against the Danes.

In 1565 Kursell led his courtiers back to Reval with two of their own ships. For services rendered he received the goods Werder , Tampe and Werpel in the Wiek , which Lorenz Fahrensbach and his heirs owned before him . In addition, he was rewarded with land before Reval, became a citizen of Reval on the recommendation of the king, where he moved into a house.

At the beginning of 1567 Kursell led the German riders again against Pernau and the ore monastery of Riga . Lemsal was sacked, Kursell came back to Estonia with large booty. On February 3, 1567, the Poles under Nicolaus Tolwacz put the Swedes in open battle at the Runafer mill. Duke Magnus's contingent of courtiers went over to the Poles, but the Poles devastated the Wiek after the battle. The fleeing Swedes were persecuted until before Reval. The Swedish losses of prisoners and dead amounted to about 2,000 men. As a direct consequence of this confrontation with the Poles , Klaus Kursell became a Swedish field officer in Livonia and commander in chief of the Swedish troops in Estonia in March / April 1567 . He replaced Clas Christierson Horn in the military command in Estonia.

Yet again Kursell was confronted with outstanding pay for the German horsemen and mercenaries . He then took his camp in Leal , where he also spent the winter. The rule of Leal passed into Kursell's possession at this time, for which he renounced Werder, Tampe and Werpel. Again he had to take credit of 2,000 thalers from the Revalers to reward his courtiers. Restricted in his possibilities with regard to the material and morals, he limited himself to negotiations with Duke Magnus, which lasted until July 25, 1568.

When the internal Swedish rulership got into disorder and the relationship between Kursell and Horn became more and more tense, he sought contact with Duke Karl on October 26, 1568 , whose usurpation he unreservedly recognized. On July 25th 1568 Kursell started an expedition against Ösel from Reval . He landed in front of Sonnenburg , which immediately fell into his hands. The castle was held and further fortified by the Swedes. Due to the lack of sufficient artillery , Kursell refrained from advancing further, in particular Arensburg seemed to him impossible to take with its equipment. Duke Magnus then sent Heinrich Fahrensbach, the father of the Wiek first district administrator of the same name, to the Sonnenburg as a negotiator. As a result, they agreed on an armistice until August 21, 1568. On this date Heinrich Dücker, Kursell's former lieutenant, who was meanwhile leader of the Polish courtiers, moved into Harrien . Thereupon Kursell left Ösel on August 31, 1568 and camped in Lode . From there, Klaus Kursell advanced to Kegel , where he received fresh crew from Reval and finally artillery. However, the increasing conflict with Horn prevented major campaigns against Dücker.

In October 1569 the wages failed again, whereupon Kursell again went to the Revals council for credit, this time in the amount of 50,000 thalers. He offered to give Lode and Padis as a deposit. These negotiations failed and the morale of his troops was at rock bottom. Finally, under Kursell's leadership, the courtiers decided to occupy Reval Castle on January 7, 1570 and to appoint the governor Gabriel Kristiernsson Oxenstierna and his family. A little later, the Oxenstiernas were released, and the courtiers set a deadline at Easter , or at the latest by Pentecost , to vacate the castle safely against outstanding pay. Klaus Kursell felt loyal to the Swedes throughout the occupation, but tried to incorporate the interests of the Revaler and the Wierland nobility into his legitimate demands . After this alliance failed, he sought out Duke Magnus as a kind of reinsurance. Not free of his own interests, he immediately sent 200 of his courtiers to Reval, but they were stopped by the Swedes. Although a diplomatic solution from all sides seemed possible until the end, the Swedes stormed the castle on Good Friday, March 24, 1570 and imprisoned Kursell and most of his courtiers. His nephew Jürgen Fahrensbach is one of the few who escaped.

On May 31, 1570, the trial against Kursell began, who was finally sentenced to death by the sword with three fellow activists . On June 3, 1570 the judgment was carried out. In his will, Klaus Kursell bequeathed the 4,000 thalers to his brother Jost, which King Erich had assigned to the Estonian nobility but never paid and which were also advanced by Kursell.

Rating

Klaus Kursell was on the Swedish side from the beginning of Swedish rule in Estonia. This and his military prowess allowed him to have a fast and steep career. He became an important military leader. At the same time he was loyal to his troops, the German courtiers. The tension due to the Swedish king's negligent payment behavior in pay matters ultimately led to his downfall.

Kursell was consistently rated positively by many authors in his actions and efforts. Only the help, which he took from Duke Magnus towards the end, was occasionally interpreted as betrayal of the Swedish party.

literature

• Andres Adamson: Prelude to the Birth of the “Kingdom of Livonia”. Institute of History, Tallinn 2009, kirj.ee (PDF)
• Friedrich Konrad Gadebusch : Livonian yearbooks, 2nd part, first section from 1562 to 1586 . (Hartknoch, Riga 1781), pages 117–120 ( books.google.de/books )
• Ernst Seraphim : Colonel Klaus Kursell and his time. A picture of Estonia in the early days of Swedish rule. In: Library of Livonian History , Volume 1, Reval 1897