Leonhard of the Elbow

Leonhard of the Ellenbant (* 1480 / 1481 in Heerlen , † 16th century ) was Schöffe and Mayor of Reich Aachen .

Live and act

Leonhard von dem Ellenbant was the son of the father of the same name and Katharine von Weerst. He lost his father at an early age and was heir to Gut Meesenbroek near Heerlen at the age of 15. At the beginning of the 16th century he moved to Aachen and was accepted into the jury's chair in 1507 through the mediation of the influential councilor family van Haren . Apparently without having officially performed certain offices or tasks in the city council, von dem Ellenbant was elected mayor of the city of Aachen in 1516/17, 1529/30, 1533/34, 1535/36 and 1537/38. His first term of office was marked by a dispute over the rights of the Burtscheid Bailiwick , in which he was called as a mediator. In his second term, he, together with Peter Inden Aachener delegation at the Diet of Speyer in 1529 , dealing with a majority of city representatives for the reinstatement of the temporarily suspended Edict of Worms began that the imperial ban on Martin Luther imposed and the reading and dissemination of its Had banned writings. He also represented Aachen in his third term in office at a meeting in Koblenz that spoke out against the Anabaptists in Munster becoming stronger. After his tenure in 1549, as lay judge master, he was instrumental in drafting an update of the lay judges' rules.

Leonhard von dem Elllenbant died after 1552, as he was mentioned one last time as a lay judge in that year. He was married to Maria von Hochkirchen, daughter of lay judge Heinrich von Hochkirchen and heiress of the Soerser Hochkirchen estate; the couple had at least two daughters who were given by name. In addition to his inherited estate Meesenbroek, von dem Ellenbant also owned an estate in the Soers as well as land in the Aachen suburb of Haaren and a house in the city center. In addition, he had been a liege-bearer of Raaf Castle from 1528 .

Literature and Sources

• Luise Freiin von Coels von der Brügghen: The lay judges of the Royal See of Aachen from the earliest times until the final repeal of the imperial city constitution in 1798 . In: Journal of the Aachen History Association . tape 50 , 1928, ISSN  0065-0137 , pp. 228-231 , no. 203 ( p. 228/229 and p. 230/231 ).
• Luise Freiin von Coels von der Brügghen: The Aachen mayors from 1251 to 1798 . In: Journal of the Aachen History Association . tape 55, 1933/34 , pp. 58–60 ( aachener-geschichtsverein.de [PDF; 1.7 MB ]).