Ludolf King of Wattzau

Ludolf King of Weizan

Grand Master's coat of arms Ludolf Königs von Wattzau

Ludolf König von Wattzau (* between 1280 and 1290; † 1347 or 1348) was the 20th Grand Master of the Teutonic Order from 1342 to 1345  . He came from a Saxon noble family.

Life

Ludolf König, also written as Weizau was 1331-1338 chief Tressler (Financial Master) of the Teutonic Order. In 1338 he became Grand Commander and opened up the Marienburg region on a large scale . In January 1342 the Chapter elected him Grand Master.

After persistent efforts by the order diplomacy for a peaceful settlement with Poland with the support of Popes John XXII. and Clemens VI. as well as the bishops of Cracow , Meissen and Kulm , the Treaty of Kalisch with the Polish kingdom was signed on July 8, 1343 .

Like many Grand Masters before him, he led a campaign against the Grand Duchy of Lithuania . Retaliatory measures by the Lithuanians in 1345 caused great damage in Prussia and, according to some chronicles of the order, plunged Ludolf König into mental illness. He resigned as Grand Master and became Commander of Castel Sant'Angelo. According to the chronicles, he recovered from his depression, but died in 1347 or 1348.

Ludolf König von Wattzau was originally buried in the St. Anne's Chapel in the Marienburg . In May 2007 archaeologists discovered Wattzau's coffin in a crypt under the presbytery of the cathedral in Marienwerder (former West Prussia ). Along with his final resting place, the remains of two other Grand Masters were found, namely Werner von Orselen and Heinrich the Elder von Plauen .

After dendrochronological examinations of the wood used for the coffins as well as after DNA analysis of the bone remnants, it is 96% certain that these are the people mentioned.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ https://www.n-tv.de/wissen/Uberreste-identisiert-article41323.html

swell

• Friedrich Borchert: The Grand Masters of the Teutonic Order in Prussia , published in the "Preußische Allgemeine Zeitung" on October 13, 2001.

literature

• Klaus Scholz:  Ludolf König. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 15, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1987, ISBN 3-428-00196-6 , p. 299 ( digitized version ).
• Karl Lohmeyer :  Ludolf König . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 16, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1882, p. 519 f.
• Marcus Wüst:  Ludolf König. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 31, Bautz, Nordhausen 2010, ISBN 978-3-88309-544-8 , Sp. 809-812.

Web links

Commons : Ludolf König von Wattzau  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Report on the find of Ludolf's coffin in Spiegel.de
• Photos from the excavation work in 2007
• more photos from the excavation work in 2007