Lucas Watzenrode

Lucas Watzenrode the Younger

Lucas Watzenrode (born October 30, 1447 in Thorn ; † March 29, 1512 ibid) was Prince-Bishop of Warmia . His father Lukas Watzenrode the Elder (1400–1462) was a citizen and trader in Thorn.

Life

The family came from Weizenrodau in Silesia. As was customary at the time, the place of origin was continued as a family name after the family moved to Thorn (here in the form Watzenrode , also Watzelrode and Weisselrodt ).

Education

Lucas Watzenrode first studied in 1463/1464 at the University of Krakow . On June 8, 1465, he enrolled in the artistic faculty of the University of Cologne , where he received his doctorate three years later, on April 8, 1468, as a master of the arts ( magister artium ).

1470 he began studying at the time in the jurisprudence most famous university in Europe, the University of Bologna . On January 6, 1472 he was elected as the highest head (procurator) of the German student body (Natio Germanorum), to which his two nephews and foster sons Andreas and Niklas Koppernigk ( Nikolaus Kopernikus ) also belonged years later . On December 18, 1473, Lukas Watzenrode finished his studies with a doctorate in canon law (Doctor in jure canonico).

Culmsee and Leslau

After his return home he became canon in Culmsee by 1475 at the latest . In April 1477, Pope Sixtus IV also awarded him a canonical in Leslau . There he made friends with the Bishop of Leslau, Zbigniew Oleśnicki , who was Archbishop of Gniezno in 1482 and later Primate of Poland. Lukas Watzenrode followed him to Gnesen and was his trusted legal advisor and constant companion until 1489.

Prince-Bishop of Warmia

When Nikolaus von Tüngen , the Bishop of Warmia, died in 1489, Watzenrode followed. As prince-bishop he was on an equal footing with the other imperial princes and, like them, he ruled his country himself. Watzenrode was elected, but Elisabeth von Habsburg and her husband, the Polish king Casimir IV , wanted their son Friedrich to be appointed bishop of Warmia. They wanted to remove the government of the Teutonic Order in order to forcibly annex Prussia to Poland. However, Watzenrode was consecrated by the Pope as bishop and ruler of Warmia. Casimir IV kept trying to conquer and in 1492 he planned to take over by military force. However, his death thwarted this plan. Warmia remained an exemtes diocese .

Watzenrode was now a friendly neighborly relations to the sons of Casimir, Johann Albrecht , then Alexander then Sigismund I hold. He was also their adviser several times and at the same time maintained a good working group with the Teutonic Order, but when necessary he defended the independent status of Warmia.

Watzenrode founded a school in Frauenburg and planned a university in Elbing . He maintained a large collection of books and worked to ensure that the first literary books for the Warmia diocese were printed. He was also an art lover and donated a large number of paintings , sculptures, altars, etc.

The "Report on the Prince-Bishop's Last Days"

His chancellor Paul Deusterwald wrote a report about the last days of the prince-bishop , in which he also discussed his character:

On January 15, 1512, Rev. Lucas, Bishop of Warmia , left Heilsberg Castle (Lidzbark Warmiński) for Cracow . The wedding of His Majesty, King Sigismund of Poland , took place there on Sunday, February 8th. It was lavishly celebrated with great brilliance and generosity. At the same time a general meeting was held there. Initially he was comfortable and happy on the drive to the wedding reception, but on return he was saddened by unexpected troubles. This is what happened to Bishop Lucas in Krakow at the beginning. Later, on returning, he began to get nauseous from the fish during Lent, contrary to his habit. And the nausea began to get worse over time, so that it was clearly noticed by us who had meals with him every day at table. After a few days, he no longer began to taste food and drink and you could see how his life force decreased from day to day. And that was even more noticeable in Lentschütz (Łęczyca) on March 23, but especially on the following day in the Mosebrock (Moosburg = Przedecz) fortress , where the stomach could no longer hold the food it had consumed, but returned it immediately. And then the illness began to get worse and the strength dwindled until a disastrous illness, so that he could no longer walk well on his own, and could no longer even stand on his feet. Then there was an inextinguishable thirst and fever, which, he assured him, tormented him consistently, violently and without interruption.

In this serious illness and near death he was on March 26th, which is the Friday after the Sunday Judica [5. Lent Sunday], brought to Thorn, was not unlike someone who passed away, where he lost his strength and ability to speak to a great extent the following day (the handicapped speech was based on difficulties with breathing, which only with great effort came out of the chest), was placed on a private sick bed. The next day, as his condition deteriorated, he confessed and received the Lord's body with the greatest devotion. And although he pronounced the words with a trembling tongue and indistinctly, he tried to say many things to those who were familiar to him, and they also sometimes understood what he wanted, even if more from signs and gestures that were known to them than from the actual words. Sometimes he pronounced a complete and correct sentence, albeit with great effort; In my opinion, he tried to get mucus out of the chest, which the blocked airways did not allow.

There was also no experienced doctor present who could have provided assistance with natural remedies. It was true that doctors from abroad were sent, but when they came they found him dead. It was on Monday, March 29th , when, after hearing the Mass and receiving the last unction, he was in the presence of the Most Venerable Father in Christ, Mr. Johannes [Konopacki], the Bishop of Kulm , and his friends in ardent devotion to God, which one could see in many signs, and how it was to be expected, finally exhaled the soul and honestly entered into the Lord . His burial took place in the Warmian Cathedral (Dom zu Frauenburg) , where his family paid him their grief and grief. The funeral was on Friday April 2nd .

There were many different opinions about his death, as is usual. Some suspected that he had succumbed to a poisonous potion, with doubts about the instigator. Supporting their statement, black spots were seen that immediately covered the body after the soul had left. It was also astonishing that right at the beginning of the illness his strength was weakened so much when he was otherwise strong and vigorous by nature. Others believed age was the cause of death as it was past sixty-four years. Some said he died of grief and grief because of many enemies.

Mainly high-ranking personalities from Prussia were his opponents: The nobility because of the districts of Tolkemit (Tolkmicko) and Scharfau , which they received for the church as a permanent gift from the royal majesty, also because of the exemption of the districts of Stuhm (Sztum) and Dyrsau, over which he could otherwise dispose of. But also the cities - Elbing because of the court decision regarding the fishermen who fished in the inlet called Hab (Haff) , which they exercised as customary right in the city of Tolkemit, and because of the property rights that the citizens claimed as their own, against which the bishop but on the contrary in this matter insisted that he had been given the entire Tolkemit district with all rights, in which the aforementioned lived. But Danzig because of the sparing of the church, which he asked them to return, and also because of possessions which had been alienated from the Scharfau district by its citizens.

His episcopate was also hostile to the order of knights with whom he always lived in disputes. In addition, Wilhelm von Eisenberg , the order marshal, had published an outrageous, notorious pamphlet about the bishop shortly before the bishop's death. Not to mention the robbers who invaded Prussia in droves at that time and who, at the suggestion of certain people, inflicted much harm on the bishop, who even set fire to suspect him and did not cease to harm him.

It would be tedious to list everything. But it is absolutely certain that the above-mentioned opponents fought all his actions with great zeal and had done so for a long time, and that the king's displeasure with the bishop also upset his stomach, although the king always valued him very much. To achieve this, they employed a variety of tricks, skill and ingenuity. But the bishop didn’t care about all of the efforts of those in his life of integrity.

But I, who have followed the above-mentioned opinions about his death, do not see it that way, but have written down the incident about his death as I saw it with my own eyes when I was present. May everyone judge their death and life freely and as they see fit. But those who know his statements and his way of life will admit - which is necessary in order that those who give a wrong judgment may blush - that he was an eminent prelate, endowed with all virtue and integrity, wise, matter-of-fact, chaste , just, conscientious, pious, learned, of admirable steadfast strength, generous, highly experienced and therefore highly valued by three successive Polish kings, Albert , Alexander and Sigismund , as well as throughout the Polish kingdom. They used to marvel at his greatness of mind at consultations and consultations on the big topics. All of Prussia , which follows the kingdom, revered him no other than a father before it condescended to these arguments with him for the reasons mentioned above. Others may indulge in his faults as they please. With all the virtues mentioned above, I only noticed this flaw in him, that he sometimes held too steadfastly to his opinions, from which he could only be dissuaded even by the strongest arguments. Still, he liked to hear the advice of others, if not from everyone around him, but only to a lesser extent, and especially from those who were of striking clarity of mind. One deficiency in him too was particularly great: that he could not win the love and benevolence of people. And if this favor had been shown to him, he would have been a creator of wonderful works. But we can't all do everything. Let his soul rest in holy peace.

family

Watzenrode was the brother of Nicolaus Copernicus' mother Barbara, who died early. When his father also died in 1483, he took over the upbringing of the four orphaned children as an uncle and sent the future astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus and his brother Andreas to study in Krakow and Bologna to enable them to pursue a career in church administration.

Watzenrode had a son himself, Philipp Teschner , who, as mayor of Braunsberg, served Grand Master Albrecht and supported the Reformation .

literature

• Thomas Treter: Liber de episcopatu et episcopis Varmiensibus ex vetusto Chronico Bibliotheca Heilsbergensis in Linguam Latinam ex Germanica translatus. 1594 (manuscript); printed under the title: De episcopatu et episcopis ecclesiae varmiensis liber. Chronicon de vitis episcoporum varmiensium. Krakow 1685.
• Andreas Thiel : The relationship of Bishop Lucas von Watzelrode to the German order. In: Zeitschrift für die Geschichte und Altertumskunde Ermlands Vol. 1 (1858–1860), pp. 244–268 and pp. 409–459. MDZ Munich
• Christoph Hartknoch : Prussian Church Historia. Frankfurt a. M., 1668.
• Gottfried Centner: Honored and learned Thorner in addition to their hometown, along with occasional family tables and news from old Thorn families. Bergmann, Thorn 1763
• A. Semrau: Catalog of the families of the lay judge's bench and the council chair in the old town of Thorn 1233–1602 , in: Mitteilungen des Copernicus-Verein für Wissenschaft und Kunst zu Thorn 46 (1938)
• Wojciech Iwanczak:  WATZENRODE, Lucas. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 13, Bautz, Herzberg 1998, ISBN 3-88309-072-7 , Sp. 389-393.
• Hans Schmauch:  Copernicus, Nicolaus. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 3, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1957, ISBN 3-428-00184-2 , pp. 348-355 ( digitized version ). (Mention)
• Hans Schmauch: The youth of Nicolaus Copernicus. In: Johannes Papritz, Hans Schmauch (Hrsg.): Kopernikus-Forschungen. S. Hirzel Verlag, Leipzig 1943. pp. 100-131.
• Poczet biskupów warmińskich. Olsztyn 1998.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ NDB article on Copernicus
2. ↑ Elogia Episcoporum Warmiensium. In: Zeitschrift für die Geschichte und Altertumskunde Ermlands , Vol. 6, 1878, pp. 356–359.
3. ^ Leopold Prowe : Nicolaus Coppernicus. Weidmannsche Buchhandlung, Berlin 1883-1884, Volume 2 , pp. 476-480
4. ↑ Leopold Prowe: Watzenrode's son Philipp Teschner
5. ↑ It is the Latin translation of the German chronicle of the Warmian Canon Johannes Kretzmer; proven in: Otto Günther (Ed.): Catalog of the Danziger City Library. Volume II: Catalog of the manuscripts, part 2. Verlag der L. Saunierchen Buch- und Kunsthandlung, Danzig 1903. P. 174–175: Manuscripts 1248 and 1248a.

predecessor	Office	successor
Nikolaus von Tüngen	Bishop of Warmia 1489–1512	Fabian von Lossainen