Marx Meyer
whitewashed . Marx Meyer , also Marcus Meyer or Markus Meyer , († June 1536 ) was an anchor smith from Hamburg who served the Lübeckers under Jürgen Wullenwever as a general.
Life
Marx Meyer is mentioned for the first time when he settled in Hamburg as a master blacksmith in 1526 and acquired Hamburg citizenship . Some bills from the 1520s are also documented. For Marx Meyer, described as stately, the life as a master craftsman seemed to have become too boring, because in 1531/32 he was a mercenary leader in the unsuccessful attempt of the Danish King Christian II , who was deposed in 1523 , to recapture Norway. He must have caught the attention of the Lübeckers fighting on the side of Friedrich I , because in the same year he entered their service as captain over the town servants and soon gained political influence.
Captain in Lübeck
On March 19, 1533, he married the widow of the mayor Gottschalck Lunte , who had recently died , Elsabe von Wickede, a daughter of Hermann von Wickede - albeit against the wishes of her relatives - and thus rose to the highest circles in society. As an upstart and because of his extraordinary ostentatiousness, he was always a thorn in the side of the patriciate . All the more so since he remained loyal to his Hamburg lover Agneta Willeken despite the marriage. She influenced him with her ambition and even accompanied him to war.
When the Lübeckers under Jürgen Wullenwever began a pirate feud against the Dutch in 1533 , Marx Meyer was the leader of the North Sea fleet. His task was to prevent direct trade between the Netherlands and the eastern Baltic countries (especially Danzig ) in order to enforce Lübeck's staple law. The project was crowned with little success. While a ceasefire was being negotiated, Marx Meyer landed on his ship in England in search of provisions , where he was immediately arrested as a pirate . Due to an intervention by Hanseatic merchants , Marx Meyer was released and received an audience with King Henry VIII of England . Marx Meyer proposed to the king an alliance with Lübeck directed against Denmark and against the Kaiser. Henry VIII, who was looking for new allies after the annulment of his marriage to Catherine of Aragón and the rift with the Catholic Church and Charles V , accepted the proposal, even knighted Marx Meyer and dismissed him with a rich gift.
In April 1533 Friedrich I died and the Danish Imperial Council could not agree on a successor. In this situation Lübeck offered Friedrich's eldest son, Duke Christian, who later became Christian III. to offer his support. This offer was rejected by Melchior Rantzau on behalf of the Duke. Lübeck, which, according to the 150-year-old provisions of the Peace of Stralsund, believed that it was entitled to appoint the Danish king, then entered into a coalition with supporters of Christian II. It was even planned to depose Gustav I. Wasa , who Lübeck felt betrayed by one way . At this time, as the chroniclers Reimar Kock and Hermann Bonnus report, Marx Meyer was the mayor's only advisor , alongside the Hamburg-based syndic Johann Oldendorp and the merchant Harmen Israhel .
Count feud
In May 1534, the so-called count's feud broke out on Fyn with the attack of Christoph von Oldenburg , a cousin of the deposed Christian II . At the same time, Lübeck, as its ally, opened the war against Duke Christian with an incursion by Marx Meyer's troops into Holstein . This attack took place without a previous declaration of war. In Mölln Meyer took the young Svante Sture, a nephew of Sten Sture , hostage, with the intention of using him as the Swedish puppet king.
While Count Christoph conquered Zealand and Scania in addition to Fyn within a short time , Marx Meyer, instead of turning to strategically sensible goals, led a personal vengeance campaign against members of the Rantzau family, without the knowledge of the Lübeck Council , because he and his lover personally loved Melchior Rantzau felt offended. Trittau , Reinbek , Eutin and after the unsuccessful siege of the Siegesburg the city of Segeberg as well as some mansions fell victim to him. This attack was repulsed by the Holstein knights and peasants who besieged Lübeck in November 1534. Lübeck signed the Treaty of Stockelsdorf with the Duchy of Holstein . Since Christian III, who has meanwhile been crowned king. was interested in a quick end to the conflict in order to be able to concentrate his forces on the peasant revolt in Jutland led by skipper Clement , Lübeck got off lightly.
At that time, Marx Meyer had already left for Count Christoph in Copenhagen . Count Christoph, who officially reigned there for Christian II, enfeoffed Marx Meyer with Iceland . Marx Meyer's ill-considered raids in Skåne, marked by senseless destructiveness, made a significant contribution to strengthening the resistance of the local population. After initial victories, the Lübeckers and their allies were soon pushed back to Helsingborg . When the city was stormed in early 1535, Marx Meyer was captured and locked in the Sundschloss fortress Varberg . He managed to free himself and also to develop his prison into a resistance nest, allegedly by seducing the wife of the lord of the castle. He also conquered the area around the castle and stayed there even after Lübeck had made peace with Denmark in August 1535 and Jürgen Wullenwever had to give way to Nikolaus Brömse . He received no more support from Lübeck. Instead, his brother Gerd Meyer, who wanted to get him provisions, was arrested there. However, since Marx Meyer still had ships, he was able to get out of Copenhagen, which was not yet Christian III. had subjected, to be supplied. It was not until May 1536 that the destruction of his ships by the Danish fleet forced him to surrender. Although he had negotiated free withdrawal, he was arrested on June 1, 1536, embarrassedly interrogated and a few days later executed by beheading and quartering . His brother was also executed a few days later.
literature
- Georg Waitz : Lübeck under Jürgen Wullenwever and European politics , Berlin 1855 (3 volumes)
- Georg Waitz: Meyer, Marx . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 21, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1885, p. 611 f.
Individual evidence
- ^ According to Georg Waitz ( Lübeck under Jürgen Wullenwever and die Europäische Politik , Volume 3. Berlin 1856; p. 224) his wife was Johann von Elpen's sister .
- ^ Heinrich Reincke: Agneta Willeken. A life picture from Wullenwever's days , Pentecost papers of the Hanseatic History Association 1928
- ^ Herrmann Julius Meyer (Ed.): Meyer's Universum . Magnificent edition, Vol. 1, Bibliographisches Institut, Hildburghausen 1862, p. 55 ( Google Books ).
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Meyer, Marx |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Meyer, Markus |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German anchor smith and general |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 15th century |
| DATE OF DEATH | June 1536 |