Melchior Colyn

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Melchior Colyn (* 1500 in Aachen , † 1558 in Aachen) was aldermen and mayor of the imperial city of Aachen .

Live and act

The son of Wilhelm Colyn and Alheid von Belderbusch appeared for the first time in 1527 as a member of the aldermen's college. He was a member of the buck guild, the society of patricians , in which scholars, doctors, lawyers, merchants and civil servants were organized, and he had held the office of magistrate since 1555 . Between 1530 and 1558 Colyn was elected mayor of the Free Imperial City of Aachen a total of 14 times every two years . Melchior Colyn died in the course of his last term of office and was represented by the stale mayor Johann Ellerborn († around 1563) until the regular election .

Although a Catholic by birth, Melchior Colyn was tolerant of the religious changes brought about by the Reformation movement in Germany, which from the middle of the 16th century was to gain increasing influence in Aachen for a limited period of time. With a petition to the Roman-German King and later Emperor Ferdinand I, in the context of the negotiations on the peace of religion in Augsburg in 1555, he was instrumental in ensuring that Aachen citizens could practice their religion freely.

Melchior Colyn was married to Maria von Cortenbach, who gave birth to three sons and two daughters. His son Bonifacius Colyn succeeded him as aldermen and mayor and was banished from the empire in 1598 for his tolerant attitude towards the Reformation movement . With his second wife Cäcilia Wimmers, Melchior Colyn also had the son Arnold Colyn († 1589).

Literature and Sources

personal data
SURNAME Colyn, Melchior
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German aldermen and mayor of the Free Imperial City of Aachen
DATE OF BIRTH 1500
PLACE OF BIRTH Aachen
DATE OF DEATH 1558
Place of death Aachen