Merveldt (noble family)

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Coat of arms of those of Merveldt

Merveldt (also Meerveldt or Merfeld ) is the name of a Westphalian noble family that belongs to the ancient nobility . The gentlemen von Merveldt belong to the oldest families in the Münsterland . Merfeld , the family seat from which it is named, is now part of the town of Dülmen in the Coesfeld district .

history

origin

As the first verifiable member of the family, the Ministeriale Henricus de Merevelde appears in a document in 1169 . The secured line of trunks begins with Hermannus de Mervelde from 1227, who was named in the documents “ministerialis beati Pauli” , who was ministerial officer of the bishops of Münster . Bernd and Hermann von Merveldt , mentioned in a document from 1251, were episcopal-Münster Burgmanns of Dülmen.

Spread and lines

The grandchildren of the progenitor Hermann founded three lines. The first line descended from Johannes, knight and Schenk of the Bishop of Münster, was later called Schenk and was still located around Dülmen until 1400. Hermann, Burgmann at Stromberg Castle , founded the second line, which expired in 1691 (based at the eponymous headquarters of Merfeld ). The third line, which is still flourishing today, was founded by Heinrich, Ritter and, like his brother, Burgmann zu Stromberg (later based at Westerwinkel Castle ). A branch derived from this line later also established itself in Courland .

Numerous members of the family remained in the service of the episcopal Münster and became canons in the monastery of Münster . Later they were also used in the cathedral chapters of Hildesheim , Osnabrück and Paderborn . They were canons in St. Mauritz and Xanten . Female members of the family appeared as canons in the Überwasser canonical monastery in Münster, Borghorst and in the St. Bonifatius monastery in Freckenhorst .

Line to Merfeld

House Merfeld near Dülmen

While the line to Westerwinkel was always in close contact with the episcopal sovereign, the line to Merfeld sought to delimit its rule against all sovereign influences in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. The assertion of a separate jurisdiction including place of execution and the establishment of a reformed church system in Merfeld were for Adolf III. von Merveldt (1546–1604) and Johann Adolf von Merveldt (~ 1580–1619) the appropriate instruments to defend their claim to local rule. The denominational opposition to the Prince-Bishop was typical for many families of the Westphalian nobility at the time. In 1691 the line to Merfeld expired and the Merfeld family inherited from the von Merode family .

Line to Westerwinkel

Westerwinkel Castle , owned by the family since around 1430 until today
The Drostenhof (Wolbeck) in Münster, built in 1557, is still owned by the family today.
Lembeck Castle , owned by the family since 1708
Freckenhorst Castle (former New Abbey, below the collegiate church), owned by the family since 1841

Bishop Heidenreich Munster belehnte the Marshal Heinrich von Merveldt 1389 Wolbeck . There the Lords of Merveldt held the office of Drosten until the secularization . From 1545 they established the Drostenhof Wolbeck as their residence , which has remained in the family's possession to this day.

Around 1430 Hermann von Merveldt (1399–1450), Marshal of the Prince-Bishop of Münster and Droste of the Stromberg office, was enfeoffed by the Count of Limburg with the possession of Westerwinkel Castle . Through his moderate demeanor, Hermann von Merveldt was involved in the conclusion of the Kranenburg Treaty (October 23, 1457) to end the Munster collegiate feud (from 1450 to 1457). In the 15th and early 16th centuries, the family had to sell the estate twice, but once again came into possession of Westerwinkel through repurchase and once through marriage, which has remained with them to this day.

During the Anabaptist riots in Münster , the von Merveldt gentlemen took the side of the Bishop of Münster. Dietrich von Merveldt († 1564), Drost zu Wolbeck, made an unsuccessful attempt in 1532 to restore order in the city with a peasant contingent. When Dirk von Merveldt played an important role in the conquest of Münster from the hands of the Münster Anabaptists and even captured the Anabaptist king Jan van Leyden , the Merveldts overcame their financial bottlenecks with spoils of war. Dirk von Merveldt was able to build the Drostenhof in Wolbeck, a masterpiece of the Renaissance. Through his marriage to Ursula von Diepenbrock , he came back into possession of Westerwinkel in 1567. In 1589, Theodor Hermann von Merveldt zu Westerwinkel also bought Geinegge Castle in Bockum-Hövel .

Dietrich Hermann I von Merveldt zu Westerwinkel (1598-1658) was electoral Cologne high court marshal and envoy to the Reichstag in Regensburg from the line of Westerwinkel . Beginning with his son Dietrich Hermann II (1624–1688), all the ancestors of the family were Munster (colonel) court marshals, (secret) councilors and Drosten zu Wolbeck. In 1667, by paying a sum of money, Westerwinkel was able to be detached from the Hohenlimburg feudal relationship and thus brought into the personal property of the family. Only one year later, on February 17, 1668, Theodor Hermann von Merveldt (1624–1696) was raised to the status of hereditary barons by Emperor Leopold I. This increase in status brought with it an elevated need for representation. That is why Westerwinkel Castle, which was built at that time, is one of the earliest baroque castles in Westphalia. On December 20, 1726, the imperial barons of Emperor Charles VI. in the hereditary imperial count stood raised. A desired imperial estate was prevented because of disputes in the family and interventions by the episcopal sovereign.

The Wolbeck Drost Ferdinand Dietrich Freiherr von Merveldt zu Westerwinkel married Maria Josepha Anna Countess von Westerholt in 1708 , the heir to the Count Dietrich Conrad Adolf von Westerholt, who died in 1702. From 1670 to 1692 he had Lembeck Castle expanded and converted into one of the largest moated castles in the Münsterland. Lembeck and the associated house Empte near Dülmen are still owned by the Counts of Merveldt. In 1841, Count Karl von Merveldt auf Lembeck acquired the former New Abbey of the abandoned St. Bonifatius Stift Freckenhorst , which is also owned by the family to this day. Ferdinand Graf von Merveldt married Maria-Anna Freiin Droste zu Hülshoff (1866–1947), when the Füchtel and Welpe estates in Vechta were inherited by the family to this day.

Possessions

During the 19th century, the family owned the manors Lembeck , Ostendorf and Hagenbeck in the Recklinghausen district , Steinhaus in Werne , Geinegge Castle (in Bockum-Hövel ) and Westerwinkel Castle (near Herbern ) in the Lüdinghausen district , Drostenhof Wolbeck near Münster (Wolbeck is now a district of Münster), Huxdiek and Seppenhagen in the old district of Beckum , Freckenhorst in the district of Warendorf , Haus Empte near Dülmen in the district of Coesfeld and - due to marriage to the Droste zu Hülshoff family - the Füchtel estate in Vechta ( Lower Saxony ). A Familienfideikommiss existed from 1717 to 1923 .

Status surveys

Dietrich Hermann von Merveldt (1624–1688), prince-bishop of Münster privy councilor, court marshal and Drost zu Wolbeck, was raised to the status of imperial baron by Emperor Leopold I on February 17, 1668 . Goswin Hermann Otto von Merveldt (1661–1727) was Grand Prior of the Order of St. John in German lands from 1721 to 1727 and as such was Prince of Heitersheim . On December 20, 1726, Dietrich Burchard became Imperial Baron von Merveldt, electoral Cologne and Prince-Bishop of Munster Privy Councilor and High Court Marshal, and all his descendants, from Emperor Karl VI. raised to the imperial count status with the salutation high and well-born and a coat of arms improvement . Furthermore, the Lords of Merveldt received the hereditary marshal's office in the Principality of Münster, through Prussian award on October 15, 1840 in Berlin, diploma issued on December 28, 1846 in primogenitur (for the firstborn of the entire family). Bohemian Inkolat in Mr. Booth was Maximilian Graf von Merveldt, imperial chamberlain and privy councilor and major general and chief steward of Archduke Franz Karl on 26 February 1848 in Vienna.

coat of arms

The family coat of arms shows a golden grid in blue, consisting of two upright and one fallen rafters . On the helmet a little label, labeled like the shield, in front of two blue ostrich feathers covered with three oblique or obliquely left golden bars. The helmet covers are blue-gold. (The line from and to Merfeld ran a red grid on a gold background.)

Name bearer

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Westfälisches Urkundenbuch , Volume II, No. 342
  2. ↑ Westfälisches Urkundenbuch, Volume III, No. 245

literature

  • Rudolfine Freiin von Oer:  Merveldt, von. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 17, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1994, ISBN 3-428-00198-2 , pp. 191-193 ( digitized version ).
  • Otto Hupp : Munich Calendar 1910 . Book u. Art Print AG, Munich / Regensburg 1910.
  • Bastian Gillner: Free Lords - Free Religion. The nobility of the upper monastery of Münster between denominational conflict and state consolidation 1500–1700 (= Westphalia in the pre-modern era, 8). Münster 2011, ISBN 978-3-402-15050-4 .
  • Bastian Gillner: Castle and Church. For aristocratic use of the village church in the early modern monastery of Münster. In: Heike Düselder et al. (Ed.): Nobility and Environment: Horizons of noble existence in the early modern times. Cologne 2008, ISBN 978-3-412-20131-9 , p. 181 ff.
  • Heinrich Glasmeier : The family of Merveldt to Merfeld. A contribution to the family and class history of the knighthood of Münster. In: Heinrich Glasmeier (Hrsg.): Stand und Land in Westfalen, No. 6. Verlag F&A Temming, Bocholt 1931.
  • Genealogical manual of the nobility , Adelslexikon Volume VIII, Volume 113 of the complete series, CA Starke Verlag, Limburg (Lahn) 1997, ISSN  0435-2408
  • Genealogical manual of the nobility , Adelslexikon Volume XVIII, Volume 139 of the complete series, CA Starke Verlag, Limburg (Lahn) 2006, ISSN  0435-2408
  • Arnold Robens : The knightly rural nobility of the Grand Duchy of Lower Rhine: depicted in coats of arms and lineages. Weiß, Aachen 1818, Volume 2, pp. 322–326 ( online at Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf ); Newly published in LTR-Verlag, Wiesbaden, ISBN 3-88706-054-7 .

Web links

Wikisource: BLKÖ: Merveldt, the Counts of, Genealogy  - Sources and full texts