Peder Schumacher Griffenfeld

Peter Schumacher Count von Griffenfeld, 1635–1699, painting by Abraham Wuchters

Peter (Peder) Schumacher Count of Griffenfeld (born August 24, ^jul. / 3. September  1635 ^greg. In Copenhagen , † March 12 ^{. Jul} / 22. March  1699 ^{. Greg} in Trondheim , Norway ) was a Danish statesman and Chancellor German Origin. In 1661 he wrote the Royal Law , which came into force in 1665 and made Denmark the only country whose absolutism was enshrined in the constitution. In 1676 he fell from grace and was sentenced to death . He was pardoned on the scaffold and spent the next 22 years in prison . He died shortly after his release. His name "Peter" ( Danish "Peer" or "Per" ) was pronounced "Peder" in Denmark.

childhood

Peter Schumacher was the eldest son of a wealthy German merchant family from Bergedorf in the Duchy of Holstein . The family was closely connected with the leading civil, ecclesiastical and learned circles in Copenhagen . At the age of ten he was being prepared for university, and soon King Friedrich III became. from Denmark noticed him when his proud teacher had him translate texts from the Hebrew Bible into Latin and Danish . At the age of twelve he gave his first lecture in fluent Latin at the University of Copenhagen .

Years of education

In 1654 he went abroad for eight years, where he dealt with theology , historical, constitutional, scientific and linguistic studies. He stayed at the universities of Leiden , Utrecht and Amsterdam and in 1657 went to Oxford for three years at Queen's College . In the autumn of 1660 he visited Paris . He spent the last year of his trip in Spain , where he acquired a thorough knowledge of the Castilian language and literature. In 1662 he returned highly educated and with exquisite manners.

Career

In Copenhagen he secured the protection of the royal confidante Christoffer von Gabel and was in 1663 by Friedrich III. appointed royal librarian . The friendship with Count Ulrich Friedrich Gyldenlöwe , the illegitimate son of the king, consolidated his position. As cabinet secretary, in 1665 he drafted a constitution for the absolute monarchy, the Lex Regia ("Royal Law", Danish Kongelov ).

At the death of Frederick III. Schumacher had become his closest confidante. The king recommended him to his son Christian V : "Make him a great man, but do it slowly" . Immediately on the day of Frederick III's death. on February 9, 1670, the new king appointed him "chief secretary", and in May he received the title of "excellency" and "privy councilor".

In July of the same year, Peter Schumacher was ennobled under the name Griffenfeld. He married Catherine Nansen, the granddaughter of the famous Copenhagen Mayor Hans Nansen , who brought him a lot of money into the marriage. She died in 1672 after giving birth to a daughter. On November 26th, 1673 Griffenfeld was appointed count and accepted into the elephant order . In the following year he became Chancellor and Royal Patron of the Sankt-Petri-Gemeinde . A silver commemorative medal was minted on the occasion of his appointment as Count.

politics

Peter Griffenfeld supported a comprehensive reform policy in the economy and administration and had a great influence on Danish legislation. He also loved glamorous social appearances. On May 25, 1671, he recommended Christian V to found the Order of Dannebrog . Towards the end of his tenure, he concentrated on Denmark's foreign policy. In particular, he dealt with the provinces of Scania , Halland and Blekinge, lost in 1658 . He wanted to make Denmark a great power again and developed the Griffenfeld alliance system . He was the driving force behind a pro-France policy and warned of war with Sweden. His policy was thwarted again and again. Finally, Denmark declared war on Sweden in 1675 . Then it had to recognize the peace dictate of France. Griffenfeld fell out of favor.

process

Griffenfeld had many envious people, and not a few strove to destroy him. Since it was believed that Griffenfeld's correspondence with the surrounding countries would indicate a betrayal, he was arrested on March 21, 1676 and his papers searched for almost six weeks. However, nothing was found that indicated betrayal , except for a remark in his private diary that Christian V spoke "like a child" in an interview with an ambassador . On May 3rd, Griffenfeld was not brought before the Supreme Court as usual, but before a special tribunal. He was charged with simony , bribery and malversation , as well as breaking the oath and libeling majesty (Latin: crimen laesae maiestatis ). Only the charge of treason was dropped.

Griffenfeld's cell on Munkholmen (replica)

Before the trial, Griffenfeld spent almost seven weeks in a cramped dungeon with no light. He was denied any legal assistance. On June 5, 1676, he was sentenced to death by beheading . He also lost his honor, his fortune and the name of Griffenfeld. One of the judges refused to sign the verdict and lodged a protest with the king. Griffenfeld was already standing on the scaffold when he pardoned him and commuted his sentence to life imprisonment. Schumacher asked in vain to be allowed to serve as a common soldier for the rest of his life. He spent the next 22 years as a solitary prisoner in strict prison custody, first in Frederikshavn and from 1680 on the island of Munkholm near Drontheim Fjord (now Trondheim, Norway). In 1698 he was pardoned again and died shortly afterwards on March 22, 1699.

The statue of Peter Schumacher Graf von Griffenfeld is in the library garden of the State Archives in Copenhagen. A street is also named after him. His sarcophagus is in the Vaer Church near Horsens , where his daughter (Charlotte Amalie, † 1703) and his son-in-law Frederik Krag, Vice-Governor of Norway and owner of Stensballe, found their final resting place.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Künker, 141st auction, June 19, 2008 in Osnabrück catalog, ill. P. 74

literature

• Prof. Dr. Hans Kellinghusen: A Danish Chancellor, the Schumacher family and the Wencksche Brauhaus on the Hude. In: Lichtwark No. 5. Ed. Lichtwark Committee, Bergedorf, 1962. See now: Verlag HB-Werbung, Hamburg-Bergedorf. ISSN  1862-3549
• AD Jørgensen: Peter Schumacher Griffenfeld , Volume 2 , Gyldendalske Boghandels Forlag, Copenhagen 1894 (Danish)

Web links

• Uddrag af Griffenfelds Fader Joachim Schumacher's own Optegnelser stated hans Levnetsomstændigheder og hans Børn , Danske Magazin , 3rd row, volume 2 , Copenhagen 1845, pages 297-312
• Griffenfeldts død og begravelse , Historisk tidsskrift , 3rd row, volume 1 , Kristiania (Oslo) 1890, pages 376–377 (Norwegian)
• Vaer Church and Griffenfeld grave (Danish)
• Peder Schumacher Griffenfeld in the Dansk Biografisk Leksikon