Pfaffenfeindtaler

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Front of the Pfaffenfeindtaler
Christian von Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel (painting by Paulus Moreelse , 1619)

The Pfaffenfeindtaler , sometimes referred to as the Gottesfreundtaler , is a mocking coin that Christian von Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel , leader of a Protestant mercenary army, had minted in 1622 during the Thirty Years' War . The weight and silver content of the coins correspond to one Reichstaler . The new money may have served to finance his campaigns and as pay for his troops; on the other hand to spread his fame and as an expression of his attitude towards the opposing Catholic League . The thaler was thus also a propaganda instrument . For some time the Pfaffenfeindtaler was probably also legal tender and a kind of mass medium to demonstrate one's own success and power not only to one's own followers, but also to the enemy. The taler or its history and significance have been surrounded by many legends over the centuries due to the poor sources on the one hand, but above all because of the dazzling personality of the "great Christian" on the other hand , which has led to the fact that Fantasy and reality are difficult to separate from each other. In numismatics , the Pfaffenfeindtaler falls under the field , emergency or siege coins .

prehistory

Christian von Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel, also known as "the great Christian" or "the great Halberstädter" because of his warlike excesses , was the leader of an approximately 20,000-strong army with which he took the Catholic Paderborn in January 1622 . According to legend, his troops should u. A. stole the treasure of Paderborn Cathedral , which, in addition to silver and gold, also included the shrine of St. Liborius . At least parts of this treasure are said to have subsequently been melted down in order to be able to mint the Pfaffenfeindtaler, later known as the Pfaffenfeindtaler .

description

The back of the Pfaffenfeind thaler with the Jesuit cap on the tip of the sword

Silver thalers still preserved today have a diameter of 41 to 47 mm. They weigh between around 27 and 29 grams. On the front is written in the middle "GOTTES FREVNDT / DER PFAFFEN / FEINDT". The inscription reads: "CHRISTIAN • HERTZ [OG]: ZV • BRAVNSCHW [EIG]: V [ND]: LVNENB [URG]". The reverse shows an armored right arm stretched out of a cloud, the fist of which is holding a sword . The inscription reads: "TOUT • AVEC • DIEV • 1 • 6 • 22" ( French for everything with God and the year). In a different and rarer version of the coin, a Jesuit cap, also known as a "Pfaffenhut", sits on the tip of the sword . Against the background of the Thirty Years' War, the term “ Pfaffe ” should be understood as a dirty word for Roman Catholic clergymen . Anyone who could not read the text understood the symbolism of the threateningly raised sword hand of God . The cloud symbolizes the sky and thus the divine sphere.

The main material used was silver; but there were fewer gold ducats and florins and coins, but they are less in diameter and weight. It is not known where the coin was minted , but it is believed that this happened in Lippstadt , as this city was the headquarters of Christian von Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel for a short time in 1622. However, at that time Lippstadt had not been a mint for a long time , which would mean that all equipment would have to be brought in first. Due to the comparatively high quality of the craftsmanship of the Pfaffenfeindtaler, an improvised mint can be ruled out. Assumptions that Soest or another mint (e.g. that of his brother Friedrich Ulrich ) could have been the mint cannot be proven beyond doubt.

"Afterlife" of the Pfaffenfeind Taler

After the Liborius shrine was looted and destroyed during the plundering of Paderborn Cathedral in order to mint (at least part of the) Pfaffenfeindtaler from the metal obtained in this way, a new reliquary was built in the city between 1624 and 1627 . According to legend, it was made from melted Pfaffenfeind talers. In fact, there are two completely preserved thalers in the shrine's decor. Due to the presumed origin of the metal used for the minting, the remaining Pfaffenfeindtalers were assigned relic status among the Catholics.

A few decades later the taler was minted again: for the first time in 1670/71, when Duke Rudolf August von Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel , a relative of Christian von Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel, met with Christoph Bernhard von Galen , Bishop of Münster and Prince Abbot von Corvey , because of the City of Höxter feuded . But here were z. T. also only overstamps other coins . It is said to have been minted again in 1696/97 by the Wroclaw stamp cutter Johann Reinhold Engelmann .

For the corpus of the tree of life monstrance designed by Fritz Schwerdt in 1947 and manufactured in 1961 for the Heilig-Geist-Kirche (Braunschweig) , some Pfaffenfeind talers were melted down. A thaler was visible in the sight glass of the monstrance.

literature

  • Reiner Cunz : God's friend, the priest's enemy. On the propaganda coins of the "great Christian" , In: Niedersächsisches Jahrbuch für Landesgeschichte , Volume 70, Verlag Hahnsche Buchhandlung, Hanover 1998, pp. 347–362, ISSN  0078-0561
  • Gerd Dethlefs: The Pfaffenfeindmünzen des Duke Christian von Braunschweig 1622 " , In: Numismatisches Nachrichtenblatt , Volume 49, 2000, pp. 92-112.
  • Gebhard Duve: Braunschweig-Lüneburgische Dicktaler. Dicktaler coins from 1544–1679. History of the Braunschweig-Lüneburgischen multiple thalers , 2nd part, Numismatischer Verlag, Frankfurt 1974, ISBN 978-392130203-3
  • Wolfgang Leschhorn : Brunswick coins and medals. 1000 years of coin art and monetary history in the city and country of Braunschweig , Appelhans-Verlag 2010, pp. 199–202, ISBN 978-3-941737-22-8

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Reiner Cunz: God's friend, the priest's enemy. On the propaganda coins of the "great Christian" , In: Niedersächsisches Jahrbuch für Landesgeschichte , 70/1998, p. 348
  2. ↑ a b Reiner Cunz: God's friend, the priest's enemy. On the propaganda coins of the "great Christian" , In: Niedersächsisches Jahrbuch für Landesgeschichte , 70/1998, p. 347
  3. ↑ Peter Bessin: Zur Rhetorik des Krieg , In: Hans Peterse (Ed.): The war seems sweet to the inexperienced , V&R unipress Göttingen 2006, p. 158, ISBN 3-89971-196-3
  4. ↑ a b c d Reiner Cunz: God's friend, the priest enemy. On the propaganda coins of the "great Christian" , In: Niedersächsisches Jahrbuch für Landesgeschichte , 70/1998, p. 354
  5. ↑ Gerhard Welter : The coins of the Guelphs since Heinrich the Lion . II illustrated book. Klinkhardt & Biermann, Braunschweig 1971, p. 97 .
  6. ↑ Gerhard Welter : The coins of the Guelphs since Heinrich the Lion . Klinkhardt & Biermann, Braunschweig 1971, p. 203 .
  7. ↑ Reiner Cunz: God's friend, the priest enemy. On the propaganda coins of the "great Christian" , In: Niedersächsisches Jahrbuch für Landesgeschichte , 70/1998, p. 357ff
  8. ^ Front of the Pfaffenfeind Taler
  9. ↑ of the Pfaffenfeind thaler
  10. ↑ Reiner Cunz: God's friend, the priest enemy. On the propaganda coins of the "great Christian" , In: Niedersächsisches Jahrbuch für Landesgeschichte , 70/1998, p. 350
  11. ↑ Reiner Cunz: God's friend, the priest enemy. On the propaganda coins of the "great Christian" , In: Niedersächsisches Jahrbuch für Landesgeschichte , 70/1998, p. 353, FN 25
  12. ↑ Reiner Cunz: God's friend, the priest enemy. On the propaganda coins of the "great Christian" , In: Niedersächsisches Jahrbuch für Landesgeschichte , 70/1998, p. 356, FN 415
  13. ↑ Reiner Cunz: God's friend, the priest enemy. On the propaganda coins of the "great Christian" , In: Niedersächsisches Jahrbuch für Landesgeschichte , 70/1998, p. 353
  14. ↑ Friedrich von Schrötter et al .: Dictionary of Coin Studies , de Gruyter, 2nd edition, Göttingen 1970, ISBN 978-311001227-9 , p. 505
  15. ↑ Reiner Cunz: God's friend, the priest enemy. On the propaganda coins of the "great Christian" , In: Niedersächsisches Jahrbuch für Landesgeschichte , 70/1998, p. 355