Imperial Admiral

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Reichsadmiral (Swedish Riksamiral , Danish Rigsadmiral ) was a high political-military office in Sweden and Denmark-Norway as well as to some extent in the Holy Roman Empire .

Imperial Admiral in Sweden and Denmark

At almost the same time, the office of Imperial Admiral was created in both Sweden and Denmark-Norway in the 1570s, and it was abolished almost simultaneously in both kingdoms in the 1670s. In both kingdoms, the Imperial Admiral was the supreme commander of all naval forces and chairman of the Admiralty College. Like the Reich Chancellor or the Reichsmarschall , the Reichsadmiral was also one of the imperial chambers of Sweden and Denmark-Norway. As a member of the Imperial Council , he was comparable to a high government official, such as a Minister of the Navy . Since he was not a rank but an office, not only naval officers but mostly generals were appointed Reichsadmiral.

Riksamiral in Sweden

Up until Erik XIV's accession to the throne (1560), the Swedish navy had mainly defended its own coastal waters, and admirals were only appointed for a limited period in certain major naval operations. Erik, however, sent fleets of war into various enemy waters (1561 conquest of Estonia, 1563–1570 Three Crowns War ) and created an office that was organizationally superior to all admirals. As the first in command, Clas Eriksson Fleming was appointed "Supreme Admiral" ( öfverste amiral ) at the end of 1561 or beginning of 1562 , then in 1569 or 1571 as "Admiral of the Empire" ( Riksens amiral or Riksamiral ). As a member of the Swedish Reichsrat , the Reichsadmiral was the third highest Reich official after the Reich Chancellor and the Reichsmarschall . His task was not only to coordinate and manage the squadrons and fleets stationed and fighting in different regions at the same time, but also to organize their formation, equipment and crew. The Reichsadmiral stood by the side since 1606 the Holmadmiral ( Holmamiral , Commander of the Naval Arsenal Holmen , Stockholm ) and 1610–1614 and 1653–1657 the Reichsvizeadmiral ( Riksviceamiral ). From the office of the Imperial Admirals, a permanent Admiralty College (Amiralitetskollegium) , the Admiralty , emerged in 1634 .

Like all high offices in the Reichsrat, the posts in the Admiralty College were reserved for members of the most influential noble families in the Reich. (Only once, in 1599/1601, was Joachim Scheel, a foreign “upstart” appointed Reichsadmiral.) The balance between the most influential families counted more than seafaring experience. The office of Reichsadmiral was therefore mostly given to respected generals, who so often put themselves in a favorable starting position for qualifying for the even more coveted office of Reichsmarschall. Despite all the rivalries, the families who shared the imperial offices of imperial admiral, imperial marshal and imperial treasurer were so closely related and related by marriage that the financing of the army and fleet was ensured. This nepotism made a military-financial alliance possible, which reached its highest level of power in the "rainy season" from 1660 onwards. Neither Reichsadmiral Gustaf Otto Stenbock nor his two most important representatives in the Admiralty College had nautical experience. This resulted in severe defeats and losses for the Swedish Navy in the War of the Gentiles , which in turn gave the king the pretext to depose Stenbock as Imperial Admiral in 1676 and abolish the office or the entire Imperial Council in 1680.

Stenbock was resigned with the mere title of "Supreme Admiral" (öfverste amiral) , which he continued until his death, but without any authority or authority. The duties of the Reichsadmiral were taken over by the Admiralty College, which was henceforth reserved for naval officers. As the highest naval rank, the rank of Admiral General (initially Admiral General ) was created, which was awarded until 1828 and also acted as President of the Admiralty College. The subsequent appointment of the Swedish Crown Prince Oskar as Grand Admiral (Storamiral) remained an exception (1827 / 28-1840).

List of Swedish Imperial Admirals

Surname Lifetime  Term of office Remarks
Clas Eriksson Fleming 1530-1597 1561 / 69-1595  1561 / 62–1569 / 71 first öfverste amiral , then riksen amiral 
Joakim (Joachim) Scheel (e) 1531-1606 1596 / 99-1602 German from Pomerania (Rügen), since 1601 Sveriges rikes amiral 
Axel Nilsson Ryning 1552-1620 1602-1612 then 1612–1620 Reichsmarschall
Göran Nilsson Gyllenstierna 1575-1618 1612-1618 since 1610 Riksviceamiral , from 1612 riksens öfverste amiral
Carl Carlsson Gyllenhielm 1574-1650 1620-1650 the fleet commanded Erik Eriksson Ryning and Clas Larsson Fleming 
Gabriel Bengtsson Oxenstierna  1586-1656 1652-1656 previously from 1634–1652 Imperial Treasurer
Carl Gustav Wrangel 1613-1676 1657-1664 since 1653 Riksviceamiral , then 1664–1676 Reichsmarschall
Gustaf Otto Stenbock 1614-1685 1664-1676 / 85  until 1676 Riksamiral , afterwards öfverste amiral

Rig Admiral in Denmark

Interim commander-in-chief (øverste kaptajn) or admirals of united Danish-Norwegian fleets appointed by the king had existed since the beginning of the 16th century. B. from 1510 Henrik Krummedike or later Peder Skram . But only in 1575 or 1576, a few years after Fleming's appointment as the first Swedish realm Admiral, also called Denmark-Norway with Peder Munk first time a kingdom Admiral ( Rigsens Admiral , Rigets Admiral or Rigsadmiral ). In the middle of the 17th century, the Danish Imperial Admiral was also assisted by a rig vice admiral as deputy and, from 1648, a Holmens admiral ( Holmens boss , commander of the naval arsenal Holmen, Copenhagen ). As in Sweden, the office of imperial admiral and the other imperial offices were contested between the most influential families of the aristocracy in Denmark, and as in Sweden, in the age of absolutism, the Danish king tried to suppress the influence of the nobility and the imperial council. After the defeats against Sweden in 1658/60, the Admiralty College (Admiralitetskollegiet, Sigillum Collegiae Amiralis Sacrae Regiae Majestatis Daniae) , founded in 1655, was reformed, the last Danish Imperial Admiral, the Norwegian Henrik Bjelke , took on organizational tasks as president of the college. The command of the fleet was initially taken over by Admiralty Vice- President Cort Adeler , who was appointed first Admiral General in 1663 . Then, at the beginning of the War of Skies, in 1676 the Dutch General Admiral Cornelis Tromp received the supreme command of the joint fleet. After the end of the war, shortly after the abolition of the Reichsadmiralamt in Sweden, the office of Reichsadmiral was also abolished in Denmark in 1679, but Bjelke kept the title until his death (1683). A general admiral was appointed as commander-in-chief until the 18th century. The duties of the Reichsadmiral were transferred to the Admiralty College, which was converted into a Navy Ministry in 1848.

List of Danish Imperial Admirals

Some sources already name the admirals, members of the Imperial Council and Commander-in- Chief Peder Skram (1556–1559) and his successor Herluf Trolle (1559–1565) as the first Imperial Admirals, but they were actually Holmen's chiefs ( Holmadmirals ).

Surname Lifetime  Term of office Remarks
Peder Munk 1534-1623 1576-1596 Rigsen's admiral , then Reichsmarschall 1596–1608 
Mogens Ulfeldt  1569-1616 1609-1616
Albert Skeel 1572-1649 1616-1623
Claus Daa 1579-1641 1623-1641
Jørgen Vind 1593-1644 1641-1644 fell in the sea ​​battle on the Kolberger Heide 
Ove Gjedde 1594-1660 1645-1660 from 1657 in Swedish captivity
Niels trolls 1599-1667 1660-1662 1645–1657 rigging vice admiral , then initially governor in Norway 
Henrik Bjelke 1615-1683 1662-1679 / 83  1657–1662 Rig Vice Admiral, since 1660 President of the Admiralty College 

Situation in the Holy Roman Empire

There was no office of Imperial Admiral comparable to Sweden or Denmark in the Holy Roman Empire . In the 13th and 14th centuries, however, there were some supreme admirals appointed by the emperor, and in the 15th and 16th centuries a short-lived imperial admiralty and at least plans for an imperial admiralty.

Sicilian Imperial Admirals in the 13th and 14th centuries

Since the acquisition of the Norman Kingdom of Sicily , the German Staufer emperors had the opportunity to set up fleets and had begun to appoint admirals for these fleets - mainly to subdue the northern Italian maritime republics, but also to control the trade routes in the Mediterranean or, for example, to to take care of the crusaders in Damiette and to bring the emperor himself to Jerusalem ( Frederick II's crusade ). However, this imperial fleets were no Empire fleets , and that of Frederick II. And Conrad IV. Appointed Reich admirals Guilelmus (Wilhelm) Porcus, Ansaldo de Mari and Enzo of Sardinia , as well as that of Henry VII. To the Kingdom Admiral appointed Friedrich II. Of Sicily were not Admirals of the Holy Roman Empire or Imperial Italy , rather admirals of the Kingdom of Sicily.

Imperial Admiralty in the 15th century

In the 15th century the Dutch port cities had fallen away from the Hanseatic League, in the North Sea the Hanseatic League waged war against Dutch and English privateers. To combat piracy in the North Sea, the Roman-German King Maximilian I tried to create an imperial sea ​​power out of the ships of the Burgundian inheritance . To equip these ships, he set up an Imperial Admiralty in Antwerp in 1487 , but no Imperial Admiral was appointed. Maximilian himself fought against Flemish insurgents with these ships at sea in 1488. With the transfer of the Dutch-Belgian territories to Spain, the Imperial Admiralty disappeared again in 1496.

Admiral's work in the 16th century

From 1563 the Hanseatic League had finally lost control of the Baltic Sea in the Three Crowns War, Sweden and Denmark had appointed supreme admirals and imperial admirals for their navies. In the North Sea since 1567, the pirate war of Dutch corsairs, which was connected with the Dutch War of Independence against Spain , has damaged German sea trade. Emperor Maximilian II. Therefore wanted bordering the North Sea Burgundian , Westphalia and Lower Saxony Circle commit to establish a Reichsflotte and equip. The imperial fleet in the North Sea should be commanded by a Supreme Admiral, and any other fleet in the Baltic Sea by a sub-admiral. The emperor was to pay for the maintenance. The entire package of such fleet plans, known as the Admiralswerk , was presented to the Reichstag in Speyer in 1570, and the Kaiser set up two commissions to draw up implementation plans. Most of the imperial princes agreed with the work of admirers, but the electors disliked the idea that the Duke of Alba could be appointed imperial admiral in order to subjugate the Dutch for Spain, but ultimately at the expense of the empire. By the next Reichstag in Regensburg in 1576, various candidates came into play for the office of Reichsadmiral: Count Palatine Georg Johann von Veldenz , Duke Adolf I of Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorf and Count Edzard II of East Frisia (as did his son later again Enno III of East Friesland ), but with the death of the emperor, his plans also died that same year.

Supreme Imperial Admiral in the 17th century

The Polish galleon King David (C, right) became the admiral ship in Wallenstein's imperial Baltic fleet

During the Thirty Years' War , plans were again drawn up at the imperial court and in the Catholic camp for the establishment of an imperial fleet and the appointment of an imperial admiral. Denmark, which had allied itself with the Netherlands and England, was defeated on land in 1626, and a navy was supposed to break Danish supremacy at sea - at least in the Baltic Sea. For this purpose, the victorious Field Marshal Albrecht von Wallenstein was appointed by Emperor Ferdinand II as Supreme General of the Oceanic and Baltic Sea and Captain General of the Armada to be established or as Supreme Admiral of the North and Baltic Seas and as Duke of Mecklenburg. Wallenstein appointed General Philipp von Mansfeld as the sub-admiral responsible for building up a Baltic Sea fleet . The emperor ensnared the Protestant Hanseatic cities in vain. Given the attitude of the Hanseatic cities to seek a compromise with Denmark rather than allow the empire to be strengthened, the imperial Baltic Sea fleet consisted not of Hanseatic but of Polish, Pomeranian and Mecklenburg ships. Admiral ship became the King David .

The Treaty of Lübeck brokered by the Hanseatic cities in 1629 deprived Wallenstein's fleet of any further action against Denmark. The imperial Baltic Sea plans met resistance not only from Denmark, England and the Netherlands, but also from Sweden. Stralsund, besieged by Wallenstein, first allied with Denmark, then with Sweden, and Danish and Swedish warships blocked the imperial fleet anchored in Wismar. As early as 1630 Wallenstein was recalled by the emperor and his warships were gradually seized by the Danes and Swedes. From 1632 to 1634 Wallenstein acted again as supreme general, but no longer as supreme admiral.

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Riksamiral . In: Theodor Westrin, Ruben Gustafsson Berg (eds.): Nordisk familjebok konversationslexikon och realencyklopedi . 2nd Edition. tape 23 : Retzius – Ryssland . Nordisk familjeboks förlag, Stockholm 1916, Sp. 301-302 (Swedish, runeberg.org ).
  2. ↑ January Glete: Swedish Naval Administration, 1521-1721, resource flows and Organizational Capabilities , S. 301f . Brill, Leiden 2010
  3. ↑ Storamiral . In: Theodor Westrin, Ruben Gustafsson Berg, Eugen Fahlstedt (eds.): Nordisk familjebok konversationslexikon och realencyklopedi . 2nd Edition. tape 27 : Stockholm-Nynäs järnväg – Syrsor . Nordisk familjeboks förlag, Stockholm 1918, Sp. 128 (Swedish, runeberg.org ).
  4. ↑ Franz Ritter von Rudtorffer: Military Geography of Europe , p 241 . Haase, Prague 1838
  5. ↑ Hans Georg Garde: Den dansk-norske sømagts historie 1535-1700 , pages 165 and 213 . Copenhagen 1861
  6. ^ Chr. Blangstrup: Rigsviceadmiral . In: Christian Blangstrup (Ed.): Salmonsens Konversationsleksikon . 2nd Edition. tape 20 : Renden – Schinkel . JH Schultz Forlag, Copenhagen 1926, p. 173 (Danish, runeberg.org ).
  7. ^ University of Vienna: Communications from the Institute for Austrian Historical Research , Volume 23, p. 643. Böhlaus Nachf., Vienna 1902
  8. ↑ a b c d Georg Wislicenus and Willy Stöwer : Germany's naval power, along with an overview of the maritime history of all peoples , pp 39-44 . Reprint-Verlag, Leipzig 1896
  9. ↑ Anthony Eugene Sokol: The Habsburg Admiralty Work of the 16th and 17th Centuries , p. 27ff. Austrian Institute for Library Research, Documentation u. Information system, Vienna 1976
  10. ↑ a b Willy Andreas (ed.): The New Propylaea World History , 3rd volume, p. 519f. Propylaea Publishing House, Berlin 1941