Rudolf Brun

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Knight Rudolf Brun

Rudolf Brun (* approx. 1290–1300; † September 17, 1360 in Zurich ) was the first mayor of Zurich from 1336 to 1360. The Brunsche guild constitution of Zurich goes back to him .

Before the overthrow

The Bruns come from a knightly family that can be traced back to around 1200 in the city of Zurich and the city of Basel; they were servants or ministers of the Fraumünster Abbey . The oldest known representative of the family is Heinrich Brun, who in the 13th century married a daughter of Jakob Mülner (1240–1287), who at that time had a strong influence on Zurich politics. His son Jakob was mayor from 1305–1309 and belonged to the city's 'summer council' from 1303–1318 (the councils were renegotiated four times a year among the most influential families). Three children of this Jakob Brun and his wife Mechthild are known: Jakob († 1345), Rudolf, who later became mayor, and Ita († 1366 (?)).

Little is known about Rudolf's early years; He is first mentioned in 1324. He lived at Neumarkt 3 and was married to Margaretha, a daughter of the councilor Ulrich Fütschi. He was only knighted after his rise to the rank of mayor.

In 1330 he got into a dispute with the knight Rudolf Biber, one of his later opponents, in the drinking parlor owned by Frau von Lunghof, and was punished by the council with a heavy fine of 550 guilders. Three years later he was warned by the council to finally pay the fine. From 1332–1336 he was a member of the fasting council, which also included his father-in-law. As a result, Brun became a member of the upper class of the Zurich council. At that time the council was ruled by half a dozen families, the remaining families, including the Brun, were de facto excluded from participation.

There is no evidence of any political activity by Bruns on the Council. The role that Brun played in preparing for the ensuing coup is unclear. It seems unlikely, or at least questionable, that the politically inexperienced Brun could secure the support of the craftsmen and the people within a short period of time, rise to the position of sole ruler and establish a de facto dictatorship.

The coup

The driving force behind the overturning plans could in his place have been the powerful and influential knight Götz Mülner , a former canon and successful opponent of the council majority, constantly anxious to expand his power. Mülner had enough experience for sole rule. In the middle of the preparations for the coup, on July 3, 1336, Mülner died between the ages of 65 and 70 - and Brun, as his distant relative and colleague, was able to take his place. In order to stop the dwindling influence of the nobility against the bourgeois council majority, the council minority, to which Brun belonged, concluded an alliance with the craftsmen, who were not allowed to participate in political activities.

On June 7, 1336, an angry crowd, led by Bruns, stormed the city council, which was meeting in the town hall. The councils, however, had been warned and were able to avoid their arrest by escaping. The following day Rudolf Brun was appointed mayor for life by a people's assembly in the Franciscan monastery. His opponents, who were not ready to bow to the new regime, were banished from the city in groups in different directions, separated according to 'dangerousness'.

With the overthrow of the previous government in 1336, a coalition between the city nobility and craftsmen came to power. The losers were clearly the merchants: 20 of the 22 exiles came from the merchant patrimony. The main winner of the overthrow was the city nobility, who ruled the council according to the new constitution, named after the main initiator of the " Brunschen Guild Constitution ". In addition, the craftsmen, who organized themselves in 13 political guilds and who took part in power, also benefited.

After the coup

The new constitution was tailored entirely to Rudolf Brun, who, as mayor, was supposed to exercise sole power over the city for life. All citizens had to take an oath on his person. Nevertheless, the opposition to Brun remained active. Brun took action several times against the opponents who remained in the city, as the number of executions in those years shows or the instruction that the former councilors and their supporters were not allowed to come together in societies with more than three people. The exiled councilors fled to Rapperswil to see Count Johann I von Habsburg-Laufenburg from a side line of the Habsburgs . Count Johann was indebted to the city as well as to some of the exiles. He probably hoped that the debt would be repaid from their support. Under his protection, the exiles formed a counter-government from “outer Zurich” in Rapperswil and began forays through the subject area of ​​the city of Zurich.

Mayor Brun secured the support of the Counts of Toggenburg , the patrons of the Grossmünsterstift , and went with a small army against Count Johann. In the battle of Grynau he defeated Johann, who was killed in the process. However, this provoked the intervention of the Habsburgs, who forced Brun not only to forego all conquests, but also to hand over all their property to the exiles. Afterwards Brun tried to secure the new order in Zurich with peace and aid alliances with neighboring cities and noble families. In any case, there seems to have been no more violent actions between the city and the government of “outer Zurich” in Rapperswil for a long time.

To 1348/49 in Zurich broke plague and claimed many victims. As in many other cities, the Jews were made the scapegoats for the outbreak of this disease. The city's poor sanitary facilities were probably the cause. Part of Zurich's Jewish population at the time was burned. Anyone who escaped the pogrom was banished. The property of the murdered and expelled Jews was distributed among the non-Jews of Zurich, with Rudolf Brun securing a lion's share. The synagogue was destroyed. The Neumarkt restaurant's garden restaurant is located at its location today.

Despite this diversionary action, Brun's position in the city became more uncertain again, as Count Johann II of Rapperswil, who had been a minor when his father died, took a clear position against Zurich. The exiles not only offered him the repayment of all debts, but also wanted to redeem the Wollerau , Bäch and Pfäffikon farms pledged to the city for him. The government of the "outer Zurich" even recruited mercenaries and, with the help of their partisans, planned the overthrow in the city.

Murder night in Zurich

The night of murder in Zurich in the chronicle of Johannes Stumpf from 1548
Rudolph Brun chases the residents of Rapperswil away, Christmas 1350

On the night of February 23 to 24, 1350, a coup d'état on the city was agreed, the " murder night of Zurich ". The allies in the city were apparently supposed to let the "outside" in through the gates and then jointly murder Brun and his followers in their sleep. However, through treason, Brun received news of these plans. The conspirators succeeded in penetrating the city, but there they came across the prepared supporters of Bruns. In one skirmish, 28 dead were left on both sides. Brun captured several of the intruders, including Count Johann II von Habsburg-Laufenburg . Eighteen conspirators were whacked, seventeen beheaded.

A few days later, Brun moved with an army to the town of Rapperswil, which surrendered out of concern for the captured count. However, Count Johann's brothers hoped that the Habsburg relatives would intervene and sabotaged a peace treaty. Brun therefore destroyed the fortress Alt-Rapperswil in the March and dragged the walls and castle of Rapperswil so that it could no longer be defended. In order to be able to survive against Habsburg, Brun concluded a league on May 1, 1351 with the four forest sites that had been in a feud with Habsburg that had lasted for decades.

Brun and the Habsburgs

In August 1351, Duke Albrecht II of Habsburg demanded that Brun restore the destroyed fortresses, as they were Habsburg fiefs. After Albrecht began a siege of Zurich in September, Brun consented to arbitration. The procedure fell in favor of the Habsburgs, which is why the Waldstätte did not accept it and the war was continued. On the mediation of Ludwig the Brandenburger , the "Brandenburg Peace" between Zurich, the Habsburgs and Rapperswil was finally concluded: Johann II was released, the city of Zurich should no longer be allowed to accept Ausburger and evacuate all Habsburg and Rapperswil areas.

The Waldstätte did not keep this peace, which is why the fighting broke out again in 1353. When even Emperor Charles IV . appeared in front of Zurich with an army on the side of the Habsburgs, Brun agreed to the " Regensburg Peace " of 1355, which essentially confirmed the Brandenburg Peace, but obliged Zurich to force the allied Waldstätte to comply with it if necessary. The House of Habsburg emerged victorious from the turmoil surrounding the Brunsche guild constitution. His supremacy in northern Switzerland was clearly confirmed.

Mayor Brun managed to turn the defeat of Zurich into a personal victory through clever tactics. In 1356 Zurich concluded a union with Habsburg that guaranteed the guild constitution. In 1359 Rudolf Brun personally entered the service of the Dukes of Austria and received a bond of 1000 guilders at 10% annual interest.

death

Modern grave slab
Inscription of the tombstone

Brun died on September 17th, 1360 and was buried with his cook in the choir of St. Peter's Church, whose duties and rights he had acquired in 1345. From the double burial it was concluded that Brun had been poisoned by his cook. When the grave was opened in 1972, traces of poison were searched for, but the hair and bone analysis did not reveal any evidence of the poisoning thesis. The tombstone was probably created shortly after Brun's death and disappeared in the 19th century. His grave is now under the plaque in front of the tower entrance. Its guild constitution remained in force in Zurich essentially until 1798.

progeny

Rudolf Brun had three sons and a daughter:

  • Bruno, provost of the Great Minster from 1354.
  • Herdegen, canon of the Great Minster.
  • Ulrich; Knight; a secular career was planned for him. He died in 1361.
  • Margaretha ∞ from Küssnacht

Bruno and Herdegen broke the peace in 1370 by kidnapping the Lucerne mayor Petermann von Gundoldingen and gave rise to the so-called Pfaffenbrief . The last representative of the sex with political weight was Jakob Brun. He was minor councilor from 1452–59 and 1466–77, as well as imperial bailiff in Zurich in 1454 and chief bailiff in Regensberg in 1468.

Others

  • The Urania Bridge in Zurich, built in 1913, was renamed the Rudolf Brun Bridge in his honor in 1951 .
  • A scout department is named after Rudolf Brun.

literature

Web links

Commons : Rudolf Brun  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Rudolf-Brun-Brücke (PDF; 2.0 MB)  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.stadt-zuerich.ch  
  2. ↑ Rudolf Brun's scout department
personal data
SURNAME Brun, Rudolf
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Mayor of Zurich
DATE OF BIRTH between 1290 and 1300
PLACE OF BIRTH Zurich
DATE OF DEATH 17th September 1360
Place of death Zurich