Thomas Balthasar von Jessen

Thomas Balthasar von Jessen (born July 4, 1648 in Großenwiehe ; † October 27, 1731 at Deutsch-Nienhof , buried in Lübeck Cathedral ) was a German lawyer of the early modern period and a diplomat in the Danish service.

Live and act

Jessen was the son of pastor Johannes Jessen and the younger brother of Matthias Jessen (1641–1712), who had been Altona's chief president since 1680 . He attended the old grammar school in Flensburg . He studied law at the Universities of Leiden and Strasbourg he graduated in 1671 with the graduation to the Dr. iur. utr. from.

He began his professional career in 1673 as secretary of the royal Danish government for the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein in Glückstadt . After a short time at the Imperial Court of Justice in Speyer , he returned to Glückstadt in 1675 and shortly afterwards became secretary at the German Chancellery in Copenhagen . In the conflicts with Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorf he was regarded as a tough representative of the royal claim to the duchies. In 1681 he was raised to the nobility by King Christian V as Baron von Jessen . Also in gratitude for his support, he was appointed budget councilor by King Christian V and received the lucrative post of stallion on Eiderstedt . From 1688 to 1700 he was Senior Secretary of the German Chancellery and thus its highest official. When King Friedrich IV ascended the throne in 1700, he was replaced. He went as an envoy to the imperial court in Vienna and received the enfeoffment of the Duchy of Holstein in the king's name . In the first years of the Great Northern War he was Danish envoy to the Saxon-Polish court in 1703 and from 1704 to 1707 in diplomatic missions in Wroclaw , Danzig and at the Altranstadt Peace . In the following years he advised the Danish government in its negotiations with the Schleswig-Holstein knighthood and the Gottorfern. After the ducal portion was occupied in 1713, Jessen became the first president of the newly established royal higher court for the duchies in Gottorf .

From 1694 he was hereditary lord on Deutsch-Nienhof. He was married to Elisabeth, born on December 13, 1680. Biermann von Ehrenschild (born July 10, 1664 in Copenhagen, † February 1, 1729 in Schleswig), the daughter of the Danish statesman Conrad Biermann von Ehrenschild (1629–1698). Of the couple's children, Konrad von Jessen (1684–1752) also became a lawyer, Reichshofrat and Vice Chancellor in Glückstadt; Johann von Jessen (1693–1733) became bailiff in Kolding ; Anna Margrethe (1681–1744) married Detlev von Reventlow (1680–1755), and Charlotte Amalie (* 1686) married Melchior von Korf (f) (1670–1738) on Nütschau .

Sepulchral chapel in Lübeck Cathedral

In 1721 he bought a burial chapel in Lübeck Cathedral for himself and his wife from his son-in-law Melchior von Korf. Their grave tablets are still preserved, even if the chapel was sold to the dean of the cathedral, Count Joachim Otto Adolph von Bassewitz , in 1787 and was named Bassewitz chapel as his burial place .

Awards

• Dannebrogorden , November 18, 1693

Fonts

• De jure praecedentiae in genere. Argentorati 1671

Digitized copy of the copy from the Bavarian State Library

literature

• Louis Bobé : v. Jessen, Thomas Balthasar , in: Dansk Biografisk Leksikon Volume 8, pp. 484–488
• Johannes Baltzer , Friedrich Bruns: The architectural and art monuments of the Free and Hanseatic City of Lübeck. Issued by the building authorities. Volume III: Church of Old Lübeck. Dom. Jakobikirche. Aegidia Church. Publishing house by Bernhard Nöhring, Lübeck 1920, pp. 73f. Unchanged reprint 2001: ISBN 3-89557-167-9
• Franz v. Jessen: En slesvigsk Statsmand, Thomas Balthasar v. Jessen. 3 volumes, Copenhagen 1930–1941

Web links

• Publications by and about Thomas Balthasar von Jessen in VD 17 .