Tyrolean freedom letter
The Tyrolean freedom letter of January 28, 1342 is a document and a symbol for the early parliamentary development of Tyrol, including the peasant class.
The Wittelsbacher Ludwig married Countess Margarete von Tirol on February 10, 1342 in Merano in the presence of his father Emperor Ludwig IV. She was not yet divorced from her Luxemburgish husband, Johann Heinrich von Luxemburg , in order to acquire Tyrol for the Wittelsbachers. Margarete had expelled her Luxembourgish husband Johann Heinrich from Tyrol in November 1341. For political reasons, Pope Clement VI recognized. but does not indicate the invalidity of the first marriage. In addition, Margarete and Ludwig were also related in the third degree. For these reasons they were banned and an interdict was imposed on the state of Tyrol. Nevertheless, Ludwig prevailed as regent in Tyrol against the resistance of the local nobility and the bishops of Brixen and Trento . In the so-called Great Tyrolean Freedom Letter, Ludwig and his father confirmed the Tyroleans their rights and freedoms in Munich .
The text of the certificate reads:
"We, Ludwig by the grace of God, Margrave of Brandenburg, Count Palatine of the Rhine , Duke of Bavaria and the highest chamberlain of the Holy Roman Empire, confess to all those who see, hear or read this letter that we promise that all places of worship, spiritual and secular, All cities, villages and markets and also all people, noble and ignoble, rich and poor, whatever they are called and wherever they are in the County of Tyrol, should keep all their rights, which they can attest to by documents and they according to old custom came here from previous lords: from the high-born lords Duke Meinhard and his sons, from King John of Bohemia, from the time when he was the guardian of his son Count Johann, and from the same Count Johann, the son of the aforementioned King of Bohemia and also of the noble Princess Frau Margarete, Duchess of Carinthia and Countess of Tyrol and Gorizia, our dear "landlady". The same applies to the documents that our dear Lord and Father Emperor Ludwig of Rome or We have given or will give on the matters described above. The officials who belong and are enfeoffed should maintain their rights. Nor should We impose an extraordinary tax without the advice of the countrymen. We also promise that we will not occupy any festivals that belong to the rule of Tyrol with strangers or foreigners. We will govern the County of Tyrol according to the advice of the best in the country and improve the law of the country according to their advice, not deteriorate it. We also promise that we will not take the aforementioned Mrs. Margarete, our dear wife, out of the country against her will [...] The letter was given in Munich on the Monday before the day of the Maria Lichtmess, sealed with our seal that hangs on it. 1342 years after the birth of Christ. "
The two originals of the letter of freedom that have survived and are identical in text are kept in the Bavarian State Archives in Munich and in the Landscape Archives in Innsbruck. However, the recipient addresses are different: The copy kept in Munich is sent to “all churches, clergy and secular, all cities, villages and markets and also all people, noble and ignoble, rich and poor, as they are called or where they are located or sat in the County of Tyrol ", the document kept in Innsbruck is only aimed at" all places of worship and all noble people who have sat in the County of Tyrol ". The confirmation and guarantee declaration issued on the same day by Emperor Ludwig IV has been received in three copies; these also differ in the recipient addresses in a similar way. In the first variant, the letter of freedom is regarded as a " magna charta libertatum " guaranteed to all social classes and residents, but according to recent research this variant has never come into the hands of the Tyrolean landscape . The different addresses can be understood as a means of political tactics through which the wishes of possible recipients were to be satisfied and whose main beneficiary was the Tyrolean nobility, so that a final assessment must remain open.
literature
- Peter Wolf, Evamaria Brockhoff, Elisabeth Handle-Schubert, Andreas T. Jell, Barbara Six (eds.): Ludwig the Bavarian - We are Kaiser . Catalog for the Bavarian State Exhibition 2014 (= publications on Bavarian history and culture. Volume 63). Schnell + Steiner, Regensburg 2014, ISBN 978-3-7954-2836-5 .
- Werner Köfler: Country - Landscape - Landtag. History of the Tyrolean state parliaments from the beginning to the abolition of the state constitution in 1808. Wagner University Press, Innsbruck 1985, ISBN 3-7030-0161-5 .