Ulrich (Mecklenburg)

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Ulrich III, Duke of Mecklenburg
Ulrich, Duke of Mecklenburg

Ulrich, Duke of Mecklenburg [-Güstrow] (* March 5, 1527 in Schwerin , † March 14, 1603 in Güstrow ) was Duke of Mecklenburg from 1555/56 to 1603 and most recently Nestor of the German Imperial Council . He is on the one hand (as administrator of the Diocese of Schwerin ) as Ulrich I , on the other hand (as Duke of Mecklenburg) also as Ulrich III. counted.

Live and act

Ulrich was the third son of Duke Albrecht VII the Handsome (1488–1547) and his wife Anna of Brandenburg . After Albrecht VII's participation in the Danish count's feud, the Güstrow part of the country was completely over-indebted, after the death of his father Ulrich initially left the government of this completely over-indebted area to his older brother Johann Albrecht I , but became like his next younger brother, Duke Georg († 1552), enfeoffed by the emperor.

Ulrich came to the Bavarian court to be educated at the age of 12. In 1539 he studied theology and law at the University of Ingolstadt together with Philippus Rudolf zu Herben-Schlüben . His fellow student there was also his peer, Duke Albert of Bavaria. After the death of his father, he initially decided not to participate in the government. He took up residence in Bützow and followed his cousin Duke Magnus III in 1550 . von Mecklenburg (1509–1550) as administrator of the Schwerin diocese ; on February 15, 1556 he married his widow Elisabeth , a daughter of King Frederick I of Denmark. The election act by the cathedral chapter took place on March 26, 1550 in the Dominican monastery in Wismar ; the postulation was made unanimously, despite the threat to the electoral body from another candidate, Duke Heinrich Georg; the following day he received the minor orders from the Schwerin auxiliary bishop Magnus Haraldsson .

After the death of his uncle, Duke Heinrich V of Mecklenburg (1503–1552), Ulrich insisted on participation in the sovereignty, especially since his brother Johann Albrecht I contributed little to the repayment of the debt, but rather increased it through his participation in Schmalkaldic war against the emperor in 1552 and through generous patronage of art and science. A violent inheritance dispute broke out, which was settled in 1556 with the Ruppin power of the Brandenburg Elector Joachim II .

Coat of arms of Duke Ulrich and his wife Elisabeth of Denmark in the gateway to Güstrow Castle

On February 17, 1555 Ulrich was co-regent of his brother in Güstrow. In 1556 he received Güstrow as regent of the eastern part of the country while maintaining the joint state government with his brother "Amt und Hauß" , while Johann Albrecht I chose the western part of the country with the Schwerin residence. After his brother's death in 1576, Ulrich took over the guardianship of his descendants several times. So for his son Johann VII from 1576–1585 and his grandson Adolf Friedrich I until 1603. Ulrich built the Güstrow Castle as his main residence. His secondary residences were the Stargard Castle , the Fürstenhof Neubrandenburg and the Dargun , Doberan and Bützow castles .

In 1582 he organized the last splendid Reichstag trip of a Mecklenburg prince with a large entourage to the Reichstag in Augsburg .

Letter from Johannes Caselius from Rostock to Ulrich, Duke of Mecklenburg in Schwerin, April / May 1589 (copy 17th century)

Ulrich embodied the type of the universally educated, modern prince. He developed into one of the most important princes of the Mecklenburg dynasty. He benefited from his calm and thoughtful manner, and sometimes the luck of the able. He managed to keep his half of the country largely free of debt, and when he died he even left a fortune of around 200,000 guilders. Ulrich participated in an exchange with Tycho Brahe and David Chytraeus in the scientific discourse of his time and corresponded with humanists such as Heinrich Rantzau and Johannes Caselius . In 1594, as the Supreme Leader of the Lower Saxony Imperial Circle, he organized military and financial aid against the impending Turkish invasion and was for a long time the Nestor of the German Imperial Council. One month after his death, he was buried in the cathedral there with the most magnificent funeral ceremonies that Güstrow has ever experienced , where Philipp Brandin created a monumental wall grave for him and his wives, which was completed by his successor Claus Midow .

“Anno 1603, the 14th Martij, the most lavish prince and lord hertzogh Ulrich von Meckelnburg died at Gustrow. And the princely corpse was laid down in a pewter sack in a pewter sack to rest the princely corpse on April 14th in a large solenaire and a great gathering of many distinguished men and people at Gustrow's in the princely vaults. The German funeral sermon is given by doctor Luca Backmeistern [d. H. Lucas Bacmeister ] has been held. "

- Vicke Schorler

meaning

Coat of arms of Duke Ulrich (1575, Duke August Library )

Ulrich was primarily a domestic politician. His special focus was on common use. Not only did he organize the regional church, justice system and regional administration on paper, he also ensured, with rigor and tenacity, that much of this was followed up. The Revised Church Ordinance, which was published shortly before his death and was in effect until the end of the monarchy, was particularly long-lived.

Ulrich's foreign policy was also conducted carefully. From taking office to death, he did not wage war. He was even less able to win confessional wars and was therefore not involved in the Schmalkaldic War or the campaign of 1552 like the brothers . Ulrich was a devout Lutheran, because he saw this belief as firmly founded in conformity with the Scriptures. At the same time he was averse to religious zealots of all directions. He tried to limit the teaching disputes to the universities, they were the place for discussion. The established scientific opinion then applied in the regional church. Consequently, he held the fraction rich faithful Lutherans , led by his cousin Elector Augustus of Saxony and supported the movement to the Formula of Concord of 1577 and the Book of Concord of 1580, which he signed both - as guardian of his nephew . Johann VII and Sigismund Augustus of Mecklenburg - because he saw it as a work of unification and not of division.

Due to Ulrich's adherence to the law, he was also involved in a number of mediations. In particular, he worked with his cousin Elector August as a mediator between Frederick II of Denmark and the dukes Johann von Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg and Adolf von Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorf , with whom he also had excellent relationships. Ulrich gained further renown when he succeeded his brother-in-law, Duke Adolf von Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorf, as colonel of the Lower Saxony Empire in 1588 .

progeny

Elisabeth von Denmark (front) and Anna von Pommern (back), wall grave in Güstrow Cathedral (status 2009, before restoration)

His only child from his marriage to Elisabeth of Denmark , Sophie , was married to King Frederick II of Denmark . In addition to King Christian IV , Prince Ulrich of Denmark emerged from this marriage, named in honor of his grandfather. This Ulrich followed his grandfather as administrator of the Schwerin Abbey . A son of Christian IV was also named Ulrich in memory of the important Mecklenburg Duke, who followed as Ulrich III. in Schwerin Abbey. Ulrich's second marriage to Anna of Pomerania († 1626), daughter of Duke Philip I of Pomerania and Maria of Saxony , remained childless.

Literature and Notes

Web links

Commons : Ulrich  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ The dynastic count as Ulrich III. is consistent with the stipulation that the Mecklenburg Princely House always counted its dynasts correctly in terms of feudal law on the entire house. Ulrich was preceded by the two (ruling) dukes of the same name of the Mecklenburg-Stargard rulership , Ulrich I and Ulrich II. However, with the first division of Mecklenburg, a separate counting of rulers of the created rulers began, which subsequently led to double counting (example: Johann II. (Mecklenburg-Stargard) and Johann II. (Werle) ). It has therefore become common in regional historiography to personalize Ulrich (III.) Predominantly without dynastic counting.
  2. ^ Franz Schuldt: The Diocese of Schwerin in the Protestant era . In: Mecklenburgisches Jahrbuch MJB 49 (1884) pp. 150–151.
  3. ^ Josef Traeger: The bishops of the medieval diocese of Schwerin. With an appendix: Administrators and candidates in the post-Reformation period. (1550-1648) St. Benno Verlag, Leipzig 1984, p. 225
  4. ^ Albrecht Friedrich Wilhelm Glöckler: The Reichstag = journey of Duke Ulrich von Mecklenburg in 1582. In: Year books of the association for Mecklenburg history and antiquity. Vol. 9 (1844), pp. 166-214 ( full text ( Memento from January 14, 2008 in the Internet Archive ))
  5. ^ Vicke Schorler: Rostocker Chronik 1584-1625 . Ed .: Ingrid Ehler. S. 28 .
  6. ↑ See BSLK , p. 16 and p. 763.
predecessor Office successor
Johann Albrecht I. Duke of Mecklenburg [-Güstrow]
1555–1603 		Johann Albrecht II.
Magnus III. (Mecklenburg) Administrator of the Diocese of Schwerin
1550–1603 		Ulrich II.
personal data
SURNAME Ulrich
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Ulrich, Duke of Mecklenburg (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Duke of Mecklenburg
DATE OF BIRTH March 5, 1527
PLACE OF BIRTH Schwerin
DATE OF DEATH March 14, 1603
Place of death Guestrow