Ulrich Sitzinger

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Ulrich Sitzinger (born April 11, 1525 in Worms , † October 31, 1574 in Sulzbach (Upper Palatinate) ) was a German lawyer , politician and reformer .

life and work

Picture of Ulrich Sitzinger's family (1st from left)

Ulrich Sitzinger was the son of the Worms priest Ulrich Sitzinger the Elder. Ä., Who married in 1523 as one of the first Worms clergy, causing a scandal and protracted legal battle. While the citizenry and various clergy members of Sitzinger and thus the Reformation supported their backs ( e.g. through the publication of a pamphlet with the title Eine getrewe vermanung one lover of the evangelical warheyt to common priesthood, not to fight against the married couple, a Erßamer priest stood to Wormbs ( admitted by got in the new and old testament). Worms 1523 ), Bishop Reinhard von Rüppurr tried to force him out of office. He did not succeed, whereupon he resigned as chief shepherd.

Ulrich d. J. attended the Latin school in Worms and showed such great talents that his parents (together with his younger brother Samuel) sent him to Nuremberg for further lessons to Johannes Ketzmann and Veit Dietrich . From there he moved to the University of Wittenberg in 1544 , where he a. a. also studied with Martin Luther and Philipp Melanchthon , especially philosophy , history , astronomy and theology . In 1548 he obtained his master's degree and married Melanchthon's niece Anna (died 1567), the daughter of Sebaldus Münsterer . He then specialized in law studies, also held legal lectures at the university and in 1551 earned the title of Dr. iur. utr. (Doctor of both rights, i.e. secular (Roman) law and canon law ). In the same year he returned to his hometown of Worms and settled there as a legal scholar.

As early as 1551, Duke Wolfgang von Pfalz-Zweibrücken appointed him as a council , in 1555 he made him his chancellor . In this role he played a key role in the introduction of the Reformation in Pfalz-Zweibrücken : in 1556 he wrote the church regulations for the duchy, which were reprinted several times up to the 18th century and were also introduced in other principalities. In 1558 he arranged a comprehensive visitation of the principality and carried out the conversion of the former monasteries into higher schools ( comparable to today's high schools ). In 1559 he also became chancellor for Pfalz-Neuburg .

After 1560, however, his star in Zweibrücken seemed to decline, which was ultimately due to the increasing denominational tension between Lutherans and Calvinists in the neighboring Electoral Palatinate : While the Electoral Palatinate openly switched to the Calvinist camp, Duke Wolfgang steered a strictly Lutheran course. As a student of Melanchthon, Sitzinger could probably not agree with this; In addition, the head of house for the sons of Wolfgang, who was once employed on Sitzinger's recommendation, turned out to be a secret Calvinist. Sitzinger had to resign as Chancellor and in 1561 retired to the post of district judge in Sulzbach (Upper Palatinate). Nevertheless, his legal and political expertise was often in demand, and Duke Wolfgang often used him in diplomatic missions and as envoy after 1561.

During this time Sitzinger was often out and about on behalf of other princes and lords. a. he was on the road as a councilor for Emperor Maximilian II , for the dukes of Württemberg, the counts of Öttingen and the imperial cities of Augsburg and Nuremberg .

Sitzinger died in 1574 at his Holenstein Castle and was buried in the church in Sulzbach. There his second wife Helena had a magnificent tomb erected for him, on which a biblical scene can be seen. In the foreground you can see Sitzinger, his only son Ulrich (1551–1587), his two wives and the three surviving daughters.

literature

  • David Chytraeus: Oratio de Ulrico Sitzingero iud, cancellario inclyti principis Wolfgangi, Palatini Rheni, ducis Bavariae etc. (1577). In: Ders .: De illustrissimo prioncipe Wolfgango, Palatino Rheni duce Bavariae etc. oratio. Wittenberg 1580.
  • Emil Sehling: The Protestant Church Orders of the 16th Century. Volume 18: Rhineland-Palatinate I. Edited by Thomas Bergholz. Tuebingen 2006.
  • Karl-Heinz Drescher: The Zweibrücken Chancellor Ulrich Sitzinger. A life for the unification of the Protestants. In: Blätter für Pfalzische Kirchengeschichte und Volkskunde 45, 1978, pp. 186–207.
  • Johann Schneider:  Sitzinger, Ulrich . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 34, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1892, pp. 424-429.
  • Thomas Bergholz:  Sitzinger, Ulrich d.Ä. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 28, Bautz, Nordhausen 2007, ISBN 978-3-88309-413-7 , Sp. 1446-1450.  ( Article / beginning of article in Internet archive )

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Friedhelm Jürgensmeier : The Diocese of Worms from Roman times to its dissolution in 1801 , Echter Verlag, Würzburg, 1997, ISBN 3-429-01876-5 , pp. 154-162.
personal data
SURNAME Sitzinger, Ulrich
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German lawyer, politician and reformer
DATE OF BIRTH April 11, 1525
PLACE OF BIRTH Worms
DATE OF DEATH October 31, 1574
Place of death Sulzbach (Upper Palatinate)