Ulrich von Lichtenstein

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Ulrich von Lichtenstein (born June 12, 1564 - † December 8, 1633 in Coburg , buried: Ahorn ) was a German courtier in the service of Duke Johann Casimir von Sachsen-Coburg .

Life

Ulrich von Lichtenstein came from an old Franconian noble family , which should not be confused with the families of the same name that were formerly flourishing in Styria and Austria .

Apparently serving Duke Johann Casimir as a noble boy in Coburg at a young age, he stayed with him in 1578/80 during his studies in Leipzig . After the duke took over the rule in Coburg in 1586, Lichtenstein rose to chamberlain and vice court master. At the end of 1592, the Duke brought the Italian magician and alchemist Count Hieronymus Scottus to the Coburg court. Creeping the trust of his wife Anna von Sachsen (1567–1613), he seduced her with his hypnotic and suggestive art. Soon after the relationship ended, Scottus then paired up with Lichtenstein towards the beginning of summer 1593, obviously under suggestion. At the request of the Duchess, Lichtenstein is said to have reported more strangely about the relationship between the chambermaid "Annele". When Duke Johann Casimir was told that the maid had a relationship with a noble courtier, she was arrested and interrogated in this regard. She said that Lichtenstein had a relationship with Duchess Anna. On September 23, 1593, the Duke had his wife evicted into a secluded room in the Ehrenburg in Coburg, while Ulrich von Lichtenstein was arrested at the Veste Coburg after an interrogation . Lichtenstein immediately admitted the relationship, but put the blame for it on the Duchess with little honor. In the further interrogations in October and November, which took place without torture, as well as in a letter, the repentant Lichtenstein described in relative detail the evidently suggestive seduction skills of Scottus. At that time, he was in another place and then fled with part of Anna's jewelry. On December 12th, the duke divorced through his consistory. He vengefully held his former wife briefly at the Veste Coburg, then in Eisenach , Sonnefeld and finally again at the Veste Coburg under very severe circumstances. Anna von Sachsen died on January 27, 1613 after more than 19 years imprisonment in the fortress and was buried in Sonnefeld.

In a letter of December 18, 1593 to his councilors, the Duke had requested the death of Lichtenstein, for which he requested a legal opinion. Taking their time, the councils only responded on February 22, 1594, by rejecting their responsibility for the case and referring the case to the Jena Schöppenstuhl . Applying for a lawsuit against Lichtenstein there, this court spoke out in favor of sparing him from death due to all circumstances (although this would have been legally possible!), But sentenced him to the loss of his fief and to eternal prison. This reduction in punishment was only possible because not only Johann Kasimir's father ( Duke Johann Friedrich II. ), But also the Duke of Saxe-Weimar, the bishops of Bamberg and Würzburg, the Franconian knighthood and his relatives had campaigned for Lichtenstein . Since Johann Casimir could not bring himself to recognize the court judgment for a long time, even Emperor Rudolf intervened on August 16, 1594 . Making several relatively humane suggestions, Johann Casimir ultimately decided on the hardest form, i.e. to keep Lichtenstein himself in custody. For several years, however, he tried to evade the verdict and execute Lichtenstein himself until he finally accepted it in 1597 due to the influence of princes, bishops and the knights of the landscape. In that year Lichtenstein was moved from the Veste Coburg to one of the city towers, the gravedigger tower, at the Salvatorfriedhof. Knowing the duke's lust for revenge, he only dared to ask Duke Johann Casimir, after the death of Anna of Saxony, in 1613, if he might not spend his retirement years on his family's estate in Ippesheim , which was strictly rejected. When foreign troops occupied Coburg in the war year 1618 and offered Lichtenstein freedom, he did not accept it for fear, as he feared that the duke would then take revenge on his relatives. After his death on June 16, 1633, he sent a petition for pardon to his brother Duke Johann Ernst von Sachsen-Coburg-Eisenach, who had inherited him . Due to the turmoil of the war, he only had it issued on December 5th. However, Ulrich von Lichtenstein did not find freedom because he died three days later, after 40 years in prison. Since then, the Coburg gravedigger tower has been called "Lichtenstein Tower" after him

The "Scottus Affair" is the first historical case in Germany in which it can be proven that hypnosis / suggestion was used to the detriment of those affected.

literature

  • A. Vollert: The new Pitaval. Part 29, Part Three, Part 5, Leipzig 1871, pp. 43–52.
  • Hermann Wank: The story of suffering of Duchess Anna of Saxony of the wife of Duke Casimir of Coburg. Coburg 1898.
  • Hans-Joachim Böttcher : The time of my life was little and bad - Anna von Sachsen (1576–1613). Dresdner Buchverlag, Dresden 2016, ISBN 978-3-941757-70-7 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ ulrich-goepfert.de
  2. ↑ Carl Kiesewetter: Faust in history and tradition. Leipzig 1893, pp. 528-536.
  3. ^ Johann Adolph von Schultes: Saxony-Coburg-Saalfeldische Landesgeschichte ... § XIV, Coburg 1818.
  4. ^ Bernhard GH von Hellfeld: Contributions to the state law and the history of Saxony. Eisenach 1785, p. 17.
  5. ^ Thomas Nicklas: The House of Saxony-Coburg - Europe's late dynasty. Stuttgart 2003, pp. 48-49.
  6. ↑ GL Dankwart: Spiritual and social currents ... In: Psychological studies, monthly journal . 29th year August 1902, p. 457-458 .
personal data
SURNAME Lichtenstein, Ulrich von
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German nobleman and courtier
DATE OF BIRTH June 12, 1564
DATE OF DEATH December 8, 1633
Place of death Coburg