Valentin von Eickstedt (Councilor)

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Valentin von Eickstedt (* 1527 ; † 23 July 1579 ) was a nobleman and councilor of the Dukes of Pomerania in the mid-16th century.

Life

He came from the richly wealthy Pomeranian noble family von Eickstedt in the border area of ​​Pomerania and Brandenburg around Pasewalk and Prenzlau . The ancestral seat of the Pomeranian line was Rothenklempenow Castle on the Randow . After studying at the University of Greifswald , Eickstedt was brought in 1545 by Chancellor Jacob von Zitzewitz as a secretary at the Wolgast office. In 1551 he took over the office of land rent master from Erasmus Husen . In 1555 he took part in the negotiations on the peace of the Augsburg Empire and religion as the envoy of Duke Philip I of Pomerania- Wolgast . In 1557 he succeeded Zitzewitz as Chancellor and on April 29, 1559 was able to receive the enfeoffment of Pomerania by Emperor Ferdinand I and the confirmation of the privileges.

After the death of Philip I, Eickstedt, together with Ulrich von Schwerin, was the decisive councilor in the custodial government for Philip's sons. These two finally ensured in 1569 that the second-born Bogislaw XIII. , but Philipp's third son Ernst Ludwig took over the government in Wolgast and succeeded his father. From 1560 he was involved in the drafting of the new Pomeranian church ordinance published in 1569. He also made particular efforts to improve domain management. After his abdication as Chancellor, Eickstedt initially acted as governor in Wolgast, where he began to draw up an office book based on the Brunswick model. All the income and rights of the ducal office were recorded in it. Most recently, Eickstedt moved to Ueckermünde, where he was also the official governor.

During the Seven Years of Northern War there was a risk that Pomerania could get between the fronts of the warring parties Sweden and Poland , an ally of Denmark . Sweden in particular was dependent on imports during the war, which were mainly handled via the Pomeranian cities of Stralsund and Greifswald . In 1564 Valentin von Eickstedt had to explain to the Polish ambassadors that the trading of the cities took place despite the ban by the duke. At the same time he called on Poland to stand up for free trade on the Baltic Sea with Denmark, which was hindering trade to Livonia and Koenigsberg . He also demanded this for the rivers Warthe and Oder , where Brandenburg restricted trade.

One of the last assignments as a ducal councilor was the negotiation of the marriage contract between Ernst Ludwig and his father-in-law, Duke Julius von Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel, in the run-up to his marriage to his daughter Sophia Hedwig in 1577.

Duke Ernst Ludwig enfeoffed him with the village of Koblentz in 1578. His family estate, on which he also had his residence, was Damitzow , west of Stettin . When he died the following year, Valentin von Eickstedt was buried in the St. Nikolai Cathedral in Greifswald. There is also an epitaph with the family coat of arms here.

Works

Eickstedt dealt with Pomeranian history. In Latin he wrote the writings "Epitome annalium Pomeraniae", "Genealogia Pomeraniae" and "Catalogus espiscoporum Caminensium" since 1552. The "Descriptio Pomeranie" is an extract from the "Pomerania" by Thomas Kantzow . In 1562, two years after the death of Duke Philip I, his obituary "Vita Philippi I., ducis Pomeraniae" was published. His “Annales Pomeraniae”, another excerpt from Kantzow's work at the instigation of Duke Ernst Ludwig, appeared in High German.

progeny

Valentin von Eickstedt was married to Anna von Jasmund († 1607) since 1559. The information about the number of his offspring varies.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ DI 77, Greifswald, No. 252 (Jürgen Herold, Christine Magin), in: www.inschriften.net, urn: nbn: de: 0238-di077g014k0025204 .
personal data
SURNAME Eickstedt, Valentin von
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Pomeranian statesman
DATE OF BIRTH 1527
DATE OF DEATH July 23, 1579