Wigand Lauze

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Wigand Lauze (* around 1495 in Homberg ; † 1570) was a German chronicler . His chronicle of Hessian history, written in annals , is historical evidence to this day.

Life

There is no information about his origins and youth, and almost nothing is known about his life that can be deduced from his written work . It is believed that his father Johann Lauze (Lutze) d. Ä. Was a citizen in Homberg, but probably came from Treysa , where Wigand later also had citizenship, and that his mother, whose name is not known, was a sister of Jost Becker (Justus Pistoris / Pistorius) from Homberg, who in turn was clerk in Kassel , Chamber Secretary of Landgrave Christine , Office Secretary of Landgrave Philipp and Salzgrebe zu Allendorf .

Lauze studied at the University of Erfurt from the fall of 1519 and appears for the first time in the sources when he enrolled there (as Wigandus Lutz de Homburg). He probably pursued both humanistic and legal studies. How long he studied in Erfurt is uncertain. In 1529 he became one of the six community leaders in Treysa , in whose hands the entire city financial management was. He must have been a clerk there before. In 1535 he insulted one of the city lay judges in a dispute in a wine house, repeatedly refused to appear before the lay judge's court, and after his objection to the landgrave governor in the Land an der Lahn in Marburg , Georg von Kolmatsch , he was right for procedural reasons. The dispute dragged on anyway, probably because of Lauze's stubbornness, so that the Treysa mayor and the lay judges also turned to the governor. In the same year Lauze also had a dispute with the city council over his opposition to the extension of the powers of the so-called Council of Twelve intended by the council. This matter, too, came before the governor, who on a day of negotiations in Ziegenhain agreed with the advice and, until further notice, forbade Lauze to take over a municipal office. This should have been the reason why Lauze left Treysa in 1535 and moved back to Homberg.

From 1536 to the turn of the year 1539/40 Lauze was employed in the landgrave's office in Kassel , which also had a court function, and in 1538 he is recorded there as a clerk (“ juditii scriba ”). In rank he was probably immediately behind the two clerks, but before the registrars and clerks. In November 1539, Lauze asked his patron, Chancellor Johann Feige , to intercede for use in another position, citing a rebuke he had received, his advanced age, the high cost of living in Kassel and his colleagues in the law firm, who tended to be wasteful, to justify his concern. He was then (backdated to February 1540) in April 1540 for three years to the " top " of the three appointed by Landgrave Landeshospitäler Haina , Merxhausen and Hofheim ordered. He described himself in March 1541 as " Oberbevelhaber " and in June 1541 as Vogt zu Haina . The appointment expired in 1543, but he seems to have given up the post in 1542. After that, he is not traceable again until 1561, now in Homberg, where he probably died in 1570. (According to some biographers, citing documents from his heirs, he was no longer alive in early 1569.)

plant

Wigand Lauze's importance is based on his chronicle of Hessian history almost from the Flood up to 1564, of which only the second part, dealing with the reign of Landgrave Philip I of Hesse, has historical significance and source value. Lauze was a "creative" historian. He was thoroughly well read and referred to his humanist contemporaries as sources, but was not very critical, and the description in the first part of his work, which extends up to 1509, has little source-related value, but provides interesting information on the historiography of humanism. Its Hessian history begins with the legendary Ascennas , who was nicknamed Thuisco and who lived 254 years after the flood as the "archfather and beginner of all Germans" and thus the first king of the Hessians. It then continues into the reign of Landgrave Philipp, to whom the entire second part of the chronicle is dedicated. For this second part, Lauze, an admirer of the Landgrave, collected extensive material through his good relationships with official and scientific circles, on the basis of which and reporting from his own experience, he created a biography that was in keeping with his time and of lasting importance. Lauze was extremely close to the learned circles of the Landgraviate who came together at Marburg University , and his work faithfully reflects their religious, literary and political views.

Notes and individual references

  1. ↑ Also Lutze , Lautz , Lotz , Lutius , Luce . According to Gundlach, he himself always wrote Lutze or Latinized Lutius ; Gundlach, p. 261.
  2. ↑ His death is usually given in the literature as “before 1569”, but Julius Pistor cites a purchase contract of January 27, 1570 between him and his wife Else and the city of Treysa; Pistor, pp. 378-379.
  3. ↑ Lauze dedicated a separate chapter in his work to the city, but this has not been preserved.
  4. ↑ Hans Philippi:  Lauze, Wigand. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 13, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1982, ISBN 3-428-00194-X , p. 743 ( digitized version ).
  5. ↑ Gundlach, p. 262
  6. ↑ Three chiefs were elected from the city council, three from the community (Pistor, p. 365).
  7. ↑ Gundlach, p. 264.
  8. ↑ Pistor, pp. 365-366.
  9. ↑ His successor in office, Andres Becker, had the official title of court secretary (Gundlach, p. 269).
  10. ^ Pistor, pp. 366 and 376–378.
  11. ↑ Gundlach, p. 270
  12. ^ Lenz:  Lauze, Wigand . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 18, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1883, p. 80 f.

literature

personal data
SURNAME Lauze, Wigand
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Lutze, Wigand
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German chronicler
DATE OF BIRTH around 1495
PLACE OF BIRTH Homberg (Efze)
DATE OF DEATH 1570