Wurzen feud

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The Wurzen feud was a bloodless conflict in 1542 between the Ernestine Electorate of Saxony and the Wurzen collegiate monastery over the collection of funds to finance the Turkish wars ( Turkish tax ). The background was also a dispute between Ernestines and Albertines about the use of taxpayers' money in this jointly administered area.

Historical development

After the Leipzig division in 1485 , which divided Saxony into an Albertine and an Ernestine part, the patronage of the Wurzen monastery ( Wurzen and the Wurzener Land) was jointly exercised by the Ernestines and Albertines. Wurzen Abbey was a worldly property of the Meissen diocese . Both Saxon lines were ultimately out to secularize the area.

Map of the Wettin lands after the division of Leipzig ( 1485 )

The feud was immediately preceded by the dispute between Duke Moritz and Elector Johann Friedrich over the use of the tax money in this area. Johann Friedrich also asked Wurzen Abbey to pay the Turkish tax to finance the Turkish wars, which the Abbey refused to pay.

procedure

On March 21, 1542, on the orders of Elector Johann Friedrich, 128 men of Torgau's armored vigilante group, 50 of them mounted, set out to occupy Wurzens in order to collect aid to finance the war against the Turks.

At least that was the reason; In fact, it was a matter of massive interventions by Johann Friedrich in the powers of the Wurzen Abbey in connection with his efforts to push through the Reformation . Duke Moritz, who himself pursued rigorous power politics and was already toying with the electoral dignity, advanced against the unloved cousin with a force, war threatened.

On April 7, 1542, Martin Luther wrote a letter with the same wording to both princes, which reached the princes on the evening of the 8th or on the morning of April 9th. This letter contains the well-known passage: "... is not Stetlin Wurtzen ...". At the same time, on April 8, Landgrave Philipp von Hessen arrived as a mediator and spoke with Johann Friedrich, who was in Grimma, and with Moritz in Oschatz. On April 8, he wrote an express letter to Martin Luther from Oschatz, in which he described the seriousness of the situation: "But we are both stubbornly stubborn in both parts (Elector Johann Friedrich and Duke Moritz)." Landgrave Philipp was in doubt whether he could bring about peace, and asked Martin Luther to write to both princes as quickly as possible and to persuade them to make peace, without realizing that such a letter was already on its way.

Already on April 9th ​​- Easter Sunday 1542 - Landgrave Philipp wrote again to Martin Luther from Grimma and was able to communicate a completely new situation, because it was "better hope for the contract than could have been thought". According to the notes of Melchior of Ossa , the Ernestine Chancellor and eyewitness to the events, the treaty, which was dated on Easter Monday, April 10, 1542, came into force on Wednesday, April 12, 1542. The then Oschatz town clerk Johann Gregorius d. Ä. In a poem about this occasion, the conflict did not end until “Easter Wednesday”.

A Saxon chronicle from 1588 assumes Grimma (“on the castle”) as the place of the contract; conversely, the term “Oschatzer Peace” appears in the 20th century, but on the basis of contemporary documents and letters, a joint signature has not yet been proven in one or the other place. Apparently both sides signed the contract separately in Grimma and Oschatz, because the document itself does not contain a place of signature, not a single contemporary witness mentions a joint signature, and the ratification two days after the contract date also only allows this conclusion.

The Wurzen feud was bloodless, and everyone in armor returned home in full at Easter 1542. Since they were treated to Easter flatbreads on the way and at home (an Easter cake from the area), the Wurzener feud was also jokingly referred to as the "flatbread war".

literature

  • Burkhardt: The Wurzener feud , in: Karl von Weber (ed.): Archive for the Saxon history, Volume 4, Issue 1, Leipzig 1865, pp. 57-81 digitized .