Christian Ludwig von Kalckstein

Christian Ludwig von Kalckstein

Christian Ludwig von Kalckstein (1630 – 8 November 1672) was a Prussian count, Colonel,[1] and politician who was executed for treason.

Contents

Biography

Kalckstein was the son of Count Albrecht von Kalckstein, a strong critic of Frederick William, Elector and Duke of Brandenburg-Prussia. During his youth Kalckstein had served in the French army under Turenne, but was dismissed as being disorderly.[2] He entered the Polish army in 1654, but fought for Duke Frederick William at the 1656 Battle of Warsaw, for which he was rewarded with a captaincy in the district of Oletzko. In 1659 the duke dismissed Kalckstein after the clerk of Oletzko accused the young noble of embezzlement and maltreatment of his subjects.[2]

The Kalckstein family were staunch defenders of the Prussian estates and opposed the centralizing absolutism of Frederick William; Prussia had been a fief of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth until Frederick William achieved sovereignty in the 1660 Treaty of Oliva. After being dismissed from Oletzko, Kalckstein reentered the Polish army and plotted against Frederick William from the Polish capital, Warsaw.[2] After Albrecht's 1667 death, his sons disputed the inheritance; Christian Ludwig was accused by his siblings of conspiring to murder Frederick William and invite Polish troops into Prussia.[3] Although his siblings' evidence was dubious, Kalckstein contrived the idea of asking his servants to perjure on his behalf in the case. When this was found out, Kalckstein was convicted of lèse majesté[4] and sentenced to life imprisonment.[3] Upon the arrival of the duke in the Prussian capital, Königsberg, the following year, Kalckstein begged for mercy and had his sentence reduced to a fine[3] and exile to his estate.[5]

In March 1670[5] the Junker fled by sledge to Warsaw to present a protest to the Sejm of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth as the self-appointed representative of the Prussian estates.[4]

Frederick William was alarmed that the rebellious Kalckstein would inspire opposition in the estates, which met in July 1670 to discuss the duke's requests for funds for his army. When King Michał Korybut Wiśniowiecki of Poland refused to extradite Kalckstein, Frederick William ordered his diplomat in Warsaw, Eusebius von Brandt, to capture Kalckstein.[5] Brandt had the noble secretly bundled in a carpet and returned to Prussia at the end of 1670.

Frederick William disregarded Michał's objections, accurately predicting the Polish king would not make "an elephant out of a gnat".[5] In order to make an example for the Prussian estates, the duke had Kalckstein tried in 1671 by a special court consisting mostly of non-Prussians. The prisoner was also tortured in order to reveal his accomplices. Kalckstein was sentenced to death in January 1672 and beheaded at Memel[4] on 8 November 1672. The execution of Kalckstein, the only political execution during Frederick William's reign, contributed to the submission of the estates to the duke's authority during the 1670s.[6]

In his last letters to his family Kalckstein asked his wife to move to Poland and there, raise their children up in the Lutheran faith and teach their children the fundamentals of arithmetic as well as the Polish language. In a separate letter to his children he told them to "learn Polish, and secure yourselves in Poland for there is no place for us left in the now enslaved Prussia".[citation needed]

See also

External links

Notes

  1. ^ Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie
  2. ^ a b c Fay, p. 60
  3. ^ a b c Fay, p. 64
  4. ^ a b c Koch, p. 57
  5. ^ a b c d McKay, p. 142
  6. ^ McKay, p. 143

References

  • F. L. Carsten, The New Cambridge Modern History: volume V: the ascendancy of France 1648-88, CUP Archive, 1961, ISBN 0521045444, Google Print, p.549
  • Fay, Sidney B.; Klaus Epstein (1964). The Rise of Brandenburg-Prussia to 1786: Revised Edition. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston. pp. 146. 
  • Koch, H. W. (1978). A History of Prussia. New York: Barnes & Noble Books. pp. 326. ISBN 0-88029-158-3. 
  • McKay, Derek (2001). The Great Elector. Harlow: Pearson. pp. 286. ISBN 0-582-49482-6. 
  • Margaret Shennan, The Rise of Brandenburg-Prussia, Routledge, 1995, ISBN 0415129389, Google Print, p.34

Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужен реферат?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Christoph Wilhelm von Kalckstein — (17 October 1682 – 2 June 1759) was a Prussian count, field marshal, teacher and educator of King Frederick II of Prussia. Contents 1 Military career 2 Educator of Frederick II of Prussia 3 Later career …   Wikipedia

  • Albrecht von Kalckstein — (4 November 1592 ndash; 26 May 1667) was a Prussian count, Lieutenant General and opponent of Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg.Kalckstein was born in Königsberg to Jakob von Kalckstein, laird of Wogau and Graventhien near Pr. Eylau in… …   Wikipedia

  • Kalckstein — ist der Familienname folgender Personen: Christian Ludwig von Kalckstein, geboren vor 1630, hingerichtet 1672; preuß. Adliger. Christoph Wilhelm von Kalckstein (1682–1759), preußischer Generalfeldmarschall. Ludwig Karl von Kalckstein (1725 1800) …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Kalckstein (Adelsgeschlecht) — Stammwappen derer von Kalckstein Kalckstein, (Kalkstein, in Polen teilweise Kalkstein Stolinski, auch Kalkstein Kobilinski und Kalkstein Oslowski) ist der Name eines alten preußischen Adelsgeschlechts. Zweige der Familie bestehen bis heute fort.… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Kalckstein — People with the German surname Kalckstein include: *Albrecht von Kalckstein (1592 1667), Prussian nobleman *Christian Ludwig von Kalckstein (1630 1672), executed Prussian nobleman *Christoph Wilhelm von Kalckstein (1682 1759), Prussian field… …   Wikipedia

  • Kalckstein — Kalckstein, ostpreuß. Adelsfamilie, deren Glieder im 17. Jahrh. an der Spitze der ständischen Opposition gegen die brandenburgische Herrschaft standen. Generalleutnant Albrecht v. K. auf Knauten verweigerte dem Großen Kurfürsten die Huldigung als …   Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon

  • Friedrich Wilhelm I. von Brandenburg — Kurfürst Friedrich Wilhelm I. von Brandenburg, mit Szepter, Harnisch, Kurhut und mantel Gemälde von Govaert Flinck, um 1652 Friedrich Wilhelm I. von Brandenburg (* 16. Februar 1620 in Cölln an der Spree (heute zu Berlin); † 29. April …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Liste von Militärs/K — Militärpersonen   A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Gvardeyskoye — ( ru. Гвадейское; de. Mühlhausen in Ostpreussen) is a village in Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia. Gvardeyskoye lies 25 km south of Kaliningrad and approximately 10 km north of Bagrationovsk. History The village was founded by the Teutonic Knights in… …   Wikipedia

  • Königsberg — Infobox Settlement official name = Königsberg in Preußen settlement type = City nickname = imagesize = image caption = Königsberg Castle before World War I image mapsize = map caption = mapsize1 = map caption1 = subdivision type = Former Country… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”