History of Friedrich II of Prussia - Frederick the Great Chapter X. - Kurfurst Joachim II.
by Thomas Carlyle
Joachim II., Sixth Elector, no doubt after painful study, and
intricate silent consideration ever since his twelfth year when
Luther was first heard of over the world, came gradually, and
before his Father's death had already come, to the conclusion of
adopting the Confession of Augsburg, as the true Interpretation of
this Universe, so far as we had yet got; and did so, publicly, in
the year 1539. [Rentsch, p. 452.] To the great joy of Berlin and
the Brandenburg populations generally, who had been of a
Protestaut humor, hardly restrainable by Law, for some years past.
By this decision Joachim held fast, with a stout, weighty grasp;
nothing spasmodic in his way of handling the matter, and yet a
heartiness which is agreeable to see. He could not join in the
Schmalkaldic War; seeing, it is probable, small chance for such a
War, of many chiefs and little counsel; nor was he willing yet to
part from the Kaiser Karl V., who was otherwise very good to him.
He had fought personally for this Kaiser, twice over, against the
Turks; first as Brandenburg Captain, learning his art; and
afterwards as Kaiser's Generalissimo, in 1542. He did no good upon
the Turks, on that latter occasion; as indeed what good was to be
done, in such a quagmire of futilities as Joachim's element there
was? "Too sumptuous in his dinners, too much wine withal!" hint
some calumniously. [Paulus Jovius, &c. See Pauli, iii. 70-73.]
"Hector of Germany!" say others. He tried some small prefatory
Siege or scalade of Pesth; could not do it; and came his ways home
again, as the best course. Pedant Chroniclers give him the name
HECTOR, "Joachim Hector,"--to match that of CICERO and that of
ACHILLES. A man of solid structure, this our Hector, in body and
mind: extensive cheeks, very large heavy-laden face; capable of
terrible bursts of anger, as his kind generally were.
The Schmalkaldic War went to water, as the Germans phrase it:
Kur-Sachsen,--that is, Johann Friedrich the Magnanimous, Son of
Johann "V. D. M. I. AE.," and Nephew of Friedrich the Wise,--had
his sorrowfully valid reasons for the War; large force too, plenty
of zealous copartners, Philip of Hessen and others; but no
generalship, or not enough, for such a business. Big Army, as is
apt enough to happen, fell short of food; Kaiser Karl hung on the
outskirts, waiting confidently till it came to famine. Johann
Friedrich would attempt nothing decisive while provender lasted;--
and having in the end, strangely enough, and somewhat deaf to
advice, divided his big Army into three separate parts;--Johann
Friedrich was himself, with one of those parts, surprised at
Muhlberg, on a Sunday when at church (24th April, 1547); and was
there beaten to sudden ruin, and even taken captive, like to have
his head cut off, by the triumphant angry Kaiser. Philip of
Hessen, somewhat wiser, was home to Marburg, safe with HIS part,
in the interim.--Elector Joachim II. of Brandenburg had good
reason to rejoice in his own cautious reluctances on this
occasion. However, he did now come valiantly up, hearing what
severities were in the wind.
He pleaded earnestly, passionately, he and Cousin or already
"Elector" Moritz, [Pauli, iii. 102.]--who was just getting Johann
Friedrich's Electorship fished away from him out of these
troubles, [Kurfurst, 4th June, 1547.]--for Johann Friedrich of
Saxony's life, first of all. For Johann's life FIRST; this is a
thing not to be dispensed with, your Majesty, on any terms
whatever; a sine qua non, this life to
Protestant Germany at large. To which the Kaiser indicated,
"He would see; not immediate death at any rate; we will see."
A life that could not and must not be taken in this manner:
this was the FIRST point. Then, SECONDLY, that Philip of Hessen,
now home again at Marburg,--not a bad or disloyal man, though
headlong, and with two wives,--might not be forfeited; but that
peace and pardon might be granted him, on his entire submission.
To which second point the Kaiser answered, "Yes, then, on his
submission." These were the two points. These pleadings went on at
Halle, where the Kaiser now lies, in triumphantly victorious
humor, in the early days of June, Year 1547. Johann Friedrich of
Saxony had been, by some Imperial Court-Council or other,--
Spanish merely, I suppose,--doomed to die. Sentence was signified
to him while he sat at chess: "Can wait till we end the game,"
thought Johann;--"PERGAMUS," said he to his comrade, "Let us go
on, then!" Sentence not to be executed till one see.
With Philip of Hessen things had a more conclusive aspect.
Philip had accepted the terms procured for him; which had been
laboriously negotiated, brought to paper, and now wanted only the
sign-manual to them: "Ohne einigen Gefangniss
(without any imprisonment)," one of the chief clauses.
And so Philip now came over to Halle; was met and welcomed by his
two friends, Joachim and Moritz, at Naumburg, a stage before
Halle;--clear now to make his submission, and beg pardon of the
Kaiser, according to bargain. On the morrow, 19th June, 1547, the
Papers were got signed. And next day, 20th June, Philip did,
according to bargain, openly beg pardon of the Kaiser, in his
Majesty's Hall of Audience (Town House of Halle, I suppose);
"knelt at the Kaiser's feet publicly on both knees, while his
Kanzler read the submission and entreaty, as agreed upon;" and,
alas, then the Kaiser said nothing at all to him.! Kaiser looked
haughtily, with impenetrable eyes and shelf-lip, over the head of
him; gave him no hand to kiss; and left poor Philip kneeling
there. An awkward position indeed;--which any German Painter that
there were, might make a Picture of, I have sometimes thought.
Picture of some real meaning, more or less,--if for symbolic.
Towers of Babel, medieval mythologies, and extensive smearings of
that kind, he could find leisure!--Philip having knelt a
reasonable time, and finding there was no help for it, rose in the
dread silence (some say, with too sturdy an expression of
countenance); and retired from the affair, having at least done
his part of it.
The next practical thing was now supper, or as we of this age
should call it, dinner. Uncommonly select and high supper:
host the Duke of Alba; where Joachim, Elector Moritz, and another
high Official, the Bishop of Arras, were to welcome poor Philip
after his troubles. How the grand supper went, I do not hear:
possibly a little constrained; the Kaiser's strange silence
sitting on all men's thoughts; not to be spoken of in the present
company. At length the guests rose to go away. Philip's lodging is
with Moritz (who is his son-in-law, as learned readers know):
"You Philip, your lodging is mine; my lodging is yours,--I should
say! Cannot we ride together?"--"Philip is not permitted to go,"
said Imperial Officiality; "Philip is to continue here, and we
fear go to prison."--"Prison?" cried they all: "OHNE EINIGEN
GEFANGNISS (without ANY imprisonment)!"--"As we read the words,
it is 'OHNE EWIGEN GEFANGNISS (without ETERNAL imprisonment),'"
answer the others. And so, according to popular tradition, which
has little or no credibility, though printed in many Books, their
false Secretary had actually modified it.
"No intention of imprisoning his DURCHLAUCHT of Hessen FOREVER;
not forever!" answered they. And Kurfurst Joachim, in astonished
indignation, after some remonstrating and arguing, louder and
louder, which profited nothing, blazed out into a very whirlwind
of rage; drew his sword, it is whispered with a shudder,--drew his
sword, or was for drawing it, upon the Duke of Alba; and would
have done, God knows what, had not friends flung themselves
between, and got the Duke away, or him away. {Pauli, iii. 103.]
Other accounts bear, that it was upon the Bishop of Arras he drew
his sword; which is a somewhat different matter. Perhaps he drew
it on both; or on men and things in general;--for his indignation
knew no bounds. The heavy solid man; yet with a human heart in him
after all, and a Hohenzollern abhorrence of chicanery, capable of
rising to the transcendent pitch! His wars against the Turks, and
his other Hectorships, I will forget; but this, of a face so
extensive kindled all into divine fire for poor Philip's sake,
shall be memorable to me.
Philip got out by and by, though with difficulty; the Kaiser
proving very stiff in the matter; and only yielding to obstinate
pressures, and the force of time and events. Philip got away;
and then how Johann Friedrich of Sachsen, after being led about
for five years, in the Kaiser's train, a condemned man, liable to
be executed any day, did likewise at last get away, with his head
safe and Electorate gone: these are known Historical events, which
we glanced at already, on another score.
For, by and by, the Kaiser found tougher solicitation than this of
Joachim's. The Kaiser, by his high carriage in this and other such
matters, had at length kindled a new War round him; and he then
soon found himself reduced to extremities again; chased to the
Tyrol Mountains, and obliged to comply with many things. New War,
of quite other emphasis and management than the Schmalkaldic one;
managed by Elector Moritz and our poor friend Albert Alcibiades as
principals. A Kaiser chased into the mountains, capable of being
seized by a little spurring;--"Capture him?" said Albert. "I have
no cage big enough for such a bird!" answered Moritz; and the
Kaiser was let run. How he ran then towards Treaty of Passau
(1552), towards Siege of Metz and other sad conclusions,
"Abdication" the finale of them: these also are known phases in
the Reformation History, as hinted at above.
Here at Halle, in the year 1547, the great Kaiser, with
Protestantism manacled at his feet, and many things going
prosperous, was at his culminating point. He published his
INTERIM (1548, What you troublesome Protestants are to do, in the
mean time, while the Council of Trent is sitting, and till it and
I decide for you); and in short, drove and reined-in the Reich
with a high hand and a sharp whip, for the time being. Troublesome
Protestants mostly rejected the Interim; Moritz and Alcibiades,
with France in the rear of them, took to arms in that way; took to
ransoming fat Bishoprics ("Verbum Diaboli Manet," we know
where!);--took to chasing Kaisers into the mountains;--and times
came soon round again. In all these latter broils Kurfurst Joachim
II., deeply interested, as we may fancy, strove to keep quiet; and
to prevail, by weight of influence and wise counsel, rather than
by fighting with his Kaiser.
One sad little anecdote I recollect of Joachim: an Accident, which
happened in those Passau-Interim days, a year or two after that
drawing of the sword on Alba. Kurfurst Joachim unfortunately once
fell through a staircase, in that time; being, as I guess, a heavy
man. It was in the Castle of Grimnitz, one of his many Castles,
a spacious enough old Hunting-seat, the repairs of which had not
been well attended to. The good Herr, weighty of foot, was leading
down his Electress to dinner one day in this Schloss of Grimnitz;
broad stair climbs round a grand Hall, hung with stag-trophies,
groups of weapons, and the like hall-furniture. An unlucky timber
yielded; yawning chasm in the staircase; Joachim and his good
Princess sank by gravitation; Joachim to the floor with little
hurt; his poor Princess (horrible to think of), being next the
wall, came upon the stag-horns and boar-spears down below! [Pauli,
iii. 112.] The poor Lady's hurt was indescribable: she walked lame
all the rest of her clays; and Joachim, I hope (hope, but not with
confidence), [Ib. iii. 194.] loved her all the better for it.
This unfortunate old Schloss of Grimnitz, some thirty miles
northward of Berlin, was--by the Eighth Kurfurst, Joachim
Friedrich, Grandson of this one, with great renown to himself and
to it--converted into an Endowed High School: the famed
Joachimsthal Gymnasium, still famed, though now under
some change of circumstances, and removed to Berlin itself.
[Nicolai, p. 725.]
Joachim's first Wife, from whom descend the following Kurfursts,
was a daughter of that Duke George of Saxony, Luther's celebrated
friend, "If it rained Duke-Georges nine days running."
JOACHIM GETS CO-INFEFTMENT IN PREUSSEN.
This second Wife, she of the accident at Grimnitz, was Hedwig,
King Sigismund of Poland's daughter; which connection, it is
thought, helped Joachim well in getting what they call the
MITBELEHNUNG of Preussen (for it was he that achieved this
point) from King Sigismund.
MITBELEHNUNG (Co-infeftment) in Preussen;--whereby is solemnly
acknowledged the right of Joachim and his Posterity to the
reversion of Preussen, should the Culmbach Line of Duke Albert
happen to fail. It was a thing Joachim long strove for; till at
length his Father-in-law did, some twenty years hence, concede it
him. [Date, Lublin, 19th July, 1568: Pauli, iii. 177-179, 193;
Rentsch, p. 457; Stenzel, i. 341, 342.] Should Albert's Line fail,
then, the other Culmbachers get Preussen; should the Culmbachers
all fail, the Berlin Brandenburgers get it. The Culmbachers are at
this time rather scarce of heirs: poor Alcibiades died childless,
as we know, and Casimir's Line is extinct; Duke Albert himself has
left only one Son, who now succeeds in Preussen; still young, and
not of the best omens. Margraf George the Pious, he left only
George Friedrich; an excellent man, who is now prosperous in the
world, and wedded long since, but has no children. So that,
between Joachim's Line and Preussen there are only two
intermediate heirs;--and it was a thing eminently worth looking
after. Nor has it wanted that. And so Kurfurst Joachim, almost at
the end of his course, has now made sure of it.
JOACHIM MAKES "HERITAGE-BROTHERHOOD" WITH THE DUKE OF LIEGNITZ.
Another feat of like nature Joachim II. had long ago achieved;
which likewise in the long-run proved important in his Family, and
in the History of the world: an "ERBVERBRUDERUNG," so they term
it, with the Duke of Liegnitz,--date 1537. ERBVERBRUDERUNG
("Heritage-brotherhood," meaning Covenant to succeed reciprocally
on Failure of Heirs to either) had in all times been a common
paction among German Princes well affected to each other.
Friedrich II., the then Duke of Liegnitz, we have transiently
seen, was related to the Family; he had been extremely helpful in
bringing his young friend Albert of Preussen's affairs to a good
issue,--whose Niece, withal, he had wedded:--in fact, he was a
close friend of this our Joachim's; and there had long been a
growing connection between the two Houses, by intermarriages and
good offices.
The Dukes of Liegnitz were Sovereign-Princes, come of the old
Piasts of Poland; and had perfect right to enter into this
transaction of an ERBVERBRUDERUNG with whom they liked.
True, they had, above two hundred years before, in the days of
King Johann ICH-DIEN (A.D. 1329), voluntarily constituted
themselves Vassals of the Crown of Bohemia: [Pauli, iii. 22.] but
the right to dispose of their Lands as they pleased had, all
along, been carefully acknowledged, and saved entire. And, so late
as 1521, just sixteen years ago, the Bohemian King Vladislaus
the Last, our good Margraf George's friend, had expressly, in a
Deed still extant, confirmed to them, with all the emphasis and
amplitude that Law-Phraseology could bring to bear upon it, the
right to dispose of said Lands in any manner of way: "by written
testament, or by verbal on their death-bed, they can, as they see
wisest, give away, sell, pawn, dispose of, and exchange
(vergeben, verkaufen, versetzen, verschaffen, verwechseln)
these said lands," to all lengths, and with all manner of
freedom. Which privilege had likewise been confirmed, twice over
(1522, 1524), by Ludwig the next King, Ludwig OHNE-HAUT, who
perished in the bogs of Mohacz, and ended the native Line of
Bohemian-Hungarian Kings. Nay, Ferdinand, King of the Romans, Karl
V.'s Brother, afterwards Kaiser, who absorbed that Bohemian Crown
among the others, had himself, by implication, sanctioned or
admitted the privilege, in 1529, only eight years ago. [Stenzel,
i. 323.] The right to make the ERBVERBRUDERUNG could not seem
doubtful to anybody.
And made accordingly it was: signed, sealed, drawn out on the
proper parchments, 18th October, 1537; to the following clear
effect: "That if Duke Friedrich's Line should die out, all his
Liegnitz countries, Liegnitz, Brieg, Wohlau, should fall to the
Hohenzollern Brandenburgers: and that, if the Line of Hohenzollern
Brandenburg should first fail, then all and singular the Bohemian
Fiefs of Brandenburg (as Crossen, Zullichau and seven others there
enumerated) should fall to the House of Liegnitz." [Stenzel, i.
320.] It seemed a clear Paction, questionable by no mortal.
Double-marriage between the two Houses (eldest Son, on each side,
to suitable Princess on the other) was to follow: and did follow,
after some delays, 17th February, 1545. So that the matter seemed
now complete: secure on all points, and a matter of quiet
satisfaction to both the Houses and to their friends.
But Ferdinand, King of the Romans, King of Bohemia and Hungary,
and coming to be Emperor one day, was not of that sentiment.
Ferdinand had once implicitly recognized the privilege, but
Ferdinand, now when he saw the privilege turned to use, and such a
territory as Liegnitz exposed to the possibility of falling into
inconvenient hands, explicitly took other thoughts: and gradually
determined to prohibit this ERBVERBRUDERUNG. The States of
Bohemia, accordingly, in 1544 (it is not doubtful, by Ferdinand's
suggestion), were moved to make inquiries as to this Heritage-
Fraternity of Liegnitz. [Ib. i. 322.] On which hint King Ferdinand
straightway informed the Duke of Liegnitz that the act was not
justifiable, and must be revoked. The Duke of Liegnitz, grieved to
the heart, had no means of resisting. Ferdinand, King of the
Romans, backed by Kaiser Karl, with the States of Bohemia barking
at his wink, were too strong for poor Duke Friedrich of Liegnitz.
Great corresponding between Berlin, Liegnitz, Prag ensued on this
matter: but the end was a summons to Duke Friedrich,--summons from
King Ferdinand in March, 1546, "To appear in the Imperial Hall
(KAISERHOF) at Breslau," and to submit that Deed of
EBVERBRUDERUNG to the examination of the States there. The States,
already up to the affair, soon finished their examination of it
(8th May, 1546). The deed was annihilated: and Friedrich was
ordered, furthermore, to produce proofs within six months that his
subjects too were absolved of all oaths or the like regarding it,
and that in fact the Transaction was entirely abolished and
reduced to zero. Friedrich complied, had to comply: very much
chagrined, he returned home: and died next year,--it is supposed,
of heartbreak from this business. He had yielded outwardly: but to
force only. In a Codicil appended to his last Will, some months
afterwards (which Will, written years ago, had treated the
ERBVERBRUDERUNG as a Fact settled), he indicates, as with his last
breath, that he considered the thing still valid, though overruled
by the hand of power. Let the reader mark this matter; for it will
assuredly become memorable, one day.
The hand of power, namely, Ferdinand, King of the Romans, had
applied in like manner to Joachim of Brandenburg to surrender his
portion of the Deed, and annihilate on his side too this
ERBVERBRUDERUNG. But Joachim refused steadily, and all his
successors steadily, to give up this Bit of Written Parchment:
kept the same, among their precious documents, against some day
that might come (and I suppose it lies in the Archives of Berlin
even now): silently, or in words, asserting that the Deed of
Heritage-Brothership was good, and that though some hands might
have the power, no hand could have the right to abolish it on
those terms.
How King Ferdinand permitted himself such a procedure? Ferdinand,
says one of his latest apologists in this matter, "considered the
privileges granted by his Predecessors, in respect to rights of
Sovereignty, as fallen extinct on their death." [Stenzel, i. 323.]
Which--if Reality and Fact would but likewise be so kind as
"consider" it so--was no doubt convenient for Ferdinand!
Joachim was not so great with Ferdinand as he had been with
Charles the Imperial Brother. Joachim and Ferdinand had many
debates of this kind, some of them rather stiff. Jagerndorf, for
instance, and the Baireuth-Anspach confiscations, in George
Friedrich's minority. Ferdinand, now Kaiser, had snatched
Jagerndorf from poor young George Friedrich, son of excellent
Margraf George whom we knew: "Part of the spoils of Albert
Alcibiades," thought Ferdinand, "and a good windfall,"--though
young George Friedrich had merely been the Ward of Cousin
Alcibiades, and totally without concern in those political
explosions. "Excellent windfall," thought Ferdinand: and held his
grip. But Joachim, in his weighty steady way, intervened:
Joachim, emphatic in the Diets and elsewhere, made Ferdinand quit
grip, and produce Jagerndorf again. Jagerndorf and the rest had
all to be restored: and, except some filchings in the Jagerndorf
Appendages (Ratibor and Oppeln, "restored" only in semblance, and
at length juggled away altogether), [Rentsch, pp. 129, 130.]
everything came to its right owner again. Nor would Joachim rest
till Alcibiades's Territories too were all punctually given back,
to this same George Friedrich: to whom, by law and justice, they
belonged, In these points Joachim prevailed against a strong-
handed Kaiser, apt to "consider one's rights fallen extinct" now
and then. In this of Liegnitz all he could do was to keep the
Deed, in steady protest silent or vocal.
But enough now of Joachim Hector, Sixth Kurfurst, and of his
workings and his strugglings. He walked through this world,
treading as softly as might be, yet with a strong weighty step:
rending the jungle steadily asunder; well seeing whither he was
bound. Rather an expensive Herr: built a good deal, completion of
the Schloss at Berlin one example: [Nicolai, p. 82.] and was not
otherwise afraid of outlay, in the Reich's Politics, or in what
seemed needful: If there is a harvest ahead, even a distant one,
it is poor thrift to be stingy of your seed-corn!
Joachim was always a conspicuous Public Man, a busy Politician in
the Reich: stanch to his kindred, and by no means blind to himself
or his own interests. Stanch also, we must grant, and ever active,
though generally in a cautious, weighty, never in a rash swift
way, to the great Cause of Protestantism, and to all good causes.
He was himself a solemnly devout man; deep awe-stricken reverence
dwelling in his view of this Universe. Most serious, though with a
jocose dialect commonly, having a cheerful wit in speaking to men.
Luther's Books he called his SEELENSCHATZ (Soul's-treasure):
Luther and the Bible were his chief reading. Fond of profane
learning too, and of the useful or ornamental Arts; given to
music, and "would himself sing aloud" when he had a melodious
leisure-hour. Excellent old gentleman: he died, rather suddenly,
but with much nobleness, 3d January, 1571; age sixty-six.
Old Rentsch's account of this event is still worth reading:
[Rentsch, p. 458.] Joachim's death-scene has a mild pious beauty
which does not depend on creed.
He had a Brother too, not a little occupied with Politics, and
always on the good side: a wise pious man, whose fame was in all
the churches: "Johann of Custrin," called also "Johann THE WISE,"
who busied himself zealously in Protestant matters, second only in
piety and zeal to his Cousin, Margraf George the Pious; and was
not so held back by official considerations as his Brother the
Elector now and then. Johann of Custrin is a very famous man in
the old Books: Johann was the first that fortified Custrin: built
himself an illustrious Schloss, and "roofed it with copper," in
Custrin (which is a place we shall be well acquainted with by and
by); and lived there, with the Neumark for apanage, a true man's
life;--mostly with a good deal of business, warlike and other, on
his hands; with good Books, good Deeds, and occasionally good Men,
coming to enliven it,--according to the terms then given.