The Life of Bismarck, Private and Political. George Hesekiel
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so called in the records) as Rulekin (the little Rule); the others were John and Christian.
THE BISMARCKS OF OLD.
The younger brothers soon fell into the background. Claus von Bismarck was an individual of remarkable character, which, based upon the honored name of the family, and the wealth he had inherited, aided him in extending the sphere of his influence far beyond that of his town circle. In testimony of respect to the memory of his father, he was immediately assigned the councillor’s seat, vacant by his father’s death. Claus, acting with great moderation, next distinguished himself in settling the internal differences of the town, and reconciled the Church with the memory of his father by large donations, and by the establishment of a memorial festival. Very early in his career, however, he occupied a singular and duplex political attitude. In the town, with animation and wisdom, he headed the patrician element against the democratic innovations of the lower guilds, and stood at the front of the aristocratic conservative party in Stendal. But in the country he sided more and more with the Margrave, at that time of Bavarian origin, and gradually became one of the leaders of that patriotic Brandenburg association, which sought to reunite the Marks, separated by the death of Waldemar the Great, under one government.
The political activity of Claus von Bismarck in the fourteenth century, offers many points of similarity to that of his descendant Otto von Bismarck in the nineteenth century.
In his contest with the democratic party in Stendal, Claus von Bismarck was not very successful. After a long and obstinate fight, the aristocratic Guild of Tailors was worsted. The members of it, and among them Claus von Bismarck, were driven out and banished. He now returned to the country, where he possessed numerous estates, inherited from his father; but he did not remain quiet. We see him in continued activity on behalf of the Margrave Ludwig, for whom he conducted the most intricate negotiations, and to whom he lent considerable sums of money.
The reward of his political assiduity was proportionate to its importance. On the 15th of June, 1345, the Margrave granted the Castle of Burgstall, one of the strongholds of the country, protecting the southern frontier of the Alt Mark towards Magdeburg, to Claus von Bismarck and his descendants, and their brothers, as a fief. Thus the Bismarcks entered the first rank of the nobility of the Alt Mark, as Castellans.[4]
These Castellan families in the Alt Mark, although they could not claim any right to a higher rank, formed a privileged class of the chivalric nobility, which maintained itself by the possession of castles—then of great importance for the defense of the country. The Castellans under the Luxemburg dynasty, like the members of the Bohemian nobility, were called nobiles, while other classes of the nobility were only denominated “worshipful,” or strenui. They had ingress and precedence at the Diets before the others, were not summoned to those assemblies by proclamation, but by writ, and were immediately under the jurisdiction of the Land Captain, while ordinary knights were subject to the Courts of Justice of the province. Although the Castellans maintained a portion of these rights to very recent times, they were never any thing more than Alt Mark Junkers, whose families possessed some privileges beyond the rest.
Among the Castellans of the fourteenth century were the Von der Schulenburgs, the Von Alvenslebens, the Von Bartenslebens, the Von Jagows, the Von Knesebecks,[5] and the Von Bismarcks of Burgstall.
On the outbreak of the terrible storm which accompanied the appearance of the pretender Waldemar—whose claims have, however, not yet been disproved—Claus von Bismarck prudently withdrew himself, and awaited the conclusion of these troubles at the Castle of Burgstall. It was the only thing he could do, for, in the position of circumstances, he could afford no assistance to the Bavarian Margrave, with whom he was intimately connected, and on the general question he could give no decision, as the person of Waldemar the Great had never been known to him.
About this time, 1350, a reconciliation took place between the banished aristocratic party and the town of Stendal. Some of the members returned thither, but Claus von Bismarck, as may be supposed, remained at Burgstall; but it would appear that from that time forward he stood on friendly terms with his native city.
In the year 1853, he became still more closely connected with the Margrave, in the capacity of Privy Councillor; and in this post, which carried no emolument with it whatever, he exhibited energy of such a wise character that Bismarck’s government, despite of the wretched and sorrowful state of things at the time, bore rich fruits, not only for the Alt Mark, but for miserable Brandenburg in general.
In the year 1361, Claus quitted the service of Brandenburg for that of the Archbishop of Magdeburg, in consequence of his near relative, Dietrich von Portitz, known as Kagelwiet or Kogelwiet—i.e., White Kogel or hood—having ascended the archiepiscopal throne of St. Moritz.[6]
Dietrich von Portitz, whose relationship to Claus is unquestionable, but whose precise affinity is not clear, was a native of Stendal. He had embraced the ecclesiastical profession, and had shown such a genius for government, even as a monk at Lehnin, that the Bishop of Brandenburg, Ludwig von Neiendorff, intrusted him with the administration of his diocese, much to his own advantage. The Emperor, Charles IV., early recognized the importance of this man; created him Bishop of Sarepta and Chancellor of Bohemia, subsequently procured him the Bishopric of Minden, and finally the Archbishopric of Magdeburg. The cognomen of Kagelwiet or Kogelwiet this distinguished person received from a castle of this name in Bohemia, but according to some, from the white hood which he had assumed in orders at Lehnin. A tradition asserts that the Bohemian magnates, envious of the eminence of the Chancellor, accused him of fraud, and referred the Emperor to the iron chest which stood in Dietrich’s private chamber. When Charles IV. had this chest opened by Dietrich, there was only found within it the monk’s frock, the white hood of Brother Dietrich of Lehnin.
As to the relationship between the Archbishop Dietrich Kogelwiet and Claus Bismarck, it must be admitted that it has not been clearly established by the records. But we think we do not err in assuming that Dietrich Kogelwiet was also one of the Bismarcks of Stendal of the same family as Claus von Bismarck. He certainly is called Dietrich von Portitz, but we must not consider this singular in an age when brothers even existed with different surnames; and, on the other hand, an identical name by no means establishes any relationship, or places it beyond doubt.
Common armorial bearings were a much surer index to family affinity between their wearers than identical names. We can not, as before stated, absolutely prove from the records that the Archbishop Dietrich Kogelwiet was a Bismarck: it may be decided by later researches, but there are several reasons for considering this to be the case. There was no family of Portitz at Stendal, to claim the Archbishop, as a scion of their house—an important fact, as the birthplace of Dietrich is ascertained to have been Stendal.
When Dietrich Kogelwiet entered on the government of the Archbishopric of Magdeburg, he immediately summoned his relative, Claus Bismarck, to assist in his administration. Such an invitation might have been the more welcome, in consequence of the hopeless condition of the Margrave’s affairs. It must not be forgotten that Claus was not only a vassal to Brandenburg, but to Magdeburg, and was connected by blood and friendship with many members of the Cathedral community.
Thus Claus von Bismarck, in conjunction with the knight Meinecke von Schierstaedt, became General Commandant of Magdeburg. The duties were so shared between them that Von Schierstaedt fulfilled the office of Minister of War, while Von Bismarck was Minister of the Interior and of Finance. Foreign affairs, and especially those relating to Brandenburg, the Archbishop had reserved for himself—why, we shall presently see. We must not, however, regard the various duties in those days as so clearly defined as in a modern government; the distinctions were less obvious, and thus we see Claus von Bismarck in many a battle-field, fighting bravely beside Schierstaedt. Dietrich Kogelwiet and his two chief servants, in fact, carried on a really model government. In the course of a few years the very considerable debts of the Archbishopric were liquidated, estates pawned or