The Life of Bismarck, Private and Political. George Hesekiel
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subjects of the See fixed in a manner rarely known in Germany at that era. Bismarck’s constant care was devoted to the protection of the peasantry against the frequent outbreaks, usually ending in the plunder or destruction of property; for his clear insight had perceived that the safety of the life and property of the subject was bound up with that of the liege lord’s income—apparently a secret to most rulers of that time.
Thus this six years’ administration of the See by Bismarck became a great blessing to it, and Dietrich Kogelwiet recognized the fact by implicit confidence, although—a very remarkable circumstance, impossible at the present day—he was opposed to Bismarck in his foreign policy.
The politic Emperor Charles IV. had especially seated his Bohemian Chancellor upon the archiepiscopal throne of St. Moritz, with the absolute intention of securing in him an efficient co-operator in his extensive plans. Dietrich Kogelwiet was to aid in the conquest of the Mark of Brandenburg for the great Bohemian empire which Charles IV. sought to erect from Lübeck to the coast of the Adriatic for the house of Lützelburg. Dietrich Kogelwiet had from of old been a chief supporter of these aims, and, as Archbishop of Magdeburg, he succeeded only too well, considering the weakness and poverty of the Bavarian Margrave, in ensnaring him and bringing him into relations which rendered him an unconditional and very abject dependent of the Emperor. At the death of the Archbishop, after a reign of six years, the independence of Brandenburg was lost, and the councillors of the Margrave consisted of imperial servants alien to Brandenburg.
Claus von Bismarck held utterly aloof from this policy of his chief, for his Brandenburg patriotism desired the maintenance of the independence of the Marks. He saw no safety in the division of his native land, and its final subjection to the crown of Bohemia. Despite of these differences, the Archbishop held fast to his “dear uncle”—a designation applied in those days as cousin is now—bequeathed to him the greater part of his wealth, appointed him his executor, and a member of the interregnum provided to exist until the enthronement of his successor in the See.
When Bismarck had acquitted himself of his duties towards the Church of Magdeburg, and had overcome the many obstacles towards a settlement of the inheritance of Dietrich Kogelwiet, he did what he had probably long since designed. He returned to the service of the Margrave of Brandenburg. This step can only be explained by the high patriotism which actuated this excellent man. For himself he had nothing to gain by such a step, and he must have been aware of the sacrifice he was making, for the affairs of the Margrave at that time were in the utmost confusion, and in a ruinous condition. The national income had long been anticipated, money was rare, and the partially justified concurrent government of the imperial councillors seemed to render it impossible to save the autonomy of Brandenburg.
The Emperor Charles, to whom Bismarck’s conduct was sufficiently intelligible, sought with great pains to win him to his party, but in vain. The faithful Alt Mark Junker, in 1368, became administrator of the Margrave’s government in the capacity of Chamberlain, and conducted his patriotic labor with such energy and wisdom, that by the October of that year the imperial councillors placed about the Margrave were dismissed, and their posts entirely filled by Brandenburgers of Bismarck’s party. In this new Council there sat Dietrich von der Schulenburg, Bishop of Brandenburg, the noblest prelate in the land; Count Albert von Lindau, Lord of Ruppin, the chief vassal of the Margrave; Bismarck himself was Chamberlain for the Alt Mark; Marshal Sir Lippold von Bredow for the Middle Mark; and Justice Otto von Moerner represented the New Mark.
Bismarck and his friends now actively promoted the safety of Brandenburg independence by every means in their power during a period of five years. Bismarck was the soul of this patriotic struggle against the policy and rapacity of the mighty Emperor. His wisdom and energy were visible in every department of the State; his immense wealth he freely sacrificed in every direction; and the results were so important that they forced the disconcerted Emperor to a measure which even Bismarck had not been able to foresee as a wholly unexpected proceeding.
The politic Charles, who had never speculated upon an appeal to arms, and who depended on the cunning, of which he was so great a master, before displayed in his counsels, suddenly seized the sword. He perceived that he was unable to outwit Bismarck, and was compelled to emerge from his lair and break up the independence of Brandenburg by force. Bismarck could not oppose his mighty army, and thus by the treaty of Fürstenwald the independence of Brandenburg was lost, on the 13th of August, 1373; the Marks fell into the hands of Bohemia.
After this destruction of his patriotic plans, Claus von Bismarck retired into private life, most probably to Burgstall; but the proximity of the great Emperor, who held his court at Tangermünde, forced him to retreat from the former place. Neither Claus nor his sons ever served the house of Lützelburg. He then retired to his native city of Stendal, and occupied himself with religious duties and the affairs of the Hospital of St. Gertrude, which he had founded at the Uengling Gate of Stendal in 1370. Probably this foundation again embroiled the aged man with the ecclesiastical authorities during his closing years, and he seems to have died in excommunication, like his father. We do not know either the year of the birth or death of this illustrious and patriotic man. He appears first in the records in the year 1328, and we lose sight of him in 1377. He is buried at Burgstall, with the simple inscription, “Nicolaus de Bismarck miles” on the tomb. He bequeathed to his sons a fortune of great amount in those days—consisting of lands, treasures, and ready money.
These sons, Rule, Claus II., and John, with the patriotic spirit of their father, held aloof from the Emperor Charles IV., despite of all the efforts he made to draw the rich and illustrious possessors of Burgstall to the Court at Tangermünde. Claus became a knight, and is thence mentioned in precedence of his elder brother Rule in the records, from the year 1376. Rule died without heirs; the knight Claus alone left any family, and died in 1403. The third brother, John, became an ecclesiastic, and was still living in 1431.
The sons of the knight Claus were respectively named Claus III., and Henning. They inhabited Burgstall in common, but in consequence of a dispute with the Chapter of the Cathedral of St. Nicholas, in Stendal, they were excommunicated; but they do not appear to have suffered much in consequence, as public opinion had long since declared against the abuse of excommunication common with the Churchmen. Claus and Henning were brave but peaceable individuals, who had a most difficult position to maintain during the bloody feuds and endless fighting of that convulsed age. The brethren Bismarck were the first among the nobility of the Alt Mark to take the part of the Burgrave Frederick von Nürnberg, regarding that great prince as the saviour and deliverer of the Marks.
Frederick I. seems also to have had confidence in the Bismarcks, for in 1414 he appointed Henning one of the judges in the great suit of felony against Werner von Holzendorff,[7] who occupied, in the capacity of the Margrave’s captain, the castle Boetzow—now Oranienburg—and had betrayed this castle to Dietrich von Quitzow.[8] Claus on his part served the electoral prince in pecuniary matters, but he died in 1437, and his brother Henning had preceded him to the grave by ten years.
As Henning’s only son Ruloff had died in his youth without issue, the sons of Claus alone succeeded to the property. Their names were Ludolf, Heide (Heidrich), and Henning. They inherited that love for country life and the pleasures of the chase peculiar to the Bismarcks. These brothers improved and increased the condition of the house, which seems to have suffered amidst the strife of the evil days of previous generations. The time of Ludolf’s death is unknown; Heide was living in 1489; Henning died in 1505—his wife was Sabine von Alvensleben.
The male heirs of Ludolf and Henning divided the property of their fathers, but preserved much in common—the residence of Burgstall Castle among the rest.
The four sons of Ludolf were Günther, Ludolf, George, and Pantaleon. They were ennobled, together with their cousins, in 1499, by the Elector Joachim I., but the two elder brothers soon died without male heirs, and the third brother, George, was childless; it does not appear that he was ever married. Pantaleon alone left a son, Henning III., by his wife Ottilien von Bredow, who died before 1528, leaving four sons behind him—Henry, Levin, Frederick, and Laurence. Levin and Laurence soon disappear from the records, and Henry, married to Ilse from the Kattenwinkel, and Frederick, wedded to Anna von Wenckstern, appear as the representatives of the elder stock of Ludolf.