Christian Ludwig von Kalckstein (1630 – 8 November 1672) was a

Prussian Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an e ...

count Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...

, colonel, and politician who was executed for treason.

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 Henri de La Tour d'Auvergne, vicomte de Turenne (11 September 161127 July 1675), commonly known as Turenne , was a French general and one of only six Marshals to have been promoted Marshal General of France. The most illustrious member of the ...

, but was dismissed as being disorderly.Fay, p. 60 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 (Olecko). In 1659 the duke dismissed Kalckstein after the clerk of Oletzko accused the young noble of embezzlement and maltreatment of his subjects. The Kalckstein family were staunch defenders of the

Prussian estates The Prussian estates (german: Preußischer Landtag, pl, Stany pruskie) were representative bodies of Prussia, first created by the Monastic state of Teutonic Prussia in the 14th century (around the 1370s)Daniel Stone, ''A History of Central Europe ...

and opposed the centralizing absolutism of Frederick William; Prussia had been a fief of the

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and, after 1791, as the Commonwealth of Poland, was a bi- confederal state, sometimes called a federation, of Poland and Lithuania ru ...

until Frederick William achieved sovereignty in the 1660

Treaty of Oliva The Treaty or Peace of Oliva of 23 April (OS)/3 May (NS) 1660Evans (2008), p.55 ( pl, Pokój Oliwski, sv, Freden i Oliva, german: Vertrag von Oliva) was one of the peace treaties ending the Second Northern War (1655-1660).Frost (2000), p.183 ...

. After being dismissed from Oletzko, Kalckstein reentered the Polish army and plotted against Frederick William from the Polish capital,

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

. 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.Fay, p. 64 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''Koch, p. 57 and sentenced to life imprisonment. Upon the arrival of the duke in the Prussian capital,

Königsberg Königsberg (, ) was the historic Prussian city that is now Kaliningrad, Russia. Königsberg was founded in 1255 on the site of the ancient Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teutonic Knights during the Northern Crusades, and was name ...

, the following year, Kalckstein begged for mercy and had his sentence reduced to a fine and exile to his estate.McKay, p. 142 In March 1670 the

Junker Junker ( da, Junker, german: Junker, nl, Jonkheer, en, Yunker, no, Junker, sv, Junker ka, იუნკერი (Iunkeri)) is a noble honorific, derived from Middle High German ''Juncherre'', meaning "young nobleman"Duden; Meaning of Junke ...

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. 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 Michael I ( pl, Michał Korybut Wiśniowiecki, lt, Mykolas I Kaributas Višnioveckis; 31 May 1640 – 10 November 1673) was the ruler of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth as King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 29 September 1669 un ...

of Poland refused to extradite Kalckstein, Frederick William ordered his diplomat in Warsaw, Eusebio von Brandt, to capture Kalckstein. 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". 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 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.McKay, p. 143 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".

In popular culture

von Kalckstein was the prototype for the character of Krzysztof Dowgird in a popular 70's Polish TV action series ''Czarne Chmury'' (Dark Clouds).

Notes

References

* F. L. Carsten, ''The New Cambridge Modern History: volume V: the ascendancy of France 1648-88'', CUP Archive, 1961,
Google Print, p.549
* * * * Margaret Shennan, ''The Rise of Brandenburg-Prussia'', Routledge, 1995,
Google Print, p.34

External links

(German) {{DEFAULTSORT:Kalckstein, Christian Ludwig von 1630 births 1672 deaths 17th-century executions German untitled nobility People executed by Prussia Executed German people People executed for treason People from the Duchy of Prussia Military personnel of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth People executed by decapitation People from Bagrationovsk Executed people from Kalinigrad Oblast

Biography

In popular culture

See also

Notes

References

External links