Ulrich von Schwerin
Encyclopedia
Ulrich von Schwerin, also spelled Huldrych von Schwerin or Huldricus Schwerinus ( – ) was Hofmeister
Hofmeister (office)
In medieval Europe, a Hofmeister was a house tutor, also responsible for the care of his students beyond their education....

 in the Duchy of Pomerania
Pomerania
Pomerania is a historical region on the south shore of the Baltic Sea. Divided between Germany and Poland, it stretches roughly from the Recknitz River near Stralsund in the West, via the Oder River delta near Szczecin, to the mouth of the Vistula River near Gdańsk in the East...

-Wolgast and one of the most influential men of his time. He was a member of the noble Schwerin family, who originally came from Mecklenburg
Mecklenburg
Mecklenburg is a historical region in northern Germany comprising the western and larger part of the federal-state Mecklenburg-Vorpommern...

.

Life

He was the son of Joachim von Schwerin (died: before 1521) and his wife Ottilie von Bredow. Joachim and Ulrich were members of the line Putzar
Putzar
Putzar is a municipality in the Vorpommern-Greifswald district, in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany....

 to Altwigshagen
Altwigshagen
Altwigshagen is a municipality in the Vorpommern-Greifswald district, in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany.-References:...

line of the Schwerin family and

Joachim was already in 1534 the Council of Duke Philip I
Philip I, Duke of Pomerania
Philip I of Pomerania was Duke of Pomerania-Wolgast.- Life :Philip was the only surviving son of Duke George, from his first marriage to Amalie of the Palatinate. After his mother died, on 6 January 1525, he received his education at the court of his maternal grandfather in Heidelberg...

 of Pomerania-Wolgast. Later, Ulrich became Philip's Chamberlain
Chamberlain (office)
A chamberlain is an officer in charge of managing a household. In many countries there are ceremonial posts associated with the household of the sovereign....

. When in 1547, Pomerania was expecting Emperor Charles V
Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor
Charles V was ruler of the Holy Roman Empire from 1519 and, as Charles I, of the Spanish Empire from 1516 until his voluntary retirement and abdication in favor of his younger brother Ferdinand I and his son Philip II in 1556.As...

 to retaliate because of Pomerania's participation in the League of Schmalkalden, Ulrich was taksed with directing Pomerania's military affairs. Philip I died in 1560 and was succeeded by his five sons, who were all still a minors at the time. A regency
Regent
A regent, from the Latin regens "one who reigns", is a person selected to act as head of state because the ruler is a minor, not present, or debilitated. Currently there are only two ruling Regencies in the world, sovereign Liechtenstein and the Malaysian constitutive state of Terengganu...

 council of eleven members was appointed by Barnim XI
Barnim XI, Duke of Pomerania
Barnim XI , son of Bogislaw X, Duke of Pomerania, became duke on his father's death in 1523. He ruled for a time in common with his elder brother George I; and after George's death in 1531 he shared the duchy with his nephew Philip I, retaining for himself the duchy of Pomerania-Stettin...

, the Duke of Pomerania-Stettin. Ulrich chaired this regency council. He was also a member of a commmittee to establish Church Order
Church Order (Lutheran)
The Church Order or Church Ordinance means the general ecclesiastical constitution of a State.The early Evangelical Church attached less importance to ecclesiastical ritual than the pre-Reformation Church had done...

 for Pomerania.

Even under Duke John Frederick, Ulrich as Lord High Steward remained concerned largely with the management of Pomerania's internal and external affairs. During the Northern Seven Years' War
Northern Seven Years' War
The Northern Seven Years' War was the war between Kingdom of Sweden and a coalition of Denmark–Norway, Lübeck and the Polish–Lithuanian union, fought between 1563 and 1570...

 from 1563 to 1570, he sought to preserve Pomerania's neutrality and keep his country out of the military conflict.

After the end of the regency of Duke Barnim XI
Barnim XI, Duke of Pomerania
Barnim XI , son of Bogislaw X, Duke of Pomerania, became duke on his father's death in 1523. He ruled for a time in common with his elder brother George I; and after George's death in 1531 he shared the duchy with his nephew Philip I, retaining for himself the duchy of Pomerania-Stettin...

 of Pomerania-Stettin in 1568, Ulrich coordinated the division of Pomerania-Wolgast among Philip I's five sons, as agreed on 3 February 1569 in Jasenitz (now part of Police, Poland
Police, Poland
Police is a town in the West Pomeranian Voivodeship, northwestern Poland. It is the capital of Police County. As of 2006, the town had 34,284 inhabitants. The name comes from Polish pole, which means "field"....

).

Ulrich von Schwerin possessed extensive amounts of real estate and was so prosperous that he was able to grant loans not only to the dukes of Pomerania, but also to the dukes of Mecklenburg. In 1545 he built a castle
Castle
A castle is a type of fortified structure built in Europe and the Middle East during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars debate the scope of the word castle, but usually consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble...

 in Putzar
Putzar
Putzar is a municipality in the Vorpommern-Greifswald district, in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany....

. Between 1558 and 1567, he built Fortress Spantekow. A high relief on the gatehouse of this fortress depicts Ulrich and his wife.

Marriage and issue

With his wife Anna von Arnim (born: before 1530) he had seven sons. His son Ulrich built the Veste Landskron
Veste Landskron
Veste Landskron or Lanzkron is a Renaissance water castle in the municipality Neuendorf B, Vorpommern-Greifswald district, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. Built between 1576 and 1579, it deteriorated in the 17th century...

between 1576 and 1579.

Footnotes

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