Mauritius Ferber
Mauritius Ferber (
Bishop of Warmia (Ermland), he prevented most towns in his diocese from converting to Protestantism while the surrounding hitherto Catholic State of the Teutonic Order was transformed into the Duchy of Prussia
and became the first state to adopt Lutheranism.
Life
The Ferber family had immigrated in 1415 from
mayor of Danzig
, of which four served simultaneously. Johann Ferber was (nicknamed iron) mayor from 1479 until his death in 1501, his son Eberhard Ferber (1463–1529) served from 1510 until 1526, and Eberhard's son Konstantin Ferber (1520–1588) from 1555 until his death in 1588, with others of the name Constantin Ferber holding the office later on.
Mauritius Ferber was born in Danzig, in the
Dorpat, of St. Peter in Danzig in 1512 and of Danzig's (St. Mary's Church) in 1514. Back in Siena
, on 3 September 1515 he was promoted to doctor of both laws.
In 1520, Mauritius and his brother Eberhard had to leave Danzig due to political conflicts of Eberhard. He sided with the King of Poland who nominated him in 1523 to the vacant seat of
Prince-Bishop of Warmia. He was elected and started his administration in the fall of 1523 before being consecrated on 6 December. The diocese had suffered both by the administrator of his predecessor and by the Polish–Teutonic War (1519–1521). During peace talks in Cracow in 1525, he managed to defend the except bishopric against demands of both the Polish king and the former Teutonic Grandmaster who became the first Duke of Prussia. Until 1531, Ferber managed to improve the economic situation in his diocese as well as preventing towns from becoming Lutheran, with Elbląg
(Elbing) being the exception to this rule.
Illness and death
Near the end of 1531, Ferber was struck down by a severe illness and sought the help of
cerebral stroke, which left him unable to speak, and Copernicus wrote a prescription which was approved by the king of Poland's physician. When Ferber suffered another stroke in 1537, Copernicus was immediately sent to Heilsberg (Lidzbark Warmiński), in Royal Prussia, but he arrived after Ferber's death there on 1 July.[2][self-published source?
]
As an
will, Copernicus helped to make the funeral arrangements and an inventory of the bishop's belongings.[2]
Shortly before his death, Johannes Dantiscus agreed to become Ferber's coadjutor, and he was eventually his successor.
Ferber is one of the figures on the Prussian Homage painting by Jan Matejko.
References
- ISBN 978-0-19-516173-1, 128 pages, p. 93
- ^ ISBN 978-1-59160-193-7), p. 66online at books.google.com
- Anneliese Triller (1961), "Ferber, Mauritius", Neue Deutsche Biographie (in German), vol. 5, Berlin: Duncker & Humblot, p. 80
- Theodor Hirsch (1877), "Ferber, Mauritius (Familienartikel)", Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (in German), vol. 6, Leipzig: Duncker & Humblot, pp. 626–627 (at Wikisource)
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