![Rzeczpospolita Royal Ducal](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2c/Rzeczpospolita_Royal_Ducal.png)
Hieronymus Roth (1606–1678) was a lawyer and
alderman
An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many Jurisdiction, jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council membe ...
of
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 named ...
(Polish: ''Królewiec'', modern day
Kaliningrad
Kaliningrad ( ; rus, Калининград, p=kəlʲɪnʲɪnˈɡrat, links=y), until 1946 known as Königsberg (; rus, Кёнигсберг, Kyonigsberg, ˈkʲɵnʲɪɡzbɛrk; rus, Короле́вец, Korolevets), is the largest city and ...
) who led the city burghers in opposition to Elector
Frederick William.
In the
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 ...
of 1660 the Elector had managed to have himself recognized as sovereign in
Ducal Prussia
The Duchy of Prussia (german: Herzogtum Preußen, pl, Księstwo Pruskie, lt, Prūsijos kunigaikštystė) or Ducal Prussia (german: Herzogliches Preußen, link=no; pl, Prusy Książęce, link=no) was a duchy in the region of Prussia establish ...
and no longer a vassal of the
King of Poland
Poland was ruled at various times either by dukes and princes (10th to 14th centuries) or by kings (11th to 18th centuries). During the latter period, a tradition of free election of monarchs made it a uniquely electable position in Europe (16t ...
. 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 Roth saw this as a step towards tyranny: before, when a conflict between the Estates and the Elector arose, the Estates always had a recourse to a higher authority, the King of Poland, but now this check had been removed.
In 1661 the Prussian council, led by Roth, repudiated the Treaty of Oliva, stating that the transfer of sovereignty from Poland to the Elector was not valid without their consent. Roth then sent a plea to the King of Poland
John II Casimir Vasa
John II Casimir ( pl, Jan II Kazimierz Waza; lt, Jonas Kazimieras Vaza; 22 March 1609 – 16 December 1672) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1648 until his abdication in 1668 as well as titular King of Sweden from 1648 ...
, asking for assistance.
Furthermore, Roth and the burghers objected to Frederick's requirement that henceforth the Prussian Estates could meet only with his approval,
and to the higher taxes the Elector had levied without their consent.
As a result, Königsberg and her council refused to make an oath of allegiance to the Elector,
and sent letters to the Polish king in
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 ...
asking if they could "become Polish subjects once more, as (they) had been in the past".
However, with no help for the burghers immediately forthcoming from the King of Poland,
in October 1662 Frederick William arrived in Königsberg with two thousand soldiers and had Roth arrested,
swearing that Roth would be "interrogated tomorrow, condemned the next and executed on Tuesday or Wednesday".
While Roth was not immediately tried and killed, possibly because he would have been acquitted of any charge the Elector could bring against him,
he was imprisoned in a fortress in
Peitz
Peitz (; Lower Sorbian Picnjo) is a town in the district of Spree-Neiße, in Lower Lusatia, Brandenburg, Germany.
Overview
It is situated 13 km northeast of Cottbus. Surrounded by freshwater lakes, it is well known for its fishing industry. ...
,
Brandenburg
Brandenburg (; nds, Brannenborg; dsb, Bramborska ) is a states of Germany, state in the northeast of Germany bordering the states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony, as well as the country of Poland. With an ar ...
, far away from Ducal Prussia.
Initially, the terms of Roth's imprisonment were relatively benign and the Elector stated that he would free him if Roth would admit to treason. However, Roth refused to ask for pardon and secretly continued agitation against the Elector via clandestine letters sent from his prison cell. When these were discovered, the conditions in the prison were made worse and Frederick swore never to release him. At the end of his life, at the age of seventy, Roth did submit himself to the Elector, remained imprisoned and died two years later.
With the death of
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: ...
Christian Ludwig von Kalckstein Christian Ludwig von Kalckstein (1630 – 8 November 1672) was a Prussian count, colonel, and politician who was executed for treason.
Biography
Kalckstein was the son of Count Albrecht von Kalckstein, a strong critic of Frederick William, El ...
in 1672, who had been kidnapped from Poland by Frederick William's agents and executed in
Memel, and the end of resistance to the Elector in Königsberg in 1674, the opposition of the Prussian Estates to
Hohenzollern
The House of Hohenzollern (, also , german: Haus Hohenzollern, , ro, Casa de Hohenzollern) is a German royal (and from 1871 to 1918, imperial) dynasty whose members were variously princes, electors, kings and emperors of Hohenzollern, Brandenb ...
absolutism in Ducal Prussia came to an end.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Roth, Hieronymus
1606 births
1678 deaths
17th-century Polish lawyers
Jurists from Königsberg
Politicians from Königsberg