Possible Recipients of the Letter from 3 January, 1689
(Clicking on the mindmap enlarges it in a separate window.)
General:
- Same addressee as in “Letters from the Dresden Period”, volume 1, letter no. 116 (because of “DEO DUCE”)
General Indications:
- Latin language
- Line 1f: “nudius tertius annus”
- Line 6: “Do Duce” as motto
- Line 20: ex militari vivendi genere
- Line 25: Rex = Ludwig XIV.
- Line 28: is in military service (Louis XIV.?) but really should leave it
Possibility: Christian II. of Pfalz-Birkenfeld
Reasons for:
- Spener corresponds with him in the Latin language ALSO.
- A close – almost paternal – relationship to addressee
- Localized in Southwest Germany
Reasons against:
- Spener had written to him in January, 1668, already 12 months before (definitive and not deduced!)
- Spener wrote on 29. July, 1687, to the prince who had chosen “Deo duce” as his motto (in German, though, but on the same subject), which fits with “tertius annus”.
- Christian II. has just entered into military service under Louis XIV., while the addressee already is in service (already for a longer period?) and obviously thinks about leaving such service.
Possibility: Johann Karl of Birkenfeld-Gelnhausen
Reasons for:
- Was likewise Spener’s pupil, so that a close relationship similar to that of his brother could exist.
Reasons against:
- Gelnhausen is not in Southwest Germany
- No longer in military service since ca. 1674.
Possibility: Johann Reinhard III. of Hanau-Lichtenberg
Biographical Data:
- Born 31. July, 1665 in Bischofsheim am Hohen Steg (=Rheinbischofsheim)
- 1680 ruled over Hanau-Lichtenberg, but, because he still was underage, Christian II. of Pfalz-Birkenfeld at first ruled for him
- 1686f visited Dresden with his brother during a grand tour
“capital city” is Buchsweiler - 1688 takes over independent rule over Hanau-Lichtenberg after reaching maturity
- He attempts to counter French repression with tax relief for his subjects.
Reasons for:
- Area on the left bank of the Rhine
- Commitment to his subjects
- In “Letters from the Dresden Period”, volume 3, letter no. 116, Spener does not speak about a letter from which he could have known about the motto, but rather writes, “I recollect not having known…” –> personal encounter? Possible during visit to Dresden
Reasons against:
- No military assignment from which he could have withdrawn.
Possibility: Leopold Ludwig of Pfalz-Veldenz-Lützelstein
Biographical Data:
- 1. February, 1625 – 29. September,1694
Reasons for:
- County of Veldenz, which LL wanted to bequeath to his brother Charles XI of Sweden, is awarded in 1695 by Paris to Christian II. of Pfalz-Zweibrücken.
- No previous contact to Spener discernible
- His age speaks against him. Spener hardly ever writes in this way to one who is not a very close acquaintance, and not with a prince.
And so is an identified recipient in the Edition of the Letters of Philipp Jakob Spener designated: →