Choroba i ceremoniał pogrzebowy księcia szczecińskiego Jana Fryderyka

Choroba i ceremoniał pogrzebowy księcia szczecińskiego Jana Fryderyka

Desease and funeral ceremony of John Frederick, duke of Pomerania.

Monika Ogiewa

John Frederick, duke of Pomerania came from a House of Griffins. He reigned in Pomerania in the 1569-1600. At the end of his reign a problem with inheritance of the throne appeared, because the prince has not had own children and as a result his brother became his successor. In article a state of health, death reasons and funeral ceremony of John Frederick are analysed.
The historical research shows that the prince cared of one's health. This is best proven by the fact, that John Frederick was employing well-educated doctors and he paid for theirs studies. Furthermore, the prince opened his own pharmacy in the Ducal Castle in Szczecin.
In spite of this, the prince was often ill. Perhaps genetic defects were involved in lack of duke's children, because marriages between the House of Griffins and the House of Hohenzollern were contracted very often. Another cause could be connected with bad eating habits. The dukes of Pomerania ate a lot of white bread, fat meat and they abused alcohol. The second reason seems to be highly probable, because John Frederick has visited thermal springs, where he was treated from diseases of the digestive system.
The duke died during a trip to Wolgast. Nowadays, it is not known, what was a direct reason of his death. There is no information about appearance of corpses in funeral documents. However, it contains a description of funeral ceremony at the court of the dukes of Szczecin.
During the analysis of sources, reason of duke's death was not discovered. An answer to the question about a cause of duke's death will be probably possible after performing a specialist medical researches. The issue of the duke's funeral seems to be completly different – all information needed to describe the ceremony is provided by historical sources.

Prace analityczne

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