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64 LUTHERAN THEOLOGICAL REVIEW XII shambles since both George Louis and Sophia Dorothea lived immoral lives amidst the gaiety of the court parties. Sophia Dorothea was ultimately tried for adultery and found guilty with Count von Platen conducting the case. Meanwhile, Countess von Platen, seeing Sophia Dorothea as a threat to her own future position, had encouraged George Louis to accept her daughter, Frau von Kielmannsegge, as his mistress. Then, when George Louis returned from war in Italy, he had taken another mistress, Melusina von Schulenburg. (Later, when George Louis became King of England, he brought both mistresses along to London.) In 1694 George Louis divorced Sophia Dorothea and had her imprisoned for the rest of her life. Then, in 1698, Elector Ernest August died and George Louis became the new Elector. The new appointments and changes which followed included the removal of the von Platens from the court and a lessening of their influence. 25 No longer directly involved in the Electoral Court of Hanover, the von Platens appear to have retired to Linden near Hanover. The first Count von Platen apparently died some time before Ziegenhagen came on the scene and specified in his will that his heirs were to engage a preacher for the castle. Failure to do so would result in a loss of their inheritance. 26 The succession of a new Count von Platen provided the occasion for Ziegenhagen to be called to Linden. 27 Why would the new Count von Platen chose the Pietist Ziegenhagen to fill this position rather than someone with the orthodox Lutheran orientation dominant in Hanover? The answer is that a churchly Pietism centring in Wernigerode had developed among the nobility of the Hanover region. The Stolberg family, which formed the centre of this awakened circle, promoted a conscious and deeper piety by encouraging their friends to call Pietist clergymen. Particularly favoured were students from Jena who had studied under Buddeus and therefore represented a milder form of Pietism from those whose only theological orientation had been Halle. 28 The Count von Platen likely had personal contact with Count von Stolberg and turned to him for assistance in finding a suitable preacher. 29 Stolberg, in turn, would have contacted Francke. Since Ziegenhagen fit the profile and would shortly be available for service, Francke approached him with the call to serve as 25 Redman, 32. 26 Letter of Ziegenhagen to A. H. Francke, Linden, 26 0ctober 1720. 27 Although Count von Platen provided financial support for Francke’s projects, his contributions always seemed to be tied in with some special favour which the Count asked of Francke. I would not, therefore, agree when Brunner, 57, calls Count von Platen “one of Francke’s few Hanoverian friends”. 28 Rudolf Ruprecht, Der Pietismus des 18. Jahrhunderts in den Hannoverschen Stammlaender (Goettingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1919) 111. 29 From the letters of Ziegenhagen to Francke, it is apparent that the new Count von Platen did not follow the practice of dealing directly with Francke.
THREINEN: FRIEDRICH MICHAEL ZIEGENHAGEN 65 chaplain to the von Platen household. With appropriate Pietist humility, Ziegenhagen responded that he would only accept the assignment if another more capable person was not available. 30 Thus, on completion of his studies in Jena, Ziegenhagen immediately relocated to Hanover. It did not take long for Ziegenhagen to realize that Hanover was a stronghold of orthodox Lutheranism hostile to Pietism. Only fifteen years had passed since laws had been brought into force in Hanover prohibiting conventicles. Although they had been formulated to counteract the excesses of some Pietists who had become separatists, these conventicle laws were used against all Pietists. One law, passed in 1703, had been occasioned by the activities of a violent separatist, Ernst Christoph Hochmann (1670-1721), who had taken a militant stand against the church. Hochmann had been converted in Halle while studying under Francke and only later assumed his extreme position. However, his earlier connection with Halle was used by the orthodox Lutheran pastors in Hanover against Halle Pietism in general. 31 Citing the 1703 Edict, Buddeus in 1723 pleaded that “Halle Pietism should be differentiated from separatism and that unjust accusations against the former should be withdrawn.” 32 Ziegenhagen soon came under attack from the local orthodox Lutheran preachers. They questioned the right of the Count to maintain his own preacher. One of them used his “so-called prayer hours” to present a distorted view of Ziegenhagen and his Pietist position. He did “more harm” in these prayer hours than Ziegenhagen “could correct in many sermons”. It got to the point where Ziegenhagen no longer wanted to attend these sessions because of the aggravation they caused him but he felt if he stayed away this would be interpreted as “neglect of duty”. When he tried to talk to the offending preacher, matters only got worse. Already by the end of his fourth month in Hanover, he had concluded that he probably would not last much longer since he expected the “miserable man” to lay charges against him with the consistory. 33 Some pastors were open to having Ziegenhagen preach for them and many people came to hear him out of curiosity. As he preached, he tried to get the people to have Bibles with them to verify the truth of the message which he preached and he could happily report that the Count von Platen co-operated with this approach, thus setting a good example for his household. But as Ziegenhagen looked around, he observed 30 Letter of Ziegenhagen to A. H. Francke, Jena, 18 July 1718. 31 Ruprecht, 11-14; Gerhard Uhlhorn, Hannoversche Kirchengeschichte (Goettingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1988) 112-13. 32 Ruprecht 22. 33 Letter of Ziegenhagen to A. H. Francke, Linden, 8 January 1719.
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