LUTHERAN THEOLOGICAL REVIEW - Concordia Lutheran Seminary

THREINEN: FRIEDRICH MICHAEL ZIEGENHAGEN 73
territories in East India under English control, but couldn’t find any Anglican
clergy with the qualifications of the German Lutheran missionaries. 60
While this support from England and Germany helped to strengthen the
mission, the governance of the mission from Denmark continued to be
problematic. It was not until 1714, when a Mission College was named to
give direction to the mission, that the situation in Denmark improved. Under
the auspices of the Mission College, which was responsible directly to the
king, the mission received the status of a Royal Mission and money from the
royal purse became available to help pay the missionaries. 61 The efforts of
Boehm helped establish, strengthen, and maintain the partnership which the
SPCK and Halle had with Copenhagen. To this ongoing role, Ziegenhagen
immediately fell heir as he followed Boehm as German Court Chaplain in
London.
Aside from the co-operative activities which the Court Chaplain
undertook, the Chapel functioned much like the other Lutheran
congregations in London. It appears to have had a regular membership roll,
which included the king and the German members of the royal household.
The king, on his accession to the British throne in 1714, had become the
head of the Church of England and theoretically an Anglican, but he never
learned English. Besides this, he spent a great deal of his time in Germany
where he continued to hold the title of Elector of Hanover and theoretically
remained a Lutheran. Among King George’s household were his two
mistresses, which he had brought with him from Germany. One of them, the
Duchess of Kendal had already been attracted to Boehm’s preaching, and, at
her request, Ziegenhagen arranged for a visit to her from the missionaries
who were on their way to India in January 1725. The other mistress, the
Duchess of Darlington, was a different matter. In April 1725, Ziegenhagen
shared with Francke that the Duchess was very ill and subsequently that she
had died. Ziegenhagen had often offered to visit her, but she had refused.
Instead, she had “found comfort in plays” and had “surrounded herself with
unbelievers”. She claimed to belong to the Anglican Church but did not call
an Anglican preacher to attend to her. Ziegenhagen wrote that she was a bad
example and influenced others in the Court.
When George I died in 1727, he was succeeded by his son who became
George II. The son lived until 1760 when he was succeeded by his grandson
who became George III. With each accession to the throne, Ziegenhagen
received a new call to be Court Chaplain. Although he had a large frame,
according to his first biographer, he constantly referred to his weak
constitution. On that account, he did not accept the responsibility in 1724 of
serving St Mary’s in the Savoy during a pastoral vacancy; preaching twice a
60 Brunner 104-7.
61 Norgaard 70.