Otto von Pack German

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 conspirator, studied at the University of Leipzig

University of Leipzig

The University of Leipzig , located in Leipzig in the Free State of Saxony, Germany, is one of the oldest universities in the world and the second-oldest university in Germany...

, and obtained a responsible position under George, Duke of Saxony

George, Duke of Saxony

George the Bearded, Duke of Saxony , was duke of Saxony from 1500 to 1539.Duke George was a member of the Order of the Golden Fleece.-Early life:...

, which he lost owing to his dishonesty. In 1528 he revealed to Philip, Landgrave of Hesse, the details of a scheme agreed upon in Breslau by the archduke Ferdinand, afterwards the emperor Ferdinand I

Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor

Ferdinand I was Holy Roman Emperor from 1558 and king of Bohemia and Hungary from 1526 until his death. Before his accession, he ruled the Austrian hereditary lands of the Habsburgs in the name of his elder brother, Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor.The key events during his reign were the contest...

, and other influential princes, to conquer Hungary

Hungary

Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...

 for Ferdinand and then to attack the reformers in Germany.

Pack was sent to Hungary to concert joint measures with John Zapolya, the opponent of Ferdinand in that country; but John, Elector of Saxony

John, Elector of Saxony

John of Saxony , known as John the Steadfast or John the Constant, was Elector of Saxony from 1525 until 1532...

, advised that the associates of Ferdinand should be asked to explain their conduct, and Pack's revelations were discovered to be false, the copy of the treaty which he had shown to Philip proving to be a forgery.

For some time Pack lived the life of a fugitive, finally reaching the Netherlands

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

, where he was seized at the request of Duke George. Examined under torture he admitted the forgery, and the government of the Netherlands passed sentence of death, which was carried out on the 8th of February 1537. This affair has given rise to an acute controversy as to whether Philip of Hesse was himself deceived by Pack, or was, his assistant in concocting the scheme.

Further reading

• W. Schomburgk, Die Packschen Handel (Leipzig, 1882);
• H. Schwarz, Landgraf Philipp von Hessen und die Packschen Handel (Leipzig, 1881);
• St Ehses, Geschichte der Packschen Handel (Freiburg, 1881) and Landgraf Philipp von Hessen und Otto von Pack (Freiburg, 1886);
• L. von Ranke, Deutsche Geschichte im Zeitalter der Reformation (Leipzig, 1882).