Veit Ludwig von Seckendorff

Who was Veit Ludwig von Seckendorff?

Veit Ludwig von Seckendorf, German statesman and scholar, was a member of a German noble family, which took its name from the village of Seckendorf between Nuremberg and Langenzenn.

The family was divided into eleven distinct lines, widely distributed throughout Prussia, Württemberg and Bavaria. Seckendorf, son of Joachim Ludwig von Seckendorf, was born at Herzogenaurach, near Erlangen.

In 1639, the reigning Swedish duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, Ernest the Pious, made him his protegé. Entering the university of Strassburg in 1642, Seckendorf devoted himself to history and jurisprudence. The means for his higher education came from Swedish officers, former comrades of his father, who had been actively engaged in the Thirty Years' War and who was executed at Salzwedel on February 3, 1642, for his dealings with the Imperialists. After Seckendorf finished his university course, Duke Ernest gave him an appointment as hofjunker in his court at Gotha, where he laid the foundation of his great collection of historical materials and mastered the principal modern languages.

In 1652, Seckendorf was appointed to important judicial positions and sent on weighty embassages. In 1656, he was made judge in the ducal court at Jena, and took the leading part in the numerous beneficent reforms of the duke. In 1664, he resigned office under Duke Ernest, who had just made him chancellor and with whom he continued on excellent terms, and entered the service of Duke Maurice of Zeitz, with the view of lightening his official duties.