Yamsky, Erasmus

Erasmus of Jamaica was born on Slovenian soil, under the rule of the Holy Roman Empire of the German nation (I German Reich). He was the son of the imperial governor of the port city of Trieste - Nikolai Jamsky (Nikolaj Jamski, Nikolaus von Lueger). Knights of Yamskoye for a long time were vassals of the counts of Goritsky , and then - vassals of the bishops of Aquileia . The question of the Slovenian or German origin of Yamsky on the male side remains open.

Since 1274, Yamsky owned the Predyamsky castle known since the 12th century ^[1] , from which their last name came. The Germanic forms of this surname are: Luegg, Lueg, Luegg, Lueg, Lueger, Luger, Lücher. It should be emphasized that this is not about different surnames, but about different forms. For they are all “tied” to the name of the castle, which for Slovenes is PredJAMSKI grad, and for Germans is Höhlenburg LUEG ... The Slovenian name of the castle, as it were, does not need a Russian translation: it seems that “Predyamsky” is standing in front of the pit. In fact, the Slovenian word “Jama” has several meanings and semantic connotations. And in this case, "Jama" is a cave. The medieval castle is skillfully built into the rock, which served as the basic element of the supporting structure. The castle covers the entrance to the giant cave. And its name is unequivocally translated into Russian as the Pre-Cave ^[2] .

Baron Erasmus of Yamsky ^[3] from childhood was distinguished by his indomitable disposition. According to Slovenian legend, in 1482, Erasmus of Yamsky killed in a duel the imperial marshal Heinrich von Pappenheim because he brutally offended the memory of his friend Andreas Baumkircher ^[4] . Pappenheim was related to the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire (I Reich) and the Austrian Archduke Frederick III of Habsburg . In this connection, a war broke out between the emperor and the baron. The impregnable Predyamsky castle became the main (and, one might say, the only) operational base of the rebel Baron Yamsky. Which, however, soon found a powerful patron in the person of the Hungarian king Matthias I Hunyadi Corvin , nicknamed compatriots "New Attila " ...

However, there was little use for the Hungarian vassalage: while Corwin was pressing Habsburg, Habsburg was pushing Yamsky. The latter did not lose heart, boldly snarled, attacked the imperial garrisons, flew into the trade caravans that were traveling to Vienna from Italy , Istria and Dalmatia ...

- the Slovenes spoke about him. Translated by Mikhail Devletkamov:

The emperor ordered the new governor of Trieste, Baron Gashpar Ravbar (Rauber) ^[5] to take Predyamsky castle in ticks. The siege lasted almost a year. Neither the guns nor the catapults did much damage to the knight’s stronghold. The Imperials were numb from the cold - and gasped with anger and helplessness when the “baron of the robbers” offered them baked meat of a freshly slaughtered ox and fresh cherries delivered to him through an underground passage from friendly Vipava ... However, in 1484 Ravbar managed to bribe one from erasmus servants. The traitor (the legend did not keep his name) in the dead of night lit a lantern in the toilet where Erasmus was at that moment. Stone cores flew "for a light" - and the baron parted with life. Slovenian legend insists that Yamsky did not die from the cannonball, but from the wall that collapsed on him.

Citizens buried Erasmus of Yamskogo (Luegg) in the town square, next to the small Gothic church of St. Mary of the Seven Sorrows, under the canopy of a huge linden ^[6] . The church was consecrated by the Italian cardinal Francesco Nanni Todescini-Piccolomini (1439-1503), who later went down in history as Pope Pius III ^[7] . Both the church and the Erasmus linden survived to this day ...

Then, in 1484, Friedrich, having celebrated the victory, granted the trophy castle to the noble family of Oberburg (Oberburg, Oberrug).

Erasmus’s sister, Barbara von Lueg (Yamskaya) married Baron Leonard von Herberstein. Their son Sigismund (Gigue) became an outstanding diplomat of the First Reich.