ABSTRACT
“Joachim was surnamed ‘Nestor’ as Louis XIII was surnamed ‘the Just,’ namely, for no ostensible reason whatever.” Joachim was the youngest Hohenzollern to accede to the throne; he was fifteen years old at the time of his accession, five years younger than the Great Elector, and fourteen years younger than William II, when they respectively assumed the reins of government. He enforced his will with a strong arm, and compelled both baronage and towns to unconditional obedience. Joachim appointed the bishops at his will and pleasure, and forced those who did not satisfy him to lay down their offices with scant ceremony. The new Protestant doctrine found no bitterer opponent than Joachim; this member of the Royal House of Hohenzollern, destined so often in the future to prove the refuge of Protestantism, hated Luther and his supporters with an almost animal fury.
