Nobility feud against Eger
The feud against Eger was a feud of the Vogtland nobility against the imperial city of Eger (today Cheb ) in the period from 1381/82 to 1396.
Causes of the feud
Large parts of the Vogtland aristocracy have always been economically poor compared to their class. Dividing the inheritance further reduced the income. With the increasing loss of importance of chivalry, the situation of families worsened. Assaults by the landed nobility preceded the feud for a long time. Charles IV punished the von Neuberg family with the destruction of their ancestral castle Neuberg , which was then rebuilt. The raids were u. a. continued by Friedrich von Neuberg .
The imperial city of Eger, on the other hand, experienced an economic boom. Members of noble families were active as Plackerer or robber barons , which in terms of the other feud law was one of their few legitimate means of law enforcement. The city of Eger defended itself with ostracism , which enabled it to pursue its opponents with mercenaries. The landed gentry not only threatened the Eger property, which extended beyond the city area into the Egerland to far offshore villages and even more distant individual farms, but also the trade routes, which became unsafe for merchants and traveling citizens.
In other regions too, cities in the Swabian and Rhenish League of Cities had formed powerful alliances, which enabled them to better assert themselves against the princes, but also to assert themselves against the landed gentry.
Course of the feud
The feud followed the Guttenberg feud of 1380 . Numerous feuding parties on both sides allied themselves to raids against the imperial city. 43 participants who had already participated in the Guttenberg feud are recorded by name in the corresponding books of the city of Eger, the Book of Eight and the Book of Afflictions . Overall, the feud participants came from over 100 aristocratic families in the vicinity. The knights were organized in gangs and there were numerous attacks. The peace in Eger , announced by King Wenceslaus in 1389, initially did not lead to any relaxation on site. Only gradually did the number of robberies decline. The unification of 1412 in Eger contributed to this, when the neighboring territorial lords and their officials, the cities of Eger and Elbogen, today Loket , etc. a. obliged to keep horsemen ready to pursue muggers. Further peace alliances followed, e.g. B. 1422 at Schleiz Castle .
literature
- Karl Alberti : The Neuberg Fortress and its former owners . Asch 1925, pp. 16-18, 24-28.
- Eckard Lullies: The feud of Guttenberg against the bailiffs and the feud against Eger . Kulmbach 1999, ISBN 3925162194 .