Adolf VIII (Holstein)

Seal of Adolf VIII from around 1447

Adolf VIII von Holstein (* ( 1401 ); † December 4, 1459 on the Siegesburg ; in Itzehoe ) from the family of the Counts of Schauenburg and Holstein was Count of Holstein and Stormarn from 1421 to 1459 and from 1440 as Adolf I Duke of Schleswig . As a member of the Schauenburger family: Adolf XI.

Life

Adolf VIII. - son of Gerhard VI. von Holstein - succeeded his older brother Heinrich IV von Holstein in 1427 in the rule of Holstein and Stormarn and as pretender of Schleswig. He inherited in 1421 from his uncle Count Heinrich III. Holstein-Rendsburg. Allied with the Hanseatic League, he successfully continued the fight against Denmark for Schleswig in the Sundzollkrieg and on July 15, 1435, in the Peace of Vordingborg, secured the possession of the parts of the Duchy of Schleswig in his hand for life under Danish suzerainty. In 1440 he received the Duchy of Schleswig as a hereditary fiefdom, after which he called himself Adolf I as Duke of Schleswig . In 1448 he knocked out the Danish crown, but caused the Danish imperial councils to elect Count Christian von Oldenburg and Delmenhorst - son of his sister Heilwig von Holstein - as King Christian I.

Adolf was married to Mechthild von Anhalt († after 1430), daughter of Prince Otto III. from Anhalt-Bernburg; and (1433) with Margarete von Mansfeld († January 21, 1496 in Eisleben), daughter of Count Albrecht II (IV) von Mansfeld (1376-1416) and Elisabeth von Anhalt-Zerbst (1385-1413). He left no children.

He was the last count of the Schauenburg family in Holstein (see also twin fall of Gottorf ), apart from the Pinneberg line of the house that existed until 1640 . However, this line was illegally excluded from the succession in Holstein, and so his cognatic nephew King Christian I was offered the counties of Holstein and Stormarn as the legitimate heir of the Duchy of Schleswig in 1460. With Christian I, the Treaty of Ripen , his hand-held celebrations and electoral surrender with the representatives of the estates came about, which established joint rule over the states of Schleswig and Holstein and Stormarn for four hundred years.

In 1948 the Herzog-Alf-Weg in Hamburg-Schnelsen was named after him.

seal

It shows the combined coats of arms of Schleswig (two lions) and Holstein (shield with jagged border). Inscription: SIGILLUM * ADOLPHI * DUCIS * SLEVICENSIS * HOLTSACIE * COMITIS (seal of Adolf's Duke of Schleswig, Count of Holstein)

literature

Karl Jansen: Adolf VIII. In: General German Biography (ADB). Volume 1, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1875, p. 110 f.
Heinz Maybaum: Adolf VIII .. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 1, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1953, ISBN 3-428-00182-6 , p. 79 ( digitized version ).
Carsten Porskrog Rasmussen, Elke Imberger, Dieter Lohmeier , Ingwer Momsen (ed.): The princes of the country. Dukes and Counts of Schleswig, Holstein and Lauenburg. Wachholtz, Neumünster 2008, ISBN 978-3-529-02606-5 .

Endnotes

^ Christian Degn: Schleswig-Holstein. A national history . Wachholtz, Neumünster 1994. ISBN 3-529-05215-9 . P. 80.
↑ Rita Bake : A Memory of the City. Streets, squares, bridges named after women and men , Volume 3, as of December 2017, p. 689 ( PDF file )

predecessor	Office	successor
Henry III.	Count of Holstein-Rendsburg 1421–1459	Christian I.
Henry IV.	Duke of Schleswig 1427-1459	Christian I.

personal data
SURNAME	Adolf VIII
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Adolf VIII of Holstein; Adolf I of Schleswig
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Count of Holstein
DATE OF BIRTH	1401
PLACE OF BIRTH	Itzehoe
DATE OF DEATH	December 4, 1459
Place of death	Itzehoe

[1] Christian Degn: Schleswig-Holstein. A national history . Wachholtz, Neumünster 1994. ISBN 3-529-05215-9 . P. 80.

[2] Rita Bake : A Memory of the City. Streets, squares, bridges named after women and men , Volume 3, as of December 2017, p. 689 ( PDF file )