Siege of Kaiserswerth (1247)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The siege of Kaiserswerth from 1247 to 1248 by the opposing king Wilhelm of Holland was related to his fight against Friedrich II. Or his son Conrad IV. After a year, the city and imperial palace had to be surrendered by the Hohenstaufen garrison.

root cause

City and Palatinate Kaiserswerth were an important base of the Staufer on the Lower Rhine. King Wilhelm therefore had Kaiserswerth besieged. In addition to its own units, troops from the Archbishop of Mainz and various counts and lords were also involved.

course

The siege began on December 13, 1247. The king himself was present before he had to leave the camp in early February 1248.

The besieged were under the orders of Burgrave Gernand. For months they managed to withstand the siege. In April 1248 King Wilhelm came to the scene again to finally bring about a decision. He ordered the siege to be extended to complete containment. In May 1248 Wilhelm left the camp again to attend the siege of the imperial city of Aachen that was taking place at the same time . In October 1248 the king returned to Kaiserswerth to take over the command of the siege himself. Now the number of troops increased again significantly and the besiegers intensified their attacks.

The attacks of the royal army were repulsed several times by the burgrave's men. But they could not prevent the enemy from conquering more and more outworks. In addition, food became scarce. Therefore, the burgrave began handing over negotiations that ultimately led to the occupation being abandoned. The burgrave was received in honor by Wilhelm and again enfeoffed with the office. He is even said to have given him his niece to wife.

consequences

This broke the power of the Hohenstaufen in the region and began a gradual loss of royal influence on Kaiserswerth, which eventually led to the lease to the elector of Cologne .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Wilhelm (RI V) n. 4894b 1247 dec. 13 apud are regest on RI-Online
  2. ^ Wilhelm (RI V) n. 4951a Regest on RI-Online

literature

  • Fv Kausler: Dictionary of battles, sieges and meetings of all peoples. Vol. 4 Ulm, 1833 pp. 520f.
  • Adolf Ulrich: History of the Roman King Wilhelm of Holland 1247–1256. Hannover, 1882 p. 24, p. 42