Bernhard I. (Werl)

Bernhard I (* around 983 ) was Count von Werl , had county rights on Hellweg and in the Münsterland and was probably Vogt of the Reichsstift Essen . It is unclear whether he is to be regarded as the progenitor of the Counts of Hövel .

family

He was the son of Hermann I and Gerberga of Burgundy . His brothers were Hermann II and Rudolf . His sister Ida / Hitha was the abbess of the Meschede Monastery . He was also the stepbrother of Empress Gisela and Mathilde married to Conrad I of Carinthia . He was also King Henry II's cousin and nephew of King Rudolf III. of Burgundy .

Life

The sources on Bernhard are sparse. It is possibly mentioned in 1003 in connection with the Deutz monastery . This is supported by the fact that the monastery would later remember him as a "vir nobilis". He is attested in 1023 as a count in the area of ​​the western Hellweg and in the eastern Münsterland. He was also probably Vogt of the Reichsstift Essen around 1027. When the king was elected in 1002 after the death of Otto III. like his brothers, he belonged to the supporters of the defeated second husband of their mother Hermann II of Swabia . Therefore, the brothers do not find themselves in the vicinity of Emperor Heinrich II. Instead, Bernhard and his brothers belonged to the anti-imperial forces. In autumn 1018 they fought against Bishop Meinwerk of Paderborn, together with Count Thietmar from Billung , to whom they were possibly also related . At Christmas of the year, the conspirators were pardoned by Heinrich II. In the next year the unrest gave rise to a general uprising in Westphalia and Saxony against the emperor under Duke Bernhard I.

Research questions

Current research questions include the following: It is unclear whether Bernhard, as Albert K. Hömberg assumed, based on the Annalista Saxo , is to be equated with Bernhard von Werl-Hövel. More detailed research must show whether this thesis and that of reaching out to the Paderborn area are correct. Paul Leidinger is rather skeptical in this regard. He questions the assumption that Bernhard was the father of a daughter Ida, whom Count Heinrich von Lauffen married. The same applies to an alleged granddaughter Adelheid , who was married to Count Adolf I. von Berg. Leidinger is of the opinion that this relationship can be traced back to Bernhard II. , A son of Hermann II and ancestor of the Counts of Werl-Arnsberg , one generation later .

literature

• Paul Leidinger : The Counts of Werl and Werl-Arnsberg (approx. 980–1124): Genealogy and aspects of their political history in the Ottonian and Salian times. In: Harm Klueting (Ed.): The Duchy of Westphalia. Volume 1: The Electorate of Cologne Duchy of Westphalia from the beginnings of Cologne rule in southern Westphalia to secularization in 1803. Aschendorff, Münster 2009, ISBN 978-3-402-12827-5 , pp. 119–170, here p. 138.