Berthold IV. (Andechs)

Berthold IV with his wife Agnes, at their feet the daughter Mechtild

Berthold IV of Andechs († August 12, 1204 ) was Count of Andechs and Duke of Meranien . He was the eldest son of Count Berthold III. von Andechs and Hedwig von Wittelsbach .

First documented around 1170, he appeared as Count of Andechs in 1172 and as Margrave of Istria around 1175 , ten years later (1185) for the area near Rijeka as Duke of Merania. Another ten years later, around 1195, he is attested as Vogt of Tegernsee .

In 1186 he took King Henry VI's Italian train . part, later in Emperor Barbarossa's army on the Third Crusade . He was a participant in the Battle of Philomelion . After the death of Henry VI. he was on the side of Philip of Swabia in the dispute for the throne .

During his time, the Andechs-Meranien family reached the zenith of their reputation. Their possessions stretched from Franconia to the Adriatic Sea , and Berthold succeeded in procuring both the Hungarian and French crowns for his daughters, even if the French marriage was later annulled because of an unrecognized divorce.

Berthold died in 1204 and was buried in Dießen .

Marriage and offspring

Family picture from the Hedwig Codex, mid-14th century (MS. Ludwig XI 7, in the Getty Museum)

In 1180 he was married to Agnes von Rochlitz from the Wettiner family, the daughter of Dedos des Feisten , Count von Groitzsch and Herr von Rochlitz . She died on March 25, 1195 and was buried in Diessen .

Berthold and Agnes had nine children, four sons and five daughters:

Otto VII. , † May 7, 1234 in Besançon , 1205 Duke of Merania , 1211 Count Palatine of Burgundy , 1228–1230 Margrave of Istria , buried in Langheim Monastery ; ⚭ I June 21, 1208 in Bamberg Beatrix von Staufen, Countess Palatine of Burgundy, † May 7, 1231, daughter of Otto I Count Palatine of Burgundy ( Staufer ); ⚭ II Sophie von Anhalt , † between November 23, 1273 and January 5, 1274, daughter of Prince Heinrich I ( Ascanian )

Heinrich , † July 18, 1228 in Windischgraz , 1205 Margrave of Istria , 1209–1211 ostracized due to his alleged participation in the murder of King Philip of Swabia ; ⚭ before 1207 Sophie von Weichselburg , † February 28, 1256, daughter of Count Albert

Ekbert , † June 6, 1237 in Vienna , 1234 guardian of Duke Otto II , 1192 provost of St. Gangolf in Bamberg , 1202 cathedral provost in Bamberg, 1203–1237 bishop of Bamberg , ostracized from 1209–1212

Berthold , † May 23, 1251, Elect 1205/06 and 1212 Archbishop of Kalocsa , 1218 Patriarch of Aquileia

Daughter , ⚭ April 24th 1190 Toljen from the house of the Nemanjids

Agnes , * probably 1180, † July 29, 1201 in the Château Poissy , also buried there; ⚭ June 1, 1196, divorced 1200, Philip August , 1180 King of France , † July 14, 1223 in Mantes-la-Jolie , buried in the basilica of Saint-Denis ( Capetian )

Gertrud , † murdered September 8, 1213; ⚭ before 1203 Andreas II. King of Hungary , † September 21, 1235 ( Arpaden ) (the parents of St. Elisabeth of Thuringia )

Hedwig the Holy , * 1176/80, † May 14, 1243 as abbess of the Cistercians in Trebnitz , canonized on March 26, 1267, buried in Trebnitz; ⚭ 1188/92 Heinrich I, Duke of Silesia , Cracow and Greater Poland , † March 19, 1238 ( Piast )

Mechtild, † December 1, 1254, before 1214 as a nun in Sankt Theodor in Bamberg , 1215 abbess of Kitzingen

literature

Heinrich Appelt : Berthold IV .. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 2, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1955, ISBN 3-428-00183-4 , p. 151 f. ( Digitized version ).

Web links

Commons : Berthold IV of Merania - Collection of images, videos and audio files

personal data
SURNAME	Berthold IV.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Berthold of Meranien
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Count of Andechs, Duke of Merania and Margrave of Istria
DATE OF BIRTH	12th Century
DATE OF DEATH	August 12, 1204