Burgraviate of Passau

The Burgrave's Passau was from 1078 to 1099 one of the Bishopric of Passau separated, short-lived county in the Holy Roman Empire . After the death of the only count, their rights passed back to the Passau bishop.

history

The title of Count of Passau or Burgrave of Passau does not indicate a grown or inherited position, but rather a new county that emerged as a result of the investiture dispute between Pope Gregory VII and King Heinrich IV . It is unknown whether this extended beyond the city of Passau into the area of immunity of the bishop's church.

In 1078, King Heinrich IV and his army came from Italy across the Alps to Bavaria. His goal was to defeat his opponents loyal to the Pope in Eastern Bavaria . These were led by the Counts of Formbach and the Passau Bishop Altmann . After the siege and conquest of three Formbach castles and the subsequent capture of the city of Passau, the counts and the Passau bishop fled to Hungary .

The changes to the county rights in the Danube region probably go back to these events. The Formbachers lost numerous possessions and county rights such as in Künziggau or Rottachgau , which they demonstrably held until 1077. After that, however, Ulrich von Passau usually appears in it . King Heinrich IV probably installed him in his new role as Burgrave of Passau in order to finally eliminate the resistance. With the creation of the new burgraviate, the Passau bishopric went to Otto III in 1078 . Secular power over the city of Passau conferred on Bishop Christian von Passau was lost. Heinrich IV now removed these rights of rule and gave them to Ulrich Rapoton . Furthermore, the king re-awarded the former Formbach fiefs and other goods. However, it is no longer possible to determine exactly which goods these were.

It was not until 1085 that Heinrich IV, who had received the imperial crown a year earlier, appointed Hermann von Eppenstein as Passau's counter-bishop for Bishop Altmann. From this it is concluded that until then Ulrich von Passau represented the royal interests in the city as well as against Altmann and his supporters in the region.

In addition to the county rights to Passau, Ulrich also acquired numerous other sovereign rights in the eastern Bavarian region, including the county rights in Rottachgau, Lungau and Reichersberg . It is not known to what extent these goods were included in the Passau rule. For further equipment Ulrich received from Heinrich IV. Fiskalgut bei Eggenfelden with as basic equipment.

Ulrich von Passau also guarded Bamberg's own monasteries in Osterhofen , Aldersbach , all of the properties of the Bamberg Bishop's Church in Eastern Bavaria and the Upper Palatinate, as well as the property in Ering and around Mattighofen . A letter between Heinrich IV. And the Bamberg bishop reveals that Heinrich had bought the procurement right for these goods. Rather, Ulrich had already interfered in the allocation of the goods of the bishop who was actually loyal to the king, so it is even said that he had usurped the goods . In addition to the Bamberg estates, Ulrich also guarded the Passau estates. Between 1080 and 1090 he can be traced as Vogt of St. Nikola . It cannot be determined whether he was also the governor, but it is suspected.

The burgrave thus created a large property complex north and south of the Danube. Because of his possessions, Ulrich was extremely influential and powerful in the Holy Roman Empire, and even during his lifetime he had the nickname of the wealthy .

Ulrich von Passau died around February 20, 1099 without a male heir, making him the only burgrave of Passau. Emperor Heinrich IV immediately contacted Bishop Rupert von Bamberg in order to talk to him about the reallocation of the repudiated goods and fiefdoms. He feared that the Formbachers and other opponents who were loyal to the Pope could be taken into account when the goods were awarded and that they could thus be strengthened again. Since the imperial counter-bishop Tiemo ruled in Passau , he had just as much influence there on the award of goods to his followers.

The emperor now consciously tried to fragment Ulrich's previous position of power. In April 1099 he met with Margrave Leopold of Austria to negotiate about Ulrich's inheritance. Heinrich gave Tiemo the power of rule over the city, and thus those of the burgraviate. From then on, these rights remained with the Passau bishops until the monastery became mediatized in 1803. Ulrich's bailiffs were also deliberately split up. Emperor Heinrich IV also paid attention to weaker classes such as the noble free von Kamm , but also not so strong followers of his crown as the Sulzbacher .

consequences

The Passau burgraviate disintegrated just as quickly as it had once emerged. The heyday of the Diepoldinger Rapotonen in Eastern Bavaria ended quickly, as after Ulrich's death, a few months later, his brother Palatine Rapoto V of Bavaria also died. Due to the fragmentation of Ulrich's property, its extent can no longer be determined today.

The interventions of Heinrich IV in the years 1078 and 1099 had a lasting influence on the Bavarian area and its structure of rule. The formerly powerful Formbach counts increasingly lost their position of power until they finally died out in 1158.

The Bamberg and Passau fiefs north of the Danube fell to the Sulzbach family. These experienced their heyday and became the most powerful and influential Bavarian aristocratic family. In 1188, however, this sex also died out.

Numerous Bamberg possessions south of the Danube, such as the bailiwick of the Osterhofen and Asbach monasteries, fell to the noble free Mazili von Kamm. This was once a follower of the Passau burgrave. It is believed that he came to the Passau area with Ulrich. For Mazili and his descendants this was a significant gain in influence, which allowed them to maintain the independence of their class. In 1280 they finally succeeded in being raised to the rank of imperial count as Count von Hals .

These families were later followed by the Counts of Bogen and the Counts of Ortenburg . The latter are a side branch of the Spanheimers . They managed to enter the Lower Bavarian region early on through the marriage of Ulrich's daughter Uta. Thanks to their still extremely extensive possessions, the Spanheimers from Carinthia were able to gain a foothold in Chiemgau, Salzachgau and Rottachgau. In the course of time they, like the Bogener, built on their power. Both sexes became strong competitors for the Diocese of Passau in the 12th and 13th centuries. Only the decline of both in the middle of the 13th century made it possible for the Wittelsbach dukes to penetrate the Lower Bavarian region.

literature

• Richard Loibl : The rulership of the Counts of Vornbach and their successors  ( Historical Atlas of Bavaria, Altbayern Series II, Issue 5 ), Munich 1997, pp. 149–164