Clara Tott

Clara Tott , in other sources also Clara Dett or Clara von Dettingen or Tettingen (around 1440; † around 1520), was the wife of the Palatinate Elector Friedrich I.

Life

Clara Tott, the daughter of the Augsburg council clerk Gerhard Tott, was lady in waiting for Duchess Anna (1420–1474), the wife of Duke Albrecht III. from Bayern-Munich . Here she worked u. a. as a singer and began a love affair with Elector Friedrich I of the Palatinate in 1459. This resulted in 2 sons, both of whom are recognized as legitimate in a large number of documents, but the time of the parental marriage is unclear; some sources mention the year 1462. The marriage did not become public until 1472, when Friedrich, the first-born son, tried to be accepted as a cleric in the cathedral monasteries of Speyer and Worms and therefore had to prove an unequivocal marital parentage. In the same year and already once in 1470, the future Elector Philip the Sincere had released his uncle, Elector Friedrich I, from the promise of celibacy that had previously been made in his favor. For reasons of state, the whole situation was kept as secret as possible.

After the death of her husband in 1479, Clara Tott was even held captive for years by his successor Philipp at Lindenfels Castle, just to keep the actual family situation from being made public. The early historians were mostly unclear and very cautious about the case because they did not want to fall out of favor with the mighty Electoral Palatinate. Later historians adopted these unclear formulations from their predecessors, especially since the subject lost dynastically and historically in importance over the course of time.

It was only the legally qualified historians Johann Ludwig Klüber and August Wilhelm Heffter who carried out sustained research in this regard in the 19th century and wrote very detailed treatises on it, which, based on various sources, clearly document the marital birth of both sons of Frederick I and Clara Tott and, moreover, conclusively prove that Clara Tott must even have been of aristocratic origin.

Clara Tott was musically gifted and played a long-term role in shaping the musical life at the Heidelberger Hof. She supported her husband in setting up the local choir and prompted the appointment of the then famous singer Johannes von Soest as its director.

progeny

Clara Tott and Elector Friedrich had a happy marriage. Her two sons were:

• Friedrich of Bavaria (around 1460 - October 16, 1474); Canon at the cathedral monastery of Speyer since 1472, then also at the cathedral monastery of Worms, died while his father was still alive and - like him - was buried in the Heidelberg Franciscan Church. His epitaph there expressly referred to him as the “legitimate son” of the elector. The tombstone, with a portrait of Frederick in clerical clothing, was still in this church in 1716, but it was badly damaged by the French.

• Ludwig of Bavaria (1463–1523). He was raised to the rank of imperial count on February 24, 1494 by the Roman-German King Maximilian I. His father, Elector Friedrich I, left him the Grafschaft Löwenstein . Ludwig of Bavaria, as he was called, is the founder of the Princely House of Löwenstein-Wertheim . His heirs later acquired the county of Wertheim and were raised to the rank of prince.

Since Elector Friedrich I only ruled on behalf of his nephew and adopted son Philip the Sincere until his death , he waived regular inheritance claims for his two sons with Clara Tott. They should only be entitled to inheritance in the Electoral Palatinate if Elector Philip or his sons died before them. In the event of Philip's family line becoming extinct, the succession of Friedrichs and Clara Totts was planned, who was the closest relative and later became the Löwenstein dynasty.

Post fame

A street in Augsburg is named after Clara Tott .

Web links

• Augsburg City Archives

References

1. ^ Source on imprisonment at Lindenfels Castle
2. ^ Carl von Rotteck: "Das Staats-Lexikon", 1847; on family relationships and descendants of Elector Friedrich the Victorious
3. ^ Johann Ludwig Klüber, "The marital descent of the Princely House of Löwenstein-Wertheim", 1837
4. ^ August Wilhelm Heffter; "Vote by a North German journalist on Klübers' marital descent of the Löwenstein-Wertheim dynasty", 1838
5. ↑ Source on the musical activity of Clara Tott
6. ↑ On the funeral of the elector's son Friedrich von Bayern
7. ^ Source on the possible succession of Elector Friedrich's children from Johann Ludwig Klübers' treatise
8. ^ Source on the possible succession of Elector Friedrich's children from Johann Ludwig Klübers' treatise