Double choice of 1256/57

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In the double election of 1256/57 , the English King Richard of Cornwall and Alfonso X , King of Castile , faced each other for election to the German King .

prehistory

Wilhelm von Holland , who had been the rival king in the Holy Roman Empire since 1248 , was generally recognized as the sole ruler after the death of Staufer Konrad IV . However, he himself died on January 28, 1256 in the battle against the Frisians . Neither his only two-year-old son Florens nor Konrad's only four-year-old son Konradin came into question as possible successors due to their young age.

The Castilian king Alfonso X , who was related to the Hohenstaufen through his mother Beatrix , then laid claim to the throne. Envoys from the city of Pisa proclaimed him the new ruler of the Holy Roman Empire on March 18, followed a little later by envoys from the city of Marseille . Alfons received support from the French King Louis IX. , who in turn promised to gain influence on the old Burgundian and Lorraine region.

This in turn called the English Henry III. on the plan that feared a strengthening of France. In a letter to Pope Alexander IV , he asked for a man loyal to the Church and not hostile to the King of England to be appointed. Since there was no answer from the Pope, Heinrich assumed that he would support Alfonso X (in fact, Alfons came into conflict with the Pope because of his alliance with the Staufer-friendly feudal lord Ezzelino da Romano ). Heinrich now wanted to interfere personally in German affairs and made the decision to have his brother Richard of Cornwall elected as Roman-German king.

negotiations

After Heinrich III. Once this plan had been drawn up, the first negotiations began at the end of June. On November 26, 1256, the Count Palatinate of Rhine Ludwig II committed himself to give Richard his vote. With the voice of the Count Palatine, Richard also secured the support of his brother Duke Heinrich of Bavaria . The Archbishop of Cologne , Konrad von Hochstaden , received compensation payments from Richard 12,000 marks sterling as well as Richard's promise to achieve the reconciliation of the Curia with the Archbishop by May 27, 1257. The latter had been excommunicated from the latter because of an attack in Neuss on Wilhelm of Holland and a papal legate . The Archbishop of Mainz had been imprisoned by the Duke of Braunschweig since 1255, in which he was caught because of territorial-political disputes. He transferred his vote to the Archbishop of Cologne and received 8,000 marks sterling from Richard, of which 5,000 marks sterling were used to buy the Mainz man out of captivity. Richard had secured the votes of the Archbishops of Mainz and Cologne as well as those of the Count Palatine near Rhine.

The choice and the crowning glory

After the negotiations were over, an election day was scheduled for January 13, 1257 in Frankfurt . The first to arrive in the city were the Archbishop of Trier and the Duke of Saxony , both of whom supported the Castilian. They refused the Archbishop of Cologne and the Count Palatinate entry into the city, which is why they set up camp outside the city and invited them to vote. This call was not heeded and the supporters of the English saw the full right to vote, so they elected Richard of Cornwall as the new Roman-German king with the votes of the Archbishop of Cologne, the Archbishop of Mainz and the Count Palatine of the Rhine.

A few days later, the King of Bohemia joined this election, but this caused confusion because he later also voted for Alfonso X, probably to be on the side of the winner. On April 1, 1257, Alfonso X was elected Roman-German King by the Archbishop of Trier, the Duke of Saxony, the Margrave of Brandenburg and the King of Bohemia .

On April 10, 1257 Richard and his entourage set out for Germany , accompanied by his wife Sancha and his two sons Heinrich and Edmund. On May 17, 1257 Richard of Cornwall received the scepter and the imperial crown in Aachen , where he sat on the throne of Charlemagne . His wife was crowned with him and his son Heinrich was knighted a day later , from then on he was called Henricus de Alemannia in England . This coronation, carried out “in the right place” by Konrad von Hochstaden, was an important moment that established the rule for Richard, because his competitor was not crowned and had never entered Germany.

literature

  • Dieter Berg : The Anjou Plantagenets. The English kings in Europe in the Middle Ages 1100-1400. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 2003, ISBN 3-17-014488-X .
  • Young N. Denholm: Richard of Cornwall. Oxford 1947.
  • Franz-Reiner Erkens: The Archbishop of Cologne and the German election. Schmitt, Siegburg 1987, ISBN 3-87710-126-7 .
  • Martin Kaufhold: German Interregnum and European Politics. Conflict resolution and decision-making structures 1230-1280. Hahn, Hannover 2000, ISBN 3-7752-5449-8 .
  • Heinrich Mitteis: The German election: its legal basis up to the golden bull. Knowledge Buchgesellschaft, Darmstadt 1987, ISBN 3-534-05340-0 .
  • Maurice Powicke: The thirteenth Century 1216-1307. (= The Oxford History of England, Vol. 4). Oxford 1962.
  • Ingo Schwab: Richard of Cornwall. In: Lexicon of the Middle Ages . Vol. 7, Col. 809-810.
  • Fritz Trautz : The Kings of England and the Empire, 1272-1377. Winter, Heidelberg 1961.