Eberhard the dove of Gemmingen

Eberhard von Gemmingen, the dove († May 25, 1479 in Gemmingen ) was the last common progenitor of tribe B (Hornberg) of the barons of Gemmingen . He appears several times in the entourage of Count Palatine Friedrich I. , was Palatine Vogt in Germersheim and combined extensive possessions in Gemmingen, Stebbach , Ittlingen , Widdern , Sulzfeld , Schwaigern and other places. His commitment to the Palatinate and that of his sons led to a great increase in importance for the family. There was a dispute among his sons about the distribution of his property, as Eberhard and Hans did not want to give their brother Reinhard, who was formerly a clergy, no share. Reinhard died childless, among the descendants of Eberhard and Hans the Hornberg tribe was divided into the Bürg line, which still exists today, and the Michelfeld line, which died out in 1613 .

Life

He was a son of Eberhard the Elder. J. von Gemmingen from his second marriage to Els von Zwingenberg († 1455). The father had probably died early, since in 1426 Eberhard's uncle Gerhard the Elder. J. († 1428) received the Speyer fiefdom in the name of Eberhard. Eberhard married in 1430 and joined the company with the donkey . In 1438 he rejected the proposed mediator in a dispute against Seifrit von Gosheim and declared von Gosheim to be the enemy. In 1439 he received a sixth of the large and small fruit and wine tithes and other property in Sulzfeld from the Speyer bishop Reinhard . In 1440 he supported the Counts of Lupfen in their campaign against Hegau and Cleggau . In 1443 he loaned the Imperial Treasurer Konrad IX. von Weinsberg and Count Kraft von Hohenlohe 2300 guilders. A chest with jewels and gold and silver crockery was deposited with the Deutschmeister on Horneck as a deposit, which should go to Eberhard if it was not fulfilled. In 1446 he took part as a Hohenlohe feudal man at the court of the Count Kraft von Hohenlohe in Öhringen . In 1449 he and his wife handed over some Gülten to Bretzfeld and Scheppach to the Lichtenstern Monastery to furnish his daughters Elisabeth and Margaretha.

In 1451 he was ordered to Weinsberg Castle with armor and servant by Friedrich von der Pfalz . In 1452 Eberhard was one of those knights who supported the adoption of Prince Philip by Count Palatine Friedrich. In 1453, the Count Palatinate arbitrated a dispute that also affected Eberhard because of ownership shares in Bürg . After the marriage of his two sons Eberhard and Hans around 1455/57, he promised that the remaining sons would enter the clergy. In 1460 he took part in the battle of Pfeddersheim with Eberhard and Hans and ten horses on the side of Elector Friedrich . In 1461 he received a Speyrian fiefdom from Bishop Johann . In 1462 he was named as a Palatine captain in Eppingen on the occasion of a feud . In the same year, son Hans captured Duke Ulrich V of Württemberg in the battle of Seckenheim on the Palatinate side . The family's commitment to the Palatinate at that time increased their possessions and influence, as they received more feudal fiefs from the Palatinate and held high offices at the Palatinate court and with other princes. Eberhard's grandson Uriel von Gemmingen (1468–1523), son of Hans, became Archbishop of Mainz and Arch Chancellor of the Reich in 1508.

In 1466 Eberhard and his wife sold three farms in Sulzfeld and an eighth of the tenth in Schwaigern to their son Eberhard. In 1466 he led a trial against the canon Raban von Liebenstein before the court in Rottweil , for which the elector and archbishop Adolf von Mainz asked the city of Rottweil for assistance for Eberhard. The content of the negotiation is no longer known today. In the same and the following year, he carried out various goods transactions, among other things, he acquired the former Sulzfeld fiefdom and converted his part of the castle and goods in Gemmingen into fiefs. In 1467 he acquired a quarter of Hornberg Castle . In 1471 he was with his sons Hans and Reinhard in front of Wachenheim . In the same year he rode to Nuremberg to meet the emperor. However, since he had already left Nuremberg, he followed him to Vienna . He was away for several weeks.

Already during his lifetime he divided his property between his sons Hans and Eberhard to protect their families, so that he only had a third in Gemmingen and half in Ittlingen. This decision ultimately led to financial difficulties, so that as early as 1472 Eberhard's brother-in-law Ludwig von Sickingen had to act as a mediator between father and sons. The division of the father's property remained controversial, however, as the younger son Reinhard had left the clerical status intended for him and was now demanding a share. In 1479, the elector Philipp made an arbitration decision, who decided that Eberhard's property should be divided equally between the sons Hans, Eberhard and Reinhard. The parents should then turn to one of the sons for care. Eberhard von Gemmingen probably died in Gemmingen in 1479, where he was buried. His widow died in 1486 with his son Hans in Germersheim and was buried there. Even after his death, the father's inheritance gave rise to further disputes among the sons.

His nickname of the dove comes from the fact that he was obviously deaf in the last years of his life. Its main purpose is to distinguish it from Eberhard von Gemmingen, who also died in 1479, son of Ravan von Gemmingen, from the Velscher branch . Alternatively, one calls Eberhard the pigeon Eberhard from the Stebbacher line .

family

He was married to Barbara von Neipperg († December 24, 1486), who brought the eighth of the tithe in Schwaigern and possessions in Aries into the marriage. The couple had a total of 23 children, about half of whom died young.

Progeny:

• Eberhard († 1501) ⚭ Elisabeth von Höhenried († 1490), Magdalena von Adelsheim († 1516), progenitor of the Neckarzimmern / Bürg line
• Hans der Kecke (1431–1487) ⚭ Brigida von Neuenstein, progenitor of the Michelfeld line
• Dieter, convent brother in Hirsau
• Walther († 1501), abbot in Selz
• Schweikard († 1510), convent brother in Odenheim
• Peter († 1483), Sexpraebendarius in Wimpfen
• Weiprecht († after 1483), Canon in Wimpfen
• Els, nun in Lichtenstern
• Margaretha, nun in Lichtenstern
• Regisuintha, nun in Lichtenstern
• Reinhard († 1483), was canon in Mainz in 1452, but left the clergy again

See also

• Root list of the barons of Gemmingen

literature

• Johann Gottfried Biedermann : Gender register of the realm Frey immediate knight creates land to Francken praiseworthy place Ottenwald , Untersteinach 1751, Tabula LXXVII.
• Carl Wilhelm Friedrich Ludwig Stocker : Family Chronicle of the Barons of Gemmingen , Heidelberg 1895, pp. 164–168.
• Walter von Hueck: lineage of the family of the barons of Gemmingen . Reprint from the Genealogical Handbook of the Nobility Volume 37 (Freiherrliche Häuser A, Volume VI). CA Starke Verlag, Limburg an der Lahn 1966, p. 157.