Eltzer feud
The Eltz feud occurred as a result of efforts by the Archbishop of Trier and Elector Baldwin of Luxembourg , which began in 1331 , to incorporate the Imperial Ministerial Knights of the castles Ehrenburg , Eltz , Schöneck and Waldeck into the Trier official and service law and to subordinate them to a uniform, sovereign administrative structure. The distant imperial government and a weak predecessor of Bishop Baldwin had given the gentlemen - although they were already vassals and fiefs of the bishop - supposedly customarily acquired autonomy and legal claims.
A measure to curb “private” feuds and the law of the thumb , for example the hindrance of traveling merchants and the transport of goods through arbitrary road tolls and extrajudicial seizures, arrest and hostage liability to enforce a claim, were several agreements of the archbishop beginning at the beginning of the 14th century Baldwin to a land peace with larger territorial lords . In 1317 the "Bacharacher Landfriede", 1333 the "Lauterer Landfriede" was sworn. The 1331 “escort contract” concluded between Bishop Balduin and the Counts of Sponheim to protect passing merchants for the Hunsrück-Nahe area obliged the lower regional nobility to behave well following a new regulatory policy.
To enforce his electoral claim to rule, Balduin relied on the construction of the fortresses Rauschenburg and Trutzeltz (also Baldeneltz ), from which he controlled or prevented the knights' connections with one another. Balduin's goal was not the destruction of their existence, but their recognition of his legal and administrative sovereignty. After lengthy military conflicts in 1336/1337 the feud was probably ended and atoned for on its terms . In the documents for this feud, the brothers Heinrich the Elder and the Younger von Ehrenberg , Johann von Eltz , Konrad the Red von Schöneck , Rudolf, Wilhelm, Winand and Johann called Boos von Waldeck and Hertwin von Winningen appear by name . In order to involve the opponents more closely in electoral responsibilities, Mr. von Eltz became hereditary castle count of the electoral castle Trutzeltz and Mr. von Schöneck became hereditary castle count of the also electoral Rauschenburg. An atonement contract was not concluded with Johann von Eltz until the end of 1337. He was probably the instigator and spokesman for the resistance against Bishop Baldwin - which is probably why this dispute is called the "Eltz feud".
The siege of Eltz Castle with arrow rifles was the first demonstrable use of firearms in Germany.
literature
- Julia Eulenstein: Rebellion of the "high-spirited"? The Eltz feud of Baldwin of Trier, 1331–1337. In: Kurtrierisches Jahrbuch. Volume 46, 2006, ISSN 0452-9081 , pp. 79-115.
- Julia Eulenstein: Contested "Land" - The feudal leadership of Baldwin of Trier (1307–1354) along the Moselle. In: Olaf Wagener (ed.): The castles on the Mosel (= Freundeskreis Bleidenberg: files of the international scientific conference. 2). Görres, Koblenz 2007, ISBN 978-3-935690-59-1 , pp. 190-204.
- Dietmar Flach: town charter and sovereignty in Kurtrier under Archbishop Balduin. In: Franz-Josef Heyen (Ed.): Balduin von Luxemburg. Archbishop of Trier - Elector of the Empire. 1285-1345. Festschrift on the occasion of the 700th year of birth (= sources and treatises on the Middle Rhine church history. Volume 53). Verlag der Gesellschaft für Mittelrheinische Kirchengeschichte, Mainz 1985, pp. 317-340. (Digitized version)
- In the same edition: Marlene Nikolay-Panter: Protection of the peace under Baldwin von Trier. Pp. 341-355.
- Johannes Mötsch : The Balduins. Structure, development and content of the document collection of Archbishop Balduin von Trier (= publications of the Rhineland-Palatinate State Archives Administration. Volume 33). Self-published by the Landesarchivverwaltung Rheinland-Pfalz, Koblenz 1980, ISBN 3-922018-00-0 , (also: Bonn, University, dissertation, 1978).