Engelbert III. (Goat grove)

Engelbert III. von Ziegenhain († 1401 ) was count of Ziegenhain and Nidda from 1394 to 1401 .

origin

Engelbert was the eldest son of Count Gottfried VIII († 1394) of Ziegenhain and Nidda and his wife Agnes of Braunschweig († 1416), sister of Duke Otto I of Braunschweig-Göttingen . His date of birth is unknown.

After the death of his father, he followed him as the ruling Count of Ziegenhain and Nidda. Not much significant is known from his reign, apart from the (nominal) entry of the Lißberg castle and rule after the death of Friedrich von Lißberg as a settled fiefdom in 1396. Johann von Rodenstein , the brother-in-law of the last Lißberger, ignored Engelbert, whose assertiveness apparently was small, took possession of the castle and the manor and was now called Johann von Rodenstein and Lißberg. It was not until 1415 that Engelbert's brothers and successors Johann II and Gottfried IX took over. the castle forcibly and three years later sold half to the Landgrave Ludwig von Hessen .

The County of Ziegenhain was like a bolt between the two parts of the Landgraviate of Hesse , Lower Hesse and Upper Hesse , and that did not always and necessarily promote good neighborly relations. Engelbert found himself in a violent feud with Landgrave Hermann II in 1399. On October 1, 1399 Engelbert announced that he had made peace with the Landgrave; However, he and his brothers Gottfried, Johann, Otto and Philipp, as well as Simon von Wallenstein and Konrad von Urff did not want to forego their claims and rights, and therefore two friends of each side should carry out a binding arbitration. The people on both sides captured during the feud are to be released and swear to primal feud .

In order to defend himself against the tight grip on the part of the Landgraviate, Engelbert, like his father and grandfather, leaned close to Kurmainz . Testimony of this connection are u. a. two documents issued in July 1400 in Fritzlar , Mainz , in which Archbishop Johann II of Mainz declares that in the event of a feud with Landgrave Hermann II , Engelbert will open all his castles to the Archbishop and make the land and people available, and that the Archbishop The Count would pay 600 Rhenish guilders within ten weeks of the outbreak of the feud and a further 600 guilders in the following six months.

Succession

Engelbert died, childless, in 1401 (after July 18). He was followed as the ruling Count of Ziegenhain and Nidda by his brother Johann II, who was his younger brother Gottfried IX. participated in the reign. A fourth brother, Otto (1380–1430), was Archbishop of Trier from 1419 until his death .

Notes and individual references

1. ^ Treaty of peace between Landgrave Hermann von Hessen and the Counts of Ziegenhain, Regesta of the Counts of Ziegenhain No. 1396. Regesta of the Counts of Ziegenhain. In: Landesgeschichtliches Informationssystem Hessen (LAGIS).
2. ^ Alliance between Archbishop Johann von Mainz and Count Engelbert III. against Landgrave Hermann II of Hesse, regests of the Counts of Ziegenhain No. 1228. Regests of the Counts of Ziegenhain. In: Landesgeschichtliches Informationssystem Hessen (LAGIS).
3. ^ Alliance between Archbishop Johann von Mainz and Count Engelbert III. against Landgrave Hermann II of Hesse, regests of the Counts of Ziegenhain No. 140. Regests of the Counts of Ziegenhain. In: Landesgeschichtliches Informationssystem Hessen (LAGIS).
4. ↑ According to Landau, Johann and Gottfried inherited their brother's inheritance in Ziegenhain and Nidda as early as 1401.

literature

• Martin Röhling: The story of the counts of Nidda and the counts of Ziegenhain. (Niddaer Geschichtsblätter booklet 9) Niddaer Heimatmuseum eV, Nidda, 2005, ISBN 3-9803915-9-0 .
• Gerhard Köbler : Historical lexicon of the German countries. The German territories from the Middle Ages to the present. 7th, completely revised edition. CH Beck, Munich 2007, ISBN 978-3-406-54986-1 .