Ernst (Baden-Durlach)

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Margrave Ernst von Baden - Pforzheimer part

Margrave Ernst I of Baden-Durlach (* October 7, 1482 in Pforzheim ; † February 6, 1553 in Sulzburg ) had been the ruling Margrave of Baden-Pforzheim (later called Baden-Durlach) from 1533 and had his residence in Pforzheim from 1537. Ernst is the progenitor of the so-called "Ernestine Line" of the House of Baden - the line from which the later Grand Dukes descended. At that time, the emerging Reformation and the frequent Turkish wars preoccupied Germany. During this eventful time, Margrave Ernst tried to occupy a middle position between Protestants and Catholics and did not take part in the Schmalkaldic War .

Life

Ernst was the seventh son of Margrave Christoph I of Baden and Ottilie von Katzenelnbogen .

Was serious at first - like the majority of his brothers - intended for holy orders and was in 1496 digging by the vicar general of the diocese of Speyer consecrated church. But he was unwilling to give up his inheritance and switched from a spiritual to a military career. In 1509 he took part in the campaign of Emperor Maximilian against the Republic of Venice .

His father Christoph intended to have his fifth son, Philipp von Baden , as his sole successor, as he considered him most capable of ruling the country, and Christoph also wanted to avoid a division of the country. When, on June 18, 1511, Christoph asked the regions of Rötteln, Sausenberg and Badenweiler to pay homage to his son Philipp, they refused. Further meetings of the landscapes in Rötteln and in 1512 in Kandern also refused to pay homage, as they did not want to be drawn into the internal quarrels of the House of Baden. Ernst had threatened the landscapes that he would use force if homage was paid to his brother.

Already in 1515 he administered like his two brothers Philipp von Baden and Bernhard III. von Baden from his father Christoph I. von Baden parts of the margraviate of Baden . The country was thus divided into the margraviate of Baden-Baden ("Bernardine Line") and the Margraviate of Baden-Durlach ("Ernestine Line"). It was not until 1771 that it was reunited under Margrave Karl Friedrich von Baden , a descendant of the Ernestine line, after the other lines had died out, through a house contract regulating the succession.

Governor in the Oberland 1515–1527

After his brothers Bernhard and Philipp had declared their consent to the division of the country on July 26, 1515, Ernst was able to take over the government as governor and since January 15, 1516 as guardian of his father over parts of the Baden Oberland and built a castle in Sulzburg , which now served as a residence. In 1517 he issued a state order for his lords.

On July 1, 1518, Philipp and Ernst agreed to lock their father in Hohenbaden Castle because his mental illness had worsened. The emperor approved this measure.

In 1521 he closed the Sulzburg monastery because of the grievances there. In 1522 he granted asylum to the evangelical pastor of Kenzingen , Jakob Otter . After his father Christoph died March 19, 1527, Ernst was able to rule his dominions in his own name.

Margrave Ernst and the Peasants' War

While various uprisings of the Bundschuh movement took place in the area around the Baden Oberland at the beginning of the 16th century , only farmers from some localities in the north of the Badenweiler rule were involved. In particular, the attitude of the regions of Rötteln and Sausenberg in the succession dispute over the Röttel farms had given the Upper Baden farmers a relatively strong position vis-à-vis their rule, which is why they were less oppressed and discontent was not yet boiling over.

In December 1524 the unrest of the farmers in Breisgau increased and reached its first climax with the sacking of the St. Trudpert monastery . Margrave Ernst withdrew to the stronghold and brought it into a state of defense. At the end of April 1525, the committees of the Landscapes of the three Upper Baden rulers in Kandern brought their complaints in sharp form - they did not want to stand apart from the general peasant movement and also adopted the Twelve Articles of the Swabian Peasants. In the first days of May 1525 there was another conference of the committees with the Rötteler Landvogt, Konrad Dietrich von Bolsenheim, at which the offered concessions of the margrave were negotiated. At the same time, connections between the peasantry of the Baden rulership of Badenweiler and those of the Johanniter rulership of Heitersheim were established and the conquest of Heitersheim Castle was planned.

Eventually the farmers plundered the Sanctuaries of Weitenau , Sitzenkirch and Bürgeln and occupied the margrave castles of Rötteln , Sausenburg , Badenweiler and Brombach . The locks were not destroyed, but the archives located there were destroyed.

After Ernst himself had first sought refuge in his stronghold , he went to Freiburg with his family. The family stayed in Freiburg while Ernst went to Strasbourg with a stopover in Breisach. His wife, Ursula von Rosenfeld, was in Freiburg during the occupation by the farmers.

Within a short period of time, the margrave's attitude towards his rebellious peasants changed several times between the intention of violently suppressing the riot and the search for an amicable settlement. Ultimately, the influence of the strong neighbors Basel and Strasbourg was the decisive factor in seeking a balance and treating his farmers more gently than those in the Austrian Breisgau.

Title page of a pamphlet from 1525 with the 12 farmers' articles

As early as the end of May, the situation for the previously victorious peasant groups changed. Under the impression of the victories of Duke Anton von Lorraine's troops and the Swabian Confederation under Georg Truchsess von Waldburg-Zeil in Alsace and Swabia, the farmers on the Upper Rhine began to sway, especially since it became clear in the meantime that the expected support from the Confederation was not coming or limited to small freelancers who operated without the backing of the Swiss Confederation. Efforts by the peasants to join the Swiss Confederation themselves did not change anything, as the anti-Reformation areas in central Switzerland in particular wanted nothing to do with the pro-Reformation-friendly German peasant groups.

Through the mediation of the cities of Basel and Strasbourg , negotiations initially took place in Offenburg and on September 12, 1525 a peace agreement was concluded between the farmers and the margrave. The peasants received minor concessions and were protected from the usual vengeance justice in the neighboring areas, the margrave received compensation.

In April 1526, 14 death sentences were carried out at the place of execution at Rötteln Castle (Kapf). It remains unclear whether the political leaders of the peasantry were punished or whether riots were punished as part of the uprising. The fate of most of the leaders known by name is unknown, and two are known to have escaped with their lives. However, one of these two has forfeited all margravial fiefs, with which his economic livelihood was destroyed.

Margrave of the upper Baden-Durlach rulers 1527–1533

In 1528 Ernst lobbied for the reformed western Austrian country town of Waldshut with the Austrian government - without success. In 1530 King Ferdinand intervened with Ernst about the delivery of cannonballs from the Upper Baden ironworks in Kandern to Duke Ulrich from Württemberg , whereupon Ernst promised to prevent such arms deliveries in the future. At this time, other ore deposits were discovered in Oberbaden. Ernst issued a mountain ordinance and recruited foreign experts. Ernst took part in the Augsburg Reichstag in 1530 and received from the emperor for himself and his brother Philipp the Baden lordship as an imperial fief and a confirmation of the privileges of the House of Baden. His attempt to mediate between the Reformed princes and the emperor failed. In 1532 Ernst and Philipp took part in the emperor's Turkish war .

Joint administration of the inheritance of Philipp von Baden 1533–1535

Unity medal from 1533 with the margraves Bernhard III. von Baden-Baden (front) and Ernst I. von Baden-Durlach (back)

On September 17, 1533, his brother Philipp died without an heir and bequeathed his territory to his brothers Bernhard and Ernst with equal rights. Bernhard and Ernst initially ruled Philip's legacy together, which resulted in many problems and therefore a division was made in which the older (Bernhard) defined the parts and the younger (Ernst) was allowed to choose. To Bernhard's surprise, Ernst chose the larger part, which is more remote from his Oberland, with the cities of Pforzheim and Durlach . There were protracted disputes and several settlements over the details of the division.

Bernhard died in June 1536 and further disputes took place with the guardians of his little sons ( Philibert and Christoph ). In 1537, the Baden landscape also approved a comparison.

Margrave of Baden - Pforzheimer part 1535–1553

In 1535 Ernst moved his residence from rural Sulzburg to Pforzheim, the largest city in the margraviate of Baden . The name Margraviate Baden - Pforzheimer Teil can now be found in documents. It was only after his son Karl II. Moved the residence to Durlach around 1565 that the name Margraviate Baden-Durlach became common.

anecdote

Ernst was regarded by his contemporaries as very economical and had his room above the entrance gates of his residence so that he could always see who was coming and going. Bartholomäus Sastrow reports the following incident in his autobiography:

Once, when the chef was about to steal a beautiful, large carp, the margrave saw it peeking out of the chef's coat as he was leaving the residence. He immediately jumped up, opened the window and called after him. "Do you hear, if you want to steal a carp, take either a smaller fish or a longer coat!" .

Marriages and offspring

Ernst von Baden

The proper marriage - Elisabeth von Brandenburg-Ansbach

In his first marriage, the margrave married Elisabeth von Brandenburg-Ansbach on September 29, 1510 (* March 25, 1494 - May 31, 1518), the daughter of the margrave Friedrich II of Brandenburg-Ansbach . The following children were born from this marriage:

  • Albrecht (* July 1511; † December 12, 1542), participated in the Austrian Turkish War in Hungary in 1541 and died on the way back in Wasserburg am Inn
  • Anna (April 1512; † after 1579), married Count Karl I of Hohenzollern on February 11, 1537 (* 1516; † March 18, 1576)
  • Amalie (February 1513; † 1594), married Count Friedrich II. Von Löwenstein in 1561 (* August 22, 1528; † June 5, 1569)
  • Marie Jakobäa (October 1514; † 1592), married Count Wolfgang II of Barby in February 1577 (December 11, 1531; † March 23, 1615)
  • Marie Cleopha (September 1515 - April 28, 1580), married Count Wilhelm von Sulz in 1548 († around 1566)
  • Elisabeth (20 May 1516; † 9 May 1568), married Count Gabriel von Salamanca-Ortenburg in 1533 († December 1539) and on 30 July 1543 the Count Konrad II von Castell (* 10 July 1519; † July 8, 1577) in second marriage
  • Bernhard (February 1517 - January 20, 1553), Margrave

The morganatic marriage - Ursula von Rosenfeld

The margrave married Ursula von Rosenfeld († February 26, 1538), the daughter of Georg von Rosenfeld , in his second marriage in 1518 . It was a morganatic marriage and the right to inheritance of the son Karl, was controversial during the lifetime of his half-brothers and even after their death Karl could only take over his inheritance because the guardians of his tribal cousins ​​from the Bernardine line did not raise an objection. In 1594/95 this morganatic connection was used by the imperial court as an argument, why the right of inheritance of the children of Margrave Eduard Fortunat and Marie von Eicken , contested by Margrave Ernst Friedrich - a grandson of Ernst - was not accepted.

The following children were born from this marriage:

  • Margarete (* 1519; † 1571), married Count Wolfgang II of Oettingen (* 1511; † 1572) on November 12, 1538
  • Salome († 1559), married Count Wladislaus von Hag (* 1495; † August 31, 1566) in 1540
  • Charles II (* July 24, 1529 - † March 23, 1577), margrave

The morganatic marriage - Anna Bombast von Hohenheim

Tomb for Margravine Anna von Baden-Durlach geb. Bombastine of Hohenheim

The margrave married Anna Bombast von Hohenheim in his third marriage on March 1, 1544 († June 6, 1574). There were no children from this marriage.

See also

literature

Short biographies

To morganatic marriage

To other partial aspects

  • Karl Seith : The Markgräflerland and the Markgräfler in the Peasants' War of 1525. Karlsruhe 1926
  • Heinrich Schreiber : Document book of the city of Freiburg im Breisgau , new series The German Peasants' War - simultaneous documents. Year 1525 January to July , Freiburg im Breisgau 1863, pp. 179–184 ( digitized version )
  • Johann David Köhler : The very rare Fürstl. Badenische Brüderliche Eintrachts-Medaille von A. 1533. In: In the year 1729 weekly published historical coin amusement. First Part, Nuremberg 1729, pp. 361–368 online in the Google book search

Web links

Commons : Margrave Ernst von Baden-Durlach  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

References and comments

  1. s. Seith note 78 p. 130.
  2. s. Since pp. 28/29
  3. s. Sachs p. 106.
  4. see Karl Seith: The Markgräflerland and the Markgräfler in the Peasants' War of 1525. Karlsruhe 1926, p. 92. The events were presented historically correct in a play; see Erhard Richter : The Markgräfler Peasant Uprising of 1524/25. Scenic representation in five acts. In: The Markgräflerland. Volume 2/2015, pp. 5-86
  5. Basler Chroniken 7 (1915), VI. The anonymous chronicle from the time of the Reformation. 1521 - 1526. p. 301 Digital copy from ULB Düsseldorf
  6. ^ Duke Johann von Simmern and Duke Wilhelm IV. Of Bavaria
  7. GCFMohnike (ed.): Bartholomäi Sastrowen - coming, birth and course of his whole life. Volume 1, Greifswald 1823, p. 271 in the Google book search
  8. ^ J. Kindler von Knobloch: Upper Baden gender book. Volume 3, pp. 624-626; knightly servants of the dukes of Teck; Name after Rosenfeld Castle near Sulz / Württemberg.
  9. s. Putter
  10. s. Sachs p. 76.
predecessor Office successor
Christoph I. Margrave of Baden
(together with Bernhard III. And Philip I )
1515–1533
Division into the Baden-Baden and Baden-Durlach lines
Margraviate of Baden Margrave of Baden-Durlach
1533–1553
Charles II