Friedrich I of Castell

Friedrich I. Count and Lord zu Castell († around 1251 ) was ruler of the County of Castell from 1234/1235 until his death .

The county before Friedrich I.

Under the first count from the Castell family, Rupert I, who was referred to as " comes " (Latin count) in 1205 , the territory was consolidated. The most important element of the then county was the bailiwick of the Münsterschwarzach monastery , which was given to the castellans by the Würzburg bishop as a fief. The counts also owned several estates and village lords that stretched from the Main to the Steigerwald .

The direct predecessor of Count Friedrich I, Rupert II. Zu Castell, had to take care of the re-granting of the leaning bailiwicks and failed in the face of the increasingly powerful duchy of Würzburg. In 1230, the county therefore lost some of its most important dominions, including the Münsterschwarzacher Vogtei. In addition, the customs castle Hallburg was only given as a fiefdom to the counts.

Life

Very little is known about the life of Count Friedrich I. zu Castell. He was the son of Count Rupert II , but his mother is not mentioned in the sources. The year of the Count's birth is also in the dark, and the sources are silent about the education of young Friedrich. It was first mentioned in 1234/1235. At that time he had already succeeded the Count.

The wedding with Bertha von Henneberg provides information about the Count's politics. Through this connection a military alliance was forged with the burgraves of Würzburg , through which the county wanted to defend itself against the increasingly powerful bishop of Würzburg. This alliance failed when Friedrich's father-in-law, the last Burgrave of Würzburg, was ousted from office by the bishop. Count Friedrich I. zu Castell died around 1251.

Marriage and offspring

Friedrich I married Bertha von Henneberg , the daughter of the last burgrave of Würzburg. This marriage was the starting point for the conflicts between the counts and the bishops that would seize the county in the following generation. Several children emerged from the connection, but only the heirs to the throne Heinrich and Hermann have survived in detail.

• Friedrich († after May 8, 1255)
• Heinrich († around 1307)
• Hermann († around 1289)
• Hedwig († around 1291)

literature

• Wilhelm Engel: House u. Reign of Castell in Franconian history . In: Society for Franconian History (ed.): Castell. Contributions to the culture and history of home and dominion. New Year's Sheets XXIV . Würzburg 1952. pp. 1-19.
• Otto Meyer: The Castell house. State and class rule over the centuries . In: Otto Meyer, Hellmut Kunstmann (ed.): Castell. State rule - castles - status lordship . Castell 1979. pp. 9-53.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ While Meyer (p. 16) assumes the year 1234, Engel (p. 4) mentions the year 1235.
2. ↑ Meyer, Otto: The Castell House . P. 16.
3. ↑ Meyer, Otto: The Castell House . P. 18.
4. ↑ Worldroots.com: Web Archive, Family Tree ( August 7, 2007 memento in Internet Archive ), accessed April 23, 2015.

predecessor	Office	successor
Rupert II	Count of Castell 1234–1251	Heinrich II. Hermann I.