Friedrich II of Castell

Friedrich II. Count and Lord of Castell (also Friedrich III. , † around 1349 ) was ruler of the county of Castell from 1289 until his death .

The county before Friedrich II.

In competition with the other aristocratic families in the region, the Castell accumulated more and more own property and, in the course of the 12th century, formed a domain in the south and west of the Steigerwald. Around the year 1200, the gentlemen of Castell also assumed the title of Count , soon followed by the formula “ dei gratia ” (Latin: by God's grace). The area that the counts ruled was by no means uniform, but consisted of bailiwicks and whole and half village lords.

Among the direct predecessors of Friedrich there was a dispute over the political orientation of the dominion. The county was divided between the brothers Hermann, who was close to the Würzburg bishops , and Heinrich , who made pacts with the burgraves of Henneberg. While Hermann resided in the Upper Castle in Castell, Heinrich headed the line from the Lower Castle. In 1282, Hermann founded a monastery on the Vogelsburg, which was to become the family's burial place.

Life

The sources are silent about the Count's youth. Friedrich was probably born as the first son of Hermann I zu Castell and his wife Sophie von Wildberg . There is no record of the count's training. Friedrich was mentioned for the first time in 1289, by which time he had already taken control of the county. Soon afterwards he began to expand the fiefs that were given to the county by the Würzburg bishopric .

In addition, he had the fiefs drawn up in a list. Under Count Friedrich, the counts received the inheritance gift office for a short time from the Bishop of Würzburg. He also acquired the escort between Bamberg and Würzburg and was able to accompany the Würzburg bishop on this route. In addition, the city ​​of Schwarzach received its own court. In 1338/1339 he asked Ludwig the Bavarian to rebuild Stettenburg Castle. The Würzburg bishop Otto II von Wolfskeel refused, however, so that the reconstruction was never realized.

In 1340 the county joined the so-called Franconian Landfriedensbund . At the same time, the tradition of taking over an office in one of the larger rulers in the area took hold among the sons of Friedrich. Son Hermann served as district judge in the Free Imperial City of Nuremberg and was replaced by his half-brother Friedrich in 1365. Friedrich II died around 1349.

Marriages and offspring

Due to the name of the son Friedrich III. as half-brother of Hermann III. it can be assumed that Friedrich II zu Castell must have married at least twice. First, the count married Willibirg von Hohenlohe before May 1, 1289. His second wedding took place with Elisabeth von Nortenberg.

• Hermann († around 1365)
• Friedrich (1) († around 1376)
• Friedrich (2) († around 1367)
• Elisabeth († 1319)
• Peter († around 1378)

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. ↑ Meyer, Otto: The Castell House . P. 14.
2. ↑ Engel, Wilhelm: Haus u. Reign of Castell . P. 5.
3. ↑ Worldroots.com: Web Archive, Family Tree ( August 7, 2007 memento in Internet Archive ), accessed April 23, 2015.

predecessor	Office	successor
Hermann I.	Count of Castell 1289–1349	Hermann III. Friedrich III.