Gemmingen-Michelfeld

Gemmingen-Michelfeld was a line of the Barons of Gemmingen , which died out in 1613, within their tribe B (Hornberg). The family line named after its seat in Michelfeld consists of the descendants of Hans dem Kecken von Gemmingen (1431–1487). The most prominent representative is one of Hans' sons, Uriel von Gemmingen (1468–1514), who was Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Mainz and Arch Chancellor for Germany. Some of his brothers and sisters have also achieved high spiritual offices. Hans' son Orendel (1464–1520) has meanwhile continued the family line, acquired full ownership of Michelfeld and was able to acquire further properties. With his great-grandchildren, the family line died out in the fifth generation of the male line in 1613 and was occupied by relatives from the Hornberg tribe.

origin

The family of the Barons von Gemmingen is named after the village of Gemmingen in Kraichgau , an old Alemannic settlement. The family's origins are in the dark. There are individual records from the 9th to 12th centuries, but these do not yet allow any genealogical statements; This will only be possible to some degree reliably after the Staufer period . The different tribes and side lines are traced back to Hans von Gemmingen (ext. 1259) . His son was probably Albrecht von Gemmingen, who appears in documents from 1268 and 1277 as a sealer or witness. In the 14th century, the tribe that originated from him divided into two tribes: The lines Gemmingen-Guttenberg and Gemmingen-Steinegg emerged from tribe A. From the tribe B, also called the older citizen line , the Neckarzimmern-Bürg and Gemmingen-Michelfeld lines branched off in the 15th century under the sons of Eberhard the Tauben († 1479). This younger tribe of the family is called von Gemmingen-Hornberg from 1612 - since the acquisition of Castle Hornberg am Neckar.

history

Victory of Hans des Kecken over Count Ulrich von Württemberg in the Gemmingen family and tournament book, incorrectly dated 1363 (instead of 1462).

Eberhard the Taube and his sons have done a great job in the service of the Electoral Palatinate. His son Hans von Gemmingen (1431–1487), called Hans der Kecke or Keckhans, married Brigida von Neuenstein zu Michelfeld in 1455 . In 1460 he was the Palatine military leader in the dispute between the Count Palatine and the Lords of Leiningen . In the same year his father-in-law sold him a sixth of the village of Michelfeld near Sinsheim . Ten years later he was able to acquire a further third from other owners and shortly before his death an Electoral Palatinate share in the village.

Hans der Kecke served the Heidelberg Count Palatine for life . His capture of the Württemberg Duke Ulrich V in the battle of Seckenheim in 1462 made him famous. After completing his military service, he became the Palatinate Vogt in Germersheim in 1465 . He held this office until his death in 1487. His marriage to Brigida von Neuenstein had 21 children, but only ten of them reached adulthood. Hans von Gemmingen-Michelfeld corresponded to the image of the poor knight who was dependent on the institutions of the church to care for his children: he could only inherit his son Orendel (1464–1520) with goods, all other children had to enter the clergy.

Antiphonals of the Prioress Els (Elisabeth) von Gemmingen

The most successful spiritual career among Hans' sons was Uriel von Gemmingen (1468–1514). He received a benefice in Mainz in 1483 , studied both rights in Paris and Padua, spent a time at the Imperial Court of Justice and at the Mombach office, but then returned to Mainz in 1505 as dean of the cathedral and was elected archbishop there in 1508. His brother Georg von Gemmingen (1458–1511) was pledged to the Speyer and Worms Cathedral , became vicar general in 1487 and provost in Speyer in 1488 , later dean of the cathedral in Worms. His warning letters to the clergy in his district show Georg as a conscientious minister of the church who tries to put an end to widespread grievances. He was friends with the Strasbourg humanist Jakob Wimpfeling , who was cathedral preacher in Speyer from 1484 to 1498. Wimpfeling visited his sick friend shortly before his death on March 15, 1511. After George's death, the cathedral chapter elected his brother Erpho von Gemmingen (1469–1523) as his successor; in October 1511 Erpho is attested in Speyer as provost and archdeacon . Like his brothers Uriel and Georg, he was a doctor of both rights . He was affirmed at the Worms and Speyer Cathedral and was dean of the cathedral in Worms in 1498. As a member of the Bishop of Speyer, he traveled to the Reichstag in Constance in 1507 . The Archbishop of Mainz - his brother Uriel - sent him to Rome in 1508 to request the pallium for him . The siblings who entered the clergy include Hans (* 1459), who was a monk in Herdt Abbey near Germersheim, Barbel (1467–1511), who was a nun in Worms, and Els (1466–1532), who was prioress from 1504 of the Magdalenenkloster Speyer was.

Orendel von Gemmingen (1464–1520) was the only son of Hans' des Kecken who did not belong to the clergy. Like his father, Orendel became Vogt in the Palatinate Oberamt Germersheim after military service for the Electoral Palatinate in 1493. In 1499 the elector appointed him to be his chief financial officer with the title of chamber master of the Electoral Palatinate . Orendel endeavored to come into the sole possession of Michelfeld through purchase and exchange, which he finally achieved through contracts with the Bishop of Speyer, the Count of Oettingen , the Count Palatine in Heidelberg and the cousins ​​in Gemmingen. He also came to property in Ingenheim , Billigheim and other places. His brother Uriel - Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Mainz - appointed him in 1509 to the chief magistrate of the Mainz offices in Miltenberg , Bischofsheim , Külsheim , Buchen and Königshofen . Orendel von Gemmingen's first marriage was to Katharina von Sickingen († 1493), a sister of the famous Franz von Sickingen . She died two years later, a few weeks after the birth of their only son, Weirich. Orendel's second marriage was childless.

Weirich von Gemmingen (1493–1548) married Dorothea von Handschuhsheim in 1519 , who died a few weeks later. She was the daughter of Dieter (VI.) Von Handschuhsheim and his wife Gertraud von Gemmingen-Guttenberg, the sister of Dietrich († 1526), Wolf († 1555) and Philipps († 1544). In his second marriage, Weirich was married to Benedicta von Nippenburg . Weirich was evidently involved in the undertakings of his famous uncle, and Franz von Sickingen is said to have introduced him to the Reformation movement . If you follow the inscription on Weirich's epitaph - today in Hornberg Castle - then he introduced the Reformation in Michelfeld in 1525. The Baptist Endris Wertz, who was expelled from Heilbronn with his family in 1530, lived for many years under his protection in Michelfelder Castle. Weirich understood the beliefs of the Anabaptists. In 1543 he became burgrave of the Starkenburg . In 1544/45 he held the Nuremberg ambassador Hieronymus Baumgartner in custody for over a year in the garden house of Michelfelder Castle.

Weirich left three children. The daughter Katharina († 1583) married Philipp von Gemmingen zu Bonfeld (1518–1571), called Philipp the Wise, who was chairman of the Palatinate court from an early age. The brothers Sebastian (1522–1575) and Leonhard (1536–1583) each married a daughter from the von Bödigheim family. Sebastian, who was married to the paralyzed Juliane von Bödigheim, inherited Ingenheim, but left no children, so that his property fell back to his brother Leonhard, who was married to the ailing Esther von Bödigheim and had inherited Michelfeld. Leonhard, who, together with his brother, had been given the right to erect a stick and a gallows in 1569, was able to acquire other property from the inheritance of Anna von Gemmingen , who died in 1577 , as well as an estate in Stebbach . He died in 1583, leaving behind his daughter Benedikta (1572–1628), who was married to Wolf Konrad Greck von Kochendorf, and their son Weirich (1575–1613), who married Rosine von Neipperg. With Weirich's childless death in 1613, the male line died out. Large parts of their property, including the shares in the Ganerbenschaft Lehrensteinsfeld , half of Ittlingen , the estate in Stebbach, the Gemminger Hof in Heidelberg as well as Ingenheim and part of Michelfeld came to Leonhard's son-in-law Wolf Konrad Greck von Kochendorf. The remaining fiefs threatened to collapse. Through lengthy negotiations, Reinhard the scholar (1576–1635) from the Hornberg tribe of the Gemmingers succeeded in joining the fiefdom in 1614. Kinsmen of the tribe Hornberg practiced the local rule in Michelfeld to the media coverage of the imperial knights in the early 19th century on.

Tribe list

Hans der Kecke (1431–1487) ⚭ Brigida von Neuenstein

1. Georg (1458–1511), Provost of the Cathedral in Speyer
2. Hans (* 1459), monk in Herdt Monastery near Germersheim
3. Ennel (Anna) (1462 – after 1480)
4. Orendel (1464–1520) ⚭ 1491 Katharina von Sickingen
   1. Weirich (1493–1548) ⚭ 1519 Dorothea von Handschuhsheim, Benedicta von Nippenburg
      1. Orendel (* 1521) died as a child
      2. Katharina ⚭ Philip the Wise from Gemmingen to Bonfeld
      3. Sebastian (1522–1575) ⚭ Juliane von Bödigheim
      4. Leonhard (1536–1583) ⚭ Esther von Bödigheim
         1. Benedikta (1572–1628) ⚭ Wolf Konrad Greck von Kochendorf
         2. Weirich (1575–1613) ⚭ Raisin from Neipperg
5. Els (1466–1532), nun, prioress of the Magdalenenkloster Speyer from 1504 until death
6. Barbel (1467–1511), nun in Worms
7. Uriel (1468–1514), Archbishop and Elector of Mainz
8. Erpho (1469–1523), provost in Speyer

See also : Stammliste der Freiherren von Gemmingen

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Bührlen p. 41.
2. ↑ Bührlen p. 41f.

literature

• Gerhard Kiesow: Of knights and preachers. The Lords of Gemmingen and the Reformation in Kraichgau. Regional culture publishing house, Ubstadt-Weiher 1997, ISBN 3-929366-57-6 .
• Reinhold Bührlen: The barons of Gemmingen. In: Around the Ottilienberg. 2, pp. 41-47 (1982).
• Franz Falk: The provost Georg von Gemmingen, Wimpheling's friend. In: Historical-political papers for Catholic Germany. 121, pp. 869-886 (1898).
• Franz Xaver Glasschröder : The church reform efforts of the Speyer cathedral provost Georg von Gemmingen (1458-1511). In: Contributions to the history of the Renaissance and Reformation. (Festgabe Joseph Schlecht), Munich / Freising 1917, pp. 115–123.
• Carl Wilhelm Friedrich Ludwig Stocker : Family chronicle of the barons of Gemmingen. Heidelberg 1895.