Gottfried VIII. (Goat grove)

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Gottfried VIII von Ziegenhain (* after 1350; † 1394 ) was Count of Ziegenhain and Nidda from 1372 to 1394 . He became known in particular as the captain of the Star League, which was directed against the Landgraves Heinrich II and Hermann II of Hesse .

origin

Gottfried was the son of Count Gottfried VII († October 1372) von Ziegenhain and Nidda and his wife Agnes von Falkenstein . His date of birth is unknown, and neither is an older brother. There is, however, a document dated December 28, 1355, in which Emperor Charles IV states that he had Pope Innocent VI. therefore requested to give the noble Gottfried, son of Count Gottfried von Ziegenhain, a canonical in Mainz . Since a church career at that time was usually only planned for later-born sons, this indicates an older, but then deceased brother: in 1360 only Gottfried is known to be the son of Count Gottfried VII. He was knighted on March 14, 1371 .

Count of Ziegenhain and Nidda

Gottfried followed his father, who died in 1372 during the Star Wars , as the ruling Count of Ziegenhain and Nidda and as captain of the Star League. In the previous year (1371) he had married Agnes von Braunschweig († September 13, 1416), sister of Duke Otto I of Braunschweig-Göttingen . The dowry of 1000 silver marks was to be paid from the Hessian inheritance expected by Duke Otto, because Otto's mother Elisabeth was a daughter of Landgrave Heinrich II , whose only son Otto the Schütz had died in 1366. Gottfried initially energetically continued the war of the Sterners from 1372–1373 against the landgraves Heinrich II and Hermann II without having any success. On the contrary: the long feud with the landgraves, which ultimately ended in defeat, brought Gottfried a loss of power and influence. However, taking advantage of the rivalry between the Electorate of Mainz and the Landgraviate of Hesse , he was able to maintain the independence of his county. He had to wait a long time for his wife Agnes' dowry, however: it was not until September 1377 that Duke Otto finally settled down to pay, and there was also an attempt by Brunswick citizens to steal the bride 's treasure.

Gottfried's persistent hostility towards the landgraves, even after the defeat in the Star Wars, made him choose the side of Adolf of Nassau during the long schism in Mainz (1373-1381), which was fought in part by military means . He had been elected administrator of the archbishopric by the Mainz cathedral chapter , but Pope Gregor XI. had appointed Bamberg Bishop Ludwig von Meißen as the new Archbishop of Mainz , not him . Ludwig von Meißen was supported in particular by Emperor Charles IV and the two Landgraves of Hesse. Adolf von Nassau, for his part, received support from Duke Otto I of Braunschweig-Göttingen, Count Johann I of Nassau-Dillenburg, Count Heinrich IV of Waldeck and Gottfried VIII of Ziegenhain, all of whom were opponents of the Hessian Landgrave and were already against in the Star League the landgraves stood. The dispute led in particular to open battles in 1375 and 1377, which were mainly fought in Thuringia and the Eichsfeld in Mainz .

During the Western Schism , Gottfried soon found himself under the papal spell of Urban VI. It is not known when it was released from it.

In April 1381 Gottfried was appointed guardian of Ulrich V von Hanau , to whom his daughter Elisabeth was betrothed, while he was a minor ; the guardianship existed until around 1388.

Reduction of the dominion

The high costs of the Star Wars and his participation in the dispute over the Mainz Erzstuhl forced him to repeatedly pledge and sell Ziegenhain property. In December 1382 the sale of the office and the count's court of Gemünden an der Wohra to Godebrecht and Jutta von Linsingen is recorded, in June 1386 the sale of half of the villages and courts of Ober-, Nieder- and Mittel-Wiera and Biedenbach (desert southwest of Schwalmstadt) to Konrad and Bertha von Efirshausen - each with the right to buy back. On January 5, 1387 authenticated Thile of Falkenberg and his wife Gisela (die) that they Graf Gottfried the castle Schönstein with the villages and courts Schonau , Moischeid , Treisbach, Sachsenhausen , Loyde (?), Winterscheid , Gerwig grove Lischeid their part of the court at the Kalten Hainbuche , his part of the village and court at Lindenborn and income at Willingshausen had sold for 1601 heavy guilders with the right to repurchase at any time. In July 1390 Johann von Dernbach and his wife Katharina certified that Gottfried von Ziegenhain and his wife Agnes gave them the castle Gemünden on the road with courts, villages and all people and affiliations, rights and uses (except for castle and church fiefs as well as Weißgülte , customs and road money) for 1330 gold gulden and 13½ mark pfennigs. And in October 1393 Gottfried sold the village of Willingshausen to Helwig Waldvogel von Loshausen .

Marriage and offspring

On August 3, 1371, Gottfried married Agnes von Braunschweig, sister of Duke Otto von Braunschweig-Göttingen . The marriage resulted in seven (possibly eight) children known by name:

Gottfried died in 1394. He was followed by his son Engelbert III. as Count von Ziegenhain and Nidda. Engelbert died, childless, as early as 1401. He was followed by his brother Johann II, who took his younger brother Gottfried IX. participated in the reign.

Notes and individual references

  1. ↑ December 28, 1355: “Charles IV asks Pope Innocent to confer a canonical on Gottfried VIII von Ziegenhain.” Regest-No. 45. Regest of the Counts of Ziegenhain. In: Landesgeschichtliches Informationssystem Hessen (LAGIS).
  2. ↑ His sister Agnes married Kraft IV. Von Hohenlohe-Weikersheim in 1370 , which should lead to serious inheritance disputes over the counties of Ziegenhain and Nidda from 1450. Since his granddaughter Elisabeth married Albrecht I von Hohenlohe-Weikersheim in 1413 , the people of Hohenlohe based their claims on two marriages.
  3. ↑ August 3, 1371: "Duke Otto von Braunschweig betrothed his sister Agnes to Count Gottfried VIII." Regest no. 1097. Regesta of the Counts of Ziegenhain. In: Landesgeschichtliches Informationssystem Hessen (LAGIS).
  4. ↑ 13th September 1377: "Instructions for Duke Otto of Braunschweig to pay the dowry to Count Gottfried VIII." Regest no. 1142. Regest of the Counts of Ziegenhain. In: Landesgeschichtliches Informationssystem Hessen (LAGIS).
  5. ↑ September 29, 1377: "Thwarting the theft of the dowry of Duke Otto von Braunschweig for Count Gottfried VIII." Regest no. 1143. Regest of the Counts of Ziegenhain. In: Landesgeschichtliches Informationssystem Hessen (LAGIS).
  6. ↑ In addition, the emperor's son Wenzel and the three margraves of Meißen , Ludwig's brothers Friedrich , Balthasar and Wilhelm , were on Ludwig's side.
  7. ↑ September 19, 1379: "Papal conditions for reading the mass under the spell of Count Gottfried VIII." Regest no. 1471. Regesta of the Counts of Ziegenhain. In: Landesgeschichtliches Informationssystem Hessen (LAGIS).
  8. ↑ April 16, 1381: “Count Gottfried VIII becomes guardian of the County of Hanau.” Regest no. 556 '. Regesta of the Counts of Ziegenhain. In: Landesgeschichtliches Informationssystem Hessen (LAGIS).
  9. ↑ December 18, 1382: "Revers Godebrechts von Linsingen for Count Gottfried VIII. On the sale of the Gemünden office on the Wohra." Regest no. 1171. Regest of the Counts of Ziegenhain. In: Landesgeschichtliches Informationssystem Hessen (LAGIS).
  10. ↑ June 13, 1386: "Konrad von Efirshausen, Count Gottfried VIII reversed the sale of the village and court of Wiera." Regest no. 1183. Regest of the Counts of Ziegenhain. In: Landesgeschichtliches Informationssystem Hessen (LAGIS).
  11. ↑ Today a forester's house near Sebbeterode
  12. ↑ Today desert near Mengsberg
  13. ↑ January 5, 1387: "Thilo von Falkenberg, Count Gottfried VIII reversed the sale of Schönstein Castle." Regest no. 1187. Regest of the Counts of Ziegenhain. In: Landesgeschichtliches Informationssystem Hessen (LAGIS).
  14. ↑ 23 July 1390: "Pledging of the castle and court of Gemünden by Count Gottfried VIII. To Johann von Dernbach." Regest no. 1007. Regesta of the Counts of Ziegenhain. In: Landesgeschichtliches Informationssystem Hessen (LAGIS).
  15. ↑ October 23, 1393: "Revers Helwigs von Loshausen via the village of Willingshausen." Regest no. 1206. Regesta of the Counts of Ziegenhain. In: Landesgeschichtliches Informationssystem Hessen (LAGIS).
  16. ↑ Her daughter Elisabeth married Albrecht I von Hohenlohe in 1413

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 .
personal data
SURNAME Gottfried VIII.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION reigning Count of Ziegenhain and Nidda
DATE OF BIRTH 14th Century
DATE OF DEATH 1394