County Katzenelnbogen

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Coat of arms of the Counts of Katzenelnbogen
County Katzenelnbogen around 1400.

The County of Katzenelnbogen was an imperial immediate county in the Holy Roman Empire , which existed on the Middle Rhine from 1095 to 1479 . From 1479 the Landgraves of Hesse were the owners of the county and holders of the title of count. The title "Graf zu Katzenelnbogen" is still part of the family name in Haus Hessen . Further bearers of the title are the representatives of two still ruling houses, namely the Grand Duke of Luxembourg and the King of the Netherlands . The ancestral seat of the counts was Katzenelnbogen Castle in what is now the city of Katzenelnbogen .

Even at its peak, the area of ​​the county was divided into two main areas, the so-called Lower Counties around Katzenelnbogen and Rheinfels Castle and the so-called Upper Counties around Darmstadt . As a result of the division of the Landgraviate of Hesse in 1567 , to which Katzenelnbogen fell in 1479, the Upper County became the core of the Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt and the Lower County became the core of the later extinct Landgraviate of Hesse-Rheinfels .

history

Katzenelnbogen - Excerpt from the Topographia Hassiae by Matthäus Merian 1655
Katzenelnbogen Castle

The Katzenelnbogen family are mentioned for the first time in the Siegburg documents of the 11th century with Diether I as Vogt of the Prüm Abbey (approx. 1065-1095):

1066-1075 Archbishop Anno II of Cologne declares that he has the use of the goods to Sülz ( Sulsa ) of the Siegburg monastery founded by him in honor of Saints Maria and Michael with the consent and cooperation of the abbot Erpho (Siegburg monastery), the noble Dietrich and handed over to his wife Meinlindis for life. For this purpose, Dietrich and his wife transferred their property in Kirchscheid ( Sceida ) to the above-mentioned monastery with 30 servants named by name . - Then 49 witnesses (with first names) are named. - Et ut hoc stable et inconvulsum permaneat, istius cirografi et sigilli nostri approbatione confirmare curavimus.

and seem to have had their oldest seat in the Einrich on the Egenroth :

1095-1096 Siegburg - Archbishop Hermann of Cologne announces that Heinrich and Diether, the sons of Diether the Elder, the Abbot Reinhard and the Siegburg Monastery, are selling the greater part of their Salhof with accessories for 100 marks from their hereditary estates near Lay, now a district of Koblenz to have. The donation (donatio) of the church, which is built on this allod, should belong solely to the abbot and this not only for the people belonging to the court, but also for all residents of one from Laubach (Loip-), Königsbach (Cunge-) and Wacke limited district ecclesiastical responsibility. - The handover took place on the altar of St. Michael by the hands of the Archbishop and Count Adalbert von Nörvenich, Vogt of this place, and was confirmed by the oath of two servants of the same, Ordunc and Hartbert, with the two ministerials Wippizo and Dumelo as messengers of power (missi) of Count Palatine Heinrich II were present.

Katzenelnbogen Castle , located on the right bank of the Rhine about twenty kilometers east of the Loreley in the Taunus , was built by Diether I and his son Heinrich I from 1094 onwards. Presumably they acted as bailiffs of the Bleidenstadt monastery , on whose bailiff the castle was built. Shortly afterwards they presumably gave up Egenroth Castle, but around 1130 founded their castle hill monastery Gronau , which was the family monastery for almost two centuries .

Heinrich II von Katzenelnbogen was the first politically important representative of the count's house, which is probably related to the fact that his half-brother Hermann von Stahleck was the brother-in-law of King Konrad III. was. Konrad transferred the county in Kraichgau (south of Heidelberg) to Heinrich II in 1138, thereby giving the house the dignity of count. In addition, Konrad appointed Heinrich's brother Philipp von Katzenelnbogen to be Bishop of Osnabrück in 1141 .

Emperor Friedrich I appointed Hermann von Katzenelnbogen to be Bishop of Münster in 1174 and used him several times in a diplomatic function, including in Rome and Byzantium. Hermann II made Eberbach Monastery the home monastery of the Katzenelnbogen family, in which from 1311 the families were buried in the southern part of the transept of the monastery church . Hermann remained under Heinrich VI. and Otto IV. an important official. His brother Diether was chancellor of Heinrich VI. and died in 1191 during his Italian campaign.

In 1190, the counts were granted bailiwick rights and between 1190 and 1230 they built Hohenstein Castle on the Aar, which later became the county’s administrative seat.

In 1219 the Katzenelnbogen family received the customs privilege from St. Goar for the first time .

Memorial plaque with the Katzenelnbogen coat of arms in the Pallas of Auerbach Castle

Diether IV. Of Katzenelnbogen built Lichtenberg Castle to a territorial and political center and called himself "comes de Lichtenberg" (Graf von Lichtenberg). He also built Auerbach Castle to protect the Auerbach and Zwingenberg estates on Bergstrasse .

Around the middle of the 13th century, the Counts of Katzenelnbogen built a moated castle in Darmstadt , which controlled the northern starting point of the Bergstrasse, which is a much-used traffic route, and thus controlled trade between Heidelberg and Frankfurt.

In 1245 Diether V. von Katzenelnbogen built the Rheinfels castle on the left bank of the Rhine near St. Goar and was thus able to levy customs duties on both the ships going up the Rhine and those going down the Rhine (St. Goar double duty ). In 1249, Diether V increased his property in the Rhine-Main tip considerably, as the Hohenstaufen rival king Wilhelm of Holland gave him the Palatinate Tribur and the associated imperial property , for his help against the Roman Church and against Emperor Friedrich II and his son Conrad IV . , transmitted.
Despite joining the Rhenish Association of Cities , which was supposed to regulate the collection of customs duties, among other things, Diether V increased the customs in 1255 and was therefore attacked by an army of the Association of Cities. Rheinfels Castle withstood the siege of 8,000 foot servants, 1,000 horsemen and 50 ships for a year and 14 weeks before the attackers withdrew without having achieved anything.
In 1259 the legacy of the Lords of Dornberg with Dornberg Castle came to the Katzenelnbogen family after its extinction.

Diether V's sister, Adelheid, married Walram II of Nassau , the founder of the Walram line of Nassau, before 1250 and was the mother of King Adolf of Nassau and Diether von Nassau , Archbishop of Trier (1300-1307).

division

With the partition contract of 1260, the house was divided into an older line (represented by Diether V. ) and a younger line (represented by Eberhard I ), with the older line increasingly receiving properties in the Lower County and the younger line more properties in the Upper County . Both lines, however, remained closely linked through possessions and rights in the territory of the other, unlike in many comparable splits of noble houses. For example, they coordinated their extensive and architecturally ambitious castle building program.

Older line

Diether V. had already acquired Dornberg Castle around 1257 and relocated his headquarters there. Diether V's son, Wilhelm I von Katzenelnbogen , married Irmgard von Isenburg in 1284 , which brought him property around St. Goarshausen . Together with Reichenberg Castle, built from 1319 onwards, and Neukatzenelnbogen Castle ("Katz Castle") built around 1370 , this property formed the connection between St. Goar-Rheinfels on the left bank of the Rhine and the territories on the Einrich.

Emperor Ludwig IV. , The Bavarian (1314-1347) granted Count Wilhelm I of Katzenelnbogen on July 23, 1330 the town charter for his place Darmstadt. Above all, this meant the right to build a wall, remnants of which are still preserved today, and to hold a market.

Eberhard V. built Schwalbach Castle before 1368 . Before that, Eberhard V. and his brother Wilhelm II had shared their domain. The new castle served Eberhard V as a new residence in the northern part of the Lower County.

In 1375 Wilhelm II and Eberhard V played a key role in founding the Lion League , which is characterized by its anti-urban policy. In 1385, after the death of Wilhelm II, Countess Elisabeth von Katzenelnbogen chose Darmstadt Castle, first mentioned in 1331, as her widow's seat and established a princely court in Darmstadt for the first time. In 1402 the older line died out with Eberhard V. in the male line.

Younger line

In 1260 the Katzenelnbogen family founded the town of Reinheim . There they also built a moated castle in 1276.

Eberhard I , the founder of the younger line, entered the service of King Rudolf von Habsburg in 1275 and became one of his most trusted advisers. He also had considerable influence on King Adolf von Nassau , whose uncle he was, and finally also on Adolf's opponent and overcomer King Albrecht I , the son of Rudolf von Habsburg. These relationships met the territorial gains Eberhard I. (Tribur, Bopparder Empire inches, Castle Braubach , Castle Stadeck ).

In 1283 Eberhard I bought Braubach Castle , town and customs of Braubach am Rhein. Eberhard I died in 1311. His successor son Gerhard von Katzenelnbogen died in 1312. Thereupon Gerhard's brother, Berthold III., And Gerhard's son, Eberhard II., Represented by Eberhard's mother Margarethe, shared the property in 1318:

“Counts Berthold and Eberhard v. Katzenelnbogen, with the consent of Count Berthold's wife Adelheid and Count Eberhard's mother Margarethe, decide on the following partition agreement (mutbescheit) on their property, which is to apply for seven years from July 13th: the castles and the associated land with villages, people and Half of the goods should be allocated to each. During the seven years, the castle men belonging to these castles should stay together and pay homage to them together. The two counts to them their wives on in the division assigned castles bewittumen . If you want to finally divide castles and land (deile) after the seven years have elapsed, everyone should stay where they are and recognize the current partition agreement (mütbescheid) as the final division (right deilunge). Then the Burgmannen should also be divided. The current partition agreement (deilen uff a courageous decision) should also extend to their husbands and church clauses: when the seven years are up, it should apply as the final division and everyone should keep the men and church clauses that were given to him during the current division (in the vurgenantin mütschare). If one of her people, be it man or woman, citizen or farmer, merchant or Jew, wants to move from one count to another, he should not be refused. If Count Berthold dies, Eberhard is said to have no power of disposal (muntbarschaf) over the castles and lands now allocated to him. Both vow not to bring property and feasts to unlawful heirs and authorize their castle men, men, porters, servants and guards to prevent this in the event of an intended violation. They promise to help each other during the specified time if an injustice should be done. If one of them redeems the pledged goods, the other should be entitled to half of it as soon as he pays half the pledge amount. During the seven years mentioned, Eberhard may only move, sell, lend or give away something of the castles, lands and people assigned to him with Berthold's consent. The exhibitors and Count Eberhard's mother Margarethe renounce all demands that they have made against each other so far, and swear on oath to keep this division (mütschare) in all pieces. "

- April 1, 1318

In 1354, Eberhard IV, the last male descendant of Berthold III, died and the younger line was reunited under Diether VIII , a son of Johann II.

On October 18, 1356 a severe earthquake shook the Upper Rhine Rift . Numerous cities, villages and castles were affected, many collapsed. The large keep collapsed at Auerbach Castle and fell on some buildings. In the following period (from 1370) the Auerbach Castle was expanded into one of the most modern castle complexes of its time through considerable renovation and expansion measures (first bastion in Germany).

Due to the immense costs of the construction work in the Upper County, Diether VIII. In 1384 was forced to resign his villages and courts Auerbach, Hausen, Biebesheim, Pfungstadt, Griesheim, Büttelborn, Dornheim, Trebur, Gerau, Worfelden, Schneppenhausen, Arheilgen, Roßdorf, Gundernhausen, Ramstadt, Frankenhausen, Ober-Beerbach, Überau and his shares in Bieberau, Obern- and Niedernhausen, Nonrod, Meßbach, Dudenhofen and all the other villages, hamlets, farms, courts and servants that he owned between the Rhine, Main and Neckar to Archbishop Adolf from Mainz to pledge.

Union

Both lines were reunited in 1402 by Johann IV. , Son of Diether VIII. , Through marriage to Anna von Katzenelnbogen (older line). Unusually for the north-western region of the empire, Primogenitur was agreed in order to avoid further division.

End and succession to Hesse

In 1457 Anna von Katzenelnbogen, Philip the Elder's heir , married Landgrave Heinrich III. from Hessen-Marburg . With Philip's death in 1479, the County of Katzenelnbogen fell to the Landgraves of Hesse ; Landgrave Heinrich III. got his nickname "the rich" because of this heritage. In the Princely House of Hesse , Graf zu Katzenelnbogen is still used today as one of the titles.

Economic basics

After receiving a first customs privilege on the Rhine in St. Goar in 1219, the company secured several customs duties, tariff shares and tariff rents on the Rhine in the following centuries, from Gernsheim in the Hessian Ried to Lobith in Gelderland. The income from this formed an essential power base for the Katzenelnbogen. In addition, in the following centuries the Count's House established an unusually well-organized management of extensive forests in the Hunsrück, Odenwald and Taunus, sheep breeding (in May 1465 a good 10,500 sheep were sheared in the Upper County alone), in vegetable cultivation, especially in the area around Groß-Gerau and in the grain industry. The aristocratic family also maintained a large fleet on the Rhine that transported agricultural goods to the two most important trading centers, Mainz and Cologne. In the 15th century in particular, Katzenelnbogen lent money on a large scale, primarily to the archbishoprics of Mainz and Trier. This deal made it possible to take over large territories and rights of debtors.

In the imperial tax list of 1422 the Katzenelnbogen were in 4th place in a group of counts and lords comprising 86 names and in the list of 1431, which includes 77 names, they were only surpassed by the Württemberg people.

origin of the name

1st version

The name Katzenelnbogen comes from the Latin Cattimelibocus . The chats were the ancestors of today's Hessen. With Melibokus in antiquity (e.g. with Ptolemy ) originally a mountain like z. B. the Melibokus or the Brocken called. The word therefore means something like mountain of chats.

2nd version

The Chazo settlement at the bend (elbow) of the Dörsbach (stream through the town of Katzenelnbogen).

seal

The own spelling of the name, received on seals, differs over time:

Diether V. - Date: 1258. - Inscription: (SIGILLUM) (D) ITERI COMITIS DE CA (HCEN) ELLENB (OGEN); Image: soaring, crowned lion.
Diether V. - Date: 1267. - Inscription: (S.) (DITHERI) (COMITIS) (DE) (KAZENELLEN) BOGEN; Image: soaring, crowned lion.
Eberhard I. - Date: 1272. - Inscription: S (IGILLUM) EBERHARDI CO (MITIS) (DE) (KAZIN) ELINBOGE (N); Image: soaring, crowned lion.
Eberhard I. - Date: 1293. - Inscription: S. EBER (HAR) DI COM (ITIS) (DE) KAZINELINBO (GEN); Image: soaring, crowned lion.
Eberhard I. - Date: 1311. - Inscription: S. EBERHARDI COMITIS D (E) KAZINELINBO (GEN); Image: soaring, crowned lion.
Wilhelm I. - Date: 1311. - Inscription: S. WIL (HEL) MI COM (ITIS) (DE) (KATZENELEN) BOGEN; Image: soaring, crowned lion.
Adelheid, b. von Sayn, wife of Berthold III. - Date: 1318. - Inscription: + S (IGILLUM) ALHEIDIS (COMI) TISSE DE KACINEL (IN) BOG (IN); Image: Countess turned to the right, sitting on a horse and looking forward, on her right a sitting falcon, between the legs of the horse a hunting dog.
Berthold III. , Son of Eberhard I. - Date: 1318. - Inscription: + S (IGILLUM) BERTOLDI FILII EBER (HARDI) COM (ITIS) DE KAZINELINBOGE (N); Image: galloping rider in armor turned to the right, sword drawn in his left hand, heraldic shield held in front of his chest in the right: soaring, crowned lion.
Wilhelm II., Son of Wilhelm I. - Date: 1335. - Inscription: S (IGILLUM) SECRET (UM) WILHEL (M) I COMIT (IS) DE KAZZI (NEL) BOGEN; Image: soaring, crowned lion.

coat of arms

The family coat of arms shows an upright, blue-armed, blue-tongued and blue-crowned, red lioned leopard in gold . On the helmet with red and gold covers, a closed black flight , covered on both sides with a disk tinged like the shield.

  • Coat of arms of the Counts of Nassau-Catzenelnbogen (= Nassau-Dillenburg ) in the sieve maker from 1605

  • Coat of arms of the Hessian landgraves in Siebmacher from 1605

The descendants of the Count of Nassau-Dillenburg , Johann VI. Count of Nassau, Katzenelnbogen and Diez († 1606), contemporary he was a. a. also briefly Count of Nassau-Katzenelnbogen called, led as katzenelnbogische heirs 1559-1739 over the gevierten sign three helmets, the middle with the Katzenelnbogen crest , the symmetry due but with an open flight.

The Hessian landgraves, also as heirs of the Counts of Katzenelnbogen, continued to lead the flight as a closed part of their coat of arms .

Vögte von Katzenelnbogen

  • Diether I. (* 1065; † 1095), governor of the Prüm Abbey
  • Diether II. (*?; †?)
  • Heinrich I (*?; † 1102)

Counts of Katzenelnbogen

Coat of arms in the Ingeram Codex
  • Heinrich II. (* Approx. 1124; † 1160)
  • Henry III. (*?; † approx. 1179)
  • Diether III. (* approx. 1160; † approx. 1219)
  • Diether IV. (*?; † 1245), also called "comes de Lichtenberg" (Count of Lichtenberg)  

From division 1260:

Older line

  • Diether V. (*?; † 1276)
  • Wilhelm I (* 1276/1277; † 1331)
  • Wilhelm II. (* Before 1331; † before October 23, 1385) 
  • Eberhard V. (* approx. 1322; † 1402)

Younger line

  • Eberhard I. (* around 1243; † 1311)
  • Gerhard (*?; † 1312) son of Eberhard I.
    • Eberhard II (*?; † 1329)
    • Johann II (*?; † 1357)
      Grave slab of Count Johann II von Katzenelnbogen in the basilica of the Eberbach monastery
      • Diether VIII.
  • Berthold III. (*?; † 1321) son of Eberhard I.
    • Eberhard III. (*?; † 1328)
      • Eberhard IV. (*?; † 1354) line extinct, the inheritance falls to Diether VIII.
  • Diether VIII. (* 1340; † 1402)

After unification 1402:

Known members of the sex

See also

literature

Historical research

  • Karl E. Demandt : History of the State of Hesse. 2nd revised and expanded edition. Bärenreiter, Kassel et al. 1972, ISBN 3-7618-0404-0 , pp. 207-216.
  • Karl E. Demandt: Regesta of the counts of Katzenelnbogen. 1060–1486 (= publications of the Historical Commission for Nassau 11). 4 volumes. Historical Commission for Nassau  : Wiesbaden 1953–1957 (Unchanged reprint), ISBN 978-3-922244-14-1 .
  • Karl E. Demandt: Culture and life at the court of the Katzenelnbogen counts. In: Nassauische Annalen 1950, pp. 149–180.
  • Karl E. Demandt: The beginnings of the Katzenelnbogen count house and the imperial historical basis of its rise. In: Nassauische Annalen 1952, pp. 17–71.
  • Karl E. Demandt: The last Katzenelnbogen counts and the fight for their inheritance. In: Nassauische Annalen 1955, pp. 93–132.
  • Karl E. Demandt: The Katzenelnbogen count house. In: Nassauische Annalen 1980, pp. 65-76.
  • Klaus Eiler: Political upheaval on the lower Lahn in the counties Katzenelnbogen and Diez in the 16th century . In: Nassauische Annalen, Wiesbaden 1989, pp. 97–114.
  • Karl Wilfried Hamel: Auerbach Castle. Feste Urberg, the most important castle complex in the Upper County of Katzenelnbogen. Description, information, hospitality and history. AAA-Verlag, Bensheim-Auerbach 1997, ISBN 3-9803139-0-5 .
  • Michael Hollmann , Michael Wettengel: Nassau's contribution to today's Hessen (= Hessen. Unity from diversity 2). Hessian State Center for Political Education, Wiesbaden 1992, ISBN 3-927127-09-4 , pp. 15–18, 26–27.
  • Rainer Kunze: Castle policy and castle construction of the Counts of Katzenelnbogen up to the end of the 14th century (= publications of the German Castle Association 3, ZDB -ID 258453-0 ). Publishing house of the German Castle Association, Braubach 1969.
  • Thomas Lange: Hessen-Darmstadt's contribution to today's Hessen (= Hessen. Unity from diversity 3). Hessian State Center for Political Education, Wiesbaden 1993, ISBN 3-927127-12-4 , pp. 9–15.
  • Margret Singer: The truce of the Counts of Katzenelnbogen , in: Blätter für deutsche Landesgeschichte 116 (1980), pp. 189–234.
  • Reinhard Suchier : Genealogy of the Hanauer count house . In: Festschrift of the Hanau History Association for its 50th anniversary celebration on August 27, 1894 . Hanau 1894, pp. 7-23.
  • Ottraud Rozumek-Fechtig: The castles of the Counts of Katzenelnbogen , series of the Museum Schloß Lichtenberg No. 9, ISBN 3-923 366-04-3 , Verlag des Museum Schloß Lichtenberg (1995)
  • Literature on County Katzenelnbogen in the Hessian Bibliography

Fiction

  • Käthe Papke , "Free from Chains, Historical Tale", Christl. Verlagshaus, 3rd edition 1986, - ISBN 3-7675-3274-3 (History of the Katzenelnbogen at the time of the transfer of the crown from Rudolf I of Habsburg to Adolf von Nassau (1292) in the form of diary entries)
  • Alexander Nix : " Loreley ", novel, Econ-Verlag, 420 pages, ISBN 9783547771640 (Fantastic story from the County of Katzenelnbogen)

Web links

Commons : House of Katzenelnbogen  - Collection of images

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The date is determined on the one hand by the confirmation of the Siegburg Foundation by Pope Alexander II on May 15, 1066 (Lacomblet I, 206), on the other hand by the death of Archbishop Annos on December 4, 1075.
  2. ↑ So it is named in an undated document of Archbishop Friedrich I of Cologne on the Siegburg property with reference to this precariousness (Knipping, Kölner Regesten. I, 125)
  3. ↑ On the extensive literature on this document, its authenticity, its heraldic-sphragistic significance and its genealogical classification in the Katzenelnbogeische house cf. Karl E. Demandt: Beginnings and Rise (Nassauische Annalen 63, 1952) chap. 1.
  4. ^ A b c Karl E. Demandt, Geschichte des Landes Hessen , p. 207
  5. ↑ The document is dated: Acta sunt hec confirmata Sigeberg anno archiepiscopatus nostri VII. Since Hermann was archbishop since June 1089, the above legal act falls in the year from June 1095-1096.
  6. ↑ According to Günther, Cod. Dipl II SV, Laubach and Königsbach are two forest streams in the forests above Lays.
  7. ↑ See Karl E. Demandt: Beginnings and Rise (Nassauer Annalen 63), Chapter 1, where this document is dealt with in detail according to the genealogical and local history side with the result that the legal process itself is not to be doubted and Diether the elder and his both sons belong in the katzenelnbogische house.
  8. ^ Hohenstein (Taunus) In Wikipedia, as of December 31, 2006
  9. ↑ a b Museum Schloss Lichtenberg, exhibition board
  10. ↑ HStAM inventory Urk. 54 No. 122  In: Archive Information System Hessen (Arcinsys Hessen), as of May 5, 2008.
  11. ^ Karl Wilfried Hamel: Auerbacher Schloß - Feste Urberg - the most important castle complex in the Upper County of Katzenelnbogen.
  12. ↑ Beatus Rhenanus : Rerum Germanicarum libri tres (1531)
  13. ↑ Bernhard Peter, Gallery: Photos of beautiful old coats of arms No. 11: coat of arms in the Philippsburg in Braubach am Rhein AD 1568 (accessed on October 26, 2015)
  14. ↑ Bernhard Peter Wappensammlung (27), Middle Rhine and Moselle, Nassau (accessed on October 26, 2015)
  15. ^ Rainer Türk: Hike to the most beautiful castles and palaces in the Odenwald, Lorsch, April 2006
  16. ↑ History of Lichtenberg Castle URL: Lichtenberg Castle on the Internet
  17. ↑ Demandt, Regesten, Vol. 1, p. 49
  18. ↑ Suchier
  19. ↑ a b Karl E. Demandt: Regesten der Grafen von Katzenelnbogen