County Boiler

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Banner of the Holy Roman Emperor with haloes (1400-1806) .svg
Territory in the Holy Roman Empire
County Boiler
coat of arms
GrafschaftKessel (coat of arms) .png


Alternative names Graafschap boiler
Consist ± 950-1307
Arose from Maasgau , Mühlgau , Nievenheimer Gau
Form of rule county
Ruler / government Count
Today's region / s NL-LI and DE-NW , smaller
exclaves also DE-RP



Capitals / residences Kessel  ( Peel en Maas ),
Grevenbroich ,  Brüggen Castle
Dynasties Counts of Kessel
Denomination / Religions Roman Catholic
Language / n Old  and  Middle Dutch Middle
High German ,  Latin


currency Karlspfund , Cologne mark
Incorporated into Armoiries Gueldre.svg Grafschaft Geldern Grafschaft Jülich Grafschaft Kleve Electorate of Cologne Palatinate near Rhine
Blason Nord-Pas-De-Calais.svg 
Armoiries Clèves.svg 
COA Kurkoeln.svg 
Coat of arms Kurpfalz.svg 


The Grafschaft Kessel ( Dutch : Graafschap Kessel ) was a medieval territory that essentially extended over part of the present-day Dutch province of Limburg and to the east adjoining areas in what is now the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia , here in particular over today's districts of Viersen and Neuss as well over large parts of the current urban area of Mönchengladbach . There were also a few smaller exclaves in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate . The count's residence was initially in what is now the Limburg Kessel on the Maas , the ancestral seat of the Kessel Counts, from which the county also got its name. Later other castles in Grevenbroich and Brüggen were added as residences. The largest city in the area of ​​the former county of Kessel is today Mönchengladbach. With the death of Count Walram von Kessel on October 20, 1304, the count family died out.

history

The Origins of the County Boiler

The origins of the County of Kessel probably go back to the 10th century : On October 7, 950, the East Frankish king (and later Roman-German Emperor ) Otto I (also known as Otto the Great ) granted his liege Ansfried the right to mint and market for the Cassalum area . That Ansfried was probably Ansfried II of Teisterbant (* around 935, † 1010), who is said to have ruled over some areas in what is now Belgium as Count of Leuven and von Huy at the same time and was appointed Bishop of Utrecht in 995 .

Ansfried's successor as ruler of Kessel was probably his son Balderich (Dutch: Balderic or Balderik , * around 978, † unknown), whom some nobility genealogists as the great-grandfather of Heinrich I von Kessel (Dutch: Hendrik I. van Kessel , * after 1082, † 1114), who appears as the first ruler of the area in contemporary sources as " Graf von Kessel " (or " Graaf van Kessel ") and is therefore often represented by historians as the actual progenitor of the Counts of Kessel becomes.

This east- facing map section shows the Landt van Kessel in 1664, a few centuries after the end of the county of Kessel , as a Spanish - Geldrischen administrative district .

The Land van Kessel

The Land van Kessel (German: Land von Kessel ) was the home of the Counts of Kessel. It was on the left side of the Meuse, a little west of Venlo in what is now the Dutch province of Limburg. The Land van Kessel bordered in the north on the Cuyk country , in the west on the Peelland , in the south on the County of Hoorn and was largely bounded in the east by the County of Geldern . The eponymous main town of the area was the village of Kessel with the castle of the same name, the original residence of the Counts of Kessel.

Contrary to what the name suggests, the Land van Kessel in the High Middle Ages was by no means an administrative homogeneous structure that was uniformly under the rule of the Kessel counts; instead, it looked more like a political patchwork quilt. Although the Counts of Kessel ruled over most, but by no means all, of the villages in the Land van Kessel , it is quite disputed among historians how many places in this area were actually ruled by the Counts of Kessel. Generous estimates are based on up to eighteen villages that were actually subordinate to the Kessel counts in the Land van Kessel .

The following villages in the Land van Kessel were wholly or at least partially subordinate to the Counts of Kessel: Kessel , Baarlo , Blerick , Blitterswijck , Broekhuizen , Broekhuizenvorst , Grubbenvorst , Helden , Horst , Lottum , Maasbree , Meerlo , Oirlo , Ooijen, Sevenum , Swolgen , Tienray and Wanssum . The affiliation of some villages in the Land van Kessel to the county of Kessel is controversial among historians. The towns of Venray and Gijsteren , which are also in the Land van Kessel , were probably not part of the County of Kessel.

The sphere of influence of the Kessel counts on the eastern side of the Meuse

The Counts of Kessel also gained power and influence on the other side of the Meuse during the High Middle Ages. Apart from the now Dutch towns of Steyl and Tegelen , the sphere of influence of the Counts of Kessel on the eastern side of the Meuse extended predominantly over lands , villages and areas in what is now Germany . The form of rulership in the eastern parts of the country was by no means uniform: Only some of the property was owned (e.g. Brüggen Castle ), whereas the Counts of Kessel east of the Meuse often ruled as guardians on behalf of others. The others were essentially the Counts of Geldern , the Abbey of St. Pantaleon in Cologne , the Abbey of St. Vitus in Gladbach , the Cologne Cathedral Chapter and later the Dukes of Brabant .

In the following places east of the Meuse the Counts of Kessel held at least part of the rulership rights:

The Counts of Kessel

A Heinrich von Kessel is mentioned in 1085 and 1104. A descendant of the same name was a witness in 1129 as King Lothar III. Made donations to St. Kunibert in Cologne. A Walter von Kessel served as a witness for Arnold I of Cologne in 1139 and 1144 . Heinrich (II.) Von Kessel served as a witness for the abbot of St. Pantaleon in 1141 . Henry III. appeared as a witness for the Gladbach Abbey and made donations to the Archbishopric of Cologne. He was followed by the son Heinrich IV, who died around 1219. His son Wilhelm died after 1263. He was followed by his son Heinrich V, who died in 1285. This waived wood rights in favor of the Archbishops of Cologne. He also made donations to the church in Gladbach and confirmed the sale of the bailiwick of Laach Abbey (near Grevenbroich). He was one of those who waged war against Archbishop Siegfried von Westerburg in 1277 .

The Counts of Kessel had been bailiffs of the Gladbach Abbey and the Pantaleon Abbey in Cologne since 1240 at the latest. As Lords of Broich in the 13th century , the Counts of Kessel also owned the area around today's Grevenbroich . There they built a castle and later also a Wilhelmitenkloster . The property around Grevenbroich fell in 1307 through an arbitration award to the Counts of Jülich . Another Count Heinrich von Kessel sold Kessel and Krickenbeck to the Counts of Geldern in 1279 . The bailiwick of Gladbach Abbey fell to the Duchy of Jülich after the family died out.

Residences of the Counts of Kessel

literature

  • Heinrich Leo: Lectures on the history of the German people and empire. Vol. 4 Halle, 1865 pp. 1032f.
  • Historical-political-geographical atlas of the whole world. Part 6 Leipzig, 1746 p. 868

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g h Karl L. Mackes: The Counts of Kessel and the Origin of the Office of Brüggen ,
    published in the Heimatbuch des Kreis Viersen 1979 , published by the Kreis Viersen, ISSN  0948-6631
  2. ↑ a b c d H. Clevis and JA Coldeweij: De graven van Kessel (PDF; 1.6 MB), published in: Castellogica I (1983-1987), pages 71-86,
    published by Nederlandse Kastelenstichting , ISSN  0921-0253 , accessed on January 27, 2013 (Dutch)
  3. ↑ a b c d e f H. Clevis and JA Coldeweij: De graven van Kessel (vervolg) - Bezit en faillisement (PDF; 932 kB), published in: Castellogica I (1983-1987), pages 91-100,
    published by Nederlandse Kastelenstichting , ISSN  0921-0253 , accessed January 27, 2013 (Dutch)
  4. ↑ a b Hans Kaiser: Territory formation in the former Electoral Cologne offices of Kempen, Oedt and Linn ,
    series of publications by the district of Viersen, Volume 29 , Kempen (Niederrhein), 1979, ISBN 978-3931242046
  5. ↑ 950 - Het oudste archiefstuk , published in Erfgoed: De Nederlandse geschiedenis in 100 documenten , page 30,
    publisher: Elsevier , Amsterdam 2005, ISBN 978-9068823400 , accessed on January 27, 2013 (Dutch)
  6. ↑ With Cassalum also can Kessenich in Belgium meant.
  7. ↑ Bernd Ooijevaar: De Heilige Ansfried (Graaf en bisschop) ,
    online article from the website “ De Middeleeuwse dwangburchten van West-Friesland en Alkmaar ”, accessed on January 27, 2013 (Dutch)
  8. ↑ Stamboom IDM de Vries: " Ansfried II Teisterband, Maasgouw, Graaf van Leuven 950 en Hoei, Bischop Van Utrecht 995 "
    private online publication of Dhr. Ger de Vries , Landgraaf (NL) , from genealogieonline , The Hague (NL) , accessed on September 9, 2013
  9. ^ History of Grevenbroich ( Memento of the original from October 28, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.grevenbroich.de