Guttenberg feud (1497–1502)
The Guttenberg feud was a feud between family members of the von Guttenberg and the Margrave Friedrich that lasted from 1497 to 1502.
Starting position
During the feuding period, the von Guttenberg family led several disputes, which also deserve the name Guttenberg feud , whereby the feud presented here clearly exceeds other conflicts in terms of scope and duration. Another notable feud was the Guttenberg feud of 1380 or the dispute between Achaz von Guttenberg († July 20, 1536), nicknamed the Ächter with Heinrich the Elder von Gera in the years 1520 and 1521. Achaz, Hektor and Philipp II Guttenberg triggered the destruction of their ancestral castles Alt- and Neuguttenberg during the Franconian War (see also Wandereisen woodcuts from 1523 ).
The starting point of the Guttenberg feud of 1497 is the situation in the Margrave of Brandenburg-Kulmbach with the seat of the Margrave on the Plassenburg in Kulmbach . At that time, the Margraviate was surrounded by small imperial-free territories owned by knight families, including von Guttenberg . From the south, the Bavarian dukes from the House of Wittelsbach try to expand their influence to the north, including Duke Georg von Bayern-Landshut . Margrave Friedrich ruled Brandenburg-Ansbach from 1486 and succeeded his brother Siegmund in 1495 as Margrave of Brandenburg-Kulmbach. Both territories emerged from the burgraviate of Nuremberg and were owned by the Franconian line of the Hohenzollerns .
Course of the feud
In 1492 Philipp von Guttenberg gave his share of Guttenberg Castle to Duke Georg as a fief. He placed himself under his protection and in 1497 enabled the duke to station some riders and foot servants through the opening rights . The location of the castle allowed an immediate threat to the Plassenburg and the surrounding margravial villages and castles. Therefore, on September 4, 1497, the margrave declared the feud against the Guttenbergers at their ancestral castle. The castle was besieged by the margrave for four days, some knights fled unnoticed. After fruitless negotiations, the Guttenbergers began to pillage the surrounding area in the spring of 1498, and Schellenberg Castle was one of their starting points . The extent of the threat and the damage can be calculated from the countermeasures measure: Captain Kunz of Wirsberg wrote a waiting order , which in Margravate Brandenburg-Kulmbach a network of continuously manned with guards waiting eagerly was and alerted beacon in attacks. Under the command of Captain Kunz von Wirsberg, Schellenberg Castle was shelled with heavy artillery in 1498 and Philipp von Guttenberg was imprisoned. His relatives continued their raids. Moritz von Guttenberg set thirteen full barns on fire in Hof in 1502 . An arbitration court eventually ended the conflict. Moritz von Guttenberg had to give the ancestral castle to the margrave as a fiefdom and two relatives had to be available to the margrave for military service at his own expense.
Involved knights
Philipp von Guttenberg († August 26, 1500 on the Cadolzburg) was co-owner of the ancestral castle Altguttenberg and builder of Neuguttenberg. He had other scattered possessions and made various new acquisitions, including Schellenberg Castle. As a bailiff he was in the service of the Bishop of Bamberg and the Duchy of Bavaria . He married Elsbeth von Aufseß in 1479 and after her death in 1482 Waldburga Fuchs von Schweinshaupten . He had eight children, two of them from his first marriage. 1500 he fell into because of the attacks on margravial owned outlawed . After his imprisonment in the battle for Schellenberg Castle, he was incarcerated at Cadolzburg . Although he had been promised a proper detention and the family tried to get his release negotiated, he died under poor detention conditions immediately after the failure of the negotiations under unclear circumstances.
Moritz von Guttenberg († 1516) was among other things co-owner of the family castle Altguttenberg, which belonged to a Ganerbegemeinschaft . He had numerous estates scattered around. By sending a feud letter to the margrave, he entered the dispute on November 5, 1497 on Philip's side. In 1500 he fell into the imperial ban due to the raids. Years after the arbitration, he married Waldburga, Philip's widow, in 1506. In 1515 he was margravial councilor.
Christoph von Guttenberg (* between 1430 and 1433; † 1502/1503 in Kulmbach) was one of the few family members who held the margrave during the feud, which earned him the nickname of the traitor . He was co-owner of Altguttenberg and had other extensive possessions. He was already at the side of Margrave Albrecht Achilles in his campaigns. Before 1454 he married Margareta von Plassenberg . Without the knowledge of his relatives, he gave his part of Altguttenberg to Margraves Siegmund and Friedrich as a fief in 1490 and in the same year became margrave councilor in Kulmbach, court master in Ansbach in 1494 and court judge in 1496.
literature
- Johannes Bischoff: Genealogy of the ministerials from Blassenberg and barons from (and to) Guttenberg. 1148–1970 (= publications of the Society for Franconian History. Series 9: depictions from Franconian history. Vol. 27). Schöningh in commission, Würzburg 1971, ISBN 3-87717-272-5 .
- Helmut Hennig: Warthen on the mountains. An old alarm system in our homeland (= official school gazette for the administrative district of Upper Franconia. Local supplement . No. 256, ZDB -ID 583304-8 ). Government of Upper Franconia, Bayreuth 1998.
Web links
- Helmut Hennig: Wartordnung from 1498. Excerpt from: Helmut Hennig: Warthen auff dem Gebirg. 1998.