Hans III. to Rodenstein

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Representation of Hans III. on the epitaph in St. Laurentius in Franconian Crumbach
View of the star vault in the choir of the Fränkisch-Crumbacher Church, donated by Hans III. from Rodenstein.

Junker Hans III. zu Rodenstein (also Hans the Elder von Rodenstein , born January 6, 1418 , † April 22, 1500 in Rome ) was in the 15th century lord of the rule Rodenstein in the Odenwald . His life, which was unusual in several respects, was, in addition to that of other Rodensteiner gentlemen, a model for some of the legends about the Rodensteiner and ultimately also indirectly for the well-known Rodensteiner song by Viktor von Scheffel .

Life

Hans III. was the son of Hermann von Rodenstein and his wife Elisabeth von Hirschhorn , who in turn descended from the Dalberg family.

Little is known about its long life. In addition to the Rodenstein estate , he had other fiefs , for example in Lindenfels and Oppenheim .

He participated to a large extent in various feuds , including against the Landgrave of Hesse - against whom he had been fighting a long legal battle since 1452 - and, for example, in the Mainz collegiate feud of 1460 as well as in feuds of the other branch of the Rodensteiner, the Rodenstein-Lißbergs . His wife Anna von Rodenstein-Lißberg and heir daughter of this line also came from this branch of the family. He married the then 14-year-old in 1471 at the advanced age of 53. The couple had at least three children, his successor Hans IV (also called Hans the Younger, grave slab in the choir of the Franconian Crumbach Church), the other son Georg and a daughter Margarete. Both of the latter children became clergy.

It is very unclear whether Hans III. was also active as a robber baron . For his relatives from the Rodenstein-Lißberg line, this has been proven beyond doubt; Engelhard and Erkinger von Rodenstein-Lißberg in particular were notorious for their robberies on merchants. Whether Hans III. has ever been involved in it is controversial in the literature.

In the later years of his life he emerged as a founder of church buildings; the choir of the church in Fränkisch-Crumbach and the tower of the church in Neunkirchen in the Odenwald were donated by him.

Death and funerary monuments

Rodenstein Castle , drawing by Valentin Wagner , 1634

At the then unusually high age of 82 years, he undertook a pilgrimage to Rome , probably on the occasion of the jubilee year 1500 and to obtain the associated indulgences for his soul's salvation . He began the ride in the middle of winter 1499/1500, it is believed that he wanted to take part in the Easter celebrations in particular . He died there on April 22nd, 1500 and was buried in the Campo Santo Teutonico . The grave slab has since been removed, served other uses and is now in the cemetery chapel belonging to Campo Santo Teutonico . The inscription reads: HIC IACET CORPUS NOBILIS VIRI JOHANNIS EX ROTENSTEIN ARMIGERI MAGUNTIN DIOC OBIIT XXII APRILIS AN JUB MCCCC VIX AN LXXX M III THIS XVI - “This is where the body of noble Hans zu Rodenstein, an armored man of the Mainz bishopric, died on the 22nd April of the jubilee year 1500 at the age of 82 years, 3 months, 16 days. ”Based on this precise information, the date of birth of Hans III. that is not otherwise available.

In the Evangelical Church of St. Laurentius in Fränkisch-Crumbach there is an epitaph made of yellow-gray sandstone for Hans III. The almost life-size knight is shown fully in armor with a sallet and chin guard; the representation does not have the otherwise schematic knight representation of the late Gothic , but is shown in motion, with clearly individual facial features. The figure was holding a broken two-handed sword in its hand - only the pommel is still there - and stands on a lion figure. The figure is surrounded by the family coat of arms, at the top three (Rodenstein - for the father; again Rodenstein - his own; Hirschhorn for the mother) and at the bottom another two (Rodenstein-Lißberg - for his grandmother; Dalberg for the other grandmother).

The work is considered one of the masterpieces of the late Gothic, already on the threshold of the early Renaissance . First-rate artists such as Tilman Riemenschneider or others from his school were named as sculptors ; research now assumes another master, namely Hans Eseler the Elder , as the creator. The inscription in Gothic minuscule with Frakturversailen reads: Anno dm MCCCCCXXCI kal aprl at Rome, noble juncker Hans died unto Rodensteinstraße, dess sele got gnedig and merciful sey . The deviation from the actual day of death, April 22nd to April 26th, as in this transcription, arises from the confusion between the day of death and the day of burial. The date cannot be resolved because there is no 26th day before the April calendar in the Roman calendar. It can no longer be determined whether it was a mistake by the stonemason or in the transmission of the date of death. To the left and right of the knight's helmet is the inscription: buried on the gotsz field , a reference to the cemetery in Rome.

The brothers Eberhard († 1461) and Georg († 1466) were canons in Worms ; Both grave inscriptions in the former cloister of Worms Cathedral are handed down by Georg Helwich .

Legend formation

The age difference between the spouses when they married in 1471 was considerable, but not unusual for the time. But that may well have been one of the reasons that one of the main legends about the Rodensteiner , the killing of a pregnant wife of a Rodensteiner by the husband, in connection with Hans III. was brought. The fact that neither the date of his wife's death has been recorded nor that a tomb is known may have contributed to this.

There is no evidence whatsoever that the knight had a tendency to drink, as shown in Viktor von Scheffel's Rodensteinerlied. It is different with his riot, this part of the legend can probably be traced back to the feuds. That can also have been the reason why Hans III. probably - in connection with the killing legend of the pregnant wife - is mentioned as the leader of the " Wild Army ", which must move around as a harbinger of a coming war between Rodenstein Castle and Schnellerts . This legend, and with it the Junker, also found its way into the collection of fairy tales and legends of the Brothers Grimm in the 3rd edition from 1891, No. 170 "Rodenstein's Excerpt".

literature

  • Karl-Heinz Mittenhuber: Junker Hans III. to Rodenstein. In: The Rodensteiner. History and legends. Published by the community of interest local museum Rodenstein, Fränkisch-Crumbach / Odenwald 1982, pp. 35–49.
  • Walter Hotz : The last Rodensteiners and their grave monuments. In: Contributions to the exploration of the Odenwald and its peripheral landscapes , published by the Breuberg-Bund , Volume III, Breuberg 1980.
  • Theodor Meisinger: The Rodensteiner. History and changes of a German legend. Published by Walter Hotz, Darmstadt 1954.
  • Karl Noack: Introduction to the Rodenstein exhibition and the Rodenstein legend. Darmstadt 1913.
  • Erwin Gatz, Albrecht Weiland: Campo Santo Teutonico Rome. 4th edition, Regensburg 2006, ISBN 3-7954-4736-4 .
  • Heidi Banse: Odenwald as the main characters in the legends of the Brothers Grimm. In: Odenwald-Heimat (= supplement to the Odenwälder Echo , number 88), volume no. 10/2013.
  • The Junker's wintry ride to Rome. Karl-Heinz Mittenhuber presents legends and facts about Hans III. from Rodenstein. In: Odenwälder Echo of November 27, 2013, p. 13.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Mittenhuber: Junker Hans III. to Rodenstein , p. 35.
  2. ^ Mittenhuber: Junker Hans III. to Rodenstein , p. 43.
  3. ^ Mittenhuber: Junker Hans III. to Rodenstein , p. 43.
  4. ↑ Hans IV. Von Rodenstein 1531, Fränkisch-Crumbach. Grave monuments in Hesse up to 1650 (as of March 8, 2006). In: Landesgeschichtliches Informationssystem Hessen (LAGIS). Hessian State Office for Historical Cultural Studies (HLGL), accessed on October 23, 2013 .
  5. ^ Mittenhuber: Junker Hans III. to Rodenstein , p. 40.
  6. ↑ In detail in Mittenhuber: Junker Hans III. zu Rodenstein , pp. 43/44.
  7. ↑ "The Junker's winter ride to Rome", Odenwälder Echo of November 27, 2013, p. 13.
  8. ^ Erwin Gatz / Albrecht Weiland: Campo Santo Teutonico Rome , p. 284.
  9. ^ Text and translation Mittenhuber: Junker Hans III. to Rodenstein , p. 41.
  10. ↑ "The Junker's winter ride to Rome", Odenwälder Echo of November 27, 2013, p. 13.
  11. ↑ In detail in Mittenhuber: Junker Hans III. zu Rodenstein , pp. 44/45 with reference to Noack.
  12. ^ Mittenhuber: Junker Hans III. to Rodenstein , p. 45.
  13. ^ Mittenhuber: Junker Hans III. zu Rodenstein , pp. 44/45 with reference to Hotz.
  14. ^ Mittenhuber: Junker Hans III. to Rodenstein , p. 43.
  15. ↑ Website on the grave inscriptions
  16. ^ Mittenhuber: Junker Hans III. zu Rodenstein , pp. 35 and 47/48 with reference to Meisinger.
  17. ^ Mittenhuber: Junker Hans III. to Rodenstein , p. 44.
  18. ^ Mittenhuber: Junker Hans III. zu Rodenstein , pp. 44 and 47/48.
  19. ↑ Heidi Banse: Odenwälder as main characters in the sagas of the Brothers Grimm , p. 37.
  20. ^ Mittenhuber: Junker Hans III. to Rodenstein , pp. 47/48.
  21. ↑ Heidi Banse: Odenwälder as main characters in the sagas of the Brothers Grimm , p. 37.
personal data
SURNAME Rodenstein, Hans III. to
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Odenwald knights and role model for legends
DATE OF BIRTH January 6, 1418
DATE OF DEATH April 22, 1500
Place of death Rome