Heinrich I. (Austria)

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Margrave Heinrich I (the Strong) in the background the martyrdom of St. Koloman. (Excerpt from the Babenberger family tree , Klosterneuburg Abbey)

Heinrich I , the Strong († 1018 ) was Margrave of Austria from 994 to 1018 . In his time, an area in the march was first called Ostarrîchi . Donations from Emperor Heinrich II prove the enlargement of the mark to the north and east. Ladislaus Sunthaym later calls him the stubborn .

Life

Heinrich succeeded his father, Margrave Luitpold I , as the eldest son in 994 , and succeeded as Margrave of Austria without difficulty, as his younger brothers were looked after elsewhere. Ernst was through his marriage to Gisela, a daughter of Duke Hermann von Schwaben , from 1012 to 1015 Duke of Swabia , Poppo was a clergyman and from 1016 to 1047 Archbishop of Trier , Adalbert was Heinrich's designated successor and followed him from 1018 to 1055 as Margrave of Austria, and Luitpold I was a clergyman and from 1051 to 1059 Archbishop of Mainz .

Ottonian church politics in the Mark

Shortly after the takeover of the Mark by Margrave Heinrich I in 994, there was also a change at the head of the empire, since after the death of Emperor Otto II Otto III. Was elected Roman-German king in 983 , took over the independent government in 995 and was crowned emperor in Rome in 996, where he made his cousin Bruno of Carinthia from the Salian family pope as Gregory V. The close connection between church and state was part of the Ottonian church policy, which aimed to favor the bishops as temporary officials appointed by the ruler over the dynastically rooted tribal dukes. In this sense, the then five-year-old King Otto III granted. under the reign of his mother Theophanu, the ambitious Bishop Pilgrim von Passau († 991) in 985 extensive privileges in the Mark devastated by the Hungarians. The origin of Bishop Pilgrim I, who came from the powerful Siegharding family, who had county rights in the Mark, and at the same time a grandson of Sieghard IV. Count on the Melk , on the Mank and on the, probably also played a role Pielach († 980), who was expelled by Heinrich's father, Margrave Leopold I, soon after the transfer of the mark from Melk Castle on the Danube, which has since become the residence of the margraves - and thus also that of Margrave Heinrich I. - had become.

While there is no evidence that Margrave Heinrich I was sponsored by gifts or privileges from Emperor Otto III. there are several documents that show that Otto III. strengthened bishops and spiritual institutions vis-à-vis the margrave through donations from the royal land.

Even the first written mention of Margrave Heinrich I in 995 was in connection with such a transaction. It was about the exchange of properties between King Otto III. and Gottschalk von Hagenau , Bishop of Freising (994 to 1005), with the king exchanging six royal hooves on the Ybbs in and around Ulmerfeld - very generously - for a small estate near the royal castle town of Krems on the Danube . The position of the six royal hooves is described as in marcha et in comitatu Henrici comitis , ie as in the marrow and in the county of Count Heinrich.

First mention of Austria

Not only Margrave Henry owes its documentary first mention an act of mercy by Otto III., But also the name "Austria", for the modest heartland of Markgrafschaft, a name that centuries later as House Austria span continents and in the 19th century as the Empire of Austria , the should denote the multinational Danube Monarchy .

This first mention of Austria as "Ostarrichi" can be found in a deed of gift that Emperor Otto III. At the request of his cousin Heinrich II of Saxony, who was Duke of Bavaria from 955 to 976 and again from 985 to 995 and Duke of Carinthia from 989 to 995 , on November 1, 996 in Bruchsal (today in the district of Karlsruhe ) in favor of Gottschalk von Hagenau, Bishop of Freising (994 to 1005), had it exhibited. In this so-called " Ostarrichi certificate ", the location of the gifted property "in loco Niuuanhova dicto" near Neuhofen an der Ybbs in Lower Austria as in regione vulgari vocabulo Ostarrîchi in marcha et in comitatu Heinrici comitis filii Liutpaldi marchionis (for example: in the region, which is popularly called Ostarrichi, in the marrow and in the county of Count Heinrich, the son of Margrave Luitpald). This means that the name Ostarrichi at that time referred to a region that went beyond the margravate, while this itself was only called that from the middle of the 11th century, when comitatus or marca Ostarrichi is then used. In 1979 an "Ostarrichi memorial" was opened in Neuhofen.

Another mention of Margrave Heinrich and of Austria took place in 998 on the occasion of a donation that Emperor Otto III. to his relative Heinrich II of Saxony, called Heinrich der Zänker. In this document, the donated Gut Nöchling, i.e. the area between Ysper and Sarmingbach on the later border between Upper Austria and Lower Austria , is located in pago Osterriche vocitato ac comitatu Heinrici marchionis (for example: in the province called Osterriche and in the Grafschaft des Margrave Heinrich). This property later came to the Burgraves of Regensburg via the Counts of Ebersberg , who went out in 1045.

Awarding of royal property under King Heinrich II.

After the death of Emperor Otto III. in 1002 he was followed by his second cousin, Heinrich von Sachsen († 1024), (the son of Heinrich the Brawler) who had been Duke of Bavaria as Heinrich IV since 995, and became King of Germany in 1002 as Heinrich II and ruled from 1014 as Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire .

In this year 1002, King Heinrich II made the first - and only - large donation of royal property to Margrave Heinrich I. This donation underscores Henry's function of expanding the border of the margraviate to the east, because the property transferred to Heinrich was outside of the former Altlandes , ie no longer in the northern border area in the district above the Vienna Woods , but on the former eastern border of the Mark. King Heinrich II. Gave the Margrave Heinrich an estate between the so-called Dürren Liesing and the Triesting and thus in an area that had only been secured in 991. This is not the area around Mödling , but that of Gaaden , Heiligenkreuz , Alland and Klein-Mariazell in the Vienna Woods . In addition, he received 20 king hooves, which he could choose from north of the Danube between the Kamp and the March - which was already seen as a border river at that time. It is assumed that Heinrich selected these hooves in the border area of ​​the Mark, in the area of Weikersdorf and Stockerau , where in 1011 the Niederaltaich monastery on the Wagram was also owned.

This important donation to Margrave Heinrich I, however, is put into perspective by the fact that King Heinrich II adhered to the Ottonian policy of giving preference to church foundations with royal property. The Diocese of Passau received property in 1007 at the confluence of the Enns and Erla rivers , the Archdiocese of Salzburg received property between Traisen and Perschling and in Steinfeld , the dioceses of Freising and Regensburg in southern Marchfeld , and Tegernsee Abbey in 1002 received property in Unter-Loiben in the Wachau and 1011 60 Königshufen from the so-called Ennswald between the Enns and the Ybbs near Kroisbach, in 1011 the Niederaltaich monastery, which had already been given a lot of attention at the time of the Carolingians in the eastern border region, received 10 Königshufen on the northern Danube-Wagram near Absdorf .

Another important royal donation in the Mark was made in 1014 by King Heinrich II. To Bishop Berengar of Passau (1013-1045), with land being given in five places for the foundation of churches, which led to a significant increase in Passau's own parishes and thus to strengthening led the Passau diocese organization in the Mark. As a result, churches were built in Herzogenburg , Krems an der Donau , Altenwörth (= Kirchberg am Wagram ), Tulln and Jedlesee (= Stockerau), each consecrated to the Passau patron saint Stephan .

From the point of view of Margrave Heinrich I, these royal donations were only conditionally gratifying, as the donated areas were largely beyond his control and this permanently, as the property transferred to the Tegernsee Monastery in 1002 near Kroisbach until 1803 (!) Was owned by the of the monastery stayed.

Occasionally there were also gifts to secular lords. In 1002 a certain Pilgrim, presumably from the dynasty of the later Counts of Formbach , received property at the place “Uuvizinesdorf” di the Rotte Winnersdorf near Haag , and 100 Hufen from the adjacent Ennswald. The estate soon passed to the Bamberg diocese founded by King Heinrich II.

Defense of the northern border

Between 1004 and 1018 there were repeated clashes between King Henry II and Bolesław I Chrobry (Boleslaw I the Bold) from the House of Piasts , who was Duke of Poland from 992 to 1025 , and was crowned the first King of Poland in 1025 but died on June 17th that same year.

Margrave Heinrich I was directly affected by these disputes. On the one hand, because he was on the side of King Henry II as a fiefdom bearer, and on the other hand, because the march bordered the territory controlled by the Polish ruler Boleslav I. Chrobry. This unusual situation can be explained by the fact that the original territory of the Mark consisted of a relatively narrow strip of land on both sides of the Danube between Enns and Tulln, the northern border of which ran along and there along the ridge of the Wagram , a few kilometers north of the Danube - between Krems an der Donau and Stockerau bordered the province of Moravia, which at that time extended far to the south . Moravia had been under Bohemian sovereignty since around 955, but was controlled from 999 to 1019 by the warlike Polish Duke Boleslaw I, who was also Duke of Bohemia from 1003.

The contemporary chronicler Thietmar von Merseburg († 1018), a relative of Margrave Heinrich I , particularly emphasizes in his description of the campaigns of King Heinrich II against Poland in 1015 and 1017 the use of Margrave Heinrich, who led a Bavarian exemption emerged. He calls him a "brave warrior" and speaks of him as the "owner of the margraviate between the Hungarians and the Bavarians" In military terms, the campaign of Margrave Heinrich I was only half a success, because both times he was met by Duke Bolesław I of Poland with an attack before and then led an army against the margraviate of Heinrich. Although he was able to successfully repel both attacks on his marrow, this prevented him from intervening on the main theater of war in today's Silesia .

The proximity of the Margraviate Austria to the Polish sphere of influence ended only after the death of Margrave Heinrich I when the internal fighting led to the collapse of the Polish Empire, whereby Oldřich from the Přemyslid dynasty , who ruled from 1012 to 1034 as Duke of Bohemia , in 1019, Moravia was conquered and reintegrated into the countries of the Bohemian Crown , making the Duchy of Bohemia again the direct neighbor of the march.

Martyrdom of Saint Koloman

Collegiate Church of St. Peter in Melk, baroque facade

The chronicler Thietmar von Merseburg reports on the Irish pilgrim Koloman , who was suspected of being a Hungarian spy in the then troubled times in the border area between Bavaria and Moravia due to the lack of communication and was therefore captured, tortured and hung from a dry tree. As occurred at his grave miracles and began amongst others the scrawny tree back to green was found that he had died as a martyr, so the body on behalf of Margrave Henry I solemnly in Melk was buried.

The oldest Melk annals, which were only written from 1122/23 onwards, but probably used older in-house sources, name Stockerau as the place of the martyrdom of Coloman and give the date July 16, 1012, with the burial in Melk "in Mezilecun sepelivit "(probably more of a blessing) on ​​October 13, 1014 by Bishop Megingaud (also Mengingoz) of Eichstätt (991-1015), who was himself a relative of Emperor Heirich II.

According to the "Passio S. Cholomanni" from the middle of the 12th century, the oldest manuscript of which comes from the Benedictine Abbey of Admont , the body of Koloman was buried in the "civitas Medelicha" (Melk on the Danube) in the church of the Apostle Prince Peter . At that time this was a separate church of the Eichstätt Monastery, which explains the consecration by Bishop Megingaud von Eichstätt. Today this is the baroque collegiate church of Melk.

At the same time, it emerges from the Passio S. Cholomanni that Margrave Heinrich had his seat in Melk, since Melk is referred to as “civitas sua” (ie his city) in the text with reference to him. However, he did not work there as the owner, because Melk had a tripartite ownership, because it belonged partly to the empire , partly to the Archdiocese of Salzburg and partly to the Diocese of Eichstätt , which meant that Heinrich could only work there in his capacity as a Reich official or deputy to the king .

Koloman was spontaneously venerated as a saint by the population , is the patron saint of Melk Abbey and was the official patron saint of Austria above the Enns and Austria below the Enns from 1244 to 1663 , until he was held in this position by Margrave Leopold III. was replaced by Austria († 1136), who was canonized in 1465 .

Koloman was also venerated in the Kingdom of Hungary , where the eldest son of King Géza I of Hungary from the House of the Arpads was named Koloman, who ruled as King of Hungary from 1095 to 1116 and left a descendant in the Byzantine Empire who left the family name Dukas Kalomanos wore. Another bearer of the name from the House of Arpaden was Prince Koloman ( Hungarian : Kálmán) the second son of King Andrew II of Hungary , who ruled as the first crowned king of Galicia and Lodomeria from 1212 to 1219 and later to 1241 as Duke of Slavonia was.

Demise

Thietmar von Merseburg reports on the death of Margrave Heinrich I that this occurred "suddenly and unexpectedly" in 1018. A cause of death is not mentioned in his chronicle. The margrave was buried in Melk, as can be seen in a handwritten inscription from the first half of the 13th century. However, no anthropological evidence can be provided for this on the basis of the examined bones .

family

There are no records in necrologists of a wife and children of Heinrich . Only one of Melk's oldest gravestone inscriptions from the 13th century names a "Suanhilt", which is assigned to Heinrich. However, this source is classified as very dubious because of proven errors. Heinrich certainly had no surviving children. After the death of Margrave Heinrich I, his brother Adalbert the Victorious succeeded him as Margrave of Austria.

analysis

During his tenure, Heinrich succeeded in securing the relatively young mark and pushing the borders towards the north and east. In doing so he proved to be a loyal follower of the emperors and Bavarian dukes.

The official seat in Melk and the first mention of Austria as Ostarrîchi is documented .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ European Family Tables , New Series, Volume I .: The German States. Panel 39; Verlag JA Stargardt, Marburg, 1980
  2. ^ Karl Lechner: Die Babenberger: 'Margraves and dukes of Austria 976-1246. 6th, unchanged. Ed .; P. 52; Verlag Böhlau, Vienna, Cologne, Weimar, 1996, ISBN 3-205-98569-9
  3. ↑ Karl Lechner op. Cit. P. 49, note 7, according to the “Breve chronicon Mellicense” MGH SS XXIV, 70
  4. ↑ Karl Lechner op. Cit.S. 57
  5. ↑ a b Karl Lechner: op- cit. P. 58.
  6. ↑ According to the European Family Tables Volume I, Table 3, Heinrich II. "The brawler" Duke of Bavaria († 995) was a first cousin of Emperor Otto II and therefore to his son Emperor Otto III. an uncle (2nd degree)
  7. ↑ a b Karl Lechner, op. Cit. P. 62
  8. ↑ a b Karl Lechner, op. Cit. P. 61
  9. ^ "Lower Austria, History and Culture in Pictures and Documents", page 60; Otto Müller Verlag, Salzburg 1982, ISBN 3-7013-0637-0
  10. ↑ Thietmar von Merseburg: Chronik (= selected sources on the German history of the Middle Ages. Freiherr-vom-Stein-Gedächtnisausgabe, Vol. 9); Retransmitted and explained by Werner Trillmich, Darmstadt 1957 (several new editions).
  11. ↑ Karl Lechner, op. Cit. P. 60
  12. ^ Lower Austria, op. Cit. Page 60
  13. ↑ a b c Karl Lechner, op. Cit. P. 63
  14. ^ MGH SS IV, 676 f.
  15. ↑ European Family Tables , New Series, Volume II. Plate 154;
  16. ↑ European Family Tables, New Series, Volume II. Plate 178
  17. ↑ Document book for the history of the Babenbergs (BUB) Volume IV / 1 "Additional sources 976 - 1194"; No. 557; 1968

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personal data
SURNAME Heinrich I.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Margrave of the Bavarian Ostmark
DATE OF BIRTH 10th century
DATE OF DEATH 1018