Hermann II of Castell

Hermann II. Count and Lord zu Castell († around 1331 probably in Italy ) was ruler of the county of Castell from 1307 until his death . With his childless death, the line from the Lower Castle became extinct.

The county before Hermann II.

The time before Hermann II came to power was marked by two different developments in the Grafschaft Castell. On the one hand, the clashes with the more powerful Prince Diocese of Würzburg increased more and more. Under one of Hermann's predecessors, Count Friedrich I, the counts began to deepen the differences through tactical marriages. So Friedrich Bertha von Henneberg married , the daughter of the last Würzburg burgrave, the traditional opponent of the bishop.

After Friedrich the brothers Hermann and Heinrich came to power. They deepened the differences with the bishop. Heinrich fought against the Würzburger in 1266 together with the Counts of Henneberg. His brother, on the other hand, was much closer to Würzburg. The contradictions of the brothers led to the separation of two lines of the Castell family in 1267. While Hermann founded the line from the Upper Castle , Heinrich resided in the Lower Castle in Castell.

Life

Hermann was probably born in the second half of the 13th century. His father was Count Heinrich II zu Castell . His mother was either Sophie von Öttingen or Adelheid von Nürnberg , with whom the father had been married since around 1273. The count's siblings are also unknown. Only the brother Rupert is mentioned in the sources. In 1306 the count was first mentioned.

The renewed division was important for the development of the Castellic city of Volkach , which had already been divided up by Hermann's predecessors. Hermann and Rupert zu Castell shared their half of the city, so that each only owned a quarter of the only city under the rule of the counts. Due to the growing debts that Hermann accumulated, his quarter soon even came to the duchy of Würzburg.

Hermann II also had to give up the Hallburg , which the Counts of Würzburg had received as a fief. In 1311 he pledged the castle to the diocese. In 1321 it even hit the seat of the counts themselves. The lower castle in Castell was pledged. The recipient was the Burgrave of Nuremberg, Friedrich IV von Zollern . It was not until centuries later that the castle came back into the possession of the counts. Count Hermann died around 1331 on a trip to Rome on which he accompanied Emperor Ludwig the Bavarian .

marriage

Count Hermann married Margareta von Burgau. The marriage had two children, but the only son Friedrich died soon. After Hermann's death, the line from the Lower Castle was extinguished and the county was no longer divided.

• Friedrich († May 6, 1325)
• Agnes († after 1365)

literature

• Wilhelm Engel: House u. Reign of Castell in Franconian history . In: Society for Franconian History (ed.): Castell. Contributions to the culture and history of home and dominion. New Year's Sheets XXIV . Würzburg 1952. pp. 1-19.
• Otto Meyer: The Castell house. State and class rule over the centuries . In: Otto Meyer, Hellmut Kunstmann (ed.): Castell. State rule - castles - status lordship . Castell 1979. pp. 9-53.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Engel, Wilhelm: Haus u. Reign of Castell . P. 4.
2. ↑ Meyer, Otto: The Castell House . P. 19.
3. ↑ Worldroots.com: Web Archive, Family Tree ( August 7, 2007 memento in Internet Archive ), accessed April 23, 2015.

predecessor	Office	successor
Henry II	Count von Castell-Unterschloss 1307–1331	---