Reign of Bilstein

The rule Bilstein was a dynastic rule with extensive property in the area of ​​today's federal states of Hesse and Thuringia .

history

The Counts Wigger

It is believed to have started with Count Wigger I , who documented extensive county rights and property in the Germarmark on the central Werra ( Frieda and Eschwege area ), on Hainich ( Bad Langensalza , Schlotheim , Mühlhausen and Oberdorla ) and from 967 until 981 in Obereichsfeld disposal. Wigger (us) founded the first church in Dorla in 987 .

The free float of Count Wigger extended over Dornburg an der Saale to the Zeitz area , where he was notarized as Margrave of Zeitz from 965–981. In addition to the Ekkehardinern , the Counts of Kevernburg , the Counts of Schwarzburg and the Counts of Weimar , the family was another powerful line of counts in Thuringia from the 10th to 12th centuries.

The Counts of Bilstein

From about 1130 onwards, their descendants named themselves after their ancestral seat, Bilstein Castle , in the Höllental west of Albungen , a current district of Eschwege . This castle is said to have been built by them themselves around 1100. During this time they got into military clashes with the Counts of Northeim, who had defeated Count Rugger (Rüdiger) I von Bilstein around 1105/1110 and destroyed the first, still weakly fortified castle, Bielstein. The successor, Rugger II von Bilstein, asserted himself with the newly built Bilstein Castle and began to expand the area around the castle, the forests on the Hoher Meissner , as a clearing lordship. For this purpose he also founded the Germerode Monastery , which became the house monastery of the family dynasty. The key name Bilsteiner was later applied retrospectively to the earlier members of the family.

Burgrave offices

For the Ludowingers in the 12th century it was necessary to hand over all tasks for the administration of the Wartburg , in particular also the permanent security and technical improvement of the fortress, into the hands of an authorized representative; this held the office of burgrave of the Wartburg. With the Counts of Wartburg, who also appeared at the same time as Burgraves of Brandenburg on the neighboring Brandenburg in the early 13th century , a sideline of the Counts of Bilstein, who was not related by blood to the Ludowinger family, was given high honors.

Decline and end

Count Otto II von Bilstein sold the Bilstein fiefs and then his allodial property to Landgrave Heinrich I of Hesse in 1301 with the consent of his wife Katharina . With him, the count family died out in 1306.

Connection to other noble families

There are suspicions that the Counts of Bilstein were related to the noblemen of Bilstein in Westphalia.

According to the Reinhardsbrunn chronicle of the monk Johannes Caput from the Ilfeld monastery , an Elger von Bilstein on the Werra built the Ilburg and called himself Graf von Ilfeld. In 1162 a nobleman from Ilfeld married Lutrude von Hohnstein and then called himself Ilfeld-Hohnstein, then from 1182 only von Hohnstein .

Name bearer

• Wigger I. (962), Margrave of Germarmark (around Mühlhausen)
• Wigger II.
• Rugger I. (1071), had county rights in Martinfeld (near Heiligenstadt)
• Rugger II., Count von Bilstein, founder of the Germerode monastery
• Otto I., builder of the monastery church Germerode
• Otto II. († 1306), Count von Bilstein, the last of his line in the male line

literature

• Karl Kollmann : The Counts Wigger and the Counts of Bilstein . Ed .: Historical Society of the Werra Valley. Bischhausen / Eschwege 1980.
• Gustav Eisentraut: The Bilstein in Höllental near Albungen (and neighboring fortifications) . Ed .: Association for Hessian History and Regional Studies. tape 14 , 1902.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Raymund Falk: The deserted Reichensachsen near Heyerode and the settlement of the Hainich low mountain range . In: Association for Eichsfeldische Heimatkunde (Hrsg.): Eichsfeld-Jahrbuch . Issue 1. Mecke Druck und Verlag, Duderstadt 1993, p. 151–155 (section on the «Erphol donation»).
2. ^ Johann Wolf: Eichsfeldische Kirchengeschichte: with 134 documents. Göttingen 1816, p. 72
3. ↑ Rudolf Knappe: "Bilstein" Gem. Albungen, Eschwege . In: Medieval castles in Hessen . Wartberg-Verlag, Gudensberg-Gleichen 2000, ISBN 3-86134-228-6 , p. 60-61 .
4. ^ Walter Heinemeyer : The Marburger Landgrave Castle and the Wartburg - Marburg and Eisenach . In: Historical Commission for Hesse (Ed.): Hesse and Thuringia - from the beginnings to the Reformation. An exhibition by the state of Hesse . Catalog. Wiesbaden 1992, ISBN 3-89258-018-9 , pp. 41 .
5. ↑ Document dated May 14, 1301 in the Marburg State Archives: Count Otto von Bilstein sells his feudal estates to Landgrave Heinrich in (Lower) Hesse (Hassia) from the Werra river (Gewerra) to the Hecheno forest ( memento of the original from 3. September 2014 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. . 
6. ^ Counts of Honstein-Ilfeld on Genealogie-Mittelalter.de