Hessonen

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The Hessonen were a medieval aristocratic family whose dominance in the 11th century was in Sülchgau and around Backnang . Towards the end of the century the possessions were relocated and the Hessons appeared as lords of Wolfsölden , from which the Counts of Schauenburg emerged in the 12th century .

overview

The early Hessons: Sülchgau, southern Upper Rhine and southern Black Forest

The source situation for the Hessons is problematic; the noble family is mentioned in only a handful of records. Since the early Hessons were all called Hesso (or Ezzo ), it is practically impossible to classify the names of the names clearly.

The Hessons are first mentioned in 1007, when King Heinrich II bequeathed the town of Nussbach an der Rench and the Gengenbach monastery , both in Ortenau , and Kirchentellinsfurt in Sülchgau to the newly founded diocese of Bamberg at the Synod of Frankfurt . A Count Hesso is named as the ruler of the two areas, making him the first tangible member of the dynasty. The Hessonen seem to have lost the county in the Ortenau as a result of the synod or soon afterwards in favor of Berthold von Zähringen ; possibly Count Hesso had supported the king applicant Hermann II of Swabia and had to give up the fief after his defeat. The Sülchgau with the main town Sülchen (near Rottenburg on the upper Neckar ) thus became the sole center of power for the Hessonen ; The family's allod estates were also located in this region .

Another Count Ezzo (Hesso) appears next in 1027 at a meeting of various nobles in Ulm who agree to a wild ban in the Murrhardt Forest established by King Conrad II . He is named as Graf im Sülchgau and Murrgau and husband of Gisela von Backnang . Gisela, the heiress of Backnang, was probably either a member of the Counts of Calw or a relative, possibly even a daughter from his second marriage, the Empress Gisela von Schwaben . With Gisela's marriage to Count Hesso in the 1020s, Backnang and other properties in the Murrgau fell to the Hessonen. It is very likely that Gisela's husband is the son of the Count of 1007 of the same name.

In addition to the Sülchgau and Backnang, the Hessones also owned extensive lands on the southern Upper Rhine between the knee of the Rhine and the Kaiserstuhl and in the southern Black Forest . The connection between these areas and the northern ones on the Neckar arises from the fact that the above-mentioned couple Hesso and Gisela also appear as deceased benefactors in the month of March in the year book of the Einsiedeln monastery . According to a tradition from the same monastery, Gisela was also buried in Einsiedeln; Around 1050 her two sons, Gerung and Hesso von Blansingen , donated land to the monastery in Stetten near Lörrach for the benefit of their mother's salvation .

Another suspected member of the family is a Count Hesso, who was married to a Hiltgard and was killed in battle; his feast day in Einsiedeln and Reichenau was August 20th. He used to be equated with the Count of 1007 and his death was seen as a result of the uprising of Duke Ernst II of Swabia in 1030. However, recent research has refuted this theory; it is now assumed that this Count Hesso only died after the middle of the century, so his assignment remains completely unclear.

It is also unclear which exact connection existed between the Hessonen and the Üsenbergers - both families were wealthy in the Breisgau-Southern Black Forest region, and the name "Hesso" was widespread in both of them. A close relationship between the two dynasties is therefore indisputable; mostly the Üsenberger are seen as a branch line of the Hessonen. Both Hesso von Rimsingen , the founder of the Tuniberg / St. Ulrich , as well as Hesso von Kleinkems , co-founder of the Sankt Georgen monastery in the Black Forest , founded in 1084/85 , are assigned either to the Hessons or the Üsenbergers in the literature, depending on the situation. The Lords of Eichstetten and the Counts of Nimburg are also mostly considered to be subsidiary lines of the Hessons. In research, therefore, the Dietrich-Hesso clan is sometimes spoken of, from which, in addition to the Hessons in the narrower sense, the aforementioned noble families are said to have emerged. It is assumed that the gentlemen von Rötteln and Waldeck also have Hessonian descent .

Rule in Backnang

From the middle of the century, the family moved from Sülchgau to Backnang and used the suffix “von Backnang”. In 1057, when the Sülchen estate was donated to the Speyer monastery by King Heinrich IV , a Count Hesso in Sülchgau was mentioned for the last time, even if the family is attested to having property in the region for several decades later.

On a document from the Diocese of Augsburg from 1067, in which Bishop Embrico confirmed a donation, a Hessonian father-son couple appears for the first time: Hesso (the elder) and his son Hesso (the younger) von Backnang. It is assumed that the two are identical with the Hesso I. "the good" and Hesso II. Mentioned in the Backnang Nekrolog. In addition, it is assumed that the older Hesso (= Hesso I.) is identical with Hesso von Blansingen, son of Gisela and brother of Gerung, and the last Sülchgau count from 1057. He would be the one who relocated the family seat from Sülchgau to Backnang, his mother's legacy.

His son Hesso II had several children with his unidentified wife Judith: Judith (von Backnang-Sulichgau) , another Hesso (III.) , Pilgerinus, as well as Siegehard (von Wolfsölden), with the latter being particularly controversial, because he is never mentioned together with the rest of the siblings. Hesso II approached the powerful dynasties of the region, first the Counts of Calw : In 1075, when the Hirsau monastery was restored by Adalbert II of Calw, an Ezzo de Sulichen (Hesso von Sülchen) was named as a witness for a notarization. In the 1080s the two families got married, presumably Hesso's son Siegehard married Irmengard, a daughter of Adalbert II and Gottfried's sister . As a dowry , the Hessonen received important goods in the central Neckar area, for example in the Glems and Remstalgau ; Türkheim , Degerloch , Eltingen and Gruppenbach .

The most important marriage, however, came with the margraves of Baden : Around 1111, Judith, daughter of Hesso II, married the Baden margrave Hermann II , who received the town of Backnang - the previous Hessonian center - as a dowry. (According to alternative genealogical reconstructions, however, Judith's husband is Hermann I and her father is Hesso III.) The couple donated an Augustinian canon monastery in Backnang , which was done in 1116 by the Pope and in 1122 by the Bishop of Speyer has been officially confirmed. In the following years Backnang became a center of the Baden margraviate , while the Hessonen - despite the surrender of Backnang more powerful than before - relocated to Wolfsölden .

Wolfsölden and Schauenburg

The relocation to Wolfsölden, where the Hessonen built a castle , must have taken place at the end of the 11th or beginning of the 12th century under Hesso II. Or III. be done. The change from a manor seat on the plain to a fortified castle is not a specialty, but was in the style of the time.

Of the sons of Hessos II, Pilgerinus probably died young, while with Hesso (III.), Due to the fact that his names were identical with his predecessors, it is completely uncertain. The remaining brother Siegehard - but as noted above, it could also be the son of Hessos III. act - therefore rose to head of the dynasty after the death of Hessus II. With him the identity of names ends and the name "Hesso" was no longer given, which is why the gender is now referred to as Wolfsöldener . Like his predecessor, Siegehard maintained close relationships with the Calwern and distinguished himself as a supporter of the Hirsau monastery. It is attested several times in Hirsau, first around 1100 with his father Hesso, then in the following years with his three sons Gottfried, Siegfried and Gerhard. While little is known about Gottfried, who probably died around 1140, his brother Siegfried rose to become Bishop of Speyer (as Siegfried II). The two brothers are documented as masters of an extensive imperial estate complex in the Nordgau , which has probably belonged to the Hessons for a long time. A dispute with the Waldsassen monastery about the local hamlet Hofteich near Tirschenreuth was resolved by King Konrad III in Mainz in 1138 . decided in favor of the monastery.

Gerhard, the third brother, is no less important than his siblings; he moved his seat to Bergstrasse and founded the Schauenburg line as Count Gerhard I , named after the castle near today's Dossenheim .

Family table

Due to the inadequate source situation, the genealogy is very uncertain.

  1. Hesso, Count in Sülchgau and the Ortenau (around 1007)
    1. Hesso, Count in Sülchgau and Murrgau ∞ Gisela , heiress of Backnang (around 1027)
      1. Gerung
      2. Hesso von Blansingen (around 1050), identical to Hesso I. von Backnang (around 1067) (?)
        1. Hesso II of Backnang (around 1075–1100) ∞ Judith
          1. Judith von Backnang-Sulichgau (* around 1080; † around 1123) ∞ around 1111 Hermann II of Baden (* around 1060; † October 7, 1130)
          2. Hesso (III.)
          3. Pilgrimage
          4. (?) Siegehard von Wolfsölden (around 1080–1100) ∞ Irmengard von Calw
            1. Gottfried († around 1140)
            2. Siegfried , Bishop of Speyer 1127–1146
            3. Gerhard, Count von Schauenburg (around 1130–1165) ∞ Heilicka von Burgeck - for descendants see the Schauenburg line

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Hansmartin Schwarzmaier : Lörrach in the Middle Ages , p. 119f. in: Otto Wittmann, Berthold Hänelet, City of Lörrach (eds.): Lörrach: Landscape - History - Culture. Issued in memory of the privilege granted 300 years ago on November 18, 1682. City of Loerrach, Loerrach 1983.
  2. ^ Stephan E. Maurer: The Lords of Waldeck . In: Das Markgräflerland, Volume 2013, pp. 121–138, here pp. 132f.