Johann I. (goat grove)

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Johann I von Ziegenhain († December 15, 1359 ) was Count von Ziegenhain from 1304 to 1359 , Count von Nidda from 1333 to 1359 , and High Bailiff of the Fulda Monastery from 1304 to 1344 . During his reign, the county of Ziegenhain reached its greatest boom.

ancestry

Johann was the eldest son of Count Gottfried VI. von Ziegenhain († November 30, 1304) and his wife Mechthild († 1332) von Hessen , a great-granddaughter of St. Elisabeth and daughter of the Hessian Landgrave Heinrich I. Johann is first mentioned in 1304, the year of his father's death. At that time he was still a minor, and until 1309, when she had a second marriage to Philip III. von Falkenstein- Munzenberg, his mother Mechthild appears in documents as regent in front of or next to him. Johann's younger brother Otto was provided with an annual pension and spiritual benefices .

Domination

Johann endeavored to round off and consolidate his regular holdings and to connect separate parts of the area by selling or exchanging distant free float and acquiring connecting pieces. He tried to gather the military and economic forces of his rule and to secure his dominion by building and expanding castles. B. the Landsburg near Allendorf an der Landsburg , Schönstein Castle near Gilserberg and the castle in Schwarzenborn . His attempts to create a land connection between the counties of Nidda and Ziegenhain, probably at Fulda’s expense in the Alsfeld area, remained in vain.

Association of the counties of Ziegenhain and Nidda

In 1311 Johann married Lukardis (Luitgard), heir daughter of Count Engelbert I von Nidda from the Nidda line of Count von Ziegenhain. On the occasion of their wedding, Lukardis and Johann confirmed to the city of Nidda on February 4, 1311 their traditional rights and freedoms, which went further than those of the cities of Treysa and Ziegenhain ; With this proof of favor, the foreseeable transition of the county to Johann should be prepared and secured. Engelbert died in 1330, and Lukardis ruled the county of Nidda nominally until 1333. Then Johann reunited the two counties of Ziegenhain and Nidda, which had been separated by inheritance in 1258, again in one hand.

Between Hesse and Mainz

Due to the geostrategic location of his county - between the two parts of Lower Hesse and Upper Hesse, the Landgraviate of Hesse and important bases of the Archdiocese of Mainz , as well as no land connection between the two counties of Ziegenhain and Nidda - Johann was forced to follow the tactical rocking policy of his predecessors in the power struggles between Mainz and Hesse to continue. Thus, by contract with Archbishop Peter von Mainz on September 18, 1312, in return for payment of 300 marks Cologne pfennigs, he became the Mainz heir to Amöneburg . At the same time he gave his village Frankenhain to the archbishopric as a fiefdom and received it back as a Mainz castle loan for 20 marks Cologne pfennings pension, for which he was to serve as a castle man in Amöneburg at his own expense, elsewhere at Mainz's expense. Johann opened all his castles to the Archbishop, and both parties promised to support each other against all enemies except the Reich and Landgrave Otto von Hessen . On August 1, 1316 and again on August 4, 1317, both sides even expressly committed themselves to mutual support against Landgrave Otto, Johann's uncle on his mother's side.

Just a few months later, on November 9, 1317, despite the ongoing feud, Johann was forced to sign a contract with Landgrave Otto in which he handed over half of the small castle Borken to Otto and took the other half from Hesse as a fief. The Landgrave was given the right to buy the second half for 800 Cologne pfennigs. The small town of Borken should be expanded by both parties and populated with more residents. The castle should be occupied by castle men in inheritance , which should be acceptable to both Johann and the landgrave.

In the next year Johann was involved in an act of war on the part of the landgrave. On July 24, 1318 troops of the Landgrave, Johanns, the Hersfeld Abbot Andreas von Reiningen, and the state peace judge and Reichslandvogts in the Wetterau , Eberhard von Breuberg , together destroyed the robber barons nest at Neu-Wallenstein Castle . It was not until 1357, when Simon von Wallenstein allied himself with his new liege lord Otto von Hessen against the Fulda Abbey , that he received permission to rebuild the castle.

On July 22, 1322 Landgrave Otto and his son Heinrich II. , Count Johann and Count Heinrich II. Von Waldeck , like Johann a nephew of the Landgrave, concluded a mutual protection alliance.

On April 1, 1323 the later Emperor Ludwig IV enfeoffed Johann with the castle and town of Nidda as an imperial fief; however, the court remained a fiefdom.

Vogt of Fulda

Johann had inherited the important office of high bailiff of the imperial abbey of Fulda , which, however, had not included the bailiwick of the monastery itself since 1279. The bailiff's rights brought him many advantages, which he tried to use to expand his own rule and increase his income, but also a lot of arguments with the monastery rulers who had been elevated to prince abbots as early as 1220 , because abbot and bailiff repeatedly fought for their privileges. Johann twice went militarily against Prince Abbot Heinrich VI. from Hohenberg . When the abbot built a second abbey castle within the city in 1319/20 and the citizens protested against it, he allied himself with them because he saw an opportunity to expand his bailiwick rights. With his support, the citizens stormed both of the abbot's castles and destroyed the new castle. At the complaint of the escaped abbot, Emperor Ludwig IV granted the city and the count a ban from the empire .

In 1326 Prince Abbot Heinrich von Hohenberg used his strengthened power as city lord to increase the city's annual tax from 100 to 800 pounds sterling for seven years. When he wanted to increase the taxes again in 1330, renewed resistance formed. When he then imprisoned some wealthy citizens and demanded bail of 9,500 pounds sterling for their release, the city rose against him. On April 7, 1331, the Fulda lay judges and citizens signed a contract directed against the abbot with Johann and opened the city gates to him. The abbot castles, the monastery and the provost's office were stormed and looted. The ministerials of the abbot, however, managed to crush the rebellion; the leaders were executed. Johann himself escaped captivity with difficulty. The imperial ban was again imposed on Johann and the city. Archbishop Balduin von Trier brokered a peace that came into force on September 9, 1331. The citizens had to restore the tower and the curtain walls of the new castle and pay significant compensation. The city received a council and mayor under the supervision of a princely mayor . Johann had to return all the booty, exchange the prisoners and pay 1,000 pounds of Heller atonement . Only after full payment should he be authorized to exercise his bailiff rights again. Since Emperor Ludwig IV increased the fine to 4,000 pounds Heller, Johann initially refused to pay. Abbot Heinrich wrote to the emperor that the punishment was too high, and Landgrave Heinrich II of Hesse, who had been appointed patron of the abbey, also sided with Johann. It was not until 1334 that Johann accepted an atonement reduced to 2,100 pounds Heller, which he paid off in installments. On February 22, 1339 Abbot Heinrich acknowledged the last payment.

Just a few years later, on May 5, 1344, the abbey, although deeply in debt, bought Johann all the remaining rights of the Fulan umbrella bailiff for 7,100 pounds of Heller. Receipt of the full purchase price was confirmed in 1346. Only the hereditary Marshal's office in Fulda was expressly retained; it included the disciplinary jurisdiction over the entire knighthood of Fulda, the chairmanship of the state parliaments , and the command of the feudal nobility and ministeriality.

Pledging of land and building castles

Beginning in 1344 tried Johann, but in vain, Nidda against the former ziegenhainische but 1294 main sizzling become by selling Neustadt exchange in order to round off its territory and the connection between the areas of the Schwalm and the Wohra restore. This did not happen, however, because in the same year a new feud between Landgrave Heinrich II and Archbishop Heinrich III. von Virneburg broke out and Johann and his son Gottfried VII were allied with the landgrave. Instead, Johann, who was in financial difficulties, in agreement with his son Gottfried, sold a quarter of the castle and town of Nidda along with all accessories, villages, people, courts etc. to the Archdiocese of Mainz on February 6, 1344. (Gottfried had already received Nidda, Gemünden and Staufenberg Castle during his father's lifetime .) Also out of financial difficulties, Johann pledged Staufenberg Castle in 1353 to two of his castle men for 2,600 guilders; the pledge was renewed in 1359 and increased to 3500 guilders.

The first castle built under Johann's reign was the one in Schwarzenborn . It was built soon after 1305 as a protective castle right next to the new church and parish , probably out of concern about the spread of the armed dispute between the sons of Landgrave Heinrich I in the Ziegenhainisches and Mainz area. The castle Schönstein , probably already in the 12th century by John ancestors to secure the Gilsatals on the important trade route "The long Hesse" built, was extended 1331 to 1358 by Johann.

1343–1344 Johann had the Landsburg built on the Gerstenberg near Allendorf, a few kilometers north of Treysa . Landgrave Heinrich II, who was involved in a new feud with Archbishop Heinrich von Virneburg, induced Johann and his son Gottfried to build a castle on the Gerstenberg as a counterpart to Jesberg Castle in Mainz and promised them his help. The building was completed in a surprisingly short time, from autumn 1343 to spring 1344.

Marriages and offspring

Johann was married twice. His marriage to Lukardis (Luitgard) in 1311 resulted in two daughters and three sons:

A renewed division of the two counties was planned, in which Engelbert II would have received Nidda, but his early death prevented this. Thus Gottfried VII followed his father in Ziegenhain and in Nidda.

In 1340 Johann married Countess Adelheid von Arnsberg . This marriage remained childless.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Map of Hessen, Ziegenhain and Nidda before 1450
  2. ↑ Röhling, p. 48
  3. ↑ Röhling, p. 49
  4. ↑ Röhling, pp. 50-51
  5. ↑ http://www.schwalmstadt-michelsberg.de/information/geschichte/landsburg/landsburg.html

literature

  • Martin Röhling: The history of the counts of Nidda and the counts of Ziegenhain, Niddaer Geschichtsblätter No. 9, published by Niddaer Heimatmuseum eV, Nidda, 2005, ISBN 3-9803915-9-0 .
  • Karl E. Demandt: History of the State of Hesse, reprint of the 2nd edition, Kassel, 1980.
  • Gerhard Köbler : Historical lexicon of the German countries. The German territories from the Middle Ages to the present. 7th, completely revised edition. CH Beck, Munich 2007, ISBN 978-3-406-54986-1 .
  • Friedrich-Wilhelm Witzel: The Reichsabtei Fulda and their high bailiffs, the counts of Ziegenhain in the 12th and 13th centuries, Fulda, 1963 (41st publ. Of the Fuldaer Geschichtsverein).
predecessor Office successor
Gottfried VI. Graf von Ziegenhain
1304 - 1359 		Gottfried VII.
predecessor Office successor
Engelbert I. Graf von Nida
1333 - 1359 		Gottfried VII.
personal data
SURNAME Johann I.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Count of Ziegenhain and Nidda
DATE OF BIRTH 13th Century
DATE OF DEATH December 15, 1359