Johann I. (Henneberg-Schleusingen)

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Johann I von Henneberg-Schleusingen (* 1289 ; † May 2, 1359 ) was the ruling Count of Henneberg-Schleusingen from 1347 to 1359 .

origin

Johann was the younger son of Count Berthold the Wise (1272-1340), who was raised to the rank of prince in 1310, and his wife Adelheid of Hesse (1268-1317), daughter of Landgrave Heinrich I of Hesse . His older brother was Henry VIII († September 10, 1347), who with Jutta (Judith) von Brandenburg zu Salzwedel (1298 / 1300-1353) had a son and four daughters who died early. His younger brother Berthold became a knight of the Order of St. John and Commander in Kühndorf . The youngest brother, Ludwig, entered the clergy and eventually became canon in Magdeburg . His sister Elisabeth (1318–1377) married Johann II , the burgrave of Nuremberg .

Life

Early years

John spent his younger years mostly in the wake of his father Berthold, the 1323-1330 guardian of young Margrave of Brandenburg Ludwig , the eldest son of Emperor Louis IV. , And governor of the Mark Brandenburg was, and thus he had many and close contacts at Brandenburg court and - due to the long-planned marriage of Ludwig with the Danish king's daughter Margarethe - at the Danish court. After their brother, Prince Otto Christoffersen, the second son of King Christoph II , who died in 1332 , in his unsuccessful attempt to gain control of Jutland , the de facto regent, Count Gerhard III. von Holstein-Rendsburg , defeated in the Battle of Viborg on October 7, 1334 and then held as a prisoner at Segeberg Castle , Johann succeeded in negotiating his release, albeit against very severe conditions, which the Danes resented.

Johann returned to the local county in 1339 and received income from his father from property in Fuchsstadt , Kissingen , Nüdlingen and Behrungen , although - given the fact that his older brother Heinrich VIII only had surviving daughters - he expressly did not give up Right of inheritance to the county of Henneberg waived. When his father died the following year, Johann received confirmation of the imperial fiefdom of the county and his right of succession from Emperor Ludwig IV, and the Hersfeld fiefdom from Hersfeld Abbey .

Prince Count Berthold was followed in 1340 by Johann's brother Henry VIII as ruling count. Shortly before his death in 1347, he decreed that his widow Jutta and his three daughters who had not yet been provided for should be assigned the southern part of the county, the so-called "New Rulership" , which Jutta had brought to a considerable extent as a dowry in their marriage Northern part - the Althenneberg lands - on the other hand his younger brother Johann I.

Governing Prince Count

Johann's considerably reduced county of Henneberg, a relatively compact area between the Thuringian Forest and Rhön , consisted of the castles and offices of Henneberg , Barchfeld , Elgersburg , Frankenberg , Ilmenau , Kaltennordheim , Mainberg , Maßbach , Roßdorf , Sand , Schleusingen , Themar , Völkershausen , Wasungen , Wernshausen and half of Scharfenburg and the city of Schweinfurt . The territorial weakening also meant a financial and political power, especially in relation to the neighboring bishopric of Würzburg , with which the Hennebergers had struggled for supremacy in northern Franconia for so long .

Johann had little choice but to lean closely to the bishopric. As early as 1348, in the second year of his reign, he entrusted Bishop Albrecht II with the burgrave's office in Würzburg, which had been in the hands of the Hennebergs as guardian of the bishopric since 1157, and received it back on June 5, 1348 as a man from Würzburg . This represented a further serious weakening of the county. The enfeoffment was connected with the simultaneous enfeoffment of Johann by Bishop Albrecht with the now hereditary marshal office of the bishopric, which had previously only been awarded to various Hennebergers. In 1349 the bishop renewed the protective bailiff of Johann over the bishopric and granted him and his descendants the right to open all of the castles and towns in Würzburg. The bond with Würzburg was further deepened on March 12, 1350, when Johann received a hereditary castle loan from Würzburg to the Landeswehre castle and a renewal of the hereditary castle loan, which his father had received as early as 1330, to the episcopal castle in Meiningen .

In order to ensure the continued existence of his family , Johann married Elisabeth von Leuchtenberg, daughter of Landgrave Ulrich I von Leuchtenberg († 1334) and his wife Anna von Zollern-Nürnberg († 1340) in 1349 .

Johann was in Nuremberg in 1349 in the entourage of King Charles IV. In 1350 he received a renewal of the Henneberg imperial fiefs and regalia , which at least partially negated the assignment of the Würzburg burgraviate to the bishopric. Also in 1349/50 Johann supported the Wittelsbach Margrave Ludwig von Brandenburg against the arrogance of the False Woldemar with a small force (22 "helmets" and 36 "Renner").

Johann, who had already assumed a financially impoverished inheritance, soon found himself in financial distress due to his own lavish lifestyle and during the course of his reign he was forced to pledge numerous properties or sell them with repurchase rights: the castles in Kaltennordheim , Roßdorf and Barchfeld along with the associated locations and all accessories to Abbot Heinrich VI. from the Abbey of Fulda (1350), Burg und Amt Ilmenau (only bought in 1343 by Heinrich VIII. from the Counts of Kevernburg ) to the Counts Heinrich VIII. (IX.) and Günther XII. (XXII.) Von Schwarzburg (1351), Helversleben to Landgrave Friedrich den Strengen von Thuringia (1351), Silbach to Hans von Ostheim (1352), castle and town Wasungen and the castle estates in Bamberg and Hammelburg to Gyse von Steinau and Lutz von Herbelstadt (1353), half of Themar to Konrad von Herbelstadt (1356) and the villages of Kirchheim , Bechstedt and Werningsleben to the city of Erfurt (1357). In 1355 he concluded a protective alliance with the Landgrave Friedrich III. and Balthasar von Thuringia, whereby he granted them the right to redeem all castles and areas pledged by him as well as the right of advance on all property to be pledged or sold by him in the future.

In 1356 Johann was appointed imperial councilor by Emperor Charles IV at the Reichstag in Nuremberg and all of his imperial fiefs and privileges were confirmed on the condition that 14 horses and 14 companions were always present at the imperial court days .

Death and succession

On April 23, 1359 he decreed in his will that his wife Elizabeth, with the help of Abbot Hermann of Veßra and some other noble councils, guardianship over his minor sons all still exercise should. He designated the castles Wasungen, Frankenberg and Schleusingen as their Wittum . Should she marry again, the Wittum should be returned and she should be settled with 7000 guilders .

Only nine days later, on May 2, 1359, Johann von Henneberg-Schleusingen died. According to tradition, he stepped on one of his shoe straps and fell to his death as a result. Given the fact that he had written his will just days earlier, it is more likely that the now 70-year-old was weakened by old age and perhaps illness and died.

His widow Elisabeth von Leuchtenberg († July 25, 1361) then led the regency for their underage sons Heinrich and Berthold. After her death, her brothers Johann I (1334–1407) and Ulrich II (1344–1378) took over the guardianship. When Heinrich was found of legal age in 1367, he initially ruled jointly with his brother, but Berthold resigned in 1375 and became canon in Bamberg ; Heinrich became sole ruler.

Marriage and offspring

His marriage to Elisabeth von Leuchtenberg († July 25, 1361), daughter of Landgrave Ulrich I von Leuchtenberg (1293–1334) and his wife Anna von Zollern-Nürnberg († 1340), had four notarized children:

  • Elisabeth (1351 - April 24, 1397); ∞ (around 1366) Johann II. Von Anhalt-Köthen (* around 1340; † April 11, 1382)
  • Anna († July 27, 1385); ∞ Gottfried III. von Hohenlohe-Uffenheim-Entsee (* before 1344, † around 1390)
  • Heinrich X. (XIII.) (19 June 1352; † 1405); ∞ Mechtild of Baden (1368–1425)
  • Berthold XII. (XV.) (* 1356 - † February 11, 1416), Canon in Bamberg

Occasionally four other sons are mentioned, but the evidence for them is very poor:

  • Albert
  • Hermann († after March 10, 1373)
  • Johann (* around 1358; † before April 10, 1360)
  • Volkmar

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Schultes, pp. 67-68
  2. ↑ The fourth had become a nun in Sonnefeld Monastery .
  3. ↑ After Jutta's death in 1353, this area fell to her sons-in-law, Margrave Friedrich III. von Meißen (1332-1381), the Burgrave Albrecht of Nuremberg († 1361) and the Count Eberhard II of Württemberg († 1392).
  4. ↑ Geßner, p. 16
  5. ↑ Schultes, pp. 69-71
  6. ↑ Schultes, p. 72
  7. ↑ Thuringia and the Harz, with their peculiarities, folk tales and legends. Fifth volume. Eupel, Sondershausen, 1841, p. 73
  8. ↑ Schultes, p. 72
  9. ↑ Daughter of Burgrave Friedrich IV of Nuremberg (1287–1332) from the House of Hohenzollern .
  10. ↑ Schultes, p. 73
  11. ↑ Schultes, pp. 74-75
  12. ^ Association for Saxony-Meiningen history and regional studies (ed.): New regional studies of the Duchy of Saxony-Meiningen. Hildburghausen, 1903, pp. 549-550
  13. ↑ * around 1300; † after June 11, 1358
  14. ↑ * around 1322; † July 4, 1382
  15. ^ Hennebergisches Urkundenbuch, V. Theil, I. Supplementband, (No. CCXVII), Meiningen, 1866, p. 118
  16. ^ Hennebergisches Urkundenbuch, V. Theil, I. Supplementband, (No. CCXVII), Meiningen, 1866, p. 122
  17. ↑ Geßner, p. 16
  18. ↑ Schultes, pp. 75-76
  19. ↑ Schultes, p. 76
  20. ^ Association for Saxony-Meiningen history and regional studies (ed.): New regional studies of the Duchy of Saxony-Meiningen. Hildburghausen, 1903, pp. 549-550
  21. ↑ Schultes, p. 77
  22. ↑ Geßner, p. 16
  23. ^ Association for Saxony-Meiningen history and regional studies (ed.): New regional studies of the Duchy of Saxony-Meiningen. Hildburghausen, 1903, pp. 549-550
  24. ↑ Geßner, p. 18
  25. ↑ Hennebergische Chronica , pp. 202–203
  26. ↑ Hennebergische Chronica , p. 203
  27. ↑ Hennebergische Chronica , pp. 203-207
  28. ↑ Hennebergische Chronica , p. 202.
  29. ↑ Detlef Schwennicke: European family tables. Family tables on the history of the European states. New series Volume XVI, Bavaria and Franconia, plate 147
  30. ↑ Detlef Schwennicke: European family tables. Family tables on the history of the European states. New series Volume XVI, Bavaria and Franconia, plate 147

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personal data
SURNAME Johann I.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Johann I of Henneberg-Schleusingen
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Count of Henneberg-Schleusingen (1347–1359)
DATE OF BIRTH 1289
DATE OF DEATH May 2, 1359