Johann II of Lichtenberg

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Johann II. Von Lichtenberg (* before 1295; † February 13, 1366 ), called: " Han [n] emann ", was the "boss" of the older family branch of the Lords of Lichtenberg .

family

Johann II was the son of Konrad I von Lichtenberg (recorded since 1269, † 1294) and his wife, Countess Agnes von Teck († 1296), a daughter of Duke Ludwig I of Teck. Konrad I died very early, Johann II was still a minor and Johann I von Lichtenberg , from the younger line of the family, acted as guardian .

After reaching the age of majority , Johann II married Countess Johanna (“Jenata”) von Leiningen in 1318 . From this marriage emerged:

politics

Primus of the entire family

The Lichtenberg house had been split into two lines since the end of the 13th century without any real division of rule taking place. The family initially tried to keep the property together and to administer it uniformly, but this was not without conflicts. Head of the younger line at this time was Ludwig III. von Lichtenberg (proven since 1318; † 1382). He was first canon at the Strasbourg Cathedral , but after the early death of his brother, Johann III. von Lichtenberg , in 1324 again in the secular state and took over the guardianship for his nephews. Johann II did not get a step in the guardianship and a real division of rule was carried out from 1330 onwards through several contracts between the family branches, but in practice there was further dispute about it. The unity of the territory was still an overriding goal in the entire family and if something had to be pledged, it was preferably to another family member.

Johann II was involved in a dispute with Count Palatine Rudolf II in 1340 over ownership of the village of Gottesheim , from which he gained nothing. In 1341 he had to recognize the feudal sovereignty of the Electorate of the Palatinate .

The Steinbach affair

The family life of Johann II ran counter to the consensus to maintain rule within the family: He lived separately from his wife and had an extramarital relationship with Lise von Steinbach . From this connection three daughters emerged:

  • Agnes ∞ Götz von Grostein ,
  • Kunigunde and
  • Adelheid

In order to equip his second, illegitimate, wife and his illegitimate daughters, Johann II transferred his estates in Hattmatt and income in Dettweiler , Melsheim , Uttweiler , Buchsweiler and other estates to them in 1345 . This transfer of family assets into "strangers" hands led to an uprising within the family: his son, Heinrich III., And his brother-in-law, brother of his wife, Count Emich von Leiningen, captured Lise von Steinbach and her three daughters. The resulting feud between John II and Heinrich III, between father and son, was settled in 1346 by Bishop Berthold of Strasbourg . In the matter, however, Johann II succumbed: He had to have part of his property Heinrich III. abandoned and was no longer allowed to alienate goods. This also cost him the primacy that he assumed as the "boss" of the oldest line in the entire family.

In 1352 Johann II brought Lise von Steinbach back to Lichtenberg Castle . The family assessed the situation as so dangerous that Heinrich III., Johann von Lichtenberg , Bishop of Strasbourg, and Count Emich von Leiningen besieged and conquered the castle , imprisoned Johann II and murdered Lise von Steinbach by taking her out of one Throwing the castle windows into the moat. As a result of these events, Johann II lost much of its political weight, even if he was released from captivity the following year. He was incorporated into the family contract of December 31, 1353, which was supposed to secure the entire existence of the rule. At the wedding of his extramarital daughter, Agnes, with the knight Götz von Grostein her Johann II. 1354 overwrote as dowry half of Hattmatt and income in Melsheim, Wilwisheim , Dettweiler and Menchhoffen .

The Heritage

In 1359 there was an inheritance settlement between Johann II., His son, Heinrich III., And the daughter of Johanns II., The married and meanwhile widowed Agnes von Zweibrücken-Bitsch, who mainly served Agnes and her children in exchange for a cash pension from to exclude further inheritance. Then in 1362 Johann II. And Heinrich III. a mutual inheritance contract with the two younger lines of the house of Lichtenberg, which ensured the unity of the territory and its continued existence in the family.

literature

  • Fritz Eyer: The territory of the Lords of Lichtenberg 1202-1480. Investigations into the property, the rule and the politics of domestic power of a noble family from the Upper Rhine . In: Writings of the Erwin von Steinbach Foundation . 2nd edition, unchanged in the text, by an introduction extended reprint of the Strasbourg edition, Rhenus-Verlag, 1938. Volume 10 . Pfaehler, Bad Neustadt an der Saale 1985, ISBN 3-922923-31-3 (268 pages).
  • Frank Baron Freytag von Loringhoven: European family tables III. Marburg 1976, plate 90.
  • JG Lehmann: Documented history of the county Hanau-Lichtenberg in the lower Alsace . 2 vol., O. O. 1862 (?). ND Pirmasens 1970.

Remarks

  1. ↑ His father died on February 26, 1294.
  2. ↑ The interpretation that the process should be interpreted as directed against the “immoral” way of life (see above: Eyer, p. 85) by Johann II is anachronistic. 19th century bourgeois morals were alien to the 14th century.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Frank Baron Freytag von Loringhoven: European family tables III. Marburg 1976, plate 90.
  2. ↑ Eyer, p. 77.
  3. ↑ See Eyer, pp. 103, 106.
  4. ↑ Eyer, pp. 77f.
  5. ↑ Eyer, p. 82ff.
  6. ↑ Eyer, p. 167.
  7. ↑ a b c d Fritz Eyer: The territory of the Lords of Lichtenberg 1202–1480, p. 85.
  8. ↑ Eyer, p. 84.
  9. ^ A b Fritz Eyer: The territory of the Lords of Lichtenberg 1202–1480, p. 107.
  10. ^ A b Fritz Eyer: The territory of the Lords of Lichtenberg 1202–1480, p. 86.
  11. ↑ Eyer, p. 88.
  12. ↑ Eyer, p. 89.
personal data
SURNAME Johann II of Lichtenberg
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Mr. von Lichtenberg
DATE OF BIRTH before 1295
DATE OF DEATH February 13, 1366