Konrad II (Werl-Arnsberg)

Konrad II (died around 1040; † 1092 in Friesland ) was Count of Werl-Arnsberg and Vogt of the Diocese of Paderborn . In contrast to other Saxon great supporters, he remained Emperor Heinrich IV. As a thank you, he was given prominent rights with the right of pre- dispute between Weser and Rhine. Inside, the relocation of the count's seat from Werl to Arnsberg began at that time .

family

Konrad was the son of Count Bernhard II. He had two brothers named Heinrich and Liupold . Heinrich became bishop in Paderborn . The other brother made little appearance. In the dispute over Konrad's inheritance, he belonged to the part of the family that transferred parts of the inheritance to the Archbishop of Cologne in 1102 . Konrad also had his sister Ida. If you follow Paul Leidinger , she married Count Heinrich von Lauffen . Her daughter Adelheid was then married to Adolf I. von Berg . He himself married Mechthild (sometimes called Mathilde), a daughter of the Bavarian Duke Otto von Northeim and Richenzas . This was previously with his ancestor Hermann III. von Werl was married. The marriage resulted in three sons and probably a daughter. The son Hermann accompanied his father on a campaign to Friesland in 1092 and was killed in the process. After the death of his father, Heinrich got the bailiwick of the Paderborn monastery and the county of Rietberg as an inheritance. The main heir was the son Friedrich .

Life

Follower of Henry IV.

Despite this close relationship, Konrad also stood on the side of King Henry IV during the Saxon nobility uprising led by Otto von Northeim . After the victory of the later emperor in 1072, Konrad may also have benefited from the distribution of parts of Northeim's property. After the fighting resumed, Henry IV raised an army from all parts of the empire in 1075. The troops from Friesland and Westphalia were probably under the command of Konrad. Konrad may have also participated in the battle of the Unstrut in 1075 .

Probably against the background of this prominent position during the Saxon uprising, he was granted the right of pre- dispute between the Rhine and the Weser. Konrad thus had the right to lead an army in the area of ​​Friesland and Westphalia and had the duty to give the king safe conduct. This honor remained in the hands of the count family until the end of the county in 1368 and then passed to the counts of Nassau . The granting of the right also had to do with the fact that the Saxon duke fought on the side of Henry IV's opponents. Konrad was thus one of the most important pillars of Salian power in the Westphalian region. For this reason, the rival kings Rudolf von Rheinfelden in 1078 and Hermann von Salm in 1082 sent troops to Westphalia immediately after their election as king. Against the background of the conflicts between supporters and opponents of the emperor, Konrad began to relocate the count's seat from the unprotected Hellwegene to Arnsberg in the Sauerland . There he had the old castle built.

Fight for the diocese of Paderborn

Even during the investiture controversy , he remained on the emperor's side. Konrad then probably also took part in Henry IV's Italian campaign from 1081–1084. But it may also be that he followed with his brother Heinrich later. Both were protagonists on the imperial side against the Gregorian forces in the fight for the diocese of Paderborn in 1084/85. After the death of Bishop Poppo von Paderborn , the rival king Hermann von Salm himself came to Paderborn in 1083 to present Bishop Heinrich I of Assel as the new loyal to the Pope. This was also legitimately elected by the cathedral chapter . Konrad bought his inheritance from his brother Heinrich von Werl so that the brother could use the money from the emperor to acquire the office of bishop in Paderborn. Konrad himself stood up for Heinrich during the siege of Rome by the emperor. After Heinrich from the emperor and from the (counter) Pope Clemens III. when the bishop was finally recognized, Konrad supported his brother in the expulsion of Heinrich von Assel. He probably had the old Rietberg Castle built on the border with Paderborn .

Frisian War

For the war against Friesland in 1092 he raised an imperial army in the area between Corvey in the east and Werden monastery in the west. On the one hand, it was about subjugating the Frisians for the emperor. On the other hand, Konrad was concerned with safeguarding Werler's interests in this area. In this war there were three major battles in the land of the Morse, at Eckern and at Sethe. Konrad and his son Hermann fell in the first battle. In the following two skirmishes, the Westphalian army was almost completely wiped out in just ten days.

He was succeeded by his sons Heinrich and Friedrich. The consequences of the defeat were considerable for the Werler house. The emperor, who was stuck in northern Italy at the time, tried to regulate the situation in the north from there. He strengthened the position of Count Heinrich des Fetten from Northeim and transferred the previous Werler county rights in Friesland to the Archdiocese of Bremen-Hamburg . The Werlers lost these rights forever. Immediately after Konrad's death, the Northeimers turned to Westphalia, probably to win back the Richenza possessions that had previously been lost. The Northeimers later left parts of it to the Cologne Archbishopric in order to permanently withdraw them from Friedrich von Werl-Arnsberg's pursuit of possession.

literature

• Karl Féaux de Lacroix : History of Arnsberg. HR Stein-Verlag, Arnsberg 1895, p. 1ff. (Reprint: Stein, Werl 1983, ISBN 3-920980-05-0 ).
• Paul Leidinger : The Counts of Werl and Werl-Arnsberg (approx. 980–1124): Genealogy and aspects of their political history in the Ottonian and Salian times. In: Harm Klueting (Ed.): The Duchy of Westphalia. Volume 1: The Electorate of Cologne Duchy of Westphalia from the beginnings of Cologne rule in southern Westphalia to secularization in 1803. Aschendorff, Münster 2009, ISBN 978-3-402-12827-5 , pp. 119–170, here 149–156.