Conrad IV of Hanau

Coat of arms of Konrad IV. Von Hanau, prince abbot of Fulda 1372–1383

Konrad von Hanau († 1383 ), usually called "Konz", was a Benedictine and prince abbot of the Fulda monastery .

family

Konrad von Hanau was the fifth son of Count Ulrich II. Von Hanau (* approx. 1280/1288; † 1346) and Agnes von Hohenlohe (* before 1295; † November 29, 1346), daughter of Kraft I. von Hohenlohe . He was first mentioned in documents in 1343. At that time he was a student at the Fulda monastery school. His year of birth will therefore be between 1325 and 1330.

Due to the primogeniture practiced in the family , his eldest brother, Ulrich III, followed. (* 1310; † 1369/70), the father in the government. The other sons of Ulrich II, including himself, had to be cared for differently according to their status, for which spiritual careers offered themselves. Before 1353 Konrad von Hanau was a canon at the St. Johanneskirche outside the walls in Hildesheim ; he lost this benefice through excommunication on October 16, 1353. Thereupon he became a monk in 1353 and then also a priest in the Fulda monastery . There he led the opposition to Prince Abbot Heinrich VII von Kranlucken , whom he succeeded as abbot after his death. As prince abbot of Fulda, he probably achieved the highest rank among his numerous siblings.

Pedigree of Konrad von Hanau
Great grandparents	Reinhard I. von Hanau (* before 1243; † 1281) ∞ Adelheid von Hagen-Münzenberg († 1291)	Ludwig von Rieneck -Rothenfels († 1289) ∞ Udehilt von Grumbach and Rotenfels († 1300)	Gottfried von Hohenlohe , Count of Romagna (proven: 1219–1266) ∞ Richza von Krautheim (proven: 1224–1263)	Count Friedrich von Truhendingen - Dillingen († 1274) 2nd ∞ vmtl. Margaretha of Andechs-Meranien († 1271)
Grandparents	Ulrich I. von Hanau (* 1250/60; † 1305/06) ∞ Elisabeth von Rieneck -Rotenfels (* approx. 1260; † approx. 1300)		Kraft I. von Hohenlohe -Weikersheim (proven 1260–1312) 2. ∞ vmtl. Margarethe von Truhendingen -Dillingen
parents	Ulrich II. Von Hanau (* 1280; † 1346) ∞ Agnes von Hohenlohe -Weikersheim (* before 1295; † 1342/44)
Konrad von Hanau

Career

The following positions taken by Konrad von Hanau are known from the church career of Konrad von Hanau:

• before 1353 he was canon at the St. Johanneskirche outside the walls in Hildesheim , loss of the position due to excommunication on October 16, 1353
• In 1353 he is a monk and priest of the Fulda monastery. There he leads the opposition to his predecessor, Prince Heinrich VII von Kranlucken .
• Provost to Holzkirchen
• 1373 Prince Abbot of Fulda

Prince Abbot of Fulda

choice

The election to the abbot of Fulda was not easy and not cheap. He had to raise considerable sums of money, including from his brother, Ulrich III. von Hanau, and his nephew, Ulrich IV. von Hanau . There are bonds for a total of 12,500  fl in this context. The opposing candidate was Wilhelm von Magenheim , Provost of Solnhofen . The choice of Konrad von Hanau stood in the way of damage to the left eye as an obstacle under canon law. As a precautionary measure, the candidates signed a contract in the run-up to the election that was intended to generously compensate the losers. Of this, however, only the certificate favoring Konrad von Hanau has been received. Both traveled to the Curia in Avignon for confirmation of their choice.

The decision was ultimately made by the curia and it was probably the greater financial strength of Konrad von Hanau that won. On February 7, 1373 he was named Conrad IV by Pope Gregory XI. appointed prince abbot of Fulda, because of his eye he was granted dispensation . Like his predecessors, he probably received the benediction in Avignon.

Political situation

The reign of Konrad IV was marked by numerous feuds and battles with knights from the area. With all his military successes, that was not good for his finances. In a war with Landgrave Hermann II of Hesse he was defeated, which also cost him dearly. The cities of Fulda also had a tense relationship with their sovereigns. On the one hand, he was involved in attacks on the property of citizens and, on the other hand, he took sides in inner-city disputes between guilds and patricians in favor of the latter against the majority of the citizens. From the point of view of the citizens, the constant feuds were also a failure of the sovereign to secure peace. The Fulda estates , to which Stiftskapitel , Ritter and the cities of Fulda , Vacha , Hammelburg and Geisa belonged, also opposed what - since only these could approve taxes - in turn aggravated the financial situation of Konrad IV. Konrad had the upper hand until the summer of 1381, when he was effectively ousted by the estates. Except in the fiefdom , a commission consisting of nine people took over the administration and tried to get the finances of the abbey back under control. The sovereign was only allowed to use the Rockenstuhl Castle near Geisa and the Frauenberg near Fulda.

Financial position

The high level of debt for his election had consequences immediately after taking office, as he had to try to refinance the debt he had incurred from the Reichsstift Fulda. As early as 1374, Otzberg Castle , the city of Hering and shares in the city of Umstadt were pledged to Ulrich IV von Hanau for 23,875 florins . The starting position was bad, the pen was already heavily in debt.

The numerous fights that he had to fight meant that he could no longer meet his financial obligations. At the end of 1381 the situation was so hopeless that he had to submit to a compulsory administration, which was dominated by the estates. This process constituted the Fulda estates for the first time and in a completeness never achieved again. The erosion of the commitments made under his government dragged on for more than ten years after his death.

death

Konrad von Hanau was murdered in Spangenberg at the beginning of 1383 . One source says he was stabbed to death, another that he was crushed between a door and a door frame. The perpetrators remained unknown and were never caught.

The background to the fact is unclear. They can be related to his clashes with the Fulda nobility. The so-called Sternerbund is mentioned in this context - but only in later literature . However, this had already dissolved in 1381, so it cannot have anything to do with the incident. The reports received about the event come from much later sources, the details remain unclear.

He was buried in the Dreikönigskapelle, which he had built near the Boniface grave in Fulda Cathedral .

literature

• Ludwig Clemm : The Book of the Dead of the Ilbenstadt Monastery. in: Archive for Hessian History and Archeology. NF. Darmstadt 19.1936,2, pp. 169-274. ISSN  0066-636X
• Karl Grossart: The estates in the Reichsabtei Fulda and their unions up to the year 1410. Marburg 1914.
• Josef Leinweber: The Fulda abbots and bishops. Frankfurt 1989.
• Konrad Lübeck : The Fulda abbots and prince abbots of the Middle Ages. Publication of the Fulda History Association. Vol. 31. Fulda 1952, p. 236ff.
• Johann Friedrich Schannat : Historia Fuldensis. Frankfurt 1729.
• Reinhard Suchier : Genealogy of the Hanauer count house. in: Festschrift of the Hanau History Association for its 50th anniversary celebration on August 27, 1894. Hanau 1894.
• Repertory Germanicum . Directory of the persons and places of the German Reich appearing in the papal registers and camera files ... Vol. 6. Tübingen 1985.
• Ernst Julius Zimmermann : Hanau city and country. 3. Edition. Hanau 1919, 1978 (repr.). ISBN 3-87627-243-2

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Clemm, p. 252
2. ↑ Repertorium Germanicum, No. 5483, v. May 17, 1354
3. ↑ Leinweber, p. 89
4. ↑ Grossart, p. 62
5. ↑ Leinweber, p. 90
6. ↑ Leinweber, p. 90, illustration of his seal there: p. 89.
7. ↑ Grossart, p. 74, note 56
8. ↑ Lübeck, p. 238
9. ↑ Schannat, p. 230

predecessor	Office	successor
Henry VII of Kranlucken	Prince Abbot of Fulda 1372–1383	Friedrich I of Romrod