District court of the four gentlemen on the facility

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The district court of the four gentlemen on the Einrich (called the "Vierherrische") is a historical territory (1160–1775) in what is now Rhineland-Palatinate ( Rhein-Lahn-Kreis ) and Hesse ( Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis ). It was ruled by four rulers at the same time, so it was a condominium .

Emergence

The area known as Vierherrische emerged from the Einrichgau . During the Frankish era, the Frankish imperial territories were divided into Gaue in the 8th century , and the region between the Rhine , Lahn and Aar became the "Pagus Heinrichi" (rule of Heinrich), the Einrichgau. The counts of Arnstein gained control over this. The last Arnstein Count Ludwig III. handed the area over to his cousin Reinold von Isenburg in 1140 , before retiring childless to a monastery he founded . The Isenburg family sold the County of Einrich in 1160 to the County of Katzenelnbogen and the County of Nassau , who jointly ruled it.

Ruler

The houses of Nassau and Katzenelnbogen and their successors, the Landgraves of Hesse , each ruled 50% in the Vierherrischen . Since these two houses shared several times, the original two rulers sometimes became up to five rulers. Due to the number of four rulers in the early days of the condominium (from 1260), namely the two Katzenelnbogen and the two Nassau counts, the territory was called the "four-lord".

Number of rulers over the quadrilateral (1160–1775)

before 1160: The area is administered by the Lords of Isenburg

1160: Dominion over the area of ​​County Einrich goes to County Katzenelnbogen and the House of Nassau (2 rulers)

1255: The House of Nassau is divided into the Ottonian and Walramian lines (3 rulers)

1260: Through the division of Katzenelnbogen , four rulers for the first time: Altkatzenelnbogen, Neukatzenelnbogen, Nassau's Walramic line and Nassau's Ottonian line

1355: Division of the Walram line in Nassau-Wiesbaden-Idstein and Nassau-Weilburg-Saarbrücken (called Nassau-Weilburg from 1574; 5 rulers)

1402: Reunification of Katzenelnbogen (4 rulers)

1605: The Walramische Nassau-Wiesbaden-Idstein goes to Nassau-Weilburg , so there are only 3 rulers, which will not change despite further inheritance until the dissolution of the Quadripolar (1774–75).

Ruler from foundation to dissolution (1160–1775)

Originally the territory of the quadrilateral was the territory of the county of Einrich. In 1160, the county of Einrich came to the houses Katzenelnbogen and Nassau , which ruled it together. In 1255 the division of the House of Nassau gave rise to the Walramic and Ottonian lines, in 1260 Alt- and Neukatzenelnbogen were created, so that from 1260 onwards one could speak of a "quadruple territory", even if not with the same rulers as e.g. B. at the time of the Reformation . The Katzenelnbogen house , which was reunited in 1402 through a clever marriage policy, fell to the Landgraviate of Hesse in 1479 , which then ruled over the katzenelnbogic part of the quadrilateral. After the division of the Landgraviate of Hesse in 1567, Hesse-Rheinfels initially got the share of the quadrilateral, and after its extinction in 1583, Hesse-Marburg . After the Marburgs died out in 1604, Hessen-Kassel received the Niedergrafschaft Katzenelnbogen and the condominium shares. During the Thirty Years' War , the rights to the tetrarch changed several times between Hessen-Darmstadt and Hesse-Kassel , the latter kept these until the dissolution of the tetrarch.

The house of Nassau divided several times after 1255, and the successor states also received partial rights to the quadrilateral. The Ottonian Nassau-Dillenburg held its share (25%) until the line became extinct in 1606. After that, its share of the quadrilateral fell to Nassau-Diez , which kept it until the quadrilateral was dissolved. After the division of the Walram line in 1355, the Walramic share in the quadrennial (25%) was owned by Nassau-Wiesbaden-Idstein (12.5%) and Nassau-Weilburg-Saarbrücken (12.5%). After 1355, the quadripultery was in the hands of five masters; this state was not to end until 1402 with the reunification of the two katzenelnbogischen lines. Nassau-Weilburg-Saarbrücken divided into Nassau-Weilburg and Nassau-Saarbrücken in 1442 (which did not have condominium rights), the latter fell to the former in 1574, whereby the two separate states had been reunited under the name Nassau-Weilburg in 1442 . The unified Nassau-Weilburg also inherited Nassau-Wiesbaden-Idstein in 1605 and with this inheritance reunited all of Nassau's Walramic areas, so that the four-lordship now only includes the three mansions of Katzenelnbogen (50%), the Ottonian Nassau-Dillenburg (25%) and the Walramische Nassau-Weilburg (25%) had, which is why the name "Vierherrisches" was again not justified. After the Nassau-Weilburg family died out, Nassau-Saarbrücken received its share of the quadrilateral in 1629. After their extinction, the share fell again in 1723 to Nassau-Ottweiler and after the death of the last ruler, this house fell to Nassau-Usingen in 1728 , which kept the part of the quadrilateral (25%) until its dissolution.

territory

At the start

At the time of the sale of the County of Einrich to Nassau and Katzenelnbogen, the Vierherrische was still the size of the former Einrichgau . This state of affairs lasted until at least 1337, since a document from that year still mentions the county "von dem Einriche", while a word from 1361 mentions the county "uff dem Einrich", the 75th Contains villages. In the 24 years in between, 72 of the 147 places of the Einrich have left the Vierherrischen (or the county of Einrich). Many of these places fell on Kurtrier , Katzenelnbogen and the Kurpfalz .

Villages of the Quadrilateral 1361

The territory of the quadrilateral in 1745

The remaining 75 places were: Aull , Mielle , Nievern , Dausenau , Misselberg , "Muche" (no longer exist / ne), Sulzbach , Frücht , Becheln , Bogel , Ruppertshofen , Gotzinghofen (ne), Kehlbach , Dessighofen , Geisig , Dornholzhausen , Denighofen (ne), Marienfels , Berg , Singhofen , Hunzel , Tiefenbach (today Ober- and Niedertiefenbach ), Bettendorf , Grebenholzhausen (ne), Buch , Grebenroth , Egenroth , Huppert , Mappershain , Langenscheid , Rodenbach (ne), Dickschied , Hilgenroth , Nauroth , Zorn , Algenroth , Münchenroth , Ober- and Niedermeilingen , Diethardt , Strüth , Welterod , Ober- and Niederlipporn (today only Lipporn ), Rettershain , Oberwallmenach , "Backenroth" (ne), Lautert , Oelsberg , Endlichhofen , Auel , Kasdorf , Himmighofen , Niederheim (ne), Pissighofen (today Hainau ), Gemmerich , Wenigengemmerich (ne), Weyer , Eschbach , Winterwerb , Ober- and Niederbachheim , "Orle" (ne), Holzhausen , Weltrod (ne), Brunnenbach (ne) , Werentrod (ne), Kördorf , Herold , Ergeshausen , Bleidenbach (ne), Nieder- and Mittelfischbach , Ackerbach (ne) and Rettert .

Departing villages until 1581

Between the year 1400 (in which all 75 villages are still known) and the year 1581, in which only 34 places are documented, the quadrilateral became 41 places smaller: 9 places (Kleindausenau, Wenigengemmerich, Niederheim, Gotzinghofen, Backenroth, Rodenbach , Weltrod, Werentrod and Brunnenbach) no longer existed, 21 places went to the County of Katzenelnbogen, or their successors, the Landgraves of Hesse, namely Mielle, Nievern, Eschbach, Gemmerich, Himmighofen, Kasdorf, Ruppertshofen, Bogel, Auel, Oelsberg, Dickschied, Hilgenroth, Nauroth, Zorn, Algenroth, Münchenroth, Diethard, Ober- and Niedermeilingen, Huppert and Ackerbach. Another 11 places went to the Counts of Nassau, these places were Muche, Misselberg, Sulzbach, Frücht, Becheln, Endlichhofen, Ober- and Niederlipporn, Welterod, Strüth and Orle.

Departing villages until 1646

Between 1581 and 1646 the places Denighofen (by merging with Marienfels to one place) and Bleidenbach were removed from the list of places of the tetronic.

Situation in 1775

In the year of the division of the Vierherrischen, the following villages were still part of the Vierherrischen: Buch and Holzhausen (both outside the spell fences Vierherrisch), Gerolstein, Oelsberg, Oberwallmenach, Obertiefenbach, Rettershain, Weyer, Lautert, Kördorf, Kehlbach, Oberbachheim, Niederbachheim, Winterwerb, Eschbach , Egenroth, Grebenroth, Herold, Bettendorf, Martenroth, Mappershain, Langschied, Marienfels, Dessighofen, Ehr, Berg, Hunzel, Oberwies, Dornholzhausen, Rettert, Geisig, Attenhausen, Bremberg and Singhofen.

Reformation (1538)

Coat of arms of the Landgraviate of Hesse, which existed until it was divided in 1567 and whose Landgrave was one of the four rulers of the quadrilateral.

Since the quadrilateral was administered and ruled jointly by the rulers, everyone had to agree to make a decision such as the introduction of the Reformation . The Hessian Landgrave and the Counts of Nassau-Weilburg and Nassau-Dillenburg were positive about the Reformation, while Count Philip I of Nassau-Idstein prevented the introduction of the Reformation for several years. Before Pentecost 1535 there was a discussion of the four gentlemen's envoys. Philip I warned against "hasty steps (...) and would have preferred to see a unified decision by the German Empire in matters of religion." Finally, Philip I of Nassau-Idstein gave in due to pressure from the others and Nassau-Dillenburg finally sat down a visit to the area by four superintendents by: Eugenius for the Landgraviate of Hesse , Crombach for Nassau-Dillenburg, Romanus for Nassau-Weilburg and, only after long hesitation, a secular ambassador who represented Nassau-Idstein. First the visitors visited Singhofen , Niederbachheim , Kördorf and Dornholzhausen . There they found out that the Catholic mass was still being held. In the towns of Weyer , Oberwallmenach , and Obertiefenbach , the clergy were already married, read German masses , preached the gospel and passed the Lord's Supper in both forms. The pastor of Marienfels wanted to remain Catholic, but was forbidden to do so, so he held a Catholic service for a week and a Lutheran service for a week. After the visitation, although Nassau-Idstein objected, the three superintendents worked out a new church order, which consisted of the following points:

"1. In every place a predicant should be appointed who preach the word of God louder and purer, without human additions; he should receive quite a mistake so that he can keep himself the better with honor. 2. According to the gospel, the sacraments and ceremonies are to be kept and the Lord's Supper is to be served in both forms. 3. Instead of mass, the word of God should be preached and the Lord's Supper should be kept if communicants were there. 4. A common caste should be set up in every parish for the benefit of poverty. This is where the income that has previously been given for the building, the brotherhoods, the lighting, the donations and calendars (in kind) should flow. 5. Two or three honest and honest people should be assigned to the pastor to manage the castes, who have to take care of poverty and take care of it. 6. Seditious and seductive preachers and Anabaptists should not be tolerated. 7. The absent clergy, with the exception of those in the monasteries, should only receive half of their income. The other half should fall into the common box. The present tense (the church property) is administered by the pastor. 8. Schools are to be built for the benefit of the youth and filled with learned and pious journeymen. 9. One should not tolerate unchastity among clergy and secular people. 10. If this is not done, the pastor should call the officials and servants who are authorized to intervene at any time. "

The guidelines were implemented quickly and Philip I of Nassau-Idstein could not do anything about it. On March 28, 1538, he had his ambassadors sign an agreement that “in all parishes [area assigned to a parish church and a pastor] of the 'four lords' the divine word should be preached, the priesthood reformed and abuses stopped. “But Philip I insisted that there should continue to be masses in Latin. However, soon all rulers, including Count Philip I, were dissatisfied with the compromise and after long persuasion by the superintendent Eugenius, the last "traces" of Catholicism in the quadrilateral were finally removed.

The tetrad at the time of the Thirty Years War (1618–1648)

During the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648), the area of ​​the Quadrilateral was also heavily devastated. Initially (up to the 1630s) it remained with marches and a few looting in the Protestant tetradromancy. B. 1620 by the Catholic League . In 1634 imperial and Croatian (i.e. Catholic) troops occupied the area of ​​the quadrilateral and the surrounding Niedergrafschaft Katzenelnbogen , which was also Protestant ( ruled by Hessen-Darmstadt ). In 1635 many residents of the quadrilateral fled towards the Rhine , as the fortified cities were there. The reason was the invasion of Protestant powers, which was described, among other things, as follows: "The subjects of the quadripulosis were chased away by Swedish war people [...]". Troop billeting, looting and destruction have also been reported, for example in 1637 when imperial troops recaptured the area. In 1647 the area was conquered by Hessen-Kassel , which means that it was again in Protestant hands like at the start of the war and the original rule could be rebuilt together with Nassau.

Through the many hardships and also through the outbreak of diseases and epidemics , the population was very stressed and many people died; it was reported that at the end of the war some villages were depopulated. The rulers, however, were particularly interested in their increase in power, which is also shown by the long-demanded division of quarters for the quadrilateral, which was carried out in 1647 shortly before the end of the war.

Establishment of quarters (1647)

The impossibility of finding a mode of administration that would satisfy all condominium owners and at the same time to take into account all special rights in order to overcome overlaps and competence difficulties, it was decided to divide the area of ​​the quadripulosis. It was discussed at meetings in 1609 and 1618, and in 1631 proposals for partition were made for the first time, but they did not meet with general approval. It was not until 1647 that it was possible to divide the area into 3 quarters, which were initially only intended for the collection of taxes, but then from 1681 also applied to the administration of justice.

In 1647 the quadrilateral (the name was retained, although it had only three rulers since 1605) was divided into three quarters among the three participating states of Hesse-Kassel , Nassau-Diez and Nassau-Saarbrücken , in each of which one power was allowed to raise the contributions and from 1681 only one administration of justice was responsible. The division was as follows:

The division of these quarters took place without regard to the districts of the old courts. Marienfels came to the Nassau-Diez district together with Berg, Hunzel, Ehr, Bremberg and Attenhausen. The Hessian quarter included: Weyer, Niederbachheim, Oberbachheim, Winterwerb, Kehlbach, Kördorf, Herold, Ergeshausen, Oberwallmenach, Lautert, Rettershain, Bettendorf, Egenrod, Grebenrod, Martenrod, Langschied, Mappershain. The Nassau-Saarbrückisches Quartier comprised the villages Dornholzhausen, Geisig, Dessighofen, Singhofen, Obertiefenbach.

This list of the villages in the different quarters also shows that the Quadripolari comprised only 28 villages in 1647, which was to remain that way until its dissolution.

This division of quarters was an early harbinger of the final dissolution of the quadrilateral in the two so-called Nastatter recesses in 1774 and 1775. The establishment of quarters was necessary because otherwise the area would have become ungovernable, as rulers and their administrations interfered with each other. In the decades that followed, the quadriplegic persisted, but it was no longer of great importance as the gentlemen installed their own courts in their quarters.

Dissolution of the Quadrilateral (1774/75)

After the problems with the administration increased, the regulation of individual special rights of the condominium owners became more difficult and competence disputes arose, it was decided to dissolve the area, which had already been divided into quarters, and to finally clarify the ownership. This happened in the two Nastatt recesses in 1774 and 1775. In the first Nastatt recess on June 27, 1774, the old quarters from 1647 were abolished and new borders were drawn. "The Nassau houses, however, receive the localities of Marienfels and Denighofen, Ehr, Berg Hunzel, which used to belong to the Nassau quarter ... in addition to their landmarks, also the farms and mills belonging to them now as a property with all state sovereignty" . In the second Nastatter recession on December 9, 1775, the border between Hesse and Nassau was redrawn. After that, the quadrilateral no longer existed, it was divided between Hesse and the Nassau states as follows:

  • Buch (outside the quadrilateral ban fences), Gerolstein, Oelsberg, Oberwallmenach, Obertiefenbach, Holzhausen (outside the quadrilateral ban fences), Rettershain, Weyer, Lautert, Kördorf, Kehlbach, Oberbachheim, Niederbachheim, Winterwerb, Eschbach, Egenroth, Grebenroth, Herold, Bettendorf Martenroth, Mappershain and Langschied at Hessen-Kassel
  • Marienfels, Dessighofen, Ehr, Berg, Hunzel, Oberwies, Dornholzhausen, Rettert, Geisig, Attenhausen, Bremberg and Singhofen to the Dreiherrische

Social and economic development in the quadrilateral

Most of the peasants in the Vierherrischen were serfs who owed their landlord obedience, various services as well as taxes and duties such as tithe and in return received land and protection from him. The farmers of the church also had to pay a tithe, i.e. a tenth part, on their taxes.

There were also three to five sovereigns in the Vierherrischen. Sometimes one of the rulers was also the landlord, in other cases not. For example, a serf in the quadrilateral was subject to three or more sovereigns and possibly one more landlord.

The serfs had to do horrendous taxes and many compulsory and other services. The landlords and rulers also tried to ensure that marriages were only among their own subjects and serfs. If, however, serfs of different masters got married, there were always disputes about the children from these marriages or whose serfs they were. There was also a quarrel when a mayor of one master punished a serf of the other master; this partly led to acts of revenge by the actual mayor of the punished serf on mayor who carried out the punishment.

economy

The quadrilateral consisted practically only of small villages that were purely agricultural and were of little commercial importance. The only economic importance was the so-called Hessenstrasse , which led from St. Goarshausen to Kassel, but only ran through the four-manorial area to a small extent, namely through or past the places Lautert and Dornholzhausen.

literature

  • Agnes Allrogen-Bedel, Eckhart Rheingans, Werner Ruppert and Hubertus Seibert. The Rhein-Lahn-Kreis Landscape- History- Culture of our homeland. Ed .: District administration of the Rhein-Lahn-Kreis
  • Edmund Groß 700 years of Miehlen. Miehlen 1951
  • CD Vogel / Winfried Ott Description of the Duchy of Nassau by CD Vogel, Dean in Kirberg. Wiesbaden 1843. Published in "Blaue Blätter Nr.3" by the Heimatpflegeverein Blaues Ländchen in 1989. Naststätten 1989
  • Lothar Maus Chronicle of the community of Holzhausen an der Haide 1990
  • Robert Mensche and Richard Heimann. Marienfels History of the village, published by the Marienfels parish, 1990

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Chronicle of Marienfels. Retrieved August 6, 2017 .
  2. ^ Hessisches Staatsarchiv: "Amt Nassau (Vierherrisch)". Retrieved July 28, 2017 .
  3. ^ L. Conrady: Nassauische Annalen . tape 23 , 1891, p. 65 .
  4. ↑ Agnes Allrogen-Bedel, Eckhart Rheingans, Werner Ruppert and Hubertus Seibert: The Rhein-Lahn-Kreis landscape - history - culture of our country . Ed .: District administration of the Rhein-Lahn-Kreis. ISBN 3-926888-00-8 , pp. 175 .
  5. ^ Edmund Groß: 700 years of Miehlen . Miehlen 1951, p. 80 .
  6. ^ Edmund Groß: 700 years of Miehlen . Miehlen, S. 176 .
  7. ↑ Lothar Maus: Chronicle of the community Holzhausen an der Haide . 1990, p. 72 .
  8. ^ Chronicle of Marienfels. Marienfels parish, accessed on July 5, 2017 .
  9. ^ Helfrich Bernhard Wenck: Hessian national history. With a document book and geographical charts . tape 1 , 1783, p. 248 .
  10. ↑ a b Chronicle of Marienfels. Marienfels parish, accessed on July 5, 2017 .
  11. ↑ Helfrich Bernhard Wencks: Quartier division of the quadrilateral in: Hessische Landesgeschichte. With a document book and geographical charts, volume 1. Accessed on August 9, 2017 .
  12. ^ Chronicle of Marienfels. Marienfels parish, accessed on July 6, 2017 .
  13. ^ Christian Daniel Vogel: Description of the Duchy of Nassau. P. 224 , accessed on August 9, 2017 .
  14. ^ Hessisches Staatsarchiv: "Amt Nassau (Vierherrisch)". Retrieved July 28, 2017 .
  15. ^ Bernhard Meyer, Gerhard Gemmer and Manfred Keiling,: 750 years of Rettert . Ed .: Municipality of Rettert. Rescue 2000.
  16. ↑ Winfried Ott: Nastätten between yesterday and today . In: Heimatpflegeverein Blaues Ländchen e. V. (Ed.): Series of publications Blue Leaves . 1st edition. No. 18 . Naststätten 2017, p. 22 .