Landgrave of Leuchtenberg

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Coat of arms of the Landgraves of Leuchtenberg
Coat of arms of the Leuchtenberg market
Coat of arms of Leuchtenberg (left) and Oettingen (right), from the epitaph of Elisabeth von Oettingen († 1406), Neustadt collegiate church on the Weinstrasse
Landgrave Ulrich II.

The Landgraves of Leuchtenberg were a noble and ruling family of the Middle Ages . Originally they were based in Leuchtenberg , later in Pfreimd . The area of ​​influence of the Leuchtenbergers extended far beyond the borders of their home in the Upper Palatinate . The Landgraviate of Leuchtenberg was the largest non- Wittelsbach and non-spiritual territory in Bavaria in its time. The last Landgrave of Leuchtenberg was Max Adam, who died in 1646.

List of the Landgraves of Leuchtenberg

Was mentioned as the first Leuchtenberger in a deed of foundation. He was married to a daughter of Mr. von Pettendorf-Lengenfeld-Hopfenohe and inherited the rule of Waldeck. Gebhard had 3 sons: Friedrich, Gebhardt II, and Marquad.
Accompanied Emperor Friedrich Barbarossa on his campaign to Italy and was raised by him to the rank of count . He also took part in the fourth Italian military expedition.
In 1196 he inherited the office and title of landgrave, often stayed in the vicinity of King Philip of Swabia . After his death he joined Otto IV and accompanied him on his Roman procession, during which he died in 1209. After his death, the landgraviate was divided.
Got castle and rule Waldeck in the Upper Palatinate and was married to the daughter of the burgrave of Nuremberg .
Got Leuchtenberg and was probably with Frederick II on the fifth crusade in 1228. He was also involved in several Italian campaigns and received the right of escort within his landgraviate.
Gebhardt III's son, Leuchtenberg fell back to him. Bought from his brother Gebhardt IV. (1244–1279) the common rule of Waldeck and later (1283) sold it to Duke Ludwig of Bavaria . Both brothers had wives from the Ortenburg family .
Son of Gebhardt IV, continued the line of landgraves. During his time, Wernberg Castle, Castle and Berg Kulm were pledged and sold , as well as the important lords of Waldeck and Falkenberg. In addition, Reichslehen and Stiftslehen were returned.
Acquired the sold goods back. He also acquired Schwarzenburg , Rötz and Waldmünchen , Reichenstein and Schönsee , as well as the later royal seat of Pfreimd . He fought side by side with Ludwig the Bavarian and defeated Friedrich the fair in the battle of Mühldorf . Friedrich became a prisoner in Trausnitz Castle in the valley .
King John of Bohemia took Ulrich as ambassador at the papal court in Avignon . Among other things, he left his daughter Kunigunde , who went down in German legends as a white woman .
A division of the country took place again under Ulrich's sons.
Ulrich II's son, who resided in Pfreimd and Leuchtenberg, had embarked on a bloody feud with the Zengers from 1390 and had moved with Count Palatine Ruprecht II of the Palatinate in front of their Thannstein Castle .
The grandson Johann I, after the early death of his father Sigost († 1398) (he was married to Mechthild, the daughter of Ruprecht II of the Palatinate) and his uncle, Johann II († 1390), inherited the western part of the country. He had to grant the son of Johann II, Georg I and his brother Georg II an annual annuity in order to remain solely on the property. A feud with the Zengers brought him financial difficulties; after the defeat at Schöntal, after long negotiations, he had to bear most of the costs; he had let the gentlemen von Plauen and Greiz woo him. He also came into feud with the Bohemian King Wenceslas of Luxembourg for failing to pay debts to the Landgraviate in 1312, but Emperor Sigismund brokered peace.
Through all of these feuds, Pleystein, Grafenwoehr, Reichenstein, Schönsee, Parkstein and Weiden, the Neuhaus dominion and parts of the Hals County were pledged. Johann III. had thus lost all possessions of his line and after the pledge of his last seat in Neuhaus in 1423 became administrator of the Lower Bavaria in Wittelbach.
The mercenaries of the successor Albrecht I attacked merchants between Weißenstadt and Eger on December 9, 1413 . Leopold therefore had to sell Stierberg Castle to Count Palatine Johann .
He was able to prove himself in the battles against the Hussites and provided Sigismund with horses and men. Leopold saved Karlstein Castle for him. From now on Leopold was to receive 600 guilders a year, but Sigismund still owed him a huge sum of money. In 1433 he became captain of the Aingehürns and later governor in Amberg . He also expanded the Leuchtenberg Castle .
The landgraves were now allowed to use the title of prince and had a seat and vote in the Diet of the Holy Roman Empire between Baden and Anhalt. Leopold's mother Elisabeth von Oettingen (also Elisabeth von Leuchtenberg , † July 9, 1406) was a lady-in-waiting and extensive relative of the Palatinate Elector and German King Ruprecht III. A division of land took place again among Leopold's sons.
In 1486, Ludwig, who had remained unmarried, sold the county of Hals to the Aichberger family for an annuity. In 1467 Friedrich married Dorothea , daughter of Count Philipp von Rieneck, heiress of the Grünsfeld estate in North Baden. In 1487 the rule fell to Leuchtenberg. Friedrich was, among other things, governor in Amberg, district judge in Sulzbach and nurse in Auerbach.
  • John IV (1487–1531)
  • George III (1531–1555)
  • Ludwig Heinrich (1555–1567) kept the finances in order with the marriage of Mechthild, daughter of Count Rupert von der Mark and Arenberg. In 1549 he received 40,000 florins for marriage. He granted his subjects freedom of religion, although he himself remained a Catholic.
  • George IV Ludwig (1567–1613)
  • Wilhelm (1614–1621)
  • Maximilian Adam (1621-1646)

List of the dukes of Bavaria-Leuchtenberg

Further title holders

During the War of the Spanish Succession and the resulting occupation of Bavaria, Emperor Josef I regarded the Landgraviate of Leuchtenberg as a repealed imperial fief . In 1708 Leopold Mathias Sigismund von Lamberg was enfeoffed with Leuchtenberg by the emperor. He was declared at the Reichstag on July 11, 1709 as the Holy Roman Empire's Landgrave of Leuchtenberg and immediate Imperial Prince, as he had a seat and vote on the Reichstag. After his death in 1711 he was succeeded by his father Franz Joseph I. von Lamberg . When he died in 1712, the Landgraviate passed to his third son, Franz Anton von Lamberg, and returned to Bavaria after the Peace of Rastatt in 1714. The respective Bavarian ruler then carried the title of Landgrave von Leuchtenberg .

After the fall of Napoleon, Eugène Beauharnais was given the title Duke of Leuchtenberg by his father-in-law King Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria in 1817 .

See also: Leuchtenberg castle ruins

literature

  • Adalbert von Bayern : The heart of the Leuchtenberg. History of a Bavarian-Napoleonic family . Nymphenburger Verlag, Munich 1992, ISBN 3-485-00665-3 (reprint of the Munich 1963 edition).
  • Georg Brunner: History of Leuchtenberg and the former Landgraves of Leuchtenberg . Amberg 1863.
  • Illuminatus Wagner: Leuchtenberg in history and legend . 10th edition Leonhardt-Verlag, Weiden 1965.

Web links

Commons : Leuchtenberg (noble family)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files