Ludwig I. (Hesse)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ludwig I of Hesse (the peacemaker) (born February 6, 1402 in Spangenberg ; † January 17, 1458 ibid) was the youngest son of Landgrave Hermann II of Hesse and his wife Margarete, a daughter of Burgrave Friedrich V of Nuremberg . He followed his father under guardianship until 1416 as Landgrave of Hesse.

Life

Territorial policy

Under Ludwig, the disputes that the Hessian Landgrave House had already waged under its predecessors with the Archbishops of Mainz over controversial claims to power continued. Ludwig succeeded in regaining the cities on the Werra that had been lost under Landgrave Heinrich II in 1419 and 1433. Armed conflicts broke out on a large scale after the abbot of Fulda , Johann I. von Merlau , by the Archbishop of Mainz Konrad III. von Dhaun had been driven out of his domain and placed himself under the protection of Ludwig. On July 23, 1427 near Kleinenglis a few kilometers south of Fritzlar and on August 10, 1427 near Fulda , the Landgrave defeated the Archbishop's troops under Gottfried von Leiningen in the Mainz-Hessian War . His final victory was confirmed with the "Frankfurt Peace" of December 8, 1427. The Mainz claims to power were thus finally rejected. In contrast, he could 1447 against Heinrich III. (Braunschweig-Grubenhagen) did not record any success.

Ludwig acquired the patronage of the Hersfeld Abbey in 1432 and that of the Corvey Abbey in 1443 , and between 1437 and 1456 the feudal sovereignty over several count houses and lordships, such as B. Waldeck - Landau (1431), Waldeck-Waldeck (1438), Sayn-Wittgenstein (1439), Plesse (1447), Lippe (1449), Büren (1456) and Rietberg (1456). By far the most important of these was the Grafschaft Ziegenhain (1437), whose territory had previously separated the two main parts of the Landgraviate of Hesse. When the house of Ziegenhain died out with Johann II in the male line in 1450 , Ludwig moved into this fiefdom, which also included the county of Nidda . In addition, there was protection and patronage over the Paderborn Monastery and the cities of Erfurt and Mühlhausen .

Domestic politics

In 1421 all craftsmen's guilds received new guild letters that guaranteed them previously unknown freedoms and rights. In the cities, Ludwig continued the restriction of the powers of the councils, which his father had begun, by adding permanent representative bodies for the citizens to their side. In particular, in the most important cities of Upper Hesse , he reinstated the foursomes introduced by Landgrave Hermann, but abolished by his guardian Heinrich I of Braunschweig in 1414, into the constitution.

Marriage policy

In 1446, Ludwig and Philip I of Katzenelnbogen agreed to marry their two children, Heinrich III. and Anna. Since Philip's sons died prematurely, Ludwig ultimately prepared the legacy of the wealthy County of Katzenelnbogen from 1479, which was financially important for Hesse .

Succession

At the end of his reign, Ludwig had clearly rounded off the territory of the Landgraviate; however, Hesse was divided after his death:

The two fought over the exact delimitation of their mutual domains and sovereign rights until 1470, and in 1469 there was even an open war between them. This Hessian fratricidal war was only ended in May 1470 through the mediation of the third brother, the later Archbishop Hermann of Cologne .

progeny

Ludwig married Anna of Saxony on September 13, 1436 (* June 5, 1420 - September 17, 1462), daughter of Elector Friedrich I of Saxony , and became the father of:

literature

Web links

predecessor Office successor
Hermann II. Landgrave of Hesse
1413–1458
Ludwig II. ( Lower Hesse )
Heinrich III. ( Upper Hesse )