Ludwig von Brandis

Coat of arms of the Lords of Brandis from Scheibler's book of arms 1450–1480

In 1499 the Vaduz fortress was set on fire by the Confederates. Ludwig von Brandis was taken prisoner. From 1505 the castle was a fortress of the Habsburgs

Ludwig von Brandis (* before 1483 ; † 1507 ) was a member of the Swiss family of the Barons von Brandis . He became known through his arrest and being held hostage in Lucerne during the Swabian War in 1499. He was ruler of Schellenberg and Vaduz , in what is now the Principality of Liechtenstein .

family

Ludwig von Brandis was a son of Ulrich von Brandis and his wife Praxedis von Helfenstein and the grandson of Wolfhart V von Brandis . He had a brother Sigmund II von Brandis , with whom he shared the rule of the barons in the Rhine Valley. Four other brothers embarked on a spiritual career. His younger brother Sigmund took control of Maienfeld and Blumenegg . Ludwig von Brandis married Katharina Freifrau von Gundelfingen in 1501. He didn't have any children. His youngest brother Johannes von Brandis was the last male descendant of the Lords of Brandis. He later sold the territories to the Counts of Sulz from Rottweil .

Live and act

Major decisions were made during his reign. So he formulated important contracts between the rulers and their subjects. In 1493 and 1496 agreements were made between him and the landlords of the two regions with regard to tax issues. On May 2, 1505, he signed with King Maximilian I called " open contract ". In it, the Habsburgs undertook to occupy the Vaduz fortress in the event of war for an annual fee of 200 guilders . It was a defense alliance. The Habsburgs took on the defense of the small landscapes on the Alpine Rhine, but did not guarantee Maienfeld. The rule was sold to the Bündner in 1509 .

At the beginning of the Swabian War, the Swiss troops camped in Sargans , the imperial troops in Balzers and the troops of the Drei Bünde in Maienfeld and on the St. Luzisteig - a pass that connected the Austrian Feldkirch with the Bünderischen Maienfeld. The brothers were in a difficult situation. On the one hand, they were obliged to be loyal to the Habsburg emperor and, on the other, to the Old Confederation , since they were citizens of the city of Bern and their ancestors had entered into castle rights with it. By owning the Maienfeld rulership, they were also part of the Three Leagues . On February 6, 1499, troops of Uri captain Heini Wolleb briefly crossed the Rhine and set fire to several houses in Balzers. This is considered to be the beginning of the Swabian or Swiss War. The conflict is said to have been triggered by mutual insults across the Rhine.

The Landsknechte of the Swabian Confederation in the service of the emperor attacked the positions of the Bündner on St. Luzisteig and occupied Maienfeld the following day. But the Bündner did not give up and attacked Maienfeld on the same day. They routed the Swabian troops and took the lord of the castle Sigmund prisoner, who - unlike his brother Ludwig - refused to flee. After Maienfeld was conquered, the Grisons stormed the fortifications of St. Luzisteig and captured Balzers. On February 12, the Confederates encamped near Sargans intervened in the fighting and defeated the imperial Swabian troops in the battle near Triesen . On February 13, the allied Graubünden and Swiss troops took Vaduz and also took Ludwig von Brandis prisoner. In negotiations he offered 20,000 guilders for his release and for the integrity of his county of Vaduz. The allies did not enter into such a deal and took it to Werdenberg on the night of February 13-14 , then via Rapperswil to Lucerne . His brother was imprisoned in Chur . The Swabian and federal troops devastated and plundered the dominions of Vaduz and Schellenberg.

On July 8th, the Diet in Lucerne dealt with the captured men. The situation was difficult because they were also citizens of the city of Bern and as such were under its protection. The daily statute wanted to release them, but Ulrich von Sax , who was in the service of the confederates, demanded an exchange from Ludwig von Brandis for Ammann von Appenzell Rudolf von Rappenstein , an ally of Sax, who had been captured by the imperial troops .

After the peace treaty in Basel , the assembly decided the release of the two brothers and their reinstatement in their territories. On December 13th, the subjects in Schellenberg and Vaduz swore allegiance to the Lords of Brandis again. The country was devastated by the fighting and only a few years later (1509–1512) the rulers were sold to the Counts of Sulz .

Individual evidence

1. ^ Brandis Ludwig, Historical Lexicon of Liechtenstein
2. ^ Karl Heinz Burmeister opening treaty, Historical Lexicon of Liechtenstein
3. ↑ Claudius Gurt: Rule between fronts; The Lords of Brandis and the Swiss or Swabian War 1499 , Yearbook Volume 114, Historischer Verein für das Fürstentum Liechtenstein (2005), pp. 97–115