Mechthild von Sayn

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Countess Mechthild von Sayn (* around 1203 , † around 1291 in Cologne ; also Mechthild von Landsberg, Mechtild, Mechtildis, Mathilde) was the wife of Heinrich III. from Sayn . Because of her church foundations , she was an important figure in the late Middle Ages .

Life

Mechthild was the daughter of Margrave Dietrich von Landsberg, son of Dedo the Feisten , and Jutta, the daughter and heir of the Thuringian Landgrave Ludwig III. Mechthild was born around 1200, according to other sources around 1203, and married Count Heinrich III around 1215 . from Sayn . In a document of the Abbey Heisterbach from the year 1216 Mechthild called wife of Henry. The marriage was triggered by disputes between Dietrich von Landsberg and Heinrich II. Von Sayn, whose territories bordered one another. In addition, the two belonged to different parties in the Staufer-Welf throne dispute at the end of the 12th century. Dietrich, supporter of the Staufer , owned the Altenwied castle built by his ancestors , Heinrich II, supporter of the Guelphs , built the Löwenburg . Pope Innocent III made inquiries in 1205 whether the dispute could be resolved by a marriage between Heinrich III. and have Mechthild enclosed. The agreement must have been made in 1207 at the latest, since Dietrich von Landsberg died that year.

When Heinrich III. von Sayn died on New Year's Eve in 1246, leaving no male heir. The Mechthild's only daughter was probably born shortly before or shortly after Heinrich's death and died.

Heinrich had his will drawn up at Blankenheim Castle in the Christmas week of 1246 in the presence of the abbots from Marienstatt and Heisterbach . He decreed that if his unborn child survived, Mechthild should become the sole heir. If the child died, however, then Mechthild should have the right to keep all goods until her death, after her death the property should fall to the children of Heinrich's sisters. Heinrich's sisters were Adelheid, first married to Gottfried von Sponheim-Starkenburg († 1223?), Married to Eberhard von Eberstein († 1263?) In their second marriage from 1225 , and the younger Agnes, married to Heinrich von Blieskastel.

Information board about Mechthild's widow's residence on the Löwenburg

Contrary to what Heinrich wanted in his will, the Saynian relatives raised claims to the Saynian possessions shortly after his death. Already on August 29, 1247 Mechthild left the sons of her sister-in-law Adelheid a. a. Castle and town Blankenberg , castle and stains Hachenburg , Freusburg , Sayn Castle , the castles SAFFENBERG and Hülchrath and all counties and bailiwicks that Henry had owned. Mechthild kept her own Thuringian heritage and reserved the right to live in the Saynian Löwenburg in the Siebengebirge.

The Waldburg and the villages Drolshagen and Meinerzhagen were on January 20, 1248, the Cologne Archbishop Konrad von Hochstaden for 2000 Mark sold. For the time being, Mechthild retained the castles Altenwied , Neuerburg , Rennenberg and Windeck as well as the villages Rosbach , Linz , Leubsdorf , Neustadt , Asbach , Winden , Windhagen , Gielsdorf , Sechtem , Nieder- and Oberbreitbach and in the free float of various vineyards and properties on the Rhine and on the Moselle.

On May 1, 1250, Mechthild signed a contract with the Cologne Elector Konrad von Hochstaden on the Neuerburg, according to which the entire property complex around the castles Altenwied, Neuerburg, Rennenberg and Windeck for a one-off payment of 600 marks and an annual payment of 170 marks her death fell to the Archbishopric of Cologne . The Neuerburg and the parish of Breitbach were subject to lifelong use. On March 2, 1261, Conrad's successor, Archbishop Engelbert I , renewed the treaty, which was confirmed by Pope Urban IV in 1263 .

Mechthild lived for a few years on the Neuerburg and later moved to Cologne, where she owned an apartment in the Sion monastery . In 1283, she decreed in her will that after her death, her possessions would finally be transferred to the archbishopric. The date of death is unknown, according to an unconfirmed interpretation of a tombstone in Cologne, she may have lived until 1291.

Certificates

The most important foundations and gifts that Mechthild made together with her husband were:

Mechthild's documents were often written in German, which was an exception in the 13th century.

Excerpt from the document of Archbishop Engelbert II of Cologne, made on March 2, 1261 , in which the donation by Countess Mechthild and her contract with the Cologne Church are confirmed:

“ We Engelbreht van der Gnaeden Goddis korin zo Erchebisscoue ze Colne inde Erchecancelere in Ytalien, Allen di this letter sient, Heil in our Herin Gode. We will dat kundich si, want de edele vrowe, unse můne Metholt, de wilne Grieuinne was ze Seyne, in ire burg Wiede inde dise dorp inde kirspele: Lynse, Winthain, Nuestat, Aspach inde Roispe, mit alle deme, dat zv den Dorpen Inde the Kirspelen is obeyed, the occasional is on the siden des Rynes da de burg Wiede ane steit, inde och alle di man, inde dinstman, houislude inde kinky Lude, of welchis rehtis si sin, din are uzbescheiden, di se zů irme ůrbore inde services, zů irme liue behalden wilt, the nåmen hir beniedene sint sint, with underscheide as hir na scrieuen is, by Lieue, by trůwe inde umbe gnåde us inde our gestithe lezit ingain Dar umbe so we geiue so we ire allir iargelichis so long alse geleuit, half a hundred marc Colchir penninge, twenty shillings vůr de marc gezalt… "

Donations and foundations from the widow Mechthild:

relationship

Mechthild's mother Jutta von Thuringia was a direct cousin of Elisabeth's husband, Landgrave Ludwig IV.

literature

  • Thomas Bohn: Countess Mechthild von Sayn (1200 / 03–1285). A study on Rhenish history and culture. Böhlau, Cologne et al. 2002, ISBN 3-412-10901-0 ( Rheinisches Archiv 140), (also: Trier, Univ., Diss., 1996).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g h Hellmuth Gensicke : Landesgeschichte des Westerwaldes . 3. Edition. Historical Commission for Nassau, Wiesbaden 1999, pages 134, 266, 268; ISBN 3-922244-80-7
  2. ^ A b Friedrich Wilhelm Bautz:  Elisabeth of Thuringia. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 1, Bautz, Hamm 1975. 2nd, unchanged edition Hamm 1990, ISBN 3-88309-013-1 , Sp. 1498-1500.  ( Article / beginning of article in Internet archive ) ; "Text Annotations" paragraph
  3. ^ Fr. Ritter: Bonn: Contributions to his history and his monuments , 1868, page 8
  4. ↑ a b c d Albert Hardt: In the land of Neuerburg an der Wied , Verbandsgemeinde Waldbreitbach (Ed.), 2nd edition 1988, page 55 ff
  5. ↑ Jakob Hubert Schütz: Rengsdorf and its surroundings in historical lighting , Cöln-Nippes: Patt, 1918, page 119 ff
  6. ↑ a b c Thomas Bohn: Countess Mechthild von Sayn (1200 / 03-1285): a study on Rhenish history and culture ; Böhlau Verlag Cologne Weimar, 2002, pages 169, 202, 207, 381; ISBN 3-412-10901-0
  7. ^ Ludwig Franz Hoefer: Selection of the oldest documents in the German language in the Königl. Secret State and Cabinet Archives in Berlin , Perthes, 1835, page 12
personal data
SURNAME Mechthild von Sayn
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Mechthild von Landsberg; Mechtild; Mechtildis; Mathilde
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Countess of Sayn
DATE OF BIRTH around 1203
DATE OF DEATH around 1285
Place of death Cologne