Nürings (noble family)

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Coat of arms of the Counts of Nürings

The Counts of Nürings (more rarely: Lords of Nürings ) were an aristocratic family who were wealthy in the Middle Ages mainly in the Taunus , the Middle Rhine and today's Rhine-Main area . At the time of the Salians , they were among the most important territorial lords of the region alongside the von Hagen-Münzenbergs . Their extinction in 1171 enabled the Hohenstaufen to expand the imperial estate in the Wetterau , which is documented, among other things, by the establishment of the Pfalz Gelnhausen and the Burggrafschaft Friedberg .

history

origin

The name of the sex is first attested in 1108, the predominant form of name in the documents is Nůringes or Nuringes . Through earlier document mentions without this name as well as ownership and family relationships, the genealogy can be traced much further back, but the connections are hypothetical and sometimes controversial. Perhaps the family even descended from the Conradinians . A close relationship to the Emichons , with whom they are mentioned several times in Mainz documents, is considered to be certain . The lead name Berthold first appears in the Nahe and Trechirgau with Count Berthold as the founder of the Ravengiersburg monastery (1074) and is later continued twice with Berthold von Stromburg (father and son) with the Emichons. These appear as witnesses in documents from the monastery founder, 1090 together. Since he died childless, it must have been his nephew.

County of Malstatt

Berthold, founder of the Ravengiersburg monastery, is presumably identical to a Count Berthold, who was first mentioned in 1036 in the Wetterau . Since the 9th century, the Konradines exercised the count's rights here. With the death of the last Wetterau Count Otto von Hammerstein in 1036, the fief fell back to the empire and could be re-awarded by the Salian King Konrad II . His successor Heinrich III. The county donated it to the Fulda monastery in 1043 . Count Berthold appears between 1046 and 1064 as the owner of the county, in addition in 1057 and 1063 as Count in Niddagau and 1064 in Maingau and Wetterau. The considerable expansion of the property is likely to be due to his high position as a close confidante of King Henry IV . He also acted as steward of the Lorsch and Ravengiersburg monasteries .

The new granting of the fief may have served on the one hand to prevent inheritance claims of the Conradines, on the other hand to give away the important property to loyal and proven vassals of the Salians. After Berthold's death, he was followed by his likely nephew Berthold von Stromburg, who first referred to himself as Count von Nürings on May 11, 1108.

The extent of the County of Malstatt is not very clear from the sources. Location documents point to the Usinger Basin in the north-west, today's Friedberg in the north, Altenstadt in the north-east, and in the south to the area around the imperial city of Frankfurt am Main with the county of Bornheimer Berg , i.e. a territorial unit in the southern Wetterau.

Only a few details of Berthold I's life are known. Numerous testimonies in documents, primarily from the Archbishop of Mainz and the Salian kings, show a frequent presence at the royal court. He had at least three children, namely the sons Berthold II. And Siegfried I and a daughter (insecure, possibly also his sister in terms of age) named Luitgard. She married Volkold II von Malsburg and brought Nürings property into the marriage. From this marriage came the Counts of Nidda , who also adopted the lead name Berthold.

Tower stump of Nürings Castle .

Successor of Berthold I.

The Nüringsern also succeeded in expanding their property by clearing the Taunus around Nürings Castle . The square residential tower (12 × 12 m) of the older castle in the vicinity of the Falkenstein castle ruins is, despite its modest dimensions, considered to be the early center of power.

Berthold I was followed by his sons Berthold II and Siegfried I. They appear for the first time in 1124 in a document from Archbishop Adalbert I of Mainz . In the period that followed, as evidenced by the documents, they too maintained good relationships with the Archbishop of Mainz and numerous nobles from the Wetterau. What is particularly striking is the frequent joint testimony with the Lords of Buchen , Dammo and Siegebodo , the alleged builders of the Wachenbuchen and Hanau castles and ancestors of the Lords of Hanau , although no relationship can be identified. Testimonies at the royal court are rarer, but also documented. Apparently both of them had split up their father's office.

Nothing is known about their family circumstances. It is only certain that one of them had three sons: Gerhard, Siegfried II and Burkhardt. Siegfried II only meets in 1149 and seems to have died at a young age. Burkhardt embarked on a spiritual career and became abbot of Hersfeld in 1166 and abbot of Fulda in 1168. This gave the family access to the highest offices. Count Gerhard von Nürings became one of the most influential personalities of his time in the Wetterau. Documents show that he was very close to the Archbishop of Mainz and often stayed near him. With the founding of the Retters Monastery in 1146, he donated a house foundation for the salvation of his family. From 1154, strengthened from 1164 he is a witness in documents I. Emperor Frederick tangible.

Gerhard probably no longer resided in a simple tower castle. One document names him comes Gerhardus de Redelenheim , but there is no information from this time about the later Reichsburg Rödelheim . It is also worth considering whether he had Eppstein Castle as his lordship seat, which fell to the Lords of Hainhausen after the Nüringsers died out.

Extinction and Inheritance

With Gerhard von Nürings, the family died out after 1171. So far this year has mostly been cited as the last evidence in the literature. A document from 1195 in which a Gerardus comes de Nuringes for Henry VI. in Trani (Apulia) is mentioned as a witness, among others together with Hartmann von Büdingen , contradicts this. It is unclear whether this is an incorrect assignment or whether the count has not documented it for more than 20 years. Participation in a crusade is conceivable .

The property of the Counts of Nürings fell to the Lords of Hagen-Munzenberg, the Lords of Eppstein, the Counts of Sponheim and the Lords of Bolanden . Substantial parts fell back to the king and the empire, since the counts of Nürings often appeared as interim fiefdoms. In the Wetterau, other count families died out at the same time, the counts of Bernbach in 1160 and the counts of Selbold-Gelnhausen around 1160. This made it possible for the Hohenstaufen rulers to change the previous granting of fiefs. Instead of giving the fiefs to important vassals, the Hohenstaufen tried to acquire the Wetterau as imperial property, which was supported by the establishment of Pfalzen ( Pfalz Gelnhausen ), imperial castles ( Burg Friedberg ) or the expansion of imperial cities ( Frankfurt am Main , Wetzlar ) . The administration was now entrusted to smaller, more dependent ministerials and noblemen such as the Munzenbergers or the Lords of Büdingen . Until modern times , the Wetterau did not achieve the territorial unity that the County of Malstatt had under the Count of Nürings.

coat of arms

A black lion on a gold background.

literature

  • Gerd S. Bethke: The Counts of Nürings. In: Rad und rafter. Journal of the historical association Rhein-Main-Taunus eV issue 27, 1998.
  • Karl Ernst Demandt : History of the State of Hesse , 2nd edition, Bärenreiter-Verlag , Kassel and Basel, 1972, ISBN 3-7618-0404-0 , pp. 151–168, esp. Pp. 157f.
  • Hellmuth Gensicke : Political history of the Main-Taunus landscape in the Middle Ages and modern times. In: Rad und rafter. Journal of the historical association Rhein-Main-Taunus eV Issue 1 (9), 1980, p. 3–10, here: p. 3f.
  • Wolf-Arno Kropat : Empire, nobility and church in the Wetterau from the Carolingian to the Staufer times. Elwert, Marburg 1965 ( Writings of the Hessian State Office for Historical Regional Studies 28 ), pp. 41–50 and 69f.
  • Angela Metzner: Reichslandpolitik, aristocracy and castles - studies on the Wetterau in the Staufer period. Büdingen 2008/2009 , ISBN 978-3-00-026770-3 , pp. 141-145 ( Büdinger Geschichtsblätter 21 ).

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Manfred Stimming (arrangement): Mainzer Urkundenbuch. First volume. The documents up to the death of Archbishop Adalbert I (1137) . Darmstadt 1937, reprint Darmstadt 1972, no.436.
  2. ^ A b Karl Ernst Demandt: History of the State of Hesse , 2nd edition, Bärenreiter-Verlag , Kassel and Basel, 1972, ISBN 3-7618-0404-0 , p. 157.
  3. ↑ Gerd S. Bethke: The Counts of Nürings. In: Rad und rafter. Journal of the historical association Rhein-Main-Taunus eV issue 27, 1998, p. 6.
  4. ↑ Gerd S. Bethke: The Counts of Nürings. In: Rad und rafter. Journal of the historical association Rhein-Main-Taunus eV Issue 27, 1998, p. 8.
  5. ^ Heinrich Reimer : Hessisches Urkundenbuch. Section 2, document book on the history of the Lords of Hanau and the former province of Hanau. Vol. 1. 767-1300. Publications from the Royal Prussian State Archives, Hirzel, Leipzig 1891 No. 59.
  6. ↑ Angela Metzner: Reichslandpolitik, aristocracy and castles - studies on the Wetterau in the Staufer time. Büdingen 2008/2009, ISBN 978-3-00-026770-3 , p. 142.
  7. ↑ Manfred Stimming (arrangement): Mainzer Urkundenbuch. First volume. The documents up to the death of Archbishop Adalbert I (1137) . Darmstadt 1937, reprint Darmstadt 1972, no.522.
  8. ↑ Angela Metzner: Reichslandpolitik, aristocracy and castles - studies on the Wetterau in the Staufer time. Büdingen 2008/2009, ISBN 978-3-00-026770-3 , p. 143.
  9. ↑ Peter Acht (arrangement): Mainzer Urkundenbuch. Second volume. The documents from the death of Archbishop Adalbert I (1137) to the death of Archbishop Konrad (1200). Part 1 1137-1175. Darmstadt 1968, no.90.
  10. ↑ Peter Acht (arrangement): Mainzer Urkundenbuch. Second volume. The documents from the death of Archbishop Adalbert I (1137) to the death of Archbishop Konrad (1200). Part 1 1137-1175. Darmstadt 1968, no.191.
  11. ↑ regesta imperil IV, 3 # 422..
  12. ↑ Gerd S. Bethke: The Counts of Nürings. In: Rad und rafter. Journal of the historical association Rhein-Main-Taunus eV issue 27, 1998, p. 9; Angela Metzner: Reichslandpolitik, aristocracy and castles - studies on the Wetterau in the Staufer period. Büdingen 2008/2009, ISBN 978-3-00-026770-3 , p. 144.
  13. ↑ Gerd S. Bethke: The Counts of Nürings. In: Rad und rafter. Journal of the historical association Rhein-Main-Taunus eV Issue 27, 1998, p. 10
  14. ^ Karl Ernst Demandt: History of the State of Hesse , 2nd edition, Bärenreiter-Verlag , Kassel and Basel, 1972, ISBN 3-7618-0404-0 , p. 458.
  15. ↑ Klemens Stadler: German coat of arms - Federal Republic of Germany, Volume 3: The municipal coat of arms of the State of Hesse, Bremen 1967, p. 57 ( Königstein im Taunus )