Neuchâtel (noble family)

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Coat of arms of the Counts of Neuchâtel am See

The Counts of Neuchâtel were a Swiss noble family who were wealthy in today's Canton of Neuchâtel . After the division into different branches of the family, the title of Count Neuchâtel came to the line of Neuchâtel zu Nidau, after which it was inherited by the Counts of Freiburg .

history

Gf v Neuchâtel Tab.jpg
Neuchâtel Castle above Lake Neuchâtel

The Counts of Neuchâtel are considered to be descendants of the Counts of Fenis due to their possessions between the Jura and the Middle Aare as well as the Kastvogtei over the Erlach Monastery . There is no clear documentary evidence of their origin. The first tangible representatives are Rudolf I († 1143/1149), mentioned as Lord of Neuchâtel (de Novocastro) from 1125, and his brother Mangold († 1165) as Lords of Neuchâtel. Rudolf was married to Emma von Glâne, Wilhelm's sister, the last of this baron family, and after his death in 1143 inherited the Arconciel rule . The Neuchâtel extended the castle in Neuchâtel , which was built under Rudolf III. by Burgundy († 1032) and had the collegiate church built. Ulrich II. († 1191/92), the son of Rudolf I, expanded his influence in the direction of the Jura, his sons Rudolf II. († 1196) and Ulrich III. († 1225) are documented as Counts of Neuchâtel. Rudolf II was followed by his son Berchtold († 1260).

Ulrich III. and Berchtold granted Neuchâtel a town charter in 1214 (freedoms, French franchises ) and in 1218 divided the family property. Ulrich received the German-speaking areas on the right bank of Lake Neuchâtel including the Landgraviate of Aarburgund and Berchtold the French-speaking areas on the left bank. Berchtold had to pledge the areas between Ligerz and Bözingen to the Principality of Basel , but he managed to expand his influence into the Val de Travers , which he received as a fief in 1237 from Johann I of Chalon , Count of Burgundy. If the counts were originally vassals of the king, from 1288 they became aftervasals of the Counts of Chalon-Arlay . With a clever marriage and alliance policy, they succeeded in expanding their territory into Vaud. With the death of Count Ludwig in 1373, the male line went out and the county fell to his sister Isabella. When she died in 1395, her nephew, Count Konrad III. of Freiburg , the county of Neuchâtel.

Ulrich III's sons after his death in 1296 divided the property into the lines Neuchâtel-Nidau ​​(extinguished in 1375), Neuchâtel-Strassberg and Aarberg (Aarberg-Aarberg and Aarberg-Vallangin, extinguished in 1517).

Legal status of the Counts of Neuchâtel

The area of ​​today's Swiss canton of Neuchâtel belonged to the Kingdom of Burgundy until 1032 . After the death of the last Burgundian king, Rudolf III. It fell through inheritance to Emperor Konrad II. In 1033 the emperor enfeoffed Count Ulrich von Fenis, the ancestor of the Counts of Neuchâtel, with the area around Neuchâtel. When the rectorate of Burgundy was created in 1127 and transferred to the Zähringers , the Neuchâtel lost the imperial immediacy they had gained in 1033 and were subordinate to the Zähringers, with whom they had a good relationship. When the House of Zähringen died out in 1218 and the rectorate no longer existed, the Counts of Neuchâtel became imperial again.

Also in 1218 Ulrich to Neuchâtel-Aarberg with Gérard Vienne Baron of Grandson the Val de Travers , the great men of Grandson as a fief of the Counts of Chalon had swapped against scattered parts of the territory, which Ulrich his rule arrondieren could. This feudal relationship - limited to the Val de Travers - was now also passed on to the Counts of Neuchâtel. This fiefdom is verifiable from 1237.

During the feud of Count Rudolf von Habsburg against the Bishop of Basel Heinrich von Neuenburg , the relatives of the bishop, the Count of Neuchâtel, supported the bishop against the Habsburg. After the Habsburg was elected German King in 1273, the Neuchâtel feared the revenge of the new king and feared for their legal claims. At this time, Johann von Chalon - a brother-in-law of King Rudolf I - insisted that the Neuchâtel oath should not only take him for the Val de Travers, but for all of their possessions. After the death of Count Amadeus I of Neuchâtel, his son Rolin (Rudolf IV) was still a minor and his two guardians were canons , so that the House of Neuchâtel lacked the strength to withstand the Chalons and the Habsburgs. For Rudolf von Habsburg, Johann von Chalon was an important ally in his fight against the Count Palatine Otto von Burgund. This is how the Neuchâtel people recognized the suzerainty (sovereignty) of the House of Chalon. In 1288 the Neuchâtel gave back the imperial fiefdom to the king, who then enfeoffed Johann von Chalon with it, and the latter handed it back to the Neuchâtel as an after fief. In the documents it was initially unclear whether Salian ( male fief ) or Burgundian ( Kunkellehen ) law should apply to the fiefdom . In 1311 there was an extension of the succession to daughters of the House of Neuchâtel in another document. In subsequent disputes, a transition to Burgundian law and thus a Kunkellehen was partly constructed from this. After the death of Count Ludwig von Neuchâtel († 1373), the county passed to his daughter Isabella, who, however, had no descendants when she died († 1395). Her stepsister Varene († 1393), who died before her, left a son, Konrad III , from her marriage to Count Egon von Freiburg . von Freiburg bequeathed the county of Neuchâtel to Isabella in her will, although she thereby violated the rights of her feudal lord.

The following table gives an overview of the development of the county's legal status under the Counts of Neuchâtel.

Period Legal status Remarks
1033 to 1127 Imperial direct fiefdom Enfeoffment from Emperor Konrad II ; by Salic Law Empire man loan
1127 to 1218 Imperial fiefdom under the Rectorate of Burgundy between the empire and the fiefdom stood the rectorate under the Zähringers
1218 to 1288 Imperial direct fiefdom after the death of the Zähringer, the rectorate was also dropped
1288 to 1395 Reichsafterlehen 1288 return of the fief to King Rudolf von Habsburg ; He gave the imperial fief to John I of Chalon and passed it on as an after-fief to the Counts of Neuchâtel

Known family members

Family list of the lords and counts of Neuchâtel

  1. Ulrich I of Neuchâtel, Baron von Hasenburg, Count von Fenis ⚭ NN
    1. Burkhard von Fenis , Bishop of Basel
    2. Cuno von Fenis , Bishop of Lausanne
    3. Mangold I of Neuchâtel ⚭ NN
      1. Mangold II von Fenis, co-regent of Neuchâtel
      2. Rudolf I of Neuchâtel, co-regent of Neuchâtel, Lord of Arconciel ⚭ Emma von Glâne
        1. Ulrich II., Count of Fenis, Lord of Arconciel and Neuchâtel ⚭ Berta von Granges
          1. Rudolf von Neuchâtel , co-regent of Neuchâtel, minstrel ⚭ a countess unknown by name
            1. Berthold I., co-regent of Neuchâtel, Lord of Arconciel ⚭ 1. Richenza von Frohburg
              1. Rudolf III, Lord of Neuchâtel ⚭ Sibylle de Montbéliard
                1. Ulrich IV, co-regent of Neuchâtel
                2. Johann, provost of Neuchâtel and Chalon
                3. Amadeus I, co-regent of Neuchâtel ⚭ Jordane de La Sarraz
                  1. Rudolf IV. (Also called Raoul or Rolin), Lord and / or Count of Neuchâtel ⚭ Eleanor of Savoy
                    1. Johanna ⚭ Aymon de La Sarraz
                    2. Catherine ⚭ 1) Jean de Champvent; ⚭ 2) Wilhelm von Montagny; 3) Guillaume de Montjoie
                    3. Ludwig I. Count of Neuchâtel ⚭ 1) Jeanne von Montfaucon ; ⚭ 2) Catherine de Neuchâtel-Bourgogne ; ⚭ 3) Marguerite de Vufflens
                      1. from 1) Johann von Neuenburg-Vaumarcus, called "the beautiful", tribe of the Vaumarcus line
                      2. von 1) Isabelle, Countess of Neuchâtel ⚭ Rudolf IV. von Nidau
                      3. von 2) Ludwig, Count of Neuchâtel
                      4. from 2) Rudolf
                      5. of 2) Varenne, baroness of Le Landeron ⚭ Egino III. from Freiburg
                        1. Conrad III. von Freiburg Count of Neuchâtel ⚭ Marie de Vergy
                        2. Anna ⚭ Rudolf III. from Hachberg-Sausenberg
                    4. Margarete ⚭ 1) Hartmann von Kyburg ; ⚭ 2) Hugo von Buchegg
                    5. N ⚭ Guillaume d'Estavayer
                  2. Wilhelmine ⚭ Renaud (Reinald) de Bourgogne
                  3. Alix ⚭ Ulrich de Porta
                  4. Margarete ⚭ Abbess of Magerau Abbey
                  5. Sibylle
                  6. Agnès, nun in sauce
                  7. Nicole, nun in Baume-les-Dames
                4. Richard, canon of Neuchâtel and Chalon, provost of Neuchâtel
                5. Heinrich, co-regent of Neuchâtel
                6. Agnelette ⚭ Konrad von Viviers
                7. Marguerite ⚭ Jean I. de Blonay
              2. Hermann
              3. Wilhelm
              4. Heinrich, Freiherr von Thielle
          2. Ulrich III. von Neuchâtel, Co-Regent and Count of Neuchâtel. Count von Nidau ​​⚭ 1. Gertrude; ⚭ 2. Jolanthe von Urach
            1. Rudolf I of Neuchâtel-Nidau, Lord of Nidau, Count of Neuchâtel; Tribe of the Nidau ​​line
            2. Otto, Provost of Solothurn St. Ursenstift
            3. Berthold I of Neuchâtel-Strassberg, Lord of Valangin and von Strassberg; Head of the Strassberg line
            4. Heinrich von Neuenburg , Bishop of Basel
            5. Ulrich IV of Neuchâtel-Aarberg, Lord of Aarberg and Valangin, ancestor of the Aarberg line († October 21, 1276), ⚭ Agnès de Montfaucon
              1. Wilhelm von Neuenburg-Aarberg, Count of Aarberg
              2. John I of Neuchâtel-Valangin, Lord of Valangin; Original owner of the Aarberg-Valangin line
            6. Gertrude ⚭ Diethelm, Count of Toggenburg
            7. NN ⚭ Rudolf I, Count of Falkenstein
            8. NN ⚭ Konrad von Rötteln
            9. Berthe ⚭ 1. Lüthold VI. from Regensberg ; ⚭ 2. Simon de Grandson
            10. Agnès ⚭ Pierre de Grandson
          3. Berthold of Neuchâtel , Bishop of Lausanne
    4. Berthold , Bishop of Basel
    5. NN ⚭ Amadeus I of Montfaucon

Differentiation from other families

In the Burgundian area, there was another family with the Lords of Neuchâtel-Bourgogne , whose members can be found in the historical literature as Seigneur de Neuchâtel or other additions to their names (e.g. Neuchâtel-Blamont). This is not a sideline of the Counts of Neuchâtel, but a separate sex to whom an extensive family relationship occasionally developed through marriage. The dynasty of the Counts of Neuchâtel was not related to the knight dynasty of the Thumb von Neuburg (sometimes also called Thumb von Neuchâtel).

See also

literature

  • Gerhard Köbler : Historical lexicon of the German countries. The German territories and imperial immediate families from the Middle Ages to the present. 6th, completely revised edition. CH Beck, Munich 1999, ISBN 3-406-44333-8 , pp. 424-425.
  • Katharina Koller-Weiss: Neuchâtel . In: Lexicon of the Middle Ages . tape VI . Artemis & Winkler, Munich / Zurich 1993, ISBN 3-7608-8906-9 , Sp. 1100-1101 .
  • Jean-Daniel Morerod: La zone d'influence d'Ulric II dans l'Arc jurassien et la genèse du comté de Neuchâtel (1140–1191) . In: Revue historique neuchâteloise . 4 (October / December), 1999, ISSN  1422-5182 , pp. 237-246 ( rero.ch ).
  • Jean Grellet: Neuchâtel (Count of). In: Historisch-Biographisches Lexikon der Schweiz , Volume 5, Neuchâtel 1921, pp. Pdf

Web links

Commons : Counts of Neuchâtel  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Franziska Hälg-Steffen: Strassberg, from. In: Historisches Lexikon der Schweiz ., As the legal successor to the barons of Strassberg, who died out around 1200.
  2. ↑ see Georges de Montmollin: Mémoires sur le comté de Neuchatel en Suisse Volume 2, Neuchâtel 1831, pp. 97/98 Google digitized
  3. ↑ This area swap is doubted in the more recent literature. See Eric-André Klauser: Val-de-Travers (valley). In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
  4. ↑ Rudolf von Habsburg married Isabella of Burgundy for the second time , whose sister Margarte was married to Johan von Chalon.
  5. ↑ on this see Hermann von Schulze-Gävernitz : The constitutional position of the Principality of Neuchâtel in its historical development and current significance , Jena 1854, pp. 9–29 Google digitized
  6. ↑ on this see Hermann von Schulze-Gävernitz : The constitutional position of the Principality of Neuchâtel in its historical development and current significance , Jena 1854, pp. 9–29 Google digitized
  7. ↑ see on this family Bernard Truffer: Glâne, de (barons). In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
  8. ↑ see on this family Ernst Tremp: Granges, de (von Gradetsch). In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
  9. ↑ see on this family Ansgar Wildermann: Montbéliard, de. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
  10. ↑ see on this family Jean-Luc Rouiller: Sarraz (Sarra), de La. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
  11. ↑ see on this family Jean-Luc Rouiller: Sarraz (Sarra), de La. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
  12. ↑ see on this family Bernard Andenmatten: Champvent, de. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
  13. ↑ on him see Nadia Pollini: Montagny, Wilhelm II. Von. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
  14. ↑ see on this family Jean Courtieu: Montjoie. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
  15. ↑ see on this family Ansgar Wildermann: Vufflens, de. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
  16. ↑ see on this family Roberto Biolzi: Vergy, de. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
  17. ↑ on this family see Franziska Hälg-Steffen: Buchegg, von. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
  18. ^ Stefan Jäggi: Stäffis, from (d'Estavayer). In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
  19. ↑ see on this family Martin Bundi: Porta, von (a Porta, à Porta). In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
  20. ↑ see on this family Bernard Andenmatten: Blonay, de. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .