Onna Attena

Onna Attena , also Anna Attena († 1560 ) was the second wife of Count Otto III. and the mother of Johann II.

Live and act

Onna Attena was born on an unknown date as the daughter of Hero Omken and Armgard, Countess of Oldenburg. Childhood and adolescence are not documented. On September 26, 1523 she married Otto III. von Rietberg, whose first wife had died. He brought a son of the same name (Otto IV.) Into the marriage. According to point 4 of the marriage contract, this son should become a clergyman. Children conceived together were intended as heirs for the County of Rietberg . Otto IV did not agree with this regulation and wanted to inherit himself.

Otto III. died in 1535. The widow Attena continued to rule as a guardian and tried to get her son Johann II to inherit the county of Rietberg. The Landgraves of Hesse, as feudal lords of Rietberg, prevented this request. The conflict over the inheritance had not yet been resolved when Otto IV died in 1553. In 1548 Attena was able to save Rietberg as an imperial fiefdom for her two sons. Philipp had previously participated in the Schmalkaldic War as Landgrave of Hesse and lost it. The emperor then imposed on him a outlaw and deprived him of all feudal.

After the death of Attena's brother Balthasar von Esens , she and her son Johann inherited the Harlingerland in 1540 . Troops from the city of Bremen besieged Esen at this time . Attena was able to lift the siege and sign a peace treaty with the city. Attena and her son got the Harlingerland on December 7th, 1540 as a fief of the city of Bremen. In this context, Attena rigorously denied all claims by the East Frisians. From then on, the affairs of state were evidently carried out by her son, but after a short time he treated the subordinates badly and led raids against the neighbors.

Because of his behavior, Johann was imposed and imprisoned. Allegedly his mother encouraged him to do what he did. Ubbo Emmius and Ulrich von Werdum name them as the main culprits in all subsequent conflicts in Harlingerland, for which, however, there is no evidence. What is known is that she tried to maintain her son's power whenever the opportunity arose.

With the Treaty of Venlo , the Duchy of Geldern went to Emperor Charles V. He considered the contract between Attena and the city of Bremen over the Harlingerland to be invalid. In 1547 he put the Harlingerland to Geldern back into force. The Harlingerland thus corresponded to an imperial fiefdom, which protected Attena's son Johann from further interference. Attena itself was evidently no longer active in government until the Rhenish-Westphalian Reichskreis took Johann prisoner in 1557.

Attena now tried to help her son. She unsuccessfully asked for warriors from Braunschweig and was able to win the King of Spain as a supporter, but this did not change her son's situation either. Until the end of her life, she tried to get her son, who died in custody, free. Last mentions in sources date to December 1559. She must have died a little later.

literature

• Frank Huismann: Attena, Onna . in: Martin Tielke (Hrsg.): Biographisches Lexikon für Ostfriesland. Ostfriesische Landschaftliche Verlags- und Vertriebsgesellschaft, Aurich, Vol. 2 ISBN 3-932206-00-2 (1997), pages 19-20.