Otto II (Bentheim-Tecklenburg)

Otto II. (Around * 1215; † after 1279 ) was Count of Bentheim (as such, also Otto IV. , Called) and Burgrave of Utrecht from around 1248 . From around 1262 he was Otto II (as such also called Otto III ) and Count of Tecklenburg .

family

He came from the Gerulfinger family , who provided the Counts of Holland and Bentheim. He was the son of Baldwin I (the brave). The mother's name is not known.

His first marriage was to a Jutta of unknown origin. From this marriage came the daughter Jutta, who with Christian III. von Oldenburg was married. The second marriage with Heilwig von Tecklenburg brought the children Otto III. von Tecklenburg, Egbert I. von Bentheim and Gertrud , abbess in the Metelen monastery .

Life

He succeeded his father as Count von Bentheim and Burgrave of Utrecht. He supported King Wilhelm of Holland, who was closely related to him . At times he was imprisoned by the Bishop of Utrecht. This let him swear the original feud before his release and had to take parts of his possessions from the bishop as a fief.

Since the son of his father-in-law Heinrich died in 1248, Otto's wife and her sister were heiress of Tecklenburg. He supported his increasingly withdrawn father-in-law Otto I von Tecklenburg in the government.

After his death in 1262 Otto von Bentheim also became Count of Tecklenburg and Vogt of the Metelen Monastery. At first he exercised the rule together with his brother-in-law Heinrich von Oldenburg . Both work together to wrest possessions from Corvey Monastery under their control. Both belonged to the alliance that turned against the Archbishop of Cologne, Engelbert II. Von Falkenburg , and reached its climax in the victory and capture of the archbishop in the battle of Zülpich in 1267. In 1268, both joined a broad peace alliance of Westphalian cities and princes. The alliance with the Counts of the Mark played an important role in security .

In the course of time there seems to have been a division of property. Otto exercised more and more influence as Count von Tecklenburg, while Heinrich held the rule over part of the rule Vlotho and only part of Tecklenburg. In 1267 Otto reached an agreement with his brother Egbert about the Bentheim inheritance. Otto's share in Vlotho fell to Egbert. The rule of Malsen , the burgraviate of Utrecht and other Dutch possessions also came to Egbert. Instead, he was the master of the undivided counties of Bentheim and Tecklenburg. However, some of the possessions consisted of fiefs from different lords. Otto stood in feudal dependency on the archbishops of Bremen , the bishops of Munster , Osnabrück and Utrecht . There were also connections to the Counts of Geldern .

In his time he expanded the castles and improved the administration. He contributed to the foundation of the Marienkamp monastery. As a last act as a count, he bequeathed a tithe to the Oesede monastery . Shell Monastery was also founded during his lifetime .

He had transferred control of Tecklenburg to his son Otto while he was still alive and that of Bentheim to his son Egbert. He spent his last years withdrawn as a knight in the House of the Teutonic Order in Utrecht. He has previously increased their property through rich donations.

literature

• Friedrich Ernst Hunsche: History of the Tecklenburg district. In: The Tecklenburg district. Stuttgart, Aalen, 1973 pp. 64-103 PDF file
• Friedrich Müller: History of the old counts of Tecklenburg in Westphalia. Osnabrück, 1842 pp. 125-134

Web links

• Entry on lwl.org
• Entry on his-data.de
• Ancestors list of Bentheim European family tables

predecessor	Office	successor
Balduin I.	Count of Bentheim 1248–1279	Ekbert I.

predecessor	Office	successor
Otto I.	Count of Tecklenburg 1262–1279	Otto III.