Knight's canton of Kraichgau
As Ritter Canton Kraichgau a community is chivalrous noble families in Kraichgau referred, since the high Middle Ages as vassals of the Staufer or the Bishopric of Worms in the ministerials had risen and to the media coverage of chivalry or the regional principalities in the early 19th century, the feudal rule over many Owned localities and goods in the Kraichgau and adjacent areas. The families ( von Gemmingen , von Neipperg , von Helmstatt and others) were related for generations and had been united in the "Tournament Society with the Donkey " since the 14th century , later in the "Brotherhood of the Kraichgau Nobility" and from 1547 in the "knight canton Kraichgau" of the Swabian knight circle. From 1619 the canton's office was located in the imperial city of Heilbronn . The imperial knighthood principalities and thus also the knightly canton Kraichgau were dissolved in 1806.
Kraichgau knighthood
The Kraichgau knights belonged to the smallest entities that asserted themselves in direct position to the emperor and thus eluded the grasp of a sovereign prince. Nevertheless, they aroused more and more the interest of the sovereigns, especially the Heidelberg Count Palatine. The Count Palatine knew how to use a clever feudal policy to bind the Kraichgau knighthood closely to them for 180 years. The Kraichgau knights also formed the core of the Wittelsbach council in Heidelberg. The knights, in turn, who were often in the service of the count palatine, thus evaded further claims by the sovereigns. Under Count Palatine Philipp , however, the Kraichgau knights increasingly distanced themselves from the Count Palatine. The Kraichgau knight nobility also managed to rank among the imperial princes via the dignity of bishops. Between 1396 and 1504, the Helmstatt alone provided the bishop in Speyer for a total of 86 years, and the Gemmingen, Uriel, the archbishop of Mainz around 1510, and thus at the same time elector and arch chancellor and thus the second man in the empire after the emperor. This also favored the filling of other important positions such as councilors, court masters, officials, governors and abbots with people from these noble families. Around 1500 the Kraichgau knights had increasing influence on four pens, the occupation of which they controlled with skill. Since the 14th century it has been possible to dominate the Speyer cathedral chapter and to displace other aristocratic groups there. This tradition only ended with confessionalization.
Brotherhood of the Kraichgau nobility
The tournament society with the donkey can be seen as a predecessor organization, especially since it consisted of almost the same families, but there was no organizational connection.
On February 1, 1490 seven of the last twelve members of the donkey society joined the brotherhood of the Kraichgau nobility .
Emperor Friedrich III. founded the Swabian Federation in 1488 and wanted to include the Kraichgau knighthood in it. However, since the Electoral Palatinate also regarded the Kraichgau as their area of interest, the Kraichgau nobility remained equally independent, Protestant and yet directly imperial. Until 1542, the knighthood of Kraichgau was also able to evade imperial taxation. After that, only those who paid the "common penny" as a tax contribution were considered imperial-free knights. Royal commissioners, to whom the Roman King Ferdinand, brother of Charles V, appointed four from the ranks of the Kraichgau knights: Philipp von Helmstatt († 1563), Bernhard Göler von Ravensburg , Wolf von Gemmingen († 1555 ) watched over the collection of taxes ) and Reinhard von Sachsenhausen. These can be seen as the core cell of the later knight's canton. The knight days of the “knight's place” initially took place in different locations: first in 1542 in Bretten , from 1544 in Wimpfen .
Knight's canton of Kraichgau
The little knighthood of Kraichgau felt increasingly insecure about the powerful emperor. When the latter wanted to tax the Imperial Knights because of the emerging Turkish threat, a Kraichgau organization was re-established in 1542. A short time later, however, they approved the " Turkish tax ". Together with Count Palatine Friedrich II , the Kraichgauer confessed to the Protestant faith in 1544. Since the Reichstag in Worms in 1545 there was contact with the knight circle of Swabia, which was led by the House of Württemberg . After the defeat of the Schmalkaldic League in 1547, however, they increasingly oriented themselves again towards the old-believing emperor in order not to lose the status of imperial immediacy .
Structure of the knight circles
The free imperial knighthood in south-west Germany was divided into a Rhenish , Franconian and Swabian knight circle , which in turn consisted of different cantons. The Swabian knight circle was divided into the cantons of Danube , Hegau-Allgäu-Bodensee , Neckar-Black Forest , Kocher and Kraichgau.
After negotiations in Augsburg and Ulm, the first Kraichgau knights joined the Swabian knight circle in 1547 and formed the Kraichgau knight canton . Since 1619 the canton's office was in Heilbronn . The knighthood organized in this way had no sovereign tasks, its activity was rather to be seen as a representation of the interests of the knights vis-à-vis emperors, princes and free and imperial cities.
Noble families in the canton of Kraichgau
Up to 1806 the following noble families belonged to the knightly canton Kraichgau over the years (see also: List of Franconian knight families ):
- Imperial Barons of Gemmingen
- Barons von Killinger (headquarters: Eschenau )
- Barons von Massenbach (headquarters: Massenbach )
- Barons of Neipperg
- Barons Göler von Ravensburg (headquarters: Castle Ravensburg near Sulzfeld )
- Barons von Zandt zu Mönchzell
The last knight director in the canton was Ernst von Gemmingen-Hornberg , who was elected to the office in 1795 and held it until the imperial knighthood was dissolved in 1806.
In 1793 France annexed the left bank of the Rhine. To compensate the principalities affected after the Peace of Lunéville in 1801, the Reichsdeputationshauptschluss of 1803 provided for the mediatization of the spiritual principalities and imperial cities. After Württemberg, Baden also confiscated the knightly goods in 1806 and thus dissolved the knight associations.
The knighthood of Kraichgau has remained a defining factor within their earlier sphere of influence through their land ownership. The barons of Gemmingen and the Counts of Neipperg own extensive estates and numerous castles, palaces and farms in the Kraichgau. A family council made up of members of the families of the former knightly canton of Kraichgau also manages the Kraichgauer Adeliges Damenstift to this day .
coat of arms
The coat of arms of the knightly canton of Kraichgau showed a double-headed imperial eagle with a breast shield, which showed a donkey.
literature
- Lotte Kurras: Tournament book from the Kraichgau knighthood . Commentary on the facsimile edition of Cod. Ross 711, Belser Verlag 1984