Rudolf III. from Praunheim

Rudolf III. von Praunheim (* 1346?, mentioned from 1366, † 1413) from the family of the Lords von Praunheim was the last of his family from 1376 to assume the office of mayor of the imperial city of Frankfurt am Main .

family

His father was Rudolf II von Sachsenhausen-Praunheim , who died in 1371 and had held various influential positions in Frankfurt and the Wetterau . His mother was a Christine († before 1400) who had married his father, for whom this was the second marriage, between 1342 and 1345. Her family name is not known.

After Rudolf II's death, the children from Rudolf II's first and second marriage got involved in extensive inheritance disputes, which were based on the unequal distribution of inheritance between the children from the two marriages. The parties initially argued before the municipal lay judge's court in Frankfurt, whereby, according to the court's records, there was mutual abuse, in the second instance before the royal court in Prague . The children from their first marriage succeeded in first having their siblings from their second marriage imposed under the imperial ban. When they presented themselves to the court, the process was referred to the courts of the archbishops of Trier and Mainz . The exact outcome of the dispute is not known, but the majority of the property seems to have remained with the children from the second marriage and so did the political power: Rudolf III. succeeded - as the last member of the family - to take the office of mayor again in 1376.

Rudolf III. married Irmel von Erligheim . Her father was Heinrich von Erligheim. A number of children emerged from this marriage:

• Bingel von Praunheim-Sachsenhausen, called 1398 ⚭ Wenzel von Selbold
• Irmgard von Praunheim-Sachsenhausen, called 1398–1437 ⚭ 1415 Henne von Hochweisel , † 1430
• Friedrich II. ("The younger") von Praunheim-Sachsenhausen, called 1405–1420, † before 1422, last of the line of the Reichserbschultheißen ⚭ Else von Bellersheim , whose second marriage this is. After being widowed again, she married Friedrich von Wesen for the third time.
• Rudolf IV of Praunheim-Sachsenhausen, mentioned since 1415, † beginning of 1426
• Hermann von Praunheim-Sachsenhausen, called 1409, canon in Konradsdorf Monastery (?)
• Lampert von Praunheim-Sachsenhausen , named from 1411, † 1449, abbot of the Imperial Abbey of St. Maximin in Trier
• Christine von Praunheim-Sachsenhausen ⚭ 1431 Emelrich von Ingelheim (also: "von Ockenheim")

Career

1366 Rudolf II was - perhaps on the occasion of his marriage - for. Knights defeated . After the death of his father, like his brother Friedrich I. von Praunheim- Sachsenhausen, he succeeded him as Burgmann in the Reichsburg Friedberg .

Before 1376 - the circumstances are unclear - the von Praunheim family managed to acquire the possession of Falkenstein Castle and the associated “ Grafschaft Nüring ”, a tithe with high court , as a pledge from the Falkenstein family's property. This acquisition was administered by a brother of Rudolf II, Friedrich I. von Praunheim-Sachsenhausen , Elector Trier bailiff in Koblenz and Elector Trier secret council. Conversely, Rudolf III. - just like his brothers - Burgmann on the Electorate of Trier castles Oberburg and Niederburg Kobern .

On July 6, 1376 Rudolf III. Mayor of Frankfurt. The office had been in the hands of the citizens as a pledge since 1372 . This makes him the first of the numerous mayors from his family who were not appointed by the German king, but by the town's community. It is no longer "Reichsschultheiß", but "Stadtschultheiß". When Rudolf III. In 1379, together with his two brothers, he joined the aristocratic " Löwenbund " (also: "Löwengesellschaft"), which led a policy directed against Frankfurt, he had to vacate the office of city school. These clashes culminated in the Kronberg feud and the battle of Eschborn , which ended in a severe military defeat for Frankfurt. In the process, Stadtschultheiß Winter von Wasen was captured by the noble coalition. Rudolf II did not take an active part in the fighting, but tried to settle the dispute through negotiation. In the difficult situation for Frankfurt after the military defeat, he was thus the suitable candidate to fill the orphaned post of the city school council again. On July 25, 1389, he became the holder of this office for the second time and held it until 1408. He was also active for the city, for example in diplomatic missions. He died in 1414.

literature

• Alfred Friese: The Lords of Praunheim-Sachsenhausen, inheritance of the Reich in Frankfurt am Main: Property, social and cultural history of an imperial family of the high and late Middle Ages . Masch. Diss. 1952, pp. 80-85.