Rupert II of Castell

Rupert II. Count and Lord zu Castell († around 1234) was the second ruler of the County of Castell from 1223 until his death .

The county before Rupert II.

The name "Castell" was first handed down in 816, when a deed of foundation of Count Megingaud from the Mattonen family for a monastery mentions the castle on the slope of the Steigerwald. For about three hundred years the history of the castle and its owners went on without knowledge of the sources. It is unclear who sat here in the subsequent period. Only at the end of the 11th century is another noble man mentioned at the castle.

Under the first count from the Castell family, Rupert I, who was referred to as " comes " (Latin count) in 1205 , the territory was consolidated. The most important element of the then county was the bailiwick of the Münsterschwarzach monastery , which was given to the castellans by the Würzburg bishop as a fief. The counts also owned several estates and village lords that stretched from the Main to the Steigerwald .

Life

There is nothing in the sources about the youth and education of Count Rupert II. He was probably born as the second eldest son of the first Count Rupert , the Count's mother is unknown. One of the count's brothers, Markward (called 1224–1254), became provost of the cathedral in Würzburg, and later provost of the monastery in Ansbach. Ludwig, another brother, took part in the crusades to the Holy Land. Count Rupert was first mentioned in 1223.

After the father, Rupert I, died, his successor had to see to it that the bishops of Würzburg and Bamberg reassigned the bailiffs , because the fiefs were not hereditary. In the years 1224/1225 he failed when the sovereignty over bailiwicks of the Ebrach monastery was not granted again. In 1228 his brother Ludwig died on the crusades, and Rupert now also claimed his own property.

The brother was particularly wealthy in the area around Schwarzach. Since the Würzburg bishops refused to grant the fief, Rupert took violence against his liege lords, but failed. The peace treaty of January 18, 1230 then clearly decimated the territory of the counts. The important bailiwick of Münsterschwarzach was lost, as was those of Stadtschwarzach , Gerlachshausen , Mainbernheim and Pleichfeld.

The former Eigenburg Hallburg came back to the counts, but was only given to the family as a fief by the Würzburg bishops. The rest of the county was made up of bailiffs in the area around Volkach , Wiesentheid and Prichsenstadt , and the tithe in Wiesenbronn continued to exist. Soon after the defeat, the count died around 1234.

progeny

Only the name of the wife who married Rupert II is recorded in the sources. Her name was Hedwig. Likewise, most of the couple's children are not mentioned. Only the successor Count Friedrich is mentioned in detail in the sources.

• Friedrich († around 1251)
• Heinrich († around 1254)
• Albrecht († before June 7, 1258)

literature

• Wilhelm Engel: House u. Reign of Castell in Franconian history . In: Society for Franconian History (ed.): Castell. Contributions to the culture and history of home and dominion. New Year's Sheets XXIV . Würzburg 1952. pp. 1-19.
• Otto Meyer: The Castell house. State and class rule over the centuries . In: Otto Meyer, Hellmut Kunstmann (ed.): Castell. State rule - castles - status lordship . Castell 1979. pp. 9-53.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Meyer, Otto: The Castell House . P. 12.
2. ↑ Engel, Wilhelm: Haus u. Reign of Castell . P. 3.
3. ↑ Engel, Wilhelm: Haus u. Reign of Castell . Ibid.
4. ↑ Worldroots.com: Web Archive, Family Tree ( August 7, 2007 memento in Internet Archive ), accessed April 23, 2015.

predecessor	Office	successor
Rupert I.	Count of Castell 1223–1234	Friedrich I.