Battle of the Welfesholz
Memorial to the battle, west of Welfesholz
| date | February 11, 1115 |
|---|---|
| place | at Welfesholz |
| output | Victory of the insurgents |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
|
Roman-German Emperor Heinrich V |
Saxon prince opposition |
| Commander | |
| Troop strength | |
| unknown | unknown |
| losses | |
|
unknown |
unknown |
The battle of the Welfesholz , which took place on February 11, 1115 , was the climax of the armed conflict between Henry V and the rebellious Saxons.
prehistory
Since the emperor's attempt in 1112 to incorporate the county of Weimar-Orlamünde into direct royal possession, the Salier faced a close opposition to the princes around Count Palatine Siegfried and Wiprecht von Groitzsch the Elder . The numerous interventions by the Salier emperor, especially his territorial policy and the unauthorized deposition of Saxon nobles, motivated some princes to openly resist. Despite periods of calm in the meantime, the situation had escalated since the Weimar inheritance dispute in 1112, at the latest with the Warnstedt attack . Back then, on March 9, 1113 near Warnstedt near Quedlinburg , the imperial army under the leadership of the war-tried Field Marshal Hoyer I von Mansfeld succeeded in defeating the rebels. They then had to submit to the emperor under conditions that were perceived as dishonorable. This was at the peak of his success.
Shortly thereafter, the Saxon resistance formed anew. Since autumn 1114, with the Kreuzberg alliance, the Saxon greats around Lothar von Süpplingenburg were also part of a prince revolt, which had a second regional focus in the Lower Rhine-Westphalian area around Cologne. In the context of the empire, the battle of the Welfesholz was part of the overall anti-Sali resistance against the Salian Henry V, whose style of government was increasingly felt to be autocratic and directed against the princes, and not a mere expression of Saxon hostility to the empire.
The battle
The battle itself took place on February 11, 1115 near Welfesholz , a settlement near Hettstedt in the Mansfeld area . There the armies of the last Salier, Emperor Heinrich V, under the leadership of his Field Marshal Hoyer, and that of the imperial opposition of the empire faced each other. This prince opposition consisted of the Saxon greats, Duke Lothar von Süpplingenburg, Wiprecht von Groitzsch, Bishop Reinhard von Blankenburg , Bishop of Halberstadt and Count Palatine of Saxony Friedrich von Sommerschenburg. In addition to the Saxon rebels, Lower Rhine-Westphalian princes such as Friedrich von Arnsberg also took part in the battle.
After the imperial army was gathered on February 10th, skirmishes between the conflicting parties broke out on the eve of the battle. As the Annales Pegaviensis report, the loyal Saxon Hoyer I von Mansfeld fell on his opponents during a daring assault. He was struck down in a duel by Wiprecht von Groitzsch the younger . With the fall of the imperial field marshal, the battle was obviously decided. This went in favor of the opposition, the emperor had to flee.
consequences
The emperor lost all influence in Saxony for the rest of his reign. The revenge of the Saxon bishop Reinhard von Halberstadt was particularly emphasized, he refused the fallen enemies from imperial camps a Christian burial, which, according to the understanding of the time, “their souls were damned”.
The victory of the Saxon-Lower Rhine prince opposition became a milestone in Heinrich V's steady loss of power. Lothar von Süpplingenburg's leadership role, on the other hand, became an important factor that not least contributed to his election as king in spring 1125.
Theodor Körner later wrote the folk tale Graf Hoyer von Mansfeld or the Battle of the Welfesholze , which tells of the battle.
literature
- Welfesholz 1115 to 2006. Between the crown domain and the manor district. Contributions to the regional history conference on September 9, 2006 in Welfesholz (= contributions to the regional and state culture of Saxony-Anhalt. Volume 44). Landesheimatbund Sachsen-Anhalt eV, Halle 2007, ISBN 3-928466-95-X .
- Lutz Fenske: Nobility opposition and church reform movement in Saxony. Göttingen 1977.
- Wolfgang Hartmann: From the Main to Trifels Castle - from Hirsau Monastery to Naumburg Cathedral. On the traces of the Franconian aristocratic family of the Reginbodonen (= publications of the Aschaffenburg History and Art Association, Volume 52). Aschaffenburg History and Art Association, Aschaffenburg 2004, ISBN 3-87965-098-5 .
- Hartmut Lauenroth : The battle on Welfelsholz 1115. Schäfer, Langenbogen 2006, ISBN 3-938642-12-2 .
- Battle of the Welfesholz Association V. (Ed.): 900 years of the Battle of the Welfesholz. Schäfer Druck & Verlag, Teutschenthal 2015; ISBN 978-3-938642-74-0 .
- Herbert W. Vogt: The Duchy of Lothars von Süpplingenburg 1106-1125. Hildesheim 1959.
- Tilman Struve : The Battle of the Welfesholz . In: Lexicon of the Middle Ages (LexMA). Volume 8, LexMA-Verlag, Munich 1997, ISBN 3-89659-908-9 , Sp. 2153.
