Battle of Andernach
| date | October 2, 939 |
|---|---|
| place | at Andernach |
| output | Defeat of the insurgents |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
|
Eastern France (King Otto I. ) |
Insurgent princes |
| Commander | |
| Troop strength | |
| unknown | unknown |
| losses | |
|
unknown |
unknown |
The battle of Andernach , between supporters and opponents of King Otto I , took place on October 2nd, 939 near Andernach am Rhein and ended with a decisive defeat for the rebels and the death of their leaders.
prehistory
After the death of King Heinrich I , Duke Eberhard von Franken , who had been very loyal to Heinrich, soon came into conflict with Heinrich's son and successor Otto I, who did not see himself as "primus inter pares" like his father, but as one cultivated a much more pronounced style of rule and gave fiefs to his own loyalists. After a treatment by Otto in 937, which Eberhard and other imperial princes regarded as particularly dishonorable, Eberhard joined Otto's opponents. In 938 he rebelled together with Otto's older half-brother Thankmar and Duke Eberhard of Bavaria . Thankmar was killed by Otto's followers in the church of Eresburg as early as 938 , and Eberhard von Bayern was replaced by his uncle Berthold . After a brief reconciliation with Otto, Eberhard von Franken allied himself in 939 with Giselbert von Lothringen and Otto's younger brother Heinrich in a renewed uprising.
Giselbert, Duke of Lorraine since 928, had also behaved loyally during the reign of Henry I, but in 939 wanted to break away from the control of his brother-in-law Otto and join the new West Franconian King Ludwig IV . He joined the rebellious alliance of Heinrich and Eberhard von Franken.
The uprising of 939
King Otto initially won a victory over the rebels in a battle near Birten near Xanten , although on the other side of the Rhine he could only pray and watch with the Holy Lance in hand. But he could not capture the conspirators and first besieged their bases. In the meantime, Giselbert and Eberhard moved south and devastated the areas of loyal counts. They received support from Ludwig IV of West Franconia , Otto's brother-in-law Hugo von Franzien and other great West Franconians. When Otto besieged Breisach, the rebels advanced from Metz to the Rhine and crossed it at Andernach.
The battle
After their army had plundered through the Niederlahngau , it began to cross the Rhine again at Andernach. Giselbert and Eberhard were surprised by the two loyal counts Konrad Kurzbold , count in Niederlahngau, and his cousin Udo , count in the Wetterau and Rheingau . Although Konradiner and Eberhard's cousins, both were on Otto's side. They followed the marauding rebels with a small force and did not attack until the majority of the opposing army had already crossed the Rhine with their booty, but their two leaders had not yet. Eberhard fell in battle and Giselbert drowned in the Rhine while trying to escape to the other side. The uprising against Otto I was over.
literature
- Helmut Beumann : The Ottonians . Verlag W. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart Berlin Cologne; 4th edition 1997; ISBN 3-17-014802-8 .
- Helmut Beumann: "Otto the Great". In: Helmut Beumann (Ed.): Imperial figures of the Middle Ages . CH Beck, Munich 1984; ISBN 3-406-30279-3 .
- Elfie-Marita Eibl: "Heinrich I." and Barbara Pätzold: "Otto I." In: Evamaria Engel / Eberhard Holtz (ed.): German kings and emperors of the Middle Ages . Cologne Vienna Böhlau; 1st edition 1989; ISBN 3-412-03688-9 .