Battle of Home Mountains

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The Battle of Hausbergen near Hausbergen in Alsace took place as part of the so-called Bellum Walterianum on March 8, 1262 between the troops of Bishop Walter von Geroldseck and the citizens of Strasbourg . It ended with the victory of the citizens over the bishop and was an important step towards the independence of the city from the bishopric of Strasbourg .

prehistory

For a long time there had been conflicts between the citizens of Strasbourg and the bishop as city lords. After his election in 1261, Walter von Geroldseck tried to restrict the rights of citizens. The citizens moved to Haldenburg and destroyed it because they feared that the bishop could use it as a base and fortify it. The bishop then imposed the interdict on the city and ordered the priests to leave Strasbourg. One of the few who disregarded this commandment was Heinrich von Geroldseck . The citizens succeeded in bringing several priests into the city who were ready to perform the most important acts of worship, such as baptisms or the administration of the sacraments. The episcopal ministrals, knights and the canons also left the city. The houses of those who moved out were looted and destroyed.

Bellum Walterianum

Thereupon there were armed conflicts between the bishop and the citizens. The bishop found help from the Archbishop of Trier , various abbots, nobles and also Rudolf von Habsburg , the later king. The knights loyal to the bishop in the outskirts of Strasbourg are said to have developed a signal system to call the men together as soon as the citizens moved out.

The episcopal troops succeeded in taking Lingolsheim . The armaments brought in by the Archbishop of Trier are said to have been taken away by the Strasbourgers. A first attack on the city of Strasbourg itself failed, and an armistice was reached in July 1261. The bishop used the time to continue arming. Rudolf von Habsburg and other nobles came to the city and now promised to fight on the side of the citizens. As a result, the villages that belonged to the bishop's family were destroyed around the city. Conversely, the bishop devastated the citizens' fields and vineyards.

In the course of the fighting, the bishop lost a large part of his property in Upper Alsace, including Mulhouse , Colmar and Kaysersberg, to Rudolf von Habsburg. In the case of Colmar, the bishop tried in vain to regain the city by force of arms.

Battle of Home Mountains

The Strasbourg troops consisted of horsemen and foot soldiers. Many were stonemasons or other craftsmen. This contingent marched towards Mundolsheim to destroy the church tower so that it could not be used militarily by the bishop. From there, the citizens moved to Hausbergen. The bishop called his troops together and wanted to attack the Strasbourg teams as they marched back.

Other units from the city came to the aid of the disengaged Strasbourgers. Both troops united about 3/4 of a mile from the city. The troops were drawn up in battle order. The three hundred city riflemen were specially posted. They elected leaders and encouraged one another.

The episcopal knights feared defeat in the face of the large number of opponents until the bishop appealed to their honor.

Before the actual battle broke out, a nobleman rushed up from the city ranks in front of the city contingent. On the episcopal side, a knight accepted this challenge and before the actual battle began a duel, which the town rider won.

As a result, the knights of both sides clashed. It was crucial that the town's foot soldiers also intervened in the fight and killed the horses of the opposing knights with their spears. In contrast, the episcopal foot troops did not take part in the fight. The bishop himself fought in battle and lost two horses in the process.

The citizens also completely triumphed over the bishop because of their numerical superiority. Allegedly 60 knights and other nobles are said to have died on the episcopal side. Among them was the bishop's brother. A similar number of episcopal foot soldiers had also been killed. Numerous bishops had been taken prisoner. In contrast, according to contemporary representations, only one citizen was killed by the city. At least the latter information is unlikely in view of the bitter fight.

consequences

After an interruption during the harvest season, the Strasbourgers again destroyed numerous villages that belonged to the bishop. In the autumn of 1262 King Richard of England tried to mediate between the two sides in Haguenau. But this attempt failed. Instead, around Christmas, the Strasbourgers again plundered episcopal property. The war lasted into Lent in 1263. Bishop Walther died that year. Heinrich von Geroldseck became his successor.

The victory secured Strasbourg complete independence in the long run and finally recognition as a free imperial city . Bishop Heinrich, the cathedral chapter and the two Strasbourg collegiate colleges recognized a number of rights of the city in a twelve-point contract in German and not in Latin. These included the right to freely elect councils and magistrates, the city court and the city's right to enter into alliances. The bishop and the cathedral chapter also had to recognize all rights that the emperors had granted the city. However, the bishop had the choice of the mayor and the burgrave . By participating in the victorious war, the Habsburgs succeeded in slowing down the expansion of the Strasbourg bishops and halting their further rise to become the leading regional power. However, it did not succeed in bringing the city of Strasbourg under Habsburg control.

swell

There are several accounts of the war. On the side of the bishop stood a chronicler from Senones Abbey , who had already written about the battle around 1265. The Bellum Walthrianum Chronicle was created around 1290, probably written by Gottfried von Ensmingen . Around 1362 this was translated from Latin into German.

literature

  • Gabriela Signori : The 13th Century. Introduction to the history of late medieval Europe. Stuttgart 2007, pp. 130-136
  • Hans Delbrück : History of the art of war in the context of political history. Berlin 1923, part 3, pp. 389-395 online version
  • Hermann Bannasch: Battle of Hausbergen. In: Gerhard Taddey (Hrsg.): Lexicon of German history . People, events, institutions. From the turn of the times to the end of the 2nd World War. 2nd, revised edition. Kröner, Stuttgart 1983, ISBN 3-520-81302-5 , p. 311.

Web links

Commons : Battle of Home Mountains  - Collection of images, videos and audio files