Thuringia II from Hallwyl

Thuringia II von Hallwyl , also Türing (* around 1380 or 1391 ; † 1460 or 1461 ), to distinguish it from his son of the same name sometimes also called Thuringia the Elder , was a knight from the family of the Lords of Hallwyl . He gained particular fame through his participation as field captain of the Habsburgs from 1443 in the Old Zurich War (1439–1446).

origin

Thuringia II, who came from an Alsatian family, was a son of the knight Thuringia I (* around 1346, † 1386) and Katharina von Wolfurt (* around 1360; † around 1413), who fell in the battle of Sempach . Apparently through his mother he got hold of some property in Alsace. There he owned in the Sundgau in Thann and from 1454 with the rule Landser in the Harthwald in the old Habsburg area Pfänder. The Habsburg defeat at Sempach on July 9, 1386 meant a turning point for the von Hallwyl family, as three family members died in the battle. In addition to Thuring's father, his older brother Johannes IV the bastard von Hallwyl (* 1378/79; † 1386) and his cousin Johannes V. (called Henslin ) died near Sempach. Thuringia was the last representative of the Thuringian family branch after 1386. In the course of the Appenzell Wars , his two cousins ​​Konrad also fell in 1405, the son of his uncle Rudolf II (* before 1354; † 1348) and Hans, the son of his uncle Johannes IV († before 1384). Hallwyler has held the title of Marshal since around 1300, including Thuringia II .; this court office was associated with some prestige.

Through his 1413 marriage with Margaretha von Masmünster ( Munster ) (* around 1390, † 1427) he received further property in Alsace. His only son Thuringia III came from the marriage . (* 1427; † 1469)

Conquest of the Aargau

During the fighting in the course of the Swiss conquest of Aargau , the Hallwylers offered resistance to the Bernese mainly in two places. His cousin Rudolf III. von Hallwyl (* before 1373; † 1440), at that time the eldest of the family, defended the Hallwyler family castle , Thuringia itself defended in 1415 together with his cousin Walter VI. († 1430) the Wildegg Castle , which had come to the Hallwyl family as early as 1340, was successful against the Bernese and inflicted the only defeat in their campaign in front of the castle: « So quite a few servants from hertzügebuchsi added and wanted to berouben the müli. Thu came from hanwil with the irish at si, and stabbed five servants ». Thuringia is said to have been wounded in the fight, but this is not clearly proven. Despite - or perhaps because of - the resolute defense, the Wildegg was subsequently spared, but Hallwyler Castle was conquered and partially destroyed, and both the Old and New Wartburgs burned down.

Most of the members of the von Hallwyl family then tried to come to terms with the new masters. On August 1, 1415, Rudolf III. as the eldest of the family for the Hallwyl reign - also on behalf of his cousin Walter, his nephew Walter VI. von Hallwyl and the underage sons of his younger brother Konrad the Elder, who died in 1405 (Konrad the Younger († approx. 1475) and Kudolf († 1473)) - signed a castle law contract with Bern and Solothurn . Walter VI. signed the castle rights for the Wildegg. In it, the Hallwylers committed themselves to keep the two castles open to the Bernese. A document dated August 8th, which obliged the Bernese to return the Hallwylers who had previously been sworn under oath, followed by a corresponding contract with Solothurn on August 9th , which was soon abandoned by the Hallwylers. With that Rudolf and the underage sons of his deceased brother and Walter VI. Citizens of Bern and Solothurn, but the Hallwylers were able to keep their court rights in their home countries. After 1415, however, the Hallwylers struggled to maintain their property outside of Aargau in Bern. Other rights, such as in Fahrwangen , were disputed by Lucerne , further rights, in particular in the new free offices administered as common rule by the 7 old towns (excluding Bern), were subsequently lost. Disputes about the Hallwylers' fishing rights in Lake Hallwil also played a role.

Thuringia II von Hallwyl, however, did not agree to a castle rights contract, he only entered into a legal right with the Bernese. He kept his shares in the family property in the now federal Aargau, but he kept his distance with the latter throughout his life. At that time he did not hold a Habsburg office, left Aargau and emigrated to Alsace, where he stayed in the following years and made a career as a follower of the Habsburgs in Alsace and as a war entrepreneur . The Thuringian branch of the family, which was wealthy in Alsace, avoided ties to Bern and also attracted descendants of the Rudolf branch to this side.

1415-1442

The Habsburg Duke Albrecht V (* 1397, † 1439), later as King of the Kingdom of Albrecht II, took over the supreme command of the royal troops against the Hussites on September 28, 1421 in accordance with an agreement with Emperor Sigismund in Pressburg . Thuringia II took part in 1422/23 as captain of a mercenary troop in Iglau in the course of the Hussite Wars in the Kingdom of Bohemia . After his return he worked in Sundgau in the service of Catherine of Burgundy (* 1378; † 1425), the widow of the Habsburg Leopold IV. (* 1371; † 1411).

He was twice bailiff of Rouffach in the middle of Alsace, between 1432 and 1435 (under Bishop Wilhelm II of Diest ) and again from 1440 to 1441 (under Bishop Ruprecht von Pfalz-Simmern ). In 1435 he was the highest bailiff of Friedrich III. von Zollern , the Bishop of Constance .

In 1436 he bought the rule of Blumenegg (Badisches BA Bonndorf) and called himself Herr zu Bonndorf. Between 1433 and 1437, however, he sold all of his property south of the Rhine. In 1437 he sold his share in Hallwyl Castle to his relatives in Aargau, and the Wildegg reign went to Petermann von Greifensee, who was considered loyal to the family and who already owned the Habsburg family castle . In 1457 the latter sold the feudal sovereignty of the Wildegg lordship to the city of Bern.

Old Zurich War

At the end of the 1430s, Thuringia von Hallwil became the closest collaborator of Landvogt Margrave Wilhelm von Hachberg (* 1406; † 1482) who was in charge of the Habsburgs from 1442 in the course of the upcoming conflict in the absence of the dukes. This sent his confidante Thuringia to Zurich in the summer of 1442 to negotiate the city with King Friedrich III. bring it to an end. Thuringia was friends with the Zurich town clerk Michael Stebler (called Graf) († 1443) and otherwise enjoyed a reputation with the Zurich patriciate. Zurich's alliance with the king was documented on June 17, 1442. End of 1442 Thuringia was from Friedrich III. - on the recommendation of the margrave and at the request of Zurich - and at the expense of the king appointed captain of the Zurich-Habsburg troops and sent to Zurich, to which the city swore obedience on January 25, 1443. In the period that followed, Thuringia became the first point of contact between Zurich and the Confederates, alongside the Margrave.

The campaign of 1443 was extremely difficult for the Zurich-Austrian side. Thuringia tried twice in vain to seize the town of Bremgarten . On May 21, the contingents of Rapperswil had to retreat to this town after the lost battle near Freienbach , whereupon peasants from the lake area occupied the Letzi near Horgen against Thuringia's orders from Hallwyl . The Klingenberger Chronik writes about this: " Diss was och completely against that of Hallwil, that of Zurich Hoptmann was ". Thuringia sent only a few reinforcements there
from Zurich's main power on the Albis , as he had already given his own available troops to the army of Zurich Mayor Rudolf Stüssi ; During the undecided battle at Blickensdorf, the latter sounded out the situation at the front and returned to the Albis in anticipation of an attack there, so that the Letzi at Horgen remained too weakly manned. The defense there was overrun after the Battle of the Hirzel . An originally planned relief attack by Thuringia II failed due to the lack of discipline on the part of some units, so that in the end a general retreat towards Zurich began. In the following battle near St. Jakob an der Sihl , too , the failure to obey the orders of Thuringia II von Hallwyl was primarily responsible for the Zurich-Austrian defeat. The Zurich landscape was now unprotected and was subsequently devastated by the enemy. Thuringia's influence as a captain then seems to have diminished due to his unfortunate role in previous war events, so that the decision-making power in the field increasingly passed to Wilhelm von Hachberg and above all to the restless feuding entrepreneur Hans von Rechberg . In the war year 1444, however, it seems to have played a role in the «Brugger Mordnacht» at the end of July and in the discussions with the French King Charles VII about the armagnacs that led to the battle of St. Jakob an der Birs at the end of August to have. It was also he who reported from Säckingen about the course and outcome of the battle to the king and the margrave of Hachberg . In 1445 he, along with his son and a number of other nobles, were permanently excluded from the right of residence in the city by the city of Basel due to their hostile attitude towards the Swiss.

Next life

In 1448 he and his son sold the rule of Blumenegg to the Abbeys of Reichenau and St. Blasien , the rule of Landser was handed over from Thuringia II to Walter VII of Hallwyl (* before 1450 - † 1513), the brother of Hans von Hallwyl , of the hero of Murten ; after that his name largely disappears from the sources. At the beginning of 1458 he was ordered to Innsbruck by Duke Siegmund of Austria-Tyrol as the best expert on the situation in the foothills . In 1460 he is said to have belonged to the occupation with his son in Winterthur. According to an old list of donors from the Kappel Monastery ( Canton of Zurich ), he died in 1460 after a restless and warlike life at the age of around 80. The Hallwylers only came closer to the Swiss Confederation when the Habsburg forelands were pledged to the Duchy of Burgundy in the Treaty of St. Omer on May 9, 1469 and through the castle rights treaty of Walter VII with Bern and Solothurn in 1470.

genealogy

ancestors

Walter IV. Von Hallwyl (* before 1256; † 1297/1306)

John I of Hallwyl (* before 1302; † 1348)

Verena von Hünenberg (* before 1285; †?)

Thuringia I. von Hallwyl (* around 1346; † 1386)

Johann von Kilchen (* before 1291, † after 1311)

Verena von Kilchen (* before 1311; † 1344)

Agnes von Ifental (* before 1309, † after 1338)

Thuringia II of Hallwyl (* around 1380/91; † 1460/61)

unknown

unknown

unknown

Katharina von Wolfurt (* around 1360/1381; † around 1413)

unknown

unknown

unknown

progeny

1. ⚭ 1413 Margaretha von Masmünster ( Munster ) (* around 1390; † 1427)
   1. Thuringia III. (* 1427; † 1469)
      1. ⚭ Dorothea von Rathsamhausen zum Stein (* 1447–1462; † 1467)

Web links

• Felix Müller: Hallwyl, Türing II. Von. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Bernese families: Thuringia I. Retrieved on September 19, 2019 . 
2. ↑ Bernese families: Hänsli von Hallwil. Retrieved September 19, 2019 . 
3. ↑ Bernese families: Konrad von Hallwil. Retrieved September 19, 2019 . 
4. ↑ Bernese families: Johannes von Hallwil. Retrieved September 19, 2019 . 
5. ↑ Bernese families: Thuringia II. Accessed on September 19, 2019 . 
6. ↑ Bernese families: Thuringia III. Retrieved September 19, 2019 . 
7. ↑ Konrad Justinger : The Bern Chronicle of Conrad Justinger (1871)
8. ↑ Alois Feusi: In the footsteps of the Habsburgs from castle to castle
9. ↑ Swisscastles: Wildegg Castle
10. ↑ Bruno Meier: A Royal Family from Switzerland (2008)
11. ↑ Klingenberg Chronicle (around 1460)
12. ↑ Alois Niederstätter: The Old Zurich War (1995)
13. ↑ Johann Sporschil: The Swiss Chronicle: From the Foundation of the Rütli Federation to the Eternal Peace with France (1840)