Ulrich I. (Württemberg)

Draft for the monument to Ulrich the founder (pen drawing watercolored by Hans Steiner , around 1578)

Divergent seal from 1238: The unique specimen shows a three-mountain with three towers.

Ulrich's seal from 1259

Hans Steiner's replica of Ulrich's double tumba, which identifies him as the son of Count Eberhard and the daughter of a Zähringen duke Agnes.

Ulrich I of Württemberg , called Ulrich the founder or Ulrich with the thumb (* 1226 ; † February 25, 1265 ), was Count of Württemberg from around 1241 .

Life and Relationship

Ulrich's family relationship to his predecessors as Count von Württemberg has not been clarified historically. The thesis of the historian Hansmartin Decker-Hauff , who described Ulrich as the son of Hermann von Württemberg and Irmengard, daughter of Ulrich von Ulten , is considered insufficiently substantiated. Hermann, mentioned only once in a document in 1231, is probably a son of Hartmann I.

Ulrich ruled, chartered and sealed in 1241 together with his brother Eberhard von Württemberg. In 1243, both are referred to as nephews of Count Hartmann I von Grüningen , who also came from the House of Württemberg . In April 1243 he sold the "Grafschaft im Albgau" in Capua along with Eglofs Castle with people, possessions and all accessories to Emperor Friedrich II. The purchase price of 3200 silver marks to be paid in installments - or the town of Esslingen serving as a pledge - should be in In case of his premature death to his nephews, the Counts of Württemberg pass over because Hartmann I apparently had no male heirs.

Ulrich's first sign of life is older, however: a seal from 1238, which shows a mountain of three with one tower each. It is believed that Ludwig II took it over from the Count of Kirchberg following his marriage to a daughter of the Count . The originally Nellenburg-Veringian deer rod coat of arms could have been taken over by Ulrich around 1247 as heir to Count Hartmann I of Grüningen, because the Grüninger line had the deer rods in the coat of arms since at least 1228.

In 1255, Count Adalbert IV. Von Dillingen wrote to the Eichstätter Bishop Heinrich IV. Von Württemberg that he was related to Ulrich from his father's side. After Adalbert's death (1257) with no descendants, in addition to Hartmann V, Bishop of Augsburg, and his brothers-in-law, Ulrich was also able to make inheritance claims and take on some Dillingic positions such as the bailiwick of Ulm . In 1256 Ulrich referred to Count Rudolf von Tübingen as his uncle . Strictly speaking, that would mean that his father, who according to Ludwig Friedrich Heyd could possibly be identified with Count Eberhard von Württemberg, mentioned in 1235 in Würzburg and in 1236 in Tübingen, was married to a sister of the Count of Tübingen. Johann Steiner referred to Ulrich in 1583 as the son of a Count Eberhard, who is said to have been married to the duke's daughter Agnes von Zähringen instead of a woman from Tübingen . However, only one daughter Agnes of Berthold V von Zähringen is known, who married Count Egino IV von Urach . Since Egino's grandson Heinrich von Fürstenberg-Urach referred to Ulrich as a blood relative ("noster consanguineus") in January 1265, Ulrich's mother could be a daughter of Eginos IV and, on her mother's side, also descended from the Zähringers. On the other hand, the key to Ulrich's maternal relationship is said to be in the first name Ulrich, which was previously not common among the Württemberg people and probably comes from his mother's father.

Ulrich was married twice. The daughters Agnes and Mechthild as well as the later Count Ulrich II come from the first marriage with Mechthild von Baden . From the second marriage with Agnes von Schlesien-Liegnitz come another daughter named Irmengard and the later Count Eberhard I , at whose birth his Mother passed away. Ulrich was buried like his two wives in Beutelsbach Abbey. Later his body was transferred to the collegiate church in Stuttgart . Count Hartmann II von Grüningen took over the guardianship of Ulrich's orphaned sons Ulrich II and Eberhard I. in 1265.

politics

The dispute between the Hohenstaufen emperor Friedrich II and the Popes Gregory IX. and Innocent IV also had an impact on the conditions in the Duchy of Swabia . After the deposition of Frederick II by the Council of Lyon (1245), papal diplomacy succeeded in pulling a large part of the duchy's nobles over to the opposing kings Heinrich Raspe and Wilhelm of Holland . At the beginning of the Battle of Frankfurt on August 5, 1246, Ulrich and Hartmann II von Grüningen, along with other Swabian nobles and 2000 men, went over to the "Pfaffenkönig" Heinrich Raspe, which sealed the defeat of Staufer Konrad IV . Ulrich and Hartmann then used the situation to expand their territorial power in the central Neckar area with papal backing .

After the death of Konrad IV in 1254, Ulrich formally recognized his heir Konradin as Duke of Swabia. In return, Konradin's guardian, Duke Ludwig II of Bavaria, renounced his claims to the royal crown and the reclamation of the annexations of Ulrich and other Swabian nobles that had taken place after the change of sides. Ulrich managed to secure the territorial base for the county of Württemberg. The marriage to Mechthild von Baden also helped to initiate the territorial clean-up of both houses with Baden's withdrawal from the central Neckar area. For example, the later Württemberg capital, Stuttgart, came from Baden to Württemberg at the wedding of the two. Shortly before his death, Ulrich was able to expand his territory to include the remaining parts of the county of Urach . Ulrich's second son, Eberhard I , managed to expand the county despite the royal headwind.

progeny

From his first marriage to Mechthild von Baden he had three children:

• Ulrich II of Württemberg
• Agnes von Württemberg , ∞ I) Konrad IV. Count von Öttingen, ∞ II) Friedrich II. Count von Truhendingen , ∞ III) Kraft I. Count von Hohenlohe-Weikersheim
• Mechthild (before 1264 until June 24, 1284), ∞ Albrecht von Löwenstein-Schenkenberg , eldest son of Rudolf von Habsburg , Roman-German king

Two children are said to have come from his second marriage to Agnes von Schlesien-Liegnitz :

• Irmgard (before 1264 - before 1278), ∞ Hesso I. Margrave of Baden (only mentioned in Gabelkover with an impossible date of death in 1287 - Hesso was married elsewhere after 1278)
• Eberhard I of Württemberg

literature

• Dieter Mertens : Ulrich I. the founder (with the thumb). In: Sönke Lorenz , Dieter Mertens, Volker Press (eds.): Das Haus Württemberg. A biographical lexicon. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart a. a. 1997, ISBN 3-17-013605-4 , pp. 20-22.
• Karl Pfaff : The origin and the earliest history of the Wirtenberg Princely House. Metzler, Stuttgart 1836.
• Gerhard Raff : Hie good Wirtemberg all the way. Volume 1: The House of Württemberg from Count Ulrich the Founder to Duke Ludwig. 6th edition. Landhege, Schwaigern 2014, ISBN 978-3-943066-34-0 , pp. 3–35, (At the same time: Tübingen, University, dissertation, 1984: The House of Württemberg from Count Ulrich I the Founder, 1265, to Duke Ludwig, 1593. ).
• Harald Schukraft : A Brief History of the House of Württemberg. Silberburg, Tübingen 2006, ISBN 3-87407-725-X .

Remarks

1. ↑ Description: Ulricus Comes Würtembergensis Eberhardi et Agnetis Zäringiae Ducissae. F. Obijt .V. Kalen. Martij. Anno. M.CCLXV. Source: Johann Steiner: Memoriae posteritatique inclytae domus Wirtembergicae sacrum . Stuttgart 1583 (replicas of old gravestones of the Württemberg princely house). Württemberg State Library, Cod.hist.fol. 130
2. ↑ Hansmartin Decker-Hauff : The Beginnings of the House of Württemberg. In: Robert Uhland (Hrsg.): 900 years House of Württemberg. Life and achievement for the country and the people. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart a. a. 1984, ISBN 3-17-008930-7 , pp. 25-81, (beginnings).
3. ↑ Royal House and State Archives (ed.): Wirtembergisches Urkundenbuch. Volume 4. Koehler, Stuttgart 1883, p. 31, no. 981 .
4. ↑ See Böhmer : Regesta Imperii . V, 1, 1, p. 586, No. 3358 , and Royal House and State Archives (ed.): Wirtembergisches Urkundenbuch. Volume 4. Koehler, Stuttgart 1883, p. 54, no.1004 .
5. ↑ The first heraldic evidence of the Kirchbergers is a seal around 1200, which shows three covered towers. See also Harald Schukraft: Brief History of the House of Württemberg. Silberburg, Tübingen 2006, ISBN 3-87407-725-X , p. 15.
6. ↑ His younger brother Eberhard, who was then no longer mentioned in documents, could have adopted the name Hartmann in the course of this inheritance. See Count Hartmann II von Grüningen .
7. ↑ Adalbert IV does not seem to have been related to Bishop Heinrich IV of Württemberg.
8. ↑ Cf. Karl Pfaff: The origin and the earliest history of the Wirtenberg Princely House. Metzler, Stuttgart 1836, p. 63 f. ; and Adolf Layer : The Counts of Dillingen. In: Yearbook of the historical association Dillingen an der Donau. Vol. 75, 1973, ISSN  0073-2699 , pp. 46-101, here p. 97 .
9. ↑ Royal House and State Archives (ed.): Wirtembergisches Urkundenbuch. Volume 4. Koehler, Stuttgart 1883, p. 176 f., No. 1412 .
10. ↑ Ingrid Karin Sommer: The Chronicle of the Stuttgart Councilor Sebastian Küng. Edition and commentary (= publications of the archive of the city of Stuttgart. Vol. 24, ISSN  0934-8743 ). Klett, Stuttgart 1971, pp. 49 and 174, (at the same time: Tübingen, Universität, Dissertation, 1969).
11. ↑ Karl Pfaff: The origin and the earliest history of the Wirtenberg Princely House. Metzler, Stuttgart 1836, pp. 31 and 61 .
12. ↑ This Eberhard is only weakly documented. Only his possible grandson is counted as Eberhard I in the line of ancestors.
13. ↑ Ludwig F. Heyd : History of the Counts of Gröningen, largely examined and presented according to archival documents. Löflund, Stuttgart 1829, p. 33 ff.
14. ↑ Description: Ulricus Comes Würtembergensis Eberhardi et Agnetis Zäringiae Ducissae. F. Obijt .V. Kalen. Martij. Anno. M.CCLXV. Source: Johann Steiner: Memoriae posteritatique inclytae domus Wirtembergicae sacrum . Stuttgart 1583 (replicas of old gravestones of the Württemberg princely house). Württemberg State Library, Cod.hist.fol. 130
15. ^ Franz Ludwig Baumann (Ed.): Necrologium Tennenbacense. In: Monumenta Germaniae Historica . Necrologia Germaniae. Volume 1. Weidmann, Berlin 1888, pp. 338–342, here p. 340 : "Filia Bertoldi V. et ultimi ducis Brisgoiae soror, Egonis de Urach et Furstenberg coniunx, mater Bertoldi abbatis."
16. ↑ ^{a b} Royal House and State Archives (ed.): Wirtembergisches Urkundenbuch. Volume 4. Koehler, Stuttgart 1883, p. 178, no. 1786 .
17. ↑ Cf. Böhmer: Regesta Imperii. V, 1, 2, p. 586, No. 4510b .
18. ^ Sönke Lorenz: Count Ulrich von Württemberg, the battle of Frankfurt (1246) and the rise of the Counts of Württemberg. In: Karl-Heinz Rueß (Red.): Konrad IV. (1228–1254). Germany's last Hohenstaufen king (= writings on Hohenstaufen history and art. Vol. 32). Society for Staufer History, Göppingen 2012, ISBN 978-3-929776-24-9 , pp. 71–85.
19. ↑ Dieter Mertens: Ulrich I. the founder (with the thumb). In: Sönke Lorenz, Dieter Mertens, Volker Press (eds.): Das Haus Württemberg. A biographical lexicon. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart a. a. 1997, ISBN 3-17-013605-4 , p. 20.

Web links

Commons : Graf Ulrich I.  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

predecessor	Office	successor
Ludwig III.	Count of Württemberg 1241–1265	Ulrich II.