Ulrich III. (Württemberg)

Coat of arms of Count Ulrich III. with the imperial storm flag acquired together with Grüningen in 1336

Ulrich III. stands with the imperial storm flag on the Staufer lion

Large royal coat of arms (1871) with three imperial storm flags. The one in the coat of arms stands for the county of Gröningen ; one is held by the Staufer lion, the other by the Württemberg stag

Ulrich III. (* between 1291 and 1296; † July 11, 1344 ) was Count of Württemberg from 1325 to 1344 , became Governor of Lower Swabia and from 1336 Reichssturmfähnrich . With this he received the imperial city of Grüningen as an inheritance.

expansion

Ulrich comes from the second marriage of Count Eberhard I of Württemberg to Margarethe of Lorraine († 1296). He was already heavily involved in politics during his father's reign. In 1319 he negotiated an alliance treaty with King Frederick the Fair . He renewed this alliance after taking office in 1325, after Württemberg had meanwhile sided with Ludwig IV . During this time, Ludwig and Friedrich both laid claim to rule in the empire .

The reconciliation between the two made it possible for Ulrich to remain closely connected to the empire even after Frederick's death in 1330. Thus, under Ludwig's sole rule, he held the imperial office of the Lower Swabian governor introduced by the Hohenstaufen . The resulting political weight at the imperial level, his regional alliance policy and the marriage property and legacy of his wife made it possible for Ulrich, who acted cautiously, to significantly enlarge the Württemberg territory during his reign. In addition to various acquisitions in Alsace , the hereditary enfeoffment with the imperial city of Grüningen , today Markgröningen , and the purchase of the count towns of Vaihingen an der Enz (1339) and Tübingen (1342) should be emphasized.

Reichssturmfähnrich

As his governor and planned military leader, Ulrich brought Emperor Ludwig the Bavarian in 1336 to influence Konrad II von Schlüsselberg to cede the prestigious office of pioneer and imperial ensign with the associated Grüninger imperial fiefdom to Ulrich in return for compensation of 6000 pounds Haller . Immediately afterwards, the emperor granted him the imperial storm flag including castle , imperial city , church patronage , burgrave office and city lords rights in Grüningen as inheritance , which is why the Württemberg counts, dukes and kings carried the sub-title Counts of Grüningen until the 19th century , as did the Württemberg sideline of the counts von Grüningen , who had owned this imperial fief until 1280.

Family and successors

Ulrich III was married. with Sophie von Pfirt . Sons from this marriage were Count Eberhard II (Eberhard der Greiner) and Count Ulrich IV, who ruled together with him until 1361 .

Ulrich III. had an illegitimate half-brother of the same name († 1348), who worked as a canon in Speyer and provost of three pens.
A niece of Ulrich III, Agnes von Württemberg-Helfenstein (approx. 1305-1373), was married to Konrad II von Schlüsselberg for the second time , to whom Ulrich in 1336 ceded the imperial fiefdom Grüningen.

literature

• Ludwig Friedrich Heyd : History of the former Oberamts-Stadt Markgröningen with special regard to the general history of Wirtembergs, mostly based on unpublished sources. Löflund, Stuttgart 1829. - Facsimile edition for the Heyd anniversary, Working Group on Historical Research, Heritage and Monument Preservation, Markgröningen 1992.
• Johann Georg Kulpis : Thorough deduction That the HochFürstl. House of Würtemberg legally entitled to the Reichs-Pannerer- or Reichs-Fendrich-Ambt, Prædicat and Insigne, already from several Seculis, and therefore without offending the same traditional prærogatives, no other choir or prince could be awarded again. Lorber, Stuttgart 1693. ( digitized version )
• 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. 110–119.
• Wilfried Schöntag: Ulrich III. In: Sönke Lorenz, Dieter Mertens, Volker Press (eds.): Das Haus Württemberg. A biographical lexicon. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 1997, ISBN 3-17-013605-4 , p. 29f.

Remarks

1. ↑ Source: List of the family of Württemberg under Eberhard I.
2. ↑ See document from King Ludwig, the Bavarian , of October 3, 1322 for Konrad II von Schlüsselberg in: [RI VII] H. 1 n. 28 Regesta Imperii online
3. ↑ Source: [RI VII] H. 1 n. 264 Regesta Imperii online
4. ↑ See quote from King Friedrich of Württemberg as Count of Gröningen see BSZ-BW.de
5. ↑ See Ludwig Friedrich Heyd : History of the Counts of Gröningen, mostly examined and presented according to archival documents. Löflund, Stuttgart 1829.

Web links

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

predecessor	Office	successor
Eberhard I.	Count of Württemberg 1325-1344	Ulrich IV. And Eberhard II.