Urach (medieval noble family)

Coat of arms of the Counts of Urach

Hohenurach Castle, ancestral seat of the Counts of Urach

The Counts of Urach were a Swabian noble family of the 12th and 13th centuries who worked from their headquarters near Urach (today Bad Urach in Baden-Württemberg ). The Counts of Urach were related to the Counts of Achalm . The Counts of Freiburg and the Counts of Fürstenberg emerged from their lineage, the latter of which still exists. The Urach line ended as early as 1261, from then on Urach was part of the county of Württemberg .

The title Count or Duke of Urach was reassigned by the House of Württemberg in the 18th and 19th centuries , from which the morganatic sideline House Urach arose, which is not related to the medieval aristocratic family.

history

origin

In the former county in Swiggerstal ( Ermstal ), the brothers Egino and Rudolf, whose headquarters was near Dettingen , appeared at the beginning of the 11th century . The origin of the counts with widely scattered possessions in Swabian , Zurichgau and Thurgau cannot be determined from sources.

• Older representations assume a descendant of a Count "Unruoch" (possibly Unruoch III from the noble family of Unruoching ) due to the tradition of ownership and the frequency of names .
• More recent representations suggest that the Urach family came from Aura an der Saale ( Würzburg ), according to which "Urach" would be a house name they brought with them.

A linking element of both representations could be the descent of the brothers from an Egino with an origin from Eastern Franconia and the king's daughter Mathilde. Mathilde is a daughter of King Konrad of Burgundy and thus the granddaughter of Berta von Swabia . The latter is in turn a descendant of the Unruochingen , through her great-great-grandfather Eberhard von Friuli .

development

Around 1050, the two brothers first had Achalm Castle built near Reutlingen . Rudolf von Achalm and his heirs formed the line of the Counts of Achalm there , while the heirs of Eginos I of Dettingen had another castle built in the upper Ermstal near Bad Urach . It is not certain whether this was the Urach moated castle or the Urach hilltop castle . Egino II. († 1105) Graf im Swiggerstal or his son Egino III are the founders . the younger († after 1160) into consideration.

The strategic location on an important trade route on the Albaufstieg between the Neckar region and the plateaus of the Swabian Alb favored the development of Urach. The place received 1140 market rights.

After the death of Berthold V in 1219, Egino IV expanded the territory to include further possessions due to his marriage in 1180 with Agnes von Zähringen. His son Egino V. was able to successfully assert himself in the inheritance dispute with a branch of the Zähringer family . The scattered possessions in the Breisgau and in the Baar were connected to the Zindelstein Castle . He moved his headquarters to Freiburg. As Egino I, he became Count of Freiburg .

Around 1235 Egino V and his brothers Berthold and Rudolf supported the renegade King Heinrich VII against his father and Emperor Friedrich II. The capture of Achalm Castle by besiegers loyal to the emperor could still be prevented, but the Urachers joined in an open battle in the Swiggerstal defeated their allies Heinrich and Gottfried von Neuffen.

With the decline of the Staufer rule around 1250, the Counts of Urach also perished. Heinrich von Urach became Count of Freiburg in 1249 , Count of Fürstenberg and Landgrave in the Baar in 1250 . In 1254 he exchanged half of Urach for half of Whiting . In 1265 he had to sell the castle and most of the properties near Urach to Count Ulrich von Württemberg due to lack of money .

The Urach line ended with the death of Berthold the Younger around 1261. Urach was henceforth part of the county of Württemberg .

Significant members

• Gebhard II of Urach († March 1, 1110 ); Benedictine , abbot of the Hirsau monastery and bishop of Speyer from 1104 to 1107 .
• Kuno von Urach († 1122), 1080 chaplain to William the Conqueror , from 1108 Cardinal Bishop of Praeneste , 1114–1121 papal legate .
• Egino III. the younger († 1160 or later) was the first recorded Count of Urach from the Urach line and perhaps also the founder of the castle. He is considered a Staufer supporter and vassal.
• Egino IV. The bearded (* around 1160, † 1230) married the daughter of Duke Berthold IV. Of Zähringen and inherited their property on the right bank of the Rhine after the Zähringer died out .
• Konrad von Urach († 1227) was a monk of the Cistercian order . In a steep career he became Abbot of Clairvaux , Abbot General of Citeaux and finally Cardinal Bishop of Porto and Santa Rufina . As a papal legate , he represented the Pope in France (1220–1223) and Germany (1224–1226). After the death of Pope Honorius III. he is said to have had prospects of his successor.
• Berthold von Urach († 1242) was 1207–21 abbot of Tennenbach and 1221–30 abbot of Lützel .
• Egino V the Younger (* around 1185, † 1236), first Urach Count of Freiburg (Egino I), heir to the Zähringers and ancestor of the Fürstenberg family .
• Heinrich von Urach († 1283 or 1284), became Count of Fürstenberg and Landgrave in the Baar in 1250.

He founded and promoted the Güterstein Charterhouse .

Tribe list

Achalm Castle

Egino V. von Urach (approx. 1185–1236), as Egino I, Count of Freiburg , had the red eagle of his mother's extinct family, the Zähringer , in his coat of arms instead of the Urach lion

Heinrich von Urach († 1283/4), 1250 Count von Fürstenberg , founder of the Counts and Princes of Fürstenberg

1. Egino I von Dettingen the Elder († around 1050) began to build Achalm Castle around 1040
   1. Egino II. († July 7 / November 5, 1105), 1091–1105 Graf im Swiggerstal ( Ermstal ),
      ∞ Kunigunde / Hadwich (?)
      1. Egino III. the younger († July 25, 1160 or later), Count of Urach
         ∞ Kunigunde von Wasserburg († September 4, 1168 or later) daughter of Engelbert Hallgraf, Count of Attel, Lindburg and Wasserburg
         1. Egino IV. The Bearded (* around 1160; † 1230), Count of Urach
            ∞ Agnes von Zähringen († around 1220), daughter of Duke Berthold IV.
            1. NN daughter
            2. Egino V. the Younger (* around 1185; † 1236), 1230–1236 Count of Urach, Count of Freiburg (Egino I)
               ∞ Adelheid von Neuffen, daughter of Heinrich von Neuffen
               1. Konrad I von Urach (died around 1226 - May 21, 1271), Count of Freiburg
               2. Berthold the Younger († probably 1261), Count of Urach
                  ∞ before 1238 Agatha von Lechsgemünd, daughter of Berthold I, Count of Lechsgemünd
                  1. Bertha 1261 nun in Sirnau
               3. Kunigunde († before 1252)
                  ∞ Otto Graf von Eberstein († 1279)
               4. Heinrich von Urach († December 24, 1283 or January 6, 1284), Count of Urach, 1249 Count of Freiburg, 1250 Count von Fürstenberg and Landgrave in the Baar
                  ∞ before 1245 Agnes von Truhendingen
               5. Gottfried († 1278 or after), canon in Constance
               6. Gerhard († September 20, 1252/59), canon in Strasbourg and Constance
               7. NN daughter
                  ∞ Gottfried I. Count von Habsburg-Laufenburg
            3. Rudolf († before 1260), Count of Urach-Dettingen, 1254 monk in Bebenhausen
            4. Konrad von Urach (* around 1185, † 1227), 1219 cardinal and bishop of Porto and Santa Rufina
            5. Berthold († August 8/13, 1242), 1207–21 abbot of Tennenbach , 1221–30 abbot of Lützel
            6. Agnes
               ∞ Heinrich I of Baden († January 13, 1231), Margrave of Hachberg
            7. Heilwig (* 1215; † 1262)
               ∞ Friedrich II. († 1234) Count von Pfirt-Altkirch ( Comte de Ferrette )
            8. Jolanthe
               ∞ Ulrich III. Count of Neuchâtel zu Nidau († 1225)
            9. NN daughter
      2. Gebhard († 1141), 1131–1140 Bishop of Strasbourg
      3. Udalhild († after 1130/34), founded the monastery of St. Nicholas
         ∞ Friedrich I. von Zollern
      4. Alberada
   2. Gebhard / Gerhard II. († March 1, 1110), 1091 abbot of Hirsau, 1105–1107 bishop of Speyer
   3. Mathilde / Mechthild († November 20 ----)
      ∞ Mangold († August 11, 1122), Lord of Sulmetingen, (see Lords of Neuffen )
      1. Egino Count of Neuffen
      2. Liutfried († March 31, before 1150), Count of Neuffen
         1. Bertold I. (* 1160; † October 19 or 21 after 1221), Lord and Count of Weißenhorn , 1198/1221 Count of Neuffen, 1170/82 Count of Achalm
      3. Ulrich († June 20 before 1150), monk at Zwiefalten
      4. Mathilde († February 4 after 1140–1150), nun of Zwiefalten
   4. Kuno († 1122), Cardinal Bishop of Praeneste ( Palestrina )

Note: The list contains information from various representations.

Reuse of the title by the House of Württemberg

→ Main article : House of Urach

In the 18th and 19th centuries, the title of Count or Duke of Urach was awarded three times to unequal members of the House of Württemberg , who passed it on to their descendants.

Web links

Commons : Urach  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Counts of Urach in EUROPEAN STEM TABLES NEW FOLLOWING VOLUME V Plate 10, Lexicon of the Middle Ages: Volume VIII Column 1279
• Medieval Lands: Swabia, Nobility: Counts of Urach (English)
• Genealogy of the Counts of Urach

literature

• Joseph Bader : Egeno der Baertigte, Count of Urach: according to the sources , 1844
• Heinrich Büttner : Egino von Urach-Freiburg, the heir of the Zähringer, ancestor of the Fürstenberg family (= publications from the Fürstenberg archives, volume 6) , Donaueschingen 1939.
• Gerhard Kittelberger: Urach . In: Landesarchivdirektion Baden-Württ. in connection with the Landkrs. Reutlingen (Ed.): The district of Reutlingen . 1997.
• Sönke Lorenz : Bempflingen - From the history of an Ermstalgemeinde , 1991, 11–31.
• Ernst Münch : History of the House and State of Fürstenberg , Aachen and Leipzig 1829, p. 76 ff.
• Franz Quarthal : Clemens and Amandus. On the early history of the castle and city of Urach . In: Alemannisches Jahrbuch 1976/78 . Bühl / Baden 1979, pp. 17-29.
• Sigmund von Riezler : History of the Princely House of Fürstenberg and its ancestors up to 1509 , Tübingen 1883. online at the Düsseldorf University Library
• Paul Friedrich von Stälin : History of Württemberg . Pp. 403-405.
• David Wolleber : Chorographia Württemberg , Schorndorf 1591 online at the University of Tübingen

Remarks

1. ↑ Ortliebi Zwifaltensis Chronicon I.1, MGH SS X, p. 71.
2. ↑ Hans Jänichen: The Counts of Urach . In: Alemannisches Institut Freiburg, Br. (Ed.): Alemannisches Jahrbuch, 1976/78 , pp. 1–15.
3. ↑ HANS-DIETER LEHMANN: From “Unruoch proavus Liutoldi comitis” to “Dux occupavit Furstenberc” - The Urach Eginones and their relationships with the Zollern. In: Writings of the Association for History and Natural History of the Baar55. Volume 2012. Retrieved April 20, 2020 . 
4. ↑ Ernst W. Wies: Emperor Heinrich IV. Canossa and the struggle for world domination . Bechtle Verlag, Munich 1996, pages 266, 270, 273, 278.
5. ^ Genealogy of the Middle Ages: Counts of Urach and Medieval Lands: Swabia, Nobility: Counts of Urach (English).