Wildbad Treaty

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The Wildbad Treaty was signed on May 18, 1715 in Wildbad in the Black Forest between Duke Leopold Eberhard von Württemberg-Mömpelgard and Duke Ludwig Eberhard von Württemberg-Stuttgart . The content of the contract is the regulation of the succession in Mömpelgard after the death of Leopold Eberhard.

Montbéliard , which had been in Württemberg since 1397 , was ruled by a Württemberg branch line from 1617, together with other holdings on the left bank of the Rhine. Duke Leopold Eberhard (1670–1723, ruled since 1699) had no descendants entitled to inherit, but had a number of children from an inappropriate marriage that was later dissolved and relationships with four other mistresses, whom he named Count von Sponeck, de l'Espérance and had de Coligny ennobled.

In the Wildbad Treaty of 1715, Leopold Eberhard declared that he had not entered into a proper marriage and that his descendants were therefore not entitled to inheritance, and recognized the Stuttgart Duke Ludwig Eberhard as his legal successor. In return, he ensured that the illegitimate offspring would be looked after through an annual pension.

Although this contract was signed by relatives of the mistresses concerned, Leopold Eberhard made further attempts with the help of the emperor or the French king to get his sons recognized as legal heirs. The inheritance disputes continued after Leopold's death and Ludwig Eberhard's accession to power in Mömpelgard in 1723. France used the opportunity to gain influence on the Württemberg territories. While Mömpelgard itself was undisputedly an imperial fiefdom, France had long been demanding that Württemberg recognize French sovereignty for the other possessions on the left bank of the Rhine. In 1723 it took possession of it for Leopold's sons, until in 1748 Karl Eugen von Württemberg recognized French sovereignty. The legal dispute with the descendants, which resulted in numerous legal opinions, was ended in 1758 (ratified in 1761) in which the descendants finally waived all claims in return for a pension.

literature

  • Raff, Gerhard : Article “Leopold Eberhard” in: Hie gut Wirtemberg allewege III. Stuttgart 2002. ISBN 3-89850-084-5 . Pp. 567-607.
  • Scherb, Wolfgang: The political relations of the county Mömpelgard to Württemberg from 1723 to the French Revolution . Diss. Tübingen 1981.
  • Moser, Johann Jakob: Johann Jakob Mosers Moempelgardisches Staatsrecht . Ed. And incorporated. by Wolfgang Hans Stein. - Stuttgart 1983. ISBN 3-17-007483-0 .
  • Württemberg and Mömpelgard: 600 years of meeting . Contributions to the scientific conference from September 17th to 19th, 1997 in the main state archive in Stuttgart. Edited by Sönke Lorenz et al. Leinfelden-Echterdingen 1999. ISBN 3-87181-426-1 .