Zurichgau

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Zürichgew , drawn between Turgow and Aargow , for example the area between Töss and Reuss (Stumpfsche Chronik from 1548)

The Zürichgau (also the Zürichgau) was a medieval district with the city of Zürich as its center. A first count in Zurihgauuia can be identified with Pebo 741/46. Originally a subdivision of Thurgau, Zürichgau was separated from Thurgau as an Alemannic Gau around 820, initially under a Count Ruadker, followed by a number of Eberhardingers , who later became the Counts of Nellenburg . In 915, the Zürichgau fell as a district of the Duchy of Swabia together with the Thurgau by marriage to the Burchardinger . After their extinction in the male line in 973, the Eberhardinger got their rights back. In the context of the investiture dispute, however, Emperor Heinrich IV withdrew the count's rights in Zurichgau from the Nellenburgers, who were loyal to the Pope, and gave them to the Lenzburger . They ruled as landgraves until 1172.

In the early Middle Ages, the Zürichgau comprised the basin of Lake Zurich and the Limmat Valley (parts of today's canton of Zurich east of the Glatt, including the town of Winterthur, were part of the Thurgau). It bordered in the south-east (in the Lint plain ) on Churrätien and in the north (on the Rhine ) on the Alpgau . In addition, it comprised essential parts of the then sparsely populated areas of what would later become Central Switzerland ( Zug , Uri , Schwyz , parts of Unterwalden and Glarus and the eastern areas of Lucerne ). This only changed in the High Middle Ages with the rise of the regional ministerial nobility and the establishment of new cities ( Lucerne and Zug ).

In the late 12th century the western part of the Zürichgau fell to the Habsburgs and the eastern part to the Kyburger . The last counts of the Zurichgau, the Zähringer , died out in 1218 and the city of Zurich became imperial . Habsburg claims in central Switzerland led to the political dynamic that led to the creation of the Old Confederation .

The territorial expansion of Zurich began in the middle of the 14th century, and by 1450 the majority of the Zurichgau, essentially the area of ​​the canton of Zurich , fell under Zurich rule. Parts of the Zürichgau to the left of the Limmat were regarded as the eastern part of the Aargau and were conquered by the Confederates from the Habsburgs in 1415. In the 15th and 16th centuries, the term Zürichgau ( Zürichgaw ) continued to be used for the rulership of the city of Zurich , the alternative term " canton " gradually came into use in the course of the 16th century, but in the late 18th century Zürichgow could still be used as German translation for French canton de Zurich stand. Since the founding of the modern canton of Zurich in 1831, “Zürichgau” has only been used in an antiquated or ironic way.

Counts in Zurichgau

  • (Rupert) Cancor († after 782) ( Robertiner ) 745 Graf im Oberrheingau (Thurgau), 758 Graf im Breisgau , 775/778 Graf im Zürichgau, 754 co-founder of Lorsch Abbey , ∞ Angila
  • Gerold (provable from 826, 832/34 also Graf im Thurgau for a few years, provable in Zürichgau up to 867)
  • Hunfried III., Around 850, Count in Zürichgau ( Burchardinger )
  • Eberhard I. ( Eberhardinger ) around 900, Count in Zürichgau, ∞ Gisela
  • Burchard II. , (* 883 or 884 ; † April 29, 926 fallen in Novara ), Duke of Swabia, married his daughter Regelinda
  • Burchard III. , (* 906 or 915; † November 11 or 12, 973 ) Margrave of (Chur-) Raetia , Count in Thurgau and in Zurichgau and from 954 to 973 Duke of Swabia
  • Manegold I., Count in Zürichgau (* around 940/50, † 991)
  • Eberhard IV. In Zürichgau (* around 940, † 995) ∞ Gisela
  • Gottfried II in Zürichgau (* 940, † November 12, 995)
  • Eberhard V. (Eppo) von Nellenburg (son of Manegold I in Zürichgau; * around 980/90, † February around 1030/34) ∞ Hedwig von Egisheim (* around 990, † after 1044)
  • Eberhard VI. von Nellenburg , Count in Zurichgau from 1036 (called "the Blessed"; * around 1015, † March 26, 1078 / March 1, 1080) ∞ Ita (* 1015, † Feb. 26, 1106); his son
  • Ulrich II. († after 1077), Count of Lenzburg, from 1077 Count in Zurichgau, Vogt of Zurich, ∞ Richenza of Habsburg
  • Wernher († before 1167): Imperial Bailiff of Zurich, Landgrave in Zurichgau, participant in the Second Crusade , Count of the Blenio Valley and Leventina
  • Ulrich IV. (* Before 1125; † January 5, 1173): last Lenzburger, participant in the Italian campaign of Emperor Lothar III. and on the Second Crusade, close confidante of King Conrad III. and advisor to Emperor Friedrich I, Count of the Blenio Valley

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. Reinhold Kaiser: From the early to the high Middle Ages. In: History of the Canton of Zurich. Vol. 1, Early to Late Middle Ages. Werd: Zurich 1995, pp. 130–171; P. 131 f.
  2. Description based on the illustration in G. Droysen: General Historical Hand atlas. Bielefeld / Leipzig 1886, 22 f.
    Cf. also Otto Henne am Rhyn: History of the Swiss people and their culture from the oldest times to the present. (1865), p. 40 :

    “The Zürichgau, the St. Gallische 'Seebezirk' (Uznach and Rapperswil), where the Steinerbach formed the border against the Rhaetian Gaster, the largest part of the current canton of Zurich, the canton of Schwiz east of Lowerzersee and the 'Platte', Uri (with the exception of the Rhaetian Urserenthal) and probably also Glaris belonged. At a later time, the Zürichgau seems to have extended into Unterwalden as well, since Engelberg appears to belong in a document . "

  3. ^ So in a map by Abraham Ruchat: L'Etat et les Delices de la Suisse. Printed by Wetsteins and Smith in Amsterdam, 1770.
  4. Michael Mitterauer : Carolingian margraves in the southeast. Böhlau, Vienna 1963, p. 21 f., According to Genealogy Middle Ages.