Adolf of Nassau-Weilburg
Encyclopedia
Adolf (c. 1255 – 2 July 1298) was the King of Germany from 1292 until 1298. Though his title in his lifetime was Rex Romanorum
(King of the Romans), he is usually known as Adolf of Nassau. He was never crowned by the Pope
, which would have secured him the title of Holy Roman Emperor
.
was a member of the minor nobility, born in about 1255 as the son of Walram II, Count of Nassau and Adelheid of Katzenelnbogen
. Adolf’s brother was Dieter of Nassau, who after Adolf’s death would become Archbishop of Trier
.
Adolf was married in 1270 to Imagina of Isenburg-Limburg
(died after 1313) and had eight children with her. Agnes of Isenburg-Limburg, the sister of Imagina, was married to Henry (Heinrich) of Westerburg, the brother of Siegfried II of Westerburg
, the Archbishop of Cologne.
In 1276 or 1277, Adolf followed his father as Count of Nassau. From his father, he inherited the family’s lands south of the Lahn
River in the Taunus
Mountains. These included Wiesbaden
and Idstein
, as fiefdom
s, and the Vogt
ship in Weilburg
under the Bishopric of Worms
. He also shared ownership of the family homelands around the castles of Nassau
and Laurenburg
.
Around 1280, Adolf became involved in the Nassau-Eppstein Feud with the Lords of Eppstein
, in which the city of Wiesbaden was devastated and Sonnenberg
Castle destroyed. The feud was settled in 1283, after which the city and the castle were rebuilt. Sonnenberg, along with Idstein, became Adolf’s residence. He granted Idstein town privileges
in 1287 and built its fortifications.
Through his uncle, Eberhard I of Katzenelnbogen, Adolf came to the court of King Rudolf I
of Habsburg. King Rudolf awarded him with the Burghauptmannamt (Castle Lordship) of Kalsmunt Castle in Wetzlar
and a year later that of Gutenfels Castle
near Kaub
(where he became a vassal of the Counts Palatine of the Rhine).
Before his election, Adolf’s political activities had been limited to his role as Bundesgenosse of the Archbishop of Cologne. Adolf had no particular office, but likely became known through his involvement with the Archbishops of Cologne and Mainz
in the politics of the Middle Rhine
and Mainz areas. He spoke German
, French
, and Latin
, which was rare at that time for nobles.
After his election, King Adolf of Nassau would only rarely be in his home country, having transferred the government there to his burgmen. On 17 January 1294, he purchased Weilburg for 400 pounds from the Bishopric of Worms. He granted Weilburg town privileges on 29 December 1295. He also established the Clarisse
abbey of Klarenthal
near Wiesbaden in 1296.
Rudolf I of Habsburg died on 15 July 1291. For many years before his death, Rudolf had tried to secure the election of his eldest son Albert (Albrecht) as his successor. He was thwarted, however, by the opposition of the Archbishop of Cologne, Siegfried II of Westerburg, and the King of Bohemia, Wenceslaus (Václav/Wenzel) II. Only the Count Palatine Louis II
of Upper Bavaria
"the Rigorous" promised to choose Albert.
Wenceslaus, despite Rudolf's recognition of his electoral vote, refused to support Albert because he would not cede Carinthia
to him. He took the side of the nobles in the core Habsburg areas of Swabia
and in their newly acquired territories in Austria
, with whom Albert was unpopular. Wenceslaus was supported by Duke Otto III of Lower Bavaria
, whose family were traditional enemies of the Habsburgs. Wenceslaus succeeded in bringing the Electors of Brandenburg and Saxony over to his side: Albert II of Saxony
signed an elector pact on 29 November 1291 that he would vote the same as Wenceslaus; Otto IV of Brandenburg made a similar commitment.
Archbishop Siegfried believed that the Emperor should not receive the crown as an inheritance from his father, but should be freely selected by the College of Electors. He convinced the Archbishop of Mainz
, Gerard II of Eppstein, to select a king who would principally serve their interests. Gerard in turn recruited the new Archbishop of Trier
, Bohemund I. Thereupon, the Count Palatine was forced to submit to the majority of the College of Electors.
Siegfried therefore proposed to the Elector College to select Adolf of Nassau as king. They were ready to elect him, provided he make extensive concessions to the Electors and follow their political demands.
A few days before the election, on 27 April 1292, as the first of the electors, Archbishop Siegfried issued the Treaty Of Andernach
, stating that for Adolf to be chosen king he must promise a long list of acknowledgments of possession (including the imperial cities of Dortmund
and Duisburg
, and the Vogtship of Essen
), pledges of imperial cities and castles, and a sum of 25,000 marks in silver. Furthermore, Adolf promised assistance against specifically listed opponents, but also the general promise that he would not admit any enemy of Siegfried II into his council. After the election, Adolf had to give the archbishop sufficient collateral for the fulfillment of the promise; otherwise he would lose his throne. The last clause is evidence of the fact that the end of the 13th century, the coronation of the king as the constitutive moment of his rule was still very critical. Adolf promised the archbishop to ask him first for his coronation when he had raised the agreed-upon collateral.
The other electors extracted similar concessions from Adolf, but only after the election. Among the most far-reaching were the concessions to King Wenceslaus of Bohemia on 30 June 1292. Adolf promised Wenceslas to take away the two duchies of Austria
and Styria from Albert of Habsburg. This should be done as the previous King Rudolf had taken away these territories from King Ottokar II of Bohemia
, the father of Wenceslas. Albert must next be charged at a court hearing. If he would not bend, the decisions of the court must be executed by force within a year. Wenceslaus will then recover the lost territories of his father.
Gerhard, the Archbishop of Mainz would receive the imperial cities of Mühlhausen
and Nordhausen
, which corresponded with the interests of Mainz in the Thuringia
n region. Furthermore, Gerhard received financial benefits. Like his counterpart in Cologne, the Mainz elector also forbade the presence of his opponents in Adolf’s court. In comparison to the benefits the Mainz, Cologne and Bohemian electors received, the donations to the Count Palatine and the Archbishop of Trier were modest.
On 5 May 1292 in Frankfurt am Main, the Archbishop of Mainz, in the name of all the electors, elected Adolf King of the Germans (Emperor-Elect). He was crowned in Aachen
on 24 June by the Archbishop of Cologne.
Adolf had neither influence nor power, and was elected Rex Romanorum because of the electors' preference for a weak king. His power was limited from the outset because of the commitments he made.
As he had agreed with the Archbishop of Cologne, Adolf remained in his dominion for four months after his election. The archbishop awaited from the king a revision of the results of the Battle of Worringen
in 1288. He had hoped to again win a greater influence in the city of Cologne
. But despite the tight specifications, Adolf soon emancipated himself from his Electors and concluded pacts with their opponents. Thus, for example, he confirmed the rights of the nobles and the city of Cologne, who had turned against their ruler, and even extended these rights.
Adolf also very quickly broke the promises concerning the Duchies of Austria
and Styria. As a clever diplomat, Albert of Habsburg avoided a confrontation with the new king. In exchange for his surrender of the Imperial Regalia
, which he still had in his possession, he received, in November 1292 a formal enfeoffment with Austria, Styria, the Windic March
, and the Lordship of Pordenone
. The disposition of the prestigious insignia and relics of the empire was an additional and important sign for the legitimacy of the reign of the king, but not a mandatory prerequisite. With each new document, Adolf moved a little farther away from his promises, without having to open himself up to breach of contract accusations.
Adolf acted as a self-assured ruler in other ways as well. His court was an attraction for all who sought protection from the powerful emerging territorial lords. He held numerous court days. At the beginning of his reign, he renewed the general public peace (Landfrieden) of Rudolf I for another ten years, and brought about at least two regional peaces.
Adolf used the feudal system
as one of his major tools of power. He demanded from the spiritual princes a payment, called Lehnsware, for their enfeoffment with regalian right
s, and increased this demand to the level of a nuisance. Many of Adolf’s contemporaries considered this action to be simony
. Many of today's historians, however, view it as an innovative way to open up new state revenue sources, as other Western European kings did. Also, the recovery and management of imperial property was important to him. So he succeeded, through clever marriage policy, to bring former imperial properties back under the control of the emperor.
against France
and was awarded 60,000 pounds sterling, which corresponded to 90,000 gold marks. The pact had been preceded by attempts by Philip IV of France
to conquer the Duchy of Burgundy
and the County of Flanders
. The Count of Flanders, Guy of Dampierre
, mediated, therefore, the alliance between Edward I and Adolf for his protection against France. That the alliance was construed by his contemporaries as purely mercenary, and the fact that Adolf did not comply with its obligations, damaged his reputation, but this was initially without consequences.
Adolf began recruiting troops in the empire for a war against France. On 31 August 1294, he sent a declaration of war to the French king, alleging he had seized rights and possessions of the empire. King Philip responded contemptuously on 9 March 1295. Pope Boniface VIII
, however, ordered peace in 1295 and threatened to commence the excommunication
of Adolf in the event of an outbreak of war.
, where fighting had erupted between Landgrave Albert the Degenerate
and his sons Frederick
and Dietrich IV of Lusatia
. He bought the Landgraviate from Albert in his capacity as king and probably using the payments from England. Legally, it was perfectly acceptable for Adolf to induce the feudal lord to abandon his fief and to bring the land under the empire. Furthermore, he seized the Margraviate of Meissen as an imperial fief, since it had been literally ownerless after the extinction of a collateral line of the House of Wettin and had been occupied by a son of Albert the Degenerate.
This purchase and the Margraviate of Meissen, however, affected the interests of four of the electors. The Archbishop of Mainz asserted that a part of Thuringia was not an imperial fief, but rather a fief of the Archdiocese of Mainz. Wenceslaus II of Bohemia was not thrilled by the growing power of the emperor on his northern border, especially since Adolf had promised to give him the Margraviate of Meissen. Also, all the electors hoped to profit from the turmoil in Thuringia. In addition to the ostensible return of imperial fiefs to the empire, it can not be ruled out that Adolf was anxious to build a dynastic power base (albeit a small one).
First, Adolf succeeded in securing his acquisitions diplomatically and provoking the Margrave of Brandenburg toward active support and the Archbishop of Mainz and the Duke of Saxony toward at least acquiescence of the purchase. Two bloody campaigns against the sons of Albert the Degenerate were necessary to secure the acquisitions and a peace assured the achievements. Two years later, in the summer of 1296, Adolf proudly announced on the invitation to a court day that he had by his actions significantly increased the possessions of the empire.
The electors probably did not plan from the beginning to depose the king, but because of events this result was probably inevitable. The reason for the clashes was Adolf’s Thuringia policy. At Pentecost
1297 the Elector of Brandenburg, Duke of Saxony, and King of Bohemia joined together to enforce their interests. The Elector of Cologne Gerhard II was near this group.
In February 1298, the situation became alarming for Adolf because Wenceslaus II and Albert of Habsburg put aside their years of disputes over Austria and Styria, and arrived at agreements in the event that Adolf would be deposed and Albert elected in his place. There may have been a meeting of the electors as early as the coronation of King Wenceslas of Bohemia, on 2 June 1297. In January 1298, through the Archbishop of Mainz, Albert of Habsburg was brought to testify before an imperial court in order to bring a compromise between Adolf and Albert. This did not happen; the two came close to battle in the Upper Rhine Valley, but no decision made.
On 1 May 1298, the Archbishop of Mainz invited king to court, so that the dispute could be decided there. Archbishop Gerhard claimed he was authorized to do so as imperial archchancellor of Germany, according to old legal principle. However, the King, as a party to the conflict, could not at the same time act as judge and saw these charges as a provocation: that Albrecht was raising arms against him, the rightful king. Therefore, the meeting called for on 15 June, at which the dispute should be resolved, did not come about.
A meeting between the Archbishop of Mainz, Count Albrecht of Saxony-Wittenberg, and three Margraves of Brandenburg on 23 June 1298 then led to a lawsuit against the king himself. The Archbishop of Cologne and the King of Bohemia had previously authorized the Archbishop of Mainz to act in their names. In these proceedings Adolf was charged with numerous crimes, including the continued breach of peace in Thuringia and the breaking of the promises he had made to the Archbishop of Mainz. Adolf was deemed unworthy of his office and had forfeited his royal dignity.
It is remarkable that Adolf was not excommunicated by the Pope before being deposed. The pope was probably not even included in the deposition procedure. The princes, it is true, did try to formulate their arguments similar to Innocent IV’s statement in the deposition of Frederick II, but the process was unheard of for this time. Because Adolf had been elected and crowned, the contemporary understanding was that he had been chosen by God to be the ruler and that the princes were breaking their oath in which they swore loyalty to the king. Therefore, included in the list of charges were some that, at first glance, appear peculiar today, such as the desecration of communion wafers and the simonistic extortion of money. Furthermore, there was no imperial legal procedure for the ousting of the king. Therefore the princes relied on their right to vote, from which also derived the right to oust a king. This argument was problematic insofar as the deposition of Frederick II was already a precedent for this case. According to church law, only the Pope had the power to depose a king.
.
To depose Adolf was one thing; it was another to enforce the decision against him. Adolf refused to accept this decision, but the conflict between him and the princely opposition was soon decided on the battlefield. On 2 July 1298 the armies of Adolf and Albert met at the Battle of Göllheim
. The small village of Göllheim
is situated in northern Rhineland-Palatinate
between Kaiserslautern
and Worms
in present-day Donnersbergkreis
. After violent attacks, Adolf fell together with his standard-bearers and a few faithful. Adolf’s army turned to flee and quickly dispersed.
Albrecht denied the followers of Adolf to bury the corpse of the fallen king in the Kaiserdom, the Imperial Cathedral of Speyer
. Therefore, he was first buried in the Cistercian monastery of Rosenthal Abbey in present-day Kerzenheim
and was only later transferred to Speyer.
On 29 August 1309, Albert I’s successor, Emperor Henry VII
transferred Adolf’s remains to the Speyer Cathedral. Here he was buried next to Albert, who had been murdered in 1308. In 1824, Duke William of Nassau
built a grave monument in the vestibule of the cathedral. Leo von Klenze was commissioned with the design, which shows King Adolf in armor kneeling in prayer.
Probably in the 19th century, the legend arose that Adolf was a count from the Nuremberg area. This misconception was probably based on confusion with Emich I of Nassau-Hadamar, who after his marriage to Anne of Nuremberg around 1300 was the holder of Kammerstein Castle.
In 1841 Duke Adolf of Nassau commissioned a portrait of Adolf by the Düsseldorf painter Heinrich Mücke. In 1843 this painting was hung in the Frankfurt Kaisersaal (Hall of Kings). The picture depicts King Adolf with chest armor, a white coat; ans wearing an iron crown with an "implied spiked helmet”; in his right hand he holds a sword and in the left a shield with an eagle. It also bears the Latin phrase "Praestat vir sine pecunia quam pecunia sine viro" (Better a man without money than money without a man). Since no contemporary images of the King exist, the portrait is an idealized representation by the artist in the spirit of historicism. It is not based on previous portraits, since Mücke considered other representations, such as the one attributed to Georg Friedrich Christian Seekatz, to be too moderate
On 8 May 1858, Duke Adolf of Nassau established a Military and Civil Order of Merit for the Duchy. It was named for King Adoph as the most important representative of Walram line of the House of Nassau. Although the Duchy of Nassau was annexed by Prussia in 1866, Duke Adolf maintained and renewed the Order when he became Grand Duke of Luxembourg. Until today, it is a respected Order of Merit of the House of Nassau.
Thomas Carlyle
calls him "a stalwart but necessitous Herr".
, daughter of Gerlach I of Isenburg and Imagina of Blieskastel. Their children were:
King of the Romans
King of the Romans was the title used by the ruler of the Holy Roman Empire following his election to the office by the princes of the Kingdom of Germany...
(King of the Romans), he is usually known as Adolf of Nassau. He was never crowned by the Pope
Pope
The Pope is the Bishop of Rome, a position that makes him the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church . In the Catholic Church, the Pope is regarded as the successor of Saint Peter, the Apostle...
, which would have secured him the title of Holy Roman Emperor
Holy Roman Emperor
The Holy Roman Emperor is a term used by historians to denote a medieval ruler who, as German King, had also received the title of "Emperor of the Romans" from the Pope...
.
Family
Adolf of NassauNassau (state)
Nassau was a German state within the Holy Roman Empire and later in the German Confederation. Its ruling dynasty, now extinct in male line, was the House of Nassau.-Origins:...
was a member of the minor nobility, born in about 1255 as the son of Walram II, Count of Nassau and Adelheid of Katzenelnbogen
County of Katzenelnbogen
The County of Katzenelnbogen was an immediate state of the Holy Roman Empire. It existed between 1095 and 1479, when it was inherited by the Landgraves of Hesse.The estate comprised two separate territories...
. Adolf’s brother was Dieter of Nassau, who after Adolf’s death would become Archbishop of Trier
Archbishopric of Trier
The Archbishopric of Trier was a Roman Catholic diocese in Germany, that existed from Carolingian times until the end of the Holy Roman Empire. Its suffragans were the dioceses of Metz, Toul and Verdun. Since the 9th century the Archbishops of Trier were simultaneously princes and since the 11th...
.
Adolf was married in 1270 to Imagina of Isenburg-Limburg
Imagina of Isenburg-Limburg
Imagina of Isenburg-Limburg was the Queen consort of Adolf of Nassau, King of Germany.-Life:Imagina was born in about 1255 to Gerlach I of Limburg and Imagina of Blieskastel. Her father, from the House of Limburg held power over Limburg an der Lahn...
(died after 1313) and had eight children with her. Agnes of Isenburg-Limburg, the sister of Imagina, was married to Henry (Heinrich) of Westerburg, the brother of Siegfried II of Westerburg
Siegfried II of Westerburg
Siegfried II of Westerburg was Archbishop of Cologne from 1275 to 1297.Siegfried was the second son of Siegfried IV, Count of Runkel in Westerburg...
, the Archbishop of Cologne.
Career as Count of Nassau
Lahn
The Lahn River is a -long, right tributary of the Rhine River in Germany. Its course passes through the federal states of North Rhine-Westphalia , Hesse , and Rhineland-Palatinate ....
River in the Taunus
Taunus
The Taunus is a low mountain range in Hesse, Germany that composes part of the Rhenish Slate Mountains. It is bounded by the river valleys of Rhine, Main and Lahn. On the opposite side of the Rhine, the mountains are continued by the Hunsrück...
Mountains. These included Wiesbaden
Wiesbaden
Wiesbaden is a city in southwest Germany and the capital of the federal state of Hesse. It has about 275,400 inhabitants, plus approximately 10,000 United States citizens...
and Idstein
Idstein
Idstein is a town of about 25,000 inhabitants in the Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis in the Regierungsbezirk of Darmstadt in Hesse, Germany. Because of its well preserved historical Altstadt it is part of the Deutsche Fachwerkstraße , connecting towns with fine timber-frame buildings and...
, as fiefdom
Fiefdom
A fee was the central element of feudalism and consisted of heritable lands granted under one of several varieties of feudal tenure by an overlord to a vassal who held it in fealty in return for a form of feudal allegiance and service, usually given by the...
s, and the Vogt
Vogt
A Vogt ; plural Vögte; Dutch voogd; Danish foged; ; ultimately from Latin [ad]vocatus) in the Holy Roman Empire was the German title of a reeve or advocate, an overlord exerting guardianship or military protection as well as secular justice...
ship in Weilburg
Weilburg
Weilburg is, with just under 14,000 inhabitants, the third biggest town in Limburg-Weilburg district in Hesse, Germany, after Limburg an der Lahn and Bad Camberg.- Location :...
under the Bishopric of Worms
Bishopric of Worms
The Bishopric of Worms was an ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Empire. Located on both banks of the Rhine around Worms just north of the union of that river with the Neckar, it was largely surrounded by the Palatinate. Worms had been the seat of a bishop from Roman times...
. He also shared ownership of the family homelands around the castles of Nassau
Nassau, Germany
Nassau is a town located in the German Land of Rhineland-Palatinate. It lies in the Lahn River valley between the cities of Bad Ems and Limburg an der Lahn. Nassau is the seat of the Verbandsgemeinde of Nassau. The town is on the German-Dutch holiday road, the Orange Route...
and Laurenburg
Laurenburg
Laurenburg is a municipality in the Rhein-Lahn district of Rhineland-Palatinate, in western Germany. The town, a health resort situated in the lower Lahn River valley, belongs to the Diez Municipal Association.-History:...
.
Around 1280, Adolf became involved in the Nassau-Eppstein Feud with the Lords of Eppstein
Lords of Eppstein
The Lords of Eppstein were a family of German nobility in the Middle Ages. From the 12th century they ruled extensive territories in the Rhine Main area from their castle in Eppstein, northwest of Frankfurt, Germany.-History:...
, in which the city of Wiesbaden was devastated and Sonnenberg
Wiesbaden-Sonnenberg
Sonnenberg is a borough of Wiesbaden, the capital of the state of Hesse, Germany. Formerly an independent municipality, Sonnenberg was incorporated into Wiesbaden on October 28, 1926. The borough has approximately 8,000 residents....
Castle destroyed. The feud was settled in 1283, after which the city and the castle were rebuilt. Sonnenberg, along with Idstein, became Adolf’s residence. He granted Idstein town privileges
German town law
German town law or German municipal concerns concerns town privileges used by many cities, towns, and villages throughout Central and Eastern Europe during the Middle Ages.- Town law in Germany :...
in 1287 and built its fortifications.
Through his uncle, Eberhard I of Katzenelnbogen, Adolf came to the court of King Rudolf I
Rudolph I of Germany
Rudolph I was King of the Romans from 1273 until his death. He played a vital role in raising the Habsburg dynasty to a leading position among the Imperial feudal dynasties...
of Habsburg. King Rudolf awarded him with the Burghauptmannamt (Castle Lordship) of Kalsmunt Castle in Wetzlar
Wetzlar
Wetzlar is a city in the state of Hesse, Germany. Located at 8° 30′ E, 50° 34′ N, Wetzlar straddles the river Lahn and is on the German Timber-Framework Road which passes mile upon mile of half-timbered houses. Historically, the city has acted as the hub of the Lahn-Dill-Kreis on the north edge of...
and a year later that of Gutenfels Castle
Burg Gutenfels
The Burg Gutenfels is a castle 110m above the town of Kaub in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.It was build in 1220.-Sources and external links:*...
near Kaub
Kaub
Kaub is a town in Germany, state Rhineland-Palatinate, district Rhein-Lahn-Kreis. It is part of the municipality Loreley. It is located on the right bank of the Rhine, approx. 50 km west from Wiesbaden. It is connected to Wiesbaden and Koblenz by railway. Population 1100...
(where he became a vassal of the Counts Palatine of the Rhine).
Before his election, Adolf’s political activities had been limited to his role as Bundesgenosse of the Archbishop of Cologne. Adolf had no particular office, but likely became known through his involvement with the Archbishops of Cologne and Mainz
Archbishopric of Mainz
The Archbishopric of Mainz or Electorate of Mainz was an influential ecclesiastic and secular prince-bishopric in the Holy Roman Empire between 780–82 and 1802. In the Roman Catholic Church hierarchy, the Archbishop of Mainz was the primas Germaniae, the substitute of the Pope north of the Alps...
in the politics of the Middle Rhine
Middle Rhine
Between Bingen and Bonn, Germany, the Rhine River flows as the Middle Rhine through the Rhine Gorge, a formation created by erosion, which happened at about the same rate as an uplift in the region, leaving the river at about its original level, and the surrounding lands raised...
and Mainz areas. He spoke German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
, French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
, and Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
, which was rare at that time for nobles.
After his election, King Adolf of Nassau would only rarely be in his home country, having transferred the government there to his burgmen. On 17 January 1294, he purchased Weilburg for 400 pounds from the Bishopric of Worms. He granted Weilburg town privileges on 29 December 1295. He also established the Clarisse
Order of Poor Ladies
The Poor Clares also known as the Order of Saint Clare, the Order of Poor Ladies, the Poor Clare Sisters, the Clarisse, the Minoresses, the Franciscan Clarist Congregation, and the Second Order of St. Francis, , comprise several orders of nuns in the Catholic Church...
abbey of Klarenthal
Klarenthal Abbey
Klarenthal Abbey is a former convent of the Order of Poor Ladies in the borough of Klarenthal in Wiesbaden, Germany...
near Wiesbaden in 1296.
Election as King of the Romans
Louis II, Duke of Bavaria
Duke Louis II of Bavaria was Duke of Bavaria and Count Palatine of the Rhine from 1253. Born in Heidelberg, he was a son of duke Otto II and Agnes of the Palatinate...
of Upper Bavaria
Upper Bavaria
Upper Bavaria is one of the seven administrative regions of Bavaria, Germany.- Geography :Upper Bavaria is located in the southern portion of Bavaria, and is centered around the city of Munich. It is subdivided into four regions : Ingolstadt, Munich, Bayerisches Oberland , and Südostoberbayern...
"the Rigorous" promised to choose Albert.
Wenceslaus, despite Rudolf's recognition of his electoral vote, refused to support Albert because he would not cede Carinthia
Duchy of Carinthia
The Duchy of Carinthia was a duchy located in southern Austria and parts of northern Slovenia. It was separated from the Duchy of Bavaria in 976, then the first newly created Imperial State beside the original German stem duchies....
to him. He took the side of the nobles in the core Habsburg areas of Swabia
Swabia
Swabia is a cultural, historic and linguistic region in southwestern Germany.-Geography:Like many cultural regions of Europe, Swabia's borders are not clearly defined...
and in their newly acquired territories in Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
, with whom Albert was unpopular. Wenceslaus was supported by Duke Otto III of Lower Bavaria
Otto III, Duke of Bavaria
Otto III of Bavaria , member of the Wittelsbach dynasty, was Duke of Lower Bavaria from 1290 to 1312 and disputably King of Hungary and Croatia between 1305 and 1307 as Béla V.-Family:...
, whose family were traditional enemies of the Habsburgs. Wenceslaus succeeded in bringing the Electors of Brandenburg and Saxony over to his side: Albert II of Saxony
Albert II, Duke of Saxony
Albert II of Saxony was a son of Duke Albert I of Saxony and his third wife Helen of Brunswick and Lunenburg, a daughter of Otto the Child. He supported Rudolph I of Germany at his election as Roman king and became his son-in-law...
signed an elector pact on 29 November 1291 that he would vote the same as Wenceslaus; Otto IV of Brandenburg made a similar commitment.
Archbishop Siegfried believed that the Emperor should not receive the crown as an inheritance from his father, but should be freely selected by the College of Electors. He convinced the Archbishop of Mainz
Archbishopric of Mainz
The Archbishopric of Mainz or Electorate of Mainz was an influential ecclesiastic and secular prince-bishopric in the Holy Roman Empire between 780–82 and 1802. In the Roman Catholic Church hierarchy, the Archbishop of Mainz was the primas Germaniae, the substitute of the Pope north of the Alps...
, Gerard II of Eppstein, to select a king who would principally serve their interests. Gerard in turn recruited the new Archbishop of Trier
Archbishopric of Trier
The Archbishopric of Trier was a Roman Catholic diocese in Germany, that existed from Carolingian times until the end of the Holy Roman Empire. Its suffragans were the dioceses of Metz, Toul and Verdun. Since the 9th century the Archbishops of Trier were simultaneously princes and since the 11th...
, Bohemund I. Thereupon, the Count Palatine was forced to submit to the majority of the College of Electors.
Siegfried therefore proposed to the Elector College to select Adolf of Nassau as king. They were ready to elect him, provided he make extensive concessions to the Electors and follow their political demands.
A few days before the election, on 27 April 1292, as the first of the electors, Archbishop Siegfried issued the Treaty Of Andernach
Treaty Of Andernach
Treaty of Andernach may refer to:Historically, there were a number of treaties made in the German town, that are referred to as "The Treaty of Andernach"...
, stating that for Adolf to be chosen king he must promise a long list of acknowledgments of possession (including the imperial cities of Dortmund
Dortmund
Dortmund is a city in Germany. It is located in the Bundesland of North Rhine-Westphalia, in the Ruhr area. Its population of 585,045 makes it the 7th largest city in Germany and the 34th largest in the European Union....
and Duisburg
Duisburg
- History :A legend recorded by Johannes Aventinus holds that Duisburg, was built by the eponymous Tuisto, mythical progenitor of Germans, ca. 2395 BC...
, and the Vogtship of Essen
Essen
- Origin of the name :In German-speaking countries, the name of the city Essen often causes confusion as to its origins, because it is commonly known as the German infinitive of the verb for the act of eating, and/or the German noun for food. Although scholars still dispute the interpretation of...
), pledges of imperial cities and castles, and a sum of 25,000 marks in silver. Furthermore, Adolf promised assistance against specifically listed opponents, but also the general promise that he would not admit any enemy of Siegfried II into his council. After the election, Adolf had to give the archbishop sufficient collateral for the fulfillment of the promise; otherwise he would lose his throne. The last clause is evidence of the fact that the end of the 13th century, the coronation of the king as the constitutive moment of his rule was still very critical. Adolf promised the archbishop to ask him first for his coronation when he had raised the agreed-upon collateral.
The other electors extracted similar concessions from Adolf, but only after the election. Among the most far-reaching were the concessions to King Wenceslaus of Bohemia on 30 June 1292. Adolf promised Wenceslas to take away the two duchies of Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
and Styria from Albert of Habsburg. This should be done as the previous King Rudolf had taken away these territories from King Ottokar II of Bohemia
Ottokar II of Bohemia
Ottokar II , called The Iron and Golden King, was the King of Bohemia from 1253 until 1278. He was the Duke of Austria , Styria , Carinthia and Carniola also....
, the father of Wenceslas. Albert must next be charged at a court hearing. If he would not bend, the decisions of the court must be executed by force within a year. Wenceslaus will then recover the lost territories of his father.
Gerhard, the Archbishop of Mainz would receive the imperial cities of Mühlhausen
Mühlhausen
Mühlhausen is a city in the federal state of Thuringia, Germany. It is the capital of the Unstrut-Hainich district, and lies along the river Unstrut. Mühlhausen had c. 37,000 inhabitants in 2006.-History:...
and Nordhausen
Nordhausen
Nordhausen is a town at the southern edge of the Harz Mountains, in the state of Thuringia, Germany. It is the capital of the district of Nordhausen...
, which corresponded with the interests of Mainz in the Thuringia
Thuringia
The Free State of Thuringia is a state of Germany, located in the central part of the country.It has an area of and 2.29 million inhabitants, making it the sixth smallest by area and the fifth smallest by population of Germany's sixteen states....
n region. Furthermore, Gerhard received financial benefits. Like his counterpart in Cologne, the Mainz elector also forbade the presence of his opponents in Adolf’s court. In comparison to the benefits the Mainz, Cologne and Bohemian electors received, the donations to the Count Palatine and the Archbishop of Trier were modest.
On 5 May 1292 in Frankfurt am Main, the Archbishop of Mainz, in the name of all the electors, elected Adolf King of the Germans (Emperor-Elect). He was crowned in Aachen
Aachen
Aachen has historically been a spa town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Aachen was a favoured residence of Charlemagne, and the place of coronation of the Kings of Germany. Geographically, Aachen is the westernmost town of Germany, located along its borders with Belgium and the Netherlands, ...
on 24 June by the Archbishop of Cologne.
Reign
As he had agreed with the Archbishop of Cologne, Adolf remained in his dominion for four months after his election. The archbishop awaited from the king a revision of the results of the Battle of Worringen
Battle of Worringen
The Battle of Worringen was fought on June 5, 1288, near the town of Worringen , which is now the northernmost borough of Cologne...
in 1288. He had hoped to again win a greater influence in the city of Cologne
Cologne
Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...
. But despite the tight specifications, Adolf soon emancipated himself from his Electors and concluded pacts with their opponents. Thus, for example, he confirmed the rights of the nobles and the city of Cologne, who had turned against their ruler, and even extended these rights.
Adolf also very quickly broke the promises concerning the Duchies of Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
and Styria. As a clever diplomat, Albert of Habsburg avoided a confrontation with the new king. In exchange for his surrender of the Imperial Regalia
Imperial Regalia
The Imperial Regalia, insignia, or crown jewels are the regalia of the Emperors and Kings of the Holy Roman Empire. The most important parts are the Imperial Crown, the Holy Lance and the Imperial Sword...
, which he still had in his possession, he received, in November 1292 a formal enfeoffment with Austria, Styria, the Windic March
Windic march
The Windic march or marca Vindica was a province of the Holy Roman Empire in the Middle Ages, corresponding more or less to modern Lower Carniola in Slovenia. In Medieval German language, the term "Windisch" was a common name for some Slavic peoples The Windic march or marca Vindica was a...
, and the Lordship of Pordenone
Pordenone
Pordenone is a comune of Pordenone province of northeast Italy in the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region.The name comes from the Latin "Portus Naonis" meaning the port on the river Noncello - History :...
. The disposition of the prestigious insignia and relics of the empire was an additional and important sign for the legitimacy of the reign of the king, but not a mandatory prerequisite. With each new document, Adolf moved a little farther away from his promises, without having to open himself up to breach of contract accusations.
Adolf acted as a self-assured ruler in other ways as well. His court was an attraction for all who sought protection from the powerful emerging territorial lords. He held numerous court days. At the beginning of his reign, he renewed the general public peace (Landfrieden) of Rudolf I for another ten years, and brought about at least two regional peaces.
Adolf used the feudal system
Feudalism
Feudalism was a set of legal and military customs in medieval Europe that flourished between the 9th and 15th centuries, which, broadly defined, was a system for ordering society around relationships derived from the holding of land in exchange for service or labour.Although derived from the...
as one of his major tools of power. He demanded from the spiritual princes a payment, called Lehnsware, for their enfeoffment with regalian right
Regalian right
Regalian right was the right of a monarch to receive the income from the estates of a vacant bishopric or abbacy. A liberty was an area where the regalian right did not apply.-History:...
s, and increased this demand to the level of a nuisance. Many of Adolf’s contemporaries considered this action to be simony
Simony
Simony is the act of paying for sacraments and consequently for holy offices or for positions in the hierarchy of a church, named after Simon Magus , who appears in the Acts of the Apostles 8:9-24...
. Many of today's historians, however, view it as an innovative way to open up new state revenue sources, as other Western European kings did. Also, the recovery and management of imperial property was important to him. So he succeeded, through clever marriage policy, to bring former imperial properties back under the control of the emperor.
Alliance with England
In 1294, when Adolf’s rule was at its height, he concluded an alliance with the King Edward I of EnglandEdward I of England
Edward I , also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England from 1272 to 1307. The first son of Henry III, Edward was involved early in the political intrigues of his father's reign, which included an outright rebellion by the English barons...
against France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and was awarded 60,000 pounds sterling, which corresponded to 90,000 gold marks. The pact had been preceded by attempts by Philip IV of France
Philip IV of France
Philip the Fair was, as Philip IV, King of France from 1285 until his death. He was the husband of Joan I of Navarre, by virtue of which he was, as Philip I, King of Navarre and Count of Champagne from 1284 to 1305.-Youth:A member of the House of Capet, Philip was born at the Palace of...
to conquer the Duchy of Burgundy
Duchy of Burgundy
The Duchy of Burgundy , was heir to an ancient and prestigious reputation and a large division of the lands of the Second Kingdom of Burgundy and in its own right was one of the geographically larger ducal territories in the emergence of Early Modern Europe from Medieval Europe.Even in that...
and the County of Flanders
County of Flanders
The County of Flanders was one of the territories constituting the Low Countries. The county existed from 862 to 1795. It was one of the original secular fiefs of France and for centuries was one of the most affluent regions in Europe....
. The Count of Flanders, Guy of Dampierre
Guy of Dampierre
Guy of Dampierre was the count of Flanders during the Battle of the Golden Spurs in 1302.Guy was the second son of William II of Dampierre and Margaret II of Flanders. The death of his elder brother William in a tournament made him joint Count of Flanders with his mother...
, mediated, therefore, the alliance between Edward I and Adolf for his protection against France. That the alliance was construed by his contemporaries as purely mercenary, and the fact that Adolf did not comply with its obligations, damaged his reputation, but this was initially without consequences.
Adolf began recruiting troops in the empire for a war against France. On 31 August 1294, he sent a declaration of war to the French king, alleging he had seized rights and possessions of the empire. King Philip responded contemptuously on 9 March 1295. Pope Boniface VIII
Pope Boniface VIII
Pope Boniface VIII , born Benedetto Gaetani, was Pope of the Catholic Church from 1294 to 1303. Today, Boniface VIII is probably best remembered for his feuds with Dante, who placed him in the Eighth circle of Hell in his Divina Commedia, among the Simonists.- Biography :Gaetani was born in 1235 in...
, however, ordered peace in 1295 and threatened to commence the excommunication
Excommunication
Excommunication is a religious censure used to deprive, suspend or limit membership in a religious community. The word means putting [someone] out of communion. In some religions, excommunication includes spiritual condemnation of the member or group...
of Adolf in the event of an outbreak of war.
Policies in Thuringia
A little later Adolf intervened in war-torn ThuringiaThuringia
The Free State of Thuringia is a state of Germany, located in the central part of the country.It has an area of and 2.29 million inhabitants, making it the sixth smallest by area and the fifth smallest by population of Germany's sixteen states....
, where fighting had erupted between Landgrave Albert the Degenerate
Albert II, Margrave of Meissen
Albert II, the Degenerate was a Margrave of Meissen, Landgrave of Thuringia and Count Palatine of Saxony...
and his sons Frederick
Frederick I, Margrave of Meissen
Frederick I, called the Brave or the Bitten was margrave of Meissen and landgrave of Thuringia.-Life:...
and Dietrich IV of Lusatia
Lusatia
Lusatia is a historical region in Central Europe. It stretches from the Bóbr and Kwisa rivers in the east to the Elbe valley in the west, today located within the German states of Saxony and Brandenburg as well as in the Lower Silesian and Lubusz voivodeships of western Poland...
. He bought the Landgraviate from Albert in his capacity as king and probably using the payments from England. Legally, it was perfectly acceptable for Adolf to induce the feudal lord to abandon his fief and to bring the land under the empire. Furthermore, he seized the Margraviate of Meissen as an imperial fief, since it had been literally ownerless after the extinction of a collateral line of the House of Wettin and had been occupied by a son of Albert the Degenerate.
This purchase and the Margraviate of Meissen, however, affected the interests of four of the electors. The Archbishop of Mainz asserted that a part of Thuringia was not an imperial fief, but rather a fief of the Archdiocese of Mainz. Wenceslaus II of Bohemia was not thrilled by the growing power of the emperor on his northern border, especially since Adolf had promised to give him the Margraviate of Meissen. Also, all the electors hoped to profit from the turmoil in Thuringia. In addition to the ostensible return of imperial fiefs to the empire, it can not be ruled out that Adolf was anxious to build a dynastic power base (albeit a small one).
First, Adolf succeeded in securing his acquisitions diplomatically and provoking the Margrave of Brandenburg toward active support and the Archbishop of Mainz and the Duke of Saxony toward at least acquiescence of the purchase. Two bloody campaigns against the sons of Albert the Degenerate were necessary to secure the acquisitions and a peace assured the achievements. Two years later, in the summer of 1296, Adolf proudly announced on the invitation to a court day that he had by his actions significantly increased the possessions of the empire.
Deposition as King
Pentecost
Pentecost is a prominent feast in the calendar of Ancient Israel celebrating the giving of the Law on Sinai, and also later in the Christian liturgical year commemorating the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the disciples of Christ after the Resurrection of Jesus...
1297 the Elector of Brandenburg, Duke of Saxony, and King of Bohemia joined together to enforce their interests. The Elector of Cologne Gerhard II was near this group.
In February 1298, the situation became alarming for Adolf because Wenceslaus II and Albert of Habsburg put aside their years of disputes over Austria and Styria, and arrived at agreements in the event that Adolf would be deposed and Albert elected in his place. There may have been a meeting of the electors as early as the coronation of King Wenceslas of Bohemia, on 2 June 1297. In January 1298, through the Archbishop of Mainz, Albert of Habsburg was brought to testify before an imperial court in order to bring a compromise between Adolf and Albert. This did not happen; the two came close to battle in the Upper Rhine Valley, but no decision made.
On 1 May 1298, the Archbishop of Mainz invited king to court, so that the dispute could be decided there. Archbishop Gerhard claimed he was authorized to do so as imperial archchancellor of Germany, according to old legal principle. However, the King, as a party to the conflict, could not at the same time act as judge and saw these charges as a provocation: that Albrecht was raising arms against him, the rightful king. Therefore, the meeting called for on 15 June, at which the dispute should be resolved, did not come about.
A meeting between the Archbishop of Mainz, Count Albrecht of Saxony-Wittenberg, and three Margraves of Brandenburg on 23 June 1298 then led to a lawsuit against the king himself. The Archbishop of Cologne and the King of Bohemia had previously authorized the Archbishop of Mainz to act in their names. In these proceedings Adolf was charged with numerous crimes, including the continued breach of peace in Thuringia and the breaking of the promises he had made to the Archbishop of Mainz. Adolf was deemed unworthy of his office and had forfeited his royal dignity.
It is remarkable that Adolf was not excommunicated by the Pope before being deposed. The pope was probably not even included in the deposition procedure. The princes, it is true, did try to formulate their arguments similar to Innocent IV’s statement in the deposition of Frederick II, but the process was unheard of for this time. Because Adolf had been elected and crowned, the contemporary understanding was that he had been chosen by God to be the ruler and that the princes were breaking their oath in which they swore loyalty to the king. Therefore, included in the list of charges were some that, at first glance, appear peculiar today, such as the desecration of communion wafers and the simonistic extortion of money. Furthermore, there was no imperial legal procedure for the ousting of the king. Therefore the princes relied on their right to vote, from which also derived the right to oust a king. This argument was problematic insofar as the deposition of Frederick II was already a precedent for this case. According to church law, only the Pope had the power to depose a king.
Election of Albert and Death of Adolf
Following Adolf’s deposition, came the election of Albert I of Habsburg as the new king. How this election took place is not very clear today, as the chroniclers have little to report. So the question is open, for example, whether Albert actually initially did not want to accept the choice, as he would later assert against Pope Boniface VIIIPope Boniface VIII
Pope Boniface VIII , born Benedetto Gaetani, was Pope of the Catholic Church from 1294 to 1303. Today, Boniface VIII is probably best remembered for his feuds with Dante, who placed him in the Eighth circle of Hell in his Divina Commedia, among the Simonists.- Biography :Gaetani was born in 1235 in...
.
To depose Adolf was one thing; it was another to enforce the decision against him. Adolf refused to accept this decision, but the conflict between him and the princely opposition was soon decided on the battlefield. On 2 July 1298 the armies of Adolf and Albert met at the Battle of Göllheim
Battle of Göllheim
The Battle of Göllheim was fought on 2 July 1298 between Albert I of Habsburg and Adolf of Nassau-Weilburg.After the death of Rudolph I at Germesheim on 15 July 1291, his son, Albert I seemed to be the inevitable successor to the throne of Holy Empire...
. The small village of Göllheim
Göllheim
Göllheim is a municipality in the Donnersbergkreis, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is situated north of the Palatinate forest, approx. 25 km west of Worms.Göllheim is the seat of the Verbandsgemeinde Göllheim....
is situated in northern Rhineland-Palatinate
Rhineland-Palatinate
Rhineland-Palatinate is one of the 16 states of the Federal Republic of Germany. It has an area of and about four million inhabitants. The capital is Mainz. English speakers also commonly refer to the state by its German name, Rheinland-Pfalz ....
between Kaiserslautern
Kaiserslautern
Kaiserslautern is a city in southwest Germany, located in the Bundesland of Rhineland-Palatinate at the edge of the Palatinate forest . The historic centre dates to the 9th century. It is from Paris, from Frankfurt am Main, and from Luxembourg.Kaiserslautern is home to 99,469 people...
and Worms
Worms, Germany
Worms is a city in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, on the Rhine River. At the end of 2004, it had 85,829 inhabitants.Established by the Celts, who called it Borbetomagus, Worms today remains embattled with the cities Trier and Cologne over the title of "Oldest City in Germany." Worms is the only...
in present-day Donnersbergkreis
Donnersbergkreis
The Donnersbergkreis is a district in the middle of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Neighboring districts are Bad Kreuznach, Alzey-Worms, Bad Dürkheim, Kaiserslautern, Kusel.-History:...
. After violent attacks, Adolf fell together with his standard-bearers and a few faithful. Adolf’s army turned to flee and quickly dispersed.
Albrecht denied the followers of Adolf to bury the corpse of the fallen king in the Kaiserdom, the Imperial Cathedral of Speyer
Speyer Cathedral
The Speyer Cathedral, officially the Imperial Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption and St Stephen, in Latin: Domus sanctae Mariae Spirae in Speyer, Germany, is the seat of the Roman Catholic Bishop of Speyer and is suffragan to the Archdiocese of Bamberg. The cathedral, which is dedicated to St...
. Therefore, he was first buried in the Cistercian monastery of Rosenthal Abbey in present-day Kerzenheim
Kerzenheim
Kerzenheim is a municipality in the Donnersbergkreis district, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany....
and was only later transferred to Speyer.
Historical legacy
Henry VII, Holy Roman Emperor
Henry VII was the King of Germany from 1308 and Holy Roman Emperor from 1312. He was the first emperor of the House of Luxembourg...
transferred Adolf’s remains to the Speyer Cathedral. Here he was buried next to Albert, who had been murdered in 1308. In 1824, Duke William of Nassau
William, Duke of Nassau
Wilhelm, Duke of Nassau, Prince of Nassau-Weilburg was the father of Adolphe, Grand Duke of Luxembourg and Queen Sophia .-Biography:Wilhelm was the eldest son of Frederick...
built a grave monument in the vestibule of the cathedral. Leo von Klenze was commissioned with the design, which shows King Adolf in armor kneeling in prayer.
Probably in the 19th century, the legend arose that Adolf was a count from the Nuremberg area. This misconception was probably based on confusion with Emich I of Nassau-Hadamar, who after his marriage to Anne of Nuremberg around 1300 was the holder of Kammerstein Castle.
In 1841 Duke Adolf of Nassau commissioned a portrait of Adolf by the Düsseldorf painter Heinrich Mücke. In 1843 this painting was hung in the Frankfurt Kaisersaal (Hall of Kings). The picture depicts King Adolf with chest armor, a white coat; ans wearing an iron crown with an "implied spiked helmet”; in his right hand he holds a sword and in the left a shield with an eagle. It also bears the Latin phrase "Praestat vir sine pecunia quam pecunia sine viro" (Better a man without money than money without a man). Since no contemporary images of the King exist, the portrait is an idealized representation by the artist in the spirit of historicism. It is not based on previous portraits, since Mücke considered other representations, such as the one attributed to Georg Friedrich Christian Seekatz, to be too moderate
On 8 May 1858, Duke Adolf of Nassau established a Military and Civil Order of Merit for the Duchy. It was named for King Adoph as the most important representative of Walram line of the House of Nassau. Although the Duchy of Nassau was annexed by Prussia in 1866, Duke Adolf maintained and renewed the Order when he became Grand Duke of Luxembourg. Until today, it is a respected Order of Merit of the House of Nassau.
Thomas Carlyle
Thomas Carlyle
Thomas Carlyle was a Scottish satirical writer, essayist, historian and teacher during the Victorian era.He called economics "the dismal science", wrote articles for the Edinburgh Encyclopedia, and became a controversial social commentator.Coming from a strict Calvinist family, Carlyle was...
calls him "a stalwart but necessitous Herr".
Marriage and children
He married Imagina of Isenburg-LimburgImagina of Isenburg-Limburg
Imagina of Isenburg-Limburg was the Queen consort of Adolf of Nassau, King of Germany.-Life:Imagina was born in about 1255 to Gerlach I of Limburg and Imagina of Blieskastel. Her father, from the House of Limburg held power over Limburg an der Lahn...
, daughter of Gerlach I of Isenburg and Imagina of Blieskastel. Their children were:
- Henry (Heinrich), died young.
- Robert (Ruprecht) (died 2 December 1304), betrothed to Agnes, daughter of Wenceslaus II of Bohemia
- Gerlach I, Count of Nassau-Wiesbaden.
- Adolf (1292 – 1294).
- Walram III of Nassau-Wiesbaden.
- Adelheid, Abbess of Klarenthal AbbeyKlarenthal AbbeyKlarenthal Abbey is a former convent of the Order of Poor Ladies in the borough of Klarenthal in Wiesbaden, Germany...
, died 26 May 1338. - Imagina, died young.
- MatildaMechtild of NassauMechtild of Nassau was the youngest child of Adolf of Germany and his wife Imagina of Isenburg-Limburg. Mechtild is also known as Matilda of Nassau. She was Duchess consort of Bavaria, by her marriage to Rudolf I, Duke of Bavaria.- Family :Mechtild's paternal grandparents were Walram II of Nassau...
(before 1280 - 19 June 1323, HeidelbergHeidelberg-Early history:Between 600,000 and 200,000 years ago, "Heidelberg Man" died at nearby Mauer. His jaw bone was discovered in 1907; with scientific dating, his remains were determined to be the earliest evidence of human life in Europe. In the 5th century BC, a Celtic fortress of refuge and place of...
), married Rudolf I "the Stammerer", Duke of Upper BavariaRudolf I, Duke of BavariaRudolf I of Bavaria , a member of the Wittelsbach dynasty, was Duke of Bavaria and Count Palatine of the Rhine...
.
Ancestors
Literature
- Herde, Peter (1995). "From Adolf of Nassau to Louis of Bavaria, 1292-1347," in
- Reinle,Christine (2003). "Adolf von Nassau", in , pp. 360–371, pp. 86 ff.
Literature from Wikimedia Commons
- Johann Geissel; Die Schlacht am Hasenbühl und das Königskreuz zu Göllheim (The Battle of Hasenbühl and the King's Cross of Göllheim); 1835.
- Hektor Wilhelm von Günderode; Geschichte des Römischen Königs Adolphs nach denen Urkunden und gleichzeitigen Geschichtsschreibern (History of the Roman King Adolph from his Documents and Contemporary Historians); 1779.
External links
- Bibliography of King Adolf of Nassau (1292-1298). . ..
- Genealogies of the Middle Ages. .
- Andreas Marchetti: Works on the Deposed Adolf of Nassau. . (PDF)
See also
- German monarchs family treeGerman monarchs family treeThe following image is a family tree of every king, monarch, confederation president and emperor of Germany, from Charlemagne in 800 over Louis the German in 843 through to William II in 1918...
. He was related to every other king of Germany.