List of Counts of Gorizia
Encyclopedia
The Meinhardiner or Counts of Görz/Gorizia were a comital dynasty
Dynasty
A dynasty is a sequence of rulers considered members of the same family. Historians traditionally consider many sovereign states' history within a framework of successive dynasties, e.g., China, Ancient Egypt and the Persian Empire...

 in the Holy Roman Empire
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...

, originally officials in the Patriarchate of Aquileia
Patriarchate of Aquileia (State)
The Patriarchate of Aquileia was an Imperial State in the Friulian region of Northeastern Italy under the control of the Patriarchs of Aquileia.- Foundation :...

, who from 1127 ruled the County of Görz (Gorizia). In 1253 they inherited the County of Tyrol
County of Tyrol
The County of Tyrol, Princely County from 1504, was a State of the Holy Roman Empire, from 1814 a province of the Austrian Empire and from 1867 a Cisleithanian crown land of Austria-Hungary...

, which passed to the cadet branch of Gorizia-Tyrol in 1271, also Dukes of 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....

 from 1286 onwards. Henry of Gorizia-Tyrol by marriage even assumed the rule over the Kingdom of Bohemia
Kingdom of Bohemia
The Kingdom of Bohemia was a country located in the region of Bohemia in Central Europe, most of whose territory is currently located in the modern-day Czech Republic. The King was Elector of Holy Roman Empire until its dissolution in 1806, whereupon it became part of the Austrian Empire, and...

 and (titular) the Kingdom of Poland in 1306 and again from 1307 to 1310. However, as he left no male heirs, the Gorizia-Tyrol branch became extinct upon the death of his daughter Margaret in 1369. The line of the Counts of Görz died out in 1500, all Meinhardiner estates were finally incorporated by the Austrian
Archduchy of Austria
The Archduchy of Austria , one of the most important states within the Holy Roman Empire, was the nucleus of the Habsburg Monarchy and the predecessor of the Austrian Empire...

 House of Habsburg.

History

The dynasty probably hailed from the Rhenish Franconia
Rhenish Franconia
Rhenish Franconia or Western Franconia denotes the western half of the central German stem duchy of Franconia in the 10th and 11th century, with its residence at the city of Worms...

n Siegharding dynasty, which originally descended from the Kraichgau
Kraichgau
The Kraichgau is a hilly region in Baden-Württemberg, southwestern Germany. It is bordered by the Odenwald and the Neckar to the North, the Black Forest to the South, and the Upper Rhine Plain to the West. To the east, its boundary is considered to be the Stromberg, the Hardt, and the...

 region and in the 10th century ruled in the Chiemgau
Chiemgau
Chiemgau is the common name of a geographic area in Upper Bavaria. It refers to the foothills of the Alps between the rivers Inn and Traun, with lake Chiemsee at its center. The political districts that contain the Chiemgau are Rosenheim and Traunstein...

 of the German stem duchy
Stem duchy
Stem duchies were essentially the domains of the old German tribes of the area, associated with the Frankish Kingdom, especially the East, in the Early Middle Ages. These tribes were originally the Franks, the Saxons, the Alamanni, the Burgundians, the Thuringii, and the Rugii...

 of Bavaria
History of Bavaria
The history of Bavaria stretches from its earliest settlement and its formation as a stem duchy in the 6th century through its inclusion in the Holy Roman Empires to its status as an independent kingdom and, finally, as a large and significant Bundesland of the modern Federal Republic of...

. One Siegharding Meginhard (or Meinhard, d. 1090) is documented as a count in the Tyrolean Puster Valley. The progenitor of the Meinhardiner, Count Meinhard I of Gorizia, and his brother Engelbert, Count palatine
Count palatine
Count palatine is a high noble title, used to render several comital styles, in some cases also shortened to Palatine, which can have other meanings as well.-Comes palatinus:...

 of Bavaria, may be his sons. The dynasty first appeared around Lienz
Lienz
Lienz is a medieval town in the Austrian state of Tyrol. It is the administrative centre of the Lienz district, which covers all of East Tyrol. The municipality also includes the cadastral subdivision of Patriasdorf.-Geography:...

 and gained the office of a 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...

at the town of Gorizia
Gorizia
Gorizia is a town and comune in northeastern Italy, in the autonomous region of Friuli Venezia Giulia. It is located at the foot of the Julian Alps, bordering Slovenia. It is the capital of the Province of Gorizia, and it is a local center of tourism, industry, and commerce. Since 1947, a twin...

 (Görz) in the Patriarchate of Aquileia in the 11th century.

The Country of Tyrolia was already in the early and later Middle Ages an important mountain pass area with the lowermost crossings over the Central Eastern Alps
Central Eastern Alps
The Central Eastern Alps comprise the main chain of the Eastern Alps with its highest peaks, located between the Northern Limestone Alps and the Southern Limestone Alps, from which they differ in geological composition....

, vital for the 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...

s to reach the Kingdom of Italy
Kingdom of Italy (medieval)
The Kingdom of Italy was a political entity under control of Carolingian dynasty of Francia first, after the defeat of the Lombards in 774. It was finally incorporated as a part of the Holy Roman Empire in 962....

. The centers of the Imperial power were initially two Prince-bishop
Prince-Bishop
A Prince-Bishop is a bishop who is a territorial Prince of the Church on account of one or more secular principalities, usually pre-existent titles of nobility held concurrently with their inherent clerical office...

rics established by Emperor Conrad II
Conrad II, Holy Roman Emperor
Conrad II was Holy Roman Emperor from 1027 until his death.The son of a mid-level nobleman in Franconia, Count Henry of Speyer and Adelaide of Alsace, he inherited the titles of count of Speyer and of Worms as an infant when Henry died at age twenty...

 in 1027, Brixen
Bishopric of Brixen
The Bishopric of Brixen is a former Roman Catholic diocese and also a former ecclesiastical state of the Holy Roman Empire in the present province of South Tyrol. The bishopric in the Eisack/Isarco valley was established in the 6th century and gradually received more secular powers...

 (Bressanone) and Trient
Bishopric of Trent
The Bishopric of Trent is a former ecclesiastical territory roughly corresponding to the present-day Northern Italian autonomous province of Trentino. It was created in 1027 and existed until 1802, when it was secularised and absorbed into the County of Tyrol held by the House of Habsburg...

 (Trento). The bishops were the sovereigns of many semi-free compulsory henchmen (Ministerials) and base noblemen which styled until today the scenery with their numerous castles mostly south of the Brenner Pass
Brenner Pass
- Roadways :The motorway E45 leading from Innsbruck via Bolzano to Verona and Modena uses this pass, and is one of the most important north-south connections in Europe...

. One of that noblemen families were the Counts of Tyrol, named by the Castle Tyrol
Castle Tyrol
Tirol Castle or Castle Tyrol is a castle near Meran, Italy. It was the ancestral seat of the counts of Tyrol and gave the region of Tyrol its name.- History :...

 near the town of Meran. They speedily ascended as bailiffs which exercised the judiicial power for the Trient and Brixen bishops and finally took over the secular power in the southern Duchy of Bavaria
History of Bavaria
The history of Bavaria stretches from its earliest settlement and its formation as a stem duchy in the 6th century through its inclusion in the Holy Roman Empires to its status as an independent kingdom and, finally, as a large and significant Bundesland of the modern Federal Republic of...

 after the deposition of the Welf duke Henry the Lion
Henry the Lion
Henry the Lion was a member of the Welf dynasty and Duke of Saxony, as Henry III, from 1142, and Duke of Bavaria, as Henry XII, from 1156, which duchies he held until 1180....

 in 1180. That fact is also to comprehend by seeing that the name of the ancestral mension was finally transferred over the whole country.

Between 1253 and 1258 the Counts of Görz assumed the power in Tyrol after the Counts of Tyrol vanished in the virile succession. In 1237 Count Meinhard III of Gorizia
Meinhard I of Gorizia-Tyrol
Meinhard I was Count of Gorizia from the House of Meinhardin was from 1231 and Count of Tyrol from 1253 until his death. He was the son of Count Engelbert III of Gorizia and Mathilda of Andechs, half-sister of Duke Berthold IV of Merania...

 had married Adelheid, daughter of Count Albert III of Tyrol who died in 1253 leaving no male heirs, and could in this way demand his inheritance-claims. His son and successor Count Meinhard IV
Meinhard, Duke of Carinthia
Meinhard II from the House of Meinhardin was ruling Count of Gorizia from 1258 until 1271 and Count of Tyrol from 1258 until his death...

 build up not only his rule, but could also urge on the building of a passably homogeneous country not only by the erection of a for then circumstances really exemplary administration. Anyhow the three areas of reign were to large for only one sovereign and primary to much distant, so was initiated a sharing out in 1267/71, whereby Meinhard IV ceded the County of Görz to his younger brother Albert I. Albert's descendants, the so-called Görz Meinhardins, maintained until their extinction in the year 1500 the ancestral mansion at Gorizia, while the descendants of Meinhard IV (Count Meinhard II of Tyrol) ruled to their vanish in the virile succession over Tyrol.

In 1286 Meinhard IV received the rule over the Duchy of 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....

 and the adjacent March of Carniola
March of Carniola
The March of Carniola was a southeastern state of the Holy Roman Empire in the High Middle Ages, the predecessor of the Duchy of Carniola. It corresponded roughly to the central Carniolan region of present-day Slovenia...

 by King Rudolph I of Germany
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...

 in turn for his support against 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....

. His son Henry in 1306 married Anne, the eldest daughter of King Wenceslaus II of Bohemia and after the sudden death of her brother King Wenceslaus III
Wenceslaus III of Bohemia
Wenceslaus III Premyslid was the King of Hungary , King of Bohemia and the king of Poland ....

 in the same year even ascended the Bohemian
Kingdom of Bohemia
The Kingdom of Bohemia was a country located in the region of Bohemia in Central Europe, most of whose territory is currently located in the modern-day Czech Republic. The King was Elector of Holy Roman Empire until its dissolution in 1806, whereupon it became part of the Austrian Empire, and...

 throne. He however had to deal with claims raised by the Habsburg scion Rudolph III
Rudolph I of Bohemia
Rudolf I of Habsburg was Duke of Austria and Styria from 1298 and King of Bohemia and titular King of Poland from 1306 until his death...

, son of King Albert I of Germany
Albert I of Germany
Albert I of Habsburg was King of the Romans and Duke of Austria, the eldest son of German King Rudolph I of Habsburg and his first wife Gertrude of Hohenburg.-Life:...

, and in the long run both could not prevail against Count John of Luxembourg, who became Bohemian king in 1310. As Henry himself left no male heirs upon his death in 1335, the Austrian
Archduchy of Austria
The Archduchy of Austria , one of the most important states within the Holy Roman Empire, was the nucleus of the Habsburg Monarchy and the predecessor of the Austrian Empire...

 House of Habsburg earned the legacy of the Görz-Tyrol branch in Carinthia and Carniola, which they held until 1918. Henry's only surviving daughter Margaret "Maultasch" and her husband John Henry of Luxembourg
John Henry, Margrave of Moravia
John Henry of Luxembourg, Czech: Jan Jindřich, German: Johann Heinrich , was Count of Tyrol from 1335 to 1341 and Margrave of Moravia from 1349 until his death....

 were only able to retain the County of Tyrol. In 1363 she ceded the county also to the Habsburg duke Rudolph IV of Austria
Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria
Rudolf IV der Stifter was a scion of the House of Habsburg and Duke of Austria and Duke of Styria and Carinthia from 1358, as well as Count of Tyrol from 1363 and first Duke of Carniola from 1364 until his death...

 after her only son with her second husband Duke Louis V of Bavaria
Louis V, Duke of Bavaria
Louis V, Duke of Bavaria, called the Brandenburger was Duke of Bavaria and as Louis I also Margrave of Brandenburg and Count of Tyrol. Louis V was the eldest son of Emperor Louis IV and his first wife Beatrix of Świdnica...

, Count Meinhard III of Gorizia-Tyrol
Meinhard III of Gorizia-Tyrol
Meinhard III was Duke of Upper Bavaria and the last Count of Tyrol from the House of Wittelsbach.Meinhard was the son of Duke Louis V of Bavaria with Countess Margaret of Gorizia-Tyrol and as such also the last descendant of Meinhard I, Count of Gorizia .-Biography:Meinhard III was born in Landshut...

 had died in the same year.

The Counts of Görz were moreover the Bailiffs of Aquileja. They are famous in numismatics as publishers of the first German golden coin, the "Zwainziger". The renowned diplomat and minnesinger Oswald von Wolkenstein
Oswald von Wolkenstein
Oswald von Wolkenstein was a poet, composer and diplomat. In the latter capacity, he traveled through much of Europe, even as far as Georgia , and was inducted into the Order of the Dragon...

 was a subordinate of the Counts of Görz. The Gorizia branch of the dynasty became extinct in the year 1500, when the last male family member Count Leonhard of Gorizia
Leonhard of Gorizia
Leonhard of Gorizia from the Meinhardiner dynasty was the last Count of Görz at Lienz and Gorizia from 1454 until his death....

 died withoud issue. One apparent or illegitimate branch of the Meinhardiner was the Graben von Stein
House of Graben von Stein
Von Graben von Stein, also named, Ab dem Graben, Von Graben and Vom Graben, is the name of an old Austrian noble family...

 family. After Leonhards of Gorizias death they became his succeeder as stadtholders at Lienz
Lienz
Lienz is a medieval town in the Austrian state of Tyrol. It is the administrative centre of the Lienz district, which covers all of East Tyrol. The municipality also includes the cadastral subdivision of Patriasdorf.-Geography:...

 in East Tyrol
East Tyrol
East Tyrol, or East Tirol , is an exclave of the Austrian state of Tyrol, sharing no border with the main North Tyrol part of the state. It corresponds with the administrative district of Lienz....

.

Counts of Görz

  • Marquard (fl.
    Floruit
    Floruit , abbreviated fl. , is a Latin verb meaning "flourished", denoting the period of time during which something was active...

     1060/1074), Vogt of Aquileia
  • Henry I (died after 1102), Vogt of Aquileia from 1082
    • Ulrich (died 1122), brother
  • Meginhard (died about 1090), from the House of Siegharding, Count in the Puster Valley
  • Meinhard I (died 1139/1142), descendance uncertain, mentioned as Count of Görz in 1117, jointly with his brother
    • Engelbert I (died about 1122), also Count palatine
      Count palatine
      Count palatine is a high noble title, used to render several comital styles, in some cases also shortened to Palatine, which can have other meanings as well.-Comes palatinus:...

       of Bavaria
      History of Bavaria
      The history of Bavaria stretches from its earliest settlement and its formation as a stem duchy in the 6th century through its inclusion in the Holy Roman Empires to its status as an independent kingdom and, finally, as a large and significant Bundesland of the modern Federal Republic of...

       and Vogt of Millstatt Abbey
      Millstatt Abbey
      Millstatt Abbey is a former monastery at Millstatt in the Austrian state of Carinthia, which was established about 1070 and finally abolished in 1773....

       in Carinthia
  • Engelbert II (1142–1191), son of Meinhard I, jointly with his brother
    • Henry II (1142–1150)
  • Engelbert III (1191–1220), son of Engelbert II, jointly with his brother
    • Meinhard II the Old (1191–1231)
  • Meinhard III
    Meinhard I of Gorizia-Tyrol
    Meinhard I was Count of Gorizia from the House of Meinhardin was from 1231 and Count of Tyrol from 1253 until his death. He was the son of Count Engelbert III of Gorizia and Mathilda of Andechs, half-sister of Duke Berthold IV of Merania...

     (1231–1258), son of Engelbert III, inherited Tyrol
    County of Tyrol
    The County of Tyrol, Princely County from 1504, was a State of the Holy Roman Empire, from 1814 a province of the Austrian Empire and from 1867 a Cisleithanian crown land of Austria-Hungary...

     in 1253

Görz-Tyrol

  • Meinhard IV
    Meinhard, Duke of Carinthia
    Meinhard II from the House of Meinhardin was ruling Count of Gorizia from 1258 until 1271 and Count of Tyrol from 1258 until his death...

     (1258–1271), Count of Tyrol after partition, also Duke of 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....

     from 1286 until 1295
  • Henry V, son of Meinhard IV, Count of Tyrol and Duke of Carinthia from 1295, King of Bohemia
    Kingdom of Bohemia
    The Kingdom of Bohemia was a country located in the region of Bohemia in Central Europe, most of whose territory is currently located in the modern-day Czech Republic. The King was Elector of Holy Roman Empire until its dissolution in 1806, whereupon it became part of the Austrian Empire, and...

     1306 and 1307-1310
  • Margaret, Countess of Tyrol (1335-1363), daughter of Henry V

Line extinct, Tyrol fell to House of Habsburg

Görz

  • Albert I (1258–1304), until 1271 jointly with his brother Meinhard IV
  • Albert II
    Albert II of Gorizia
    Albert I from the House of Meinhardin was the younger son of Meinhard III, Count of Gorizia, who had inherited the County of Tyrol in 1253.After his father's heirloom of Gorizia-Tyrol had been split with his elder brother Meinhard II in 1271, he received the County of Gorizia...

     (1304–1325), son of Albert I, jointly with his brother
    • Henry III (1304–1323) until 1307 partition, succeeded by
  • John Henry (1323–1338), son of Henry III
  • Meinhard VI
    Meinhard VI of Gorizia
    Meinhard VI of Gorizia a member of the Meinhardiner dynasty, an Imperial Prince and a Count of Gorizia.- Life :His parents were Count Albert II of Gorizia and Euphemia of Mätsch. From 1338 to 1365, he ruled Gorizia jointly with his brothers Albert III and Henry V, after inheriting the county from...

     (1338-1385), son of Albert II, Princely Count from 1365, and his brothers
    • Albert III (1338–1374)
    • Henry IV (1338–1362)
  • Henry VI (1385–1454), son of Meinhard VI, jointly with his brother
    • John Meinhard (1385–1429)
  • Leonhard
    Leonhard of Gorizia
    Leonhard of Gorizia from the Meinhardiner dynasty was the last Count of Görz at Lienz and Gorizia from 1454 until his death....

     (1454–1500), son of Henry VI, jointly with his brothers
    • John (1454–1462)
    • Louis (1454–after 1456)

Possessions to House of Habsburg, Gorizia part of Inner Austria
Inner Austria
Inner Austria was a term used from the late 14th to the early 17th century for the Habsburg hereditary lands south of the Semmering Pass, referring to the duchies of Styria, Carinthia, Carniola and the Windic March, the County of Gorizia , the city of Trieste and assorted smaller possessions...

 from 1564 to 1619, Lienz unified with Tyrol

Other family members

  • Elisabeth of Gorizia-Tyrol (1262–1312), daughter of Meinhard IV, Queen-consort of the Romans in 1298 by marriage with King Albert I of Germany
    Albert I of Germany
    Albert I of Habsburg was King of the Romans and Duke of Austria, the eldest son of German King Rudolph I of Habsburg and his first wife Gertrude of Hohenburg.-Life:...

  • Elisabeth of Carinthia
    Elisabeth of Carinthia
    Elisabeth or Elizabeth was the daughter of Otto III of Carinthia by his wife Euphemia of Silesia-Liegnitz. She was born in Gorizia.-Family:...

     (1298 – after 1347), her niece, granddaughter of Meinhard IV by his son Otto
    Otto III of Carinthia
    Otto III of Carinthia was a member of the Meinhardiner family. He was Duke of Carinthia from 1295 to 1310. He was also Count of Gorizia and Vienna...

    , in 1337 queen-consort of Sicily as wife of King Peter II of Sicily
    Peter II of Sicily
    Peter II was crowned King of Sicily in 1321 and gained full sovereignty when his father died in 1337....

  • Meinhard V, (died after 1318), son of Henry III
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