Duchy of Swabia
Duchy of Swabia Herzogtum Schwaben ( Latin ) | |||||||||||||||||||
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915–1313 | |||||||||||||||||||
Hohenstaufen (13th century)
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German Kingdom around the start of the 11th century | |||||||||||||||||||
(green) and the Duchy of Swabia (orange) | |||||||||||||||||||
Status |
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Capital | None | ||||||||||||||||||
Common languages | Roman Catholicism | ||||||||||||||||||
Government | Feudalism Duchy | ||||||||||||||||||
Historical era | Early Middle Ages | ||||||||||||||||||
• Proclaimed | 915 | ||||||||||||||||||
• Duchy discontinued | 1268 | ||||||||||||||||||
• Duchy resurrected for the Habsburgs | 1289 | ||||||||||||||||||
• Disestablished | 1313 | ||||||||||||||||||
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The Duchy of Swabia (
While the historic region of Swabia takes its name from the ancient Suebi, dwelling in the angle formed by the Rhine and the Danube, the stem duchy comprised a much larger territory, stretching from the Alsatian Vosges mountain range in the west to the right bank of the river Lech in the east and up to Chiavenna (Kleven) and Gotthard Pass in the south. The name of the larger stem duchy was often used interchangeably with Alamannia during the High Middle Ages, until about the 11th century, when the form Swabia began to prevail.[1]
The Duchy of Swabia was proclaimed by the
After a centuries-long struggle with the House of Zähringen, the Margraviate of Baden detached itself from the Swabian duchy in the 12th century. The remaining duchy persisted until 1268, ending with the execution of the last Hohenstaufen duke Conradin. Count Rudolf of Habsburg, elected King of the Romans in 1273, attempted to revive the Swabian ducal title, bestowing it on his youngest son, the later Duke Rudolf II of Austria, who passed it to his son John Parricida. John died without an heir, in 1312 or 1313, marking the end of the "revived" title.
History
Alamannia
In 496 the
The Alamanni in the 7th century retained much of their former independence, Frankish rule being mostly nominal, but in 709, Pepin of Herstal conquered the territory and in 730 his son Charles Martel again reduced them to dependence.[1] The so-called Blood Court at Cannstatt in 746 marked the end of the old stem duchy, and the Alamanni now came fully under Frankish administration. Charles' son Pepin the Short abolished the tribal duke and ruled Alamannia by counts palatine, or Kammerboten.[1] King Charlemagne married the Alamannian princess Hildegard in 771.
Formation of a new duchy
At this time the duchy, which was divided into numerous
By the 843 Treaty of Verdun, Alamannia fell to East Francia. During the later and weaker years of the Carolingian Empire the counts became almost independent, and a struggle for supremacy took place between them and the Bishops of Constance.[1] From about 900, two chief dynasties emerged: the Hunfriding counts in Raetia Curiensis (Churrätien) and the Ahalolfings ruling the Baar estates around the upper Neckar and Danube rivers. Their members were sometimes called margraves and sometimes, as in the case of Rudolf of Rhaetia, dukes. Finally, the Hunfriding count Burchard I was called dux of Alamannia. However, he was killed in 911, for which two Swabian counts palatine, Bertold and Erchanger, were accused of treason. Erchanger proclaimed himself duke in 915, but was put to death by order of the German king Conrad I[1] two years later.
Upon Erchanger's execution,
Younger stem duchy
Burchard's position was virtually independent, and when he died in 926 he was succeeded by
When Hermann died in 948
Staufer period
Frederick had to fight for his position with Bertold, son of Duke Rudolph, and the duke's son-in-law, Bertold II, duke of Zahringen, to whom he ceded the Breisgau in 1096.
Post-ducal Swabia
When the emperor
See also
Notes
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Swabia". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 26 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 176. One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the
- ^ Bernd Schneidmüller, Die Welfen. Herrschaft und Erinnerung (819–1252). Kohlhammer Verlag, Stuttgart 2000, 82–83.