Duchy of Thuringia

Duchy (Landgraviate) of Thuringia Herzogtum (Landgrafschaft) Thüringen
631/32–1440
The Ludowingian lion barry (presumed banner of arms) Coat of arms of Landgrave Albert II, 1265
Status	Roman Catholicism
Government	Feudal Duchy
Historical era	Middle Ages
• Frankish invasion	c. 531
• Duchy established	631/32
• Re-established as Landgraviate	1111/12
• Comital line extinct	1247
• Split off Hesse	1264
• To Saxony	1440
• Division of Altenburg	1445
Preceded by Succeeded by Thuringii Landgraviate of Hesse Electorate of Saxony

The Duchy of Thuringia was an eastern

The former kingdom of the

The Thuringian realm was shattered: the territory north of the Harz mountain range was settled by Saxon tribes, while the Franks moved into the southern parts on the Main River. The estates east of the Saale River were beyond Frankish control and taken over by Polabian Slavs.

Merovingian duchy

The first documented duke (dux) of remaining Thuringia was a local noble named Radulf, installed by King Dagobert in the early 630s. Radulf was able to secure the Frankish border along the Saale River in the east from Slavic incursions. However, according to the Chronicle of Fredegar, in 641/2 his victories "turned his head" (i.e., made him proud) and he allied with Samo and rebelled against Dagobert's successor, King Sigebert III, even going so far as to declare himself king (rex) of Thuringia.^[2][3] A punitive expedition led by the Frankish Mayor of the Palace Grimoald ultimately failed and Radulf was able to maintain his semi-autonomous position. His successors of the local ducal dynasty, the Hedenen, supported missionary activity within the duchy, but seem to have lost their hold on Thuringia after the rise of the Pippinids in the early eighth century. A conflict with Charles Martel around 717–19 brought an end to autonomy.^[4]

In 849, the eastern part of Thuringia was organised as the

Landgraviate

A separate Thuringian stem duchy did not exist during the emergence of the

Margraves of Meissen. According to the medieval chronicler Thietmar of Merseburg, Margrave Eckard I (d. 1002) was appointed Thuringian duke. After his assassination 1002, Count William II of Weimar acted as Thuringian spokesman with King Henry II of Germany. In 1111/12 Count Herman I of Winzenburg is documented as a Thuringian landgrave, the first mention of a secession from Saxony, however, he later had to yield as he sided with the Papacy during the Investiture Controversy

.

Meanwhile, the

Hohenstaufen dynasty, he was appointed Landgrave of Thuringia in 1131. The dynasty maintained the landgraviate throughout the fierce struggle of the Hohenstaufen and Welf

royal families, occasionally switching sides according to the circumstances.

Beside the Wartburg, the Ludowingian landgraves had further lavish residences erected, like

commandries east of the Saale, as in Altenburg and Schleiz, with the administrative seat of the Thuringian bailiwick in Zwätzen near Jena

.

The last Thuringian landgrave

Henry Raspe reached his appointment as German governor by the Hohenstaufen emperor Frederick II in 1242. However, when Frederick was declared deposed by Pope Innocent IV in 1246, he secured the support by the archbishops Siegfried III of Mainz and Conrad of Cologne and had himself elected German anti-king. Mocked as rex clericorum his rule remained disputed, though he was able to defeat the troops of Frederick's son Conrad IV he died one year later. His heritage was claimed by both the Wettin margrave Henry III of Meissen, son of Judith of Thuringia, and Duchess Sophie of Brabant, daughter of late Landgrave Louis IV - a conflict that led to the War of the Thuringian Succession

.

As a result, Henry of Meissen gained the bulk of Thuringia in 1264, while the Hessian possessions of the landgraves were separated as the

Frederick III of Meissen his younger brothers divided their heritage in the 1382 Division of Chemnitz, whereby Thuringia passed to Balthasar. Upon the death of Landgrave Frederick IV in 1440, Thuringia fell to his nephew Elector Frederick II of Saxony. The inheritance conflict with his brother William III led to the 1445 Division of Altenburg and the Saxon Fratricidal War over the Wettin lands. The Thuringian lands fell to William III when he died childless in 1482. Elector Ernest inherited the landgraviate, uniting the Wettin lands under his rule. After the 1485 Treaty of Leipzig, Thuringia split into the Saxon Ernestine

and Albertine duchies.

Rulers

Main article: List of rulers of Thuringia

Dukes

"Older" stem duchy

• 632–642 Radulf (I)
• 642–687 Heden I
• 687–689 Gozbert
• 689–719
  Heden II

"Younger" stem duchy

• 849–873 Thachulf
• 874–880 Radulf (II)
• 880–892 Poppo
• 882–886 Egino (in opposition)
• 892–906 Conrad
• 907–908 Burchard

Landgraves

• 1111/12 Herman of Winzenburg

Ludowingians

• 1131–1140 Louis I
• 1140–1172 Louis II
• 1172–1190 Louis III
• 1190–1217 Hermann I
• 1217–1227 Louis IV
• 1227–1241 Hermann II
• 1241–1247
  Henry Raspe

House of Wettin

• 1247–1265 Henry III, Margrave of Meissen
• 1265–1294 Albert II, Margrave of Meissen 1288–1292

purchased by King

Adolph of Germany

1294–1298

• 1298–1323 Frederick I, Margrave of Meissen, jointly with his brother
  • 1298–1307 Theodoric IV, Landgrave of Lusatia
• 1323–1349 Frederick II, Margrave of Meissen
• 1349–1381 Frederick III, jointly with his brothers
  • 1349–1382 William I
  • 1349–1406 Balthasar, sole ruler from 1382
• 1406–1440 Frederick IV

Notes

1. ISBN 978-0-19-866262-4
   .
2. ISBN 0582081564
   .
3. ISBN 0521802024
   .
4. ISBN 9004117237
   .
5. ^ Flynn, Christopher (2020). "Military History in East Francia under King Louis the German (c. 825-876)" (PDF). University of Minnesota.
6. ISBN 0719034574
   .
7. ^ Reuter, Annals of Fulda, s. a. 882 and 883.
8. ^ Reuter, Germany in the Early Middle Ages, 123.
9. ^ Reuter, Germany in the Early Middle Ages, 129.
10. ISBN 0813391539
    .
11. ISBN 0932269664
    .
12. ^ Reuter, Germany in the Early Middle Ages, 133.

Further reading

• Gerd Tellenbach. Königtum und Stämme in der Werdezeit des Deutschen Reiches. Quellen und Studien zur Verfassungsgeschichte des Deutschen Reiches in Mittelalter und Neuzeit, vol. 7, pt. 4. Weimar, 1939.