Henry I, Landgrave of Hesse

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Henry I
Reginar
Spouse(s)Adelheid of Brunswick-Lüneburg
Mechthild of Cleves
IssueSophia
Henry the Younger
Matilda
Adelheid
Elisabeth
Otto I, Landgrave of Hesse
John, Landgrave of Lower Hesse
Elisabeth
Agnes
Louis
Elisabeth
Katharina
Jutta
FatherHenry II, Duke of Brabant
MotherSophie of Thuringia

Henry I of Hesse "the Child" (German: Heinrich das Kind) (24 June 1244 – 21 December 1308) was the first Landgrave of Hesse. He was the son of Henry II, Duke of Brabant and Sophie of Thuringia.[1][2]

Life

In 1247, as

Ludowingians, demanded its return to them. Sophia, supported by the Hessian nobility, succeeded in retaining Hesse against her cousin, who in 1264 accepted the division of the Ludowingian inheritance: Henry of Meissen received Thuringia, while Sophia's son Heinrich would inherit Hesse
. In the following year, the Archbishop Werner II von Eppenstein acceded to this outcome in the Treaty of Langsdorf, accepting Henry as his liege-man and Landgrave of Hesse.

At this time, the landgraviate of Hesse consisted of the region between

Saint Elisabeth
was buried and where Henry built the Castle Marburg.

Struggle for possession of Naumburg

Henry again got into conflict with his liege-lord, the Archbishop, about the possession of

Otakar II of Bohemia and had helped to conquer Vienna 1276, Rudolph reinstated Henry. In 1290 Henry defeated the Archbishop in the battle of Fritzlar
and could henceforth maintain his territory.

Though Henry never relinquished his own claim on

Limburg succession war
.

Elevation to prince of the realm

On 12 May 1292, Henry was made a Reichsfürst (prince of the realm) by King

Adolf of Nassau, freeing Hesse of the supremacy of the Archbishop of Mainz. Henry was bestowed with Eschwege and the Boyneburg (with Sontra), strengthening his position in Hesse. By skillful diplomacy he gained the cities of Sooden-Allendorf, Kaufungen, Witzenhausen, Immenhausen, Grebenstein, Wanfried, Staufenberg, Trendelburg and Reinhardswald
.

In 1263 Henry had married Adelheid of Brunswick, daughter of Duke

Otto. After Adelheid's death in 1274, Henry had married Mechthild, daughter of Dietrich VI, Count of Cleves, who bore him another four daughters and the sons John
and Louis.

Uncertainty over succession

In 1292 internal conflict arose about the question of Henry's successor. Mechthild of Cleves demanded on her sons receiving a share of the heritage, while Henry and Otto, Henry's sons by his first wife, insisted on excluding their half-brothers from the inheritance. This led to civil war lasting throughout the rest of Henry's lifetime.

Henry died in

John, who received Lower Hesse (Niederhessen), centred on Kassel. John's younger brother Ludwig had entered the clergy and became bishop of Münster
in 1310.

Children

First marriage (1263) to Adelheid, daughter of Otto I, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg (1244–1274)

  1. Sophia (1264–after 12 August 1331), married 1276 to Otto I, Count of Waldeck.
  2. Agnes of Bavaria, Margravine of Brandenburg-Stendal
    .
  3. Matilda (1267–after 1332), married to:
    1. 1283 Count Gottfried of Ziegenhain;
    2. after 11 October 1309
      Philipp III of Falkenstein-Münzenberg
      .
  4. Adelheid (1268–7 December 1315), married 1284 to Count Bertold VII of Henneberg-Schleusingen.
  5. Elisabeth (1269/70–19 February 1293), married c. 1287 to Count Johann of Sayn (bg).
  6. an unnamed son (c. 1270–c. 1274).
  7. Otto (c. 1272–17 January 1328).

Second marriage (1276) to Mechthild of Cleves,

  1. John (died 1311, Kassel).
  2. Elisabeth (c. 1276–after 6 July 1306), married to
    1. 1290 Duke William of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel;
    2. 1294 Gerhard of Eppstein.
  3. Agnes (c. 1277–1335), married to Burgrave John I of Nuremberg.
  4. Louis (1282/83–18 August 1357), Bishop of Münster in 1310–57.
  5. Elisabeth (died after 30 October 1308), married in 1299 to Count Albert II of Gorizia.
  6. Katharina (died 1322), married to Count Otto IV of Orlamünde.
  7. Jutta (died 13 October 1317), married 1311 to Duke
    Otto of Braunschweig-Göttingen
    .

Ancestry

References

  1. ^ Morganstern 2000, p. 34.
  2. ^ Rasmussen 1997, p. 63.

Sources

  • Morganstern, Anne McGee (2000). Gothic Tombs of Kinship in France, the Low Countries, and England. The Pennsylvania State University Press.
  • Rasmussen, Ann Marie (1997). Mothers and Daughters in Medieval German Literature. Syracuse University Press.

External links

Regnal titles
Preceded by
Title created
Landgrave of Hesse

1264–1308 		Succeeded by
John
(Lower Hesse)
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