Rudolf of Rheinfelden
Rudolf of Rheinfelden | |
---|---|
Duke of Swabia | |
Born | c. 1025 |
Died | Hohenmölsen, Saxon Eastern March | 15 October 1080
Buried | Merseburg Cathedral |
Spouse(s) | Matilda of Swabia Adelaide of Savoy |
Issue | |
Father | Kuno of Rheinfelden |
Rudolf of Rheinfelden (c. 1025 – 15 October 1080) was Duke of Swabia from 1057 to 1079. Initially a follower of his brother-in-law, the Salian emperor Henry IV, his election as German anti-king in 1077 marked the outbreak of the Great Saxon Revolt and the first phase of open conflict in the Investiture Controversy between Emperor and Papacy. After a series of armed conflicts, Rudolf succumbed to his injuries after his forces defeated Henry's in the Battle on the Elster.
Life
Rudolf was the son of the
Duke of Swabia
When Duke
married Henry IV in 1066, Rudolf became brother-in-law to the king twice over.During Agnes' regency, the
Finally when the Investiture Controversy broke out and King Henry was excommunicated by Pope Gregory VII in February 1076, Duke Rudolf met with Berthold, Welf and several other princes in Trebur in order to decide on a course of action and to arrange a new election. Henry, observing the proceedings from his camp in Oppenheim on the other side of the Rhine, had to face a massive loss of support among the German nobles and realized that he had to achieve the lifting of his ban. Pope Gregory agreed to meet with the princes at Augsburg in February 1077.
Anti-king
Already in January, Henry hastened to see the pope on his way to the Empire from
The men who elected Rudolf were Archbishops
Later life
Rudolf gave Swabia to his son
The next year Henry waged a successful campaign to Bavaria, while Pope Gregory rejected to excommunicate Rudolf. The Battle of Mellrichstadt on 7 August 1078 proved indecisive: though the opposition forces under Otto of Nordheim were victorious, the troops of Berthold and Welf were stuck in a peasants' revolt. Rudolf found it difficult to convince the Saxons to fight beyond their borders; they viewed him as a southerner and distrusted him. He was also frustrated by the apparent reluctance of the pope to recognize his cause. In order to gain and maintain supporters, he was forced to grant large parts of the crown lands, as well as those of the church, to his followers. Nevertheless, things seemed to be improving in 1080. The battle of Flarchheim (27 January 1080) went well in his favor. On 7 March, the pope excommunicated Henry again and recognized Rudolf as king.
Emboldened, Rudolf's forces met Henry's at the
Issue
With his second wife, Adelaide, Rudolf had at least four (and perhaps five) children:
- Agnes of Rheinfelden, married Berthold II of Zähringen
- Adelaide of Rheinfelden, married King Ladislaus I of Hungary
- Bertha of Rheinfelden, Countess of Kellmünz, married Ulrich X, Count of Bregenz
- Otto (died young)
- Berthold of Rheinfelden (the identity of Berthold's mother is disputed)
Notes
- ^ Bresslau and Kehr, Die Urkunden Heinrichs III, no. 219 (1 June 1048), p. 292
- ^ Black-Veldtrupp, Kaiserin Agnes, p. 109.
- ^ Ekkehardi Uraugiensis chronica. In: Georg Heinrich Pertz et al. (ed.): Scriptores (in Folio) 6: Chronica et annales aevi Salici. Hanover, 1844, pp. 198 (Monumenta Germaniae Historica, 198 digitalised)
- ^ Schwennicke, Europäische Stammtafeln, table 12.
- ISSN 0266-3554..
- ^ Black-Veldtrupp, Kaiserin Agnes, p. 304.
- ^ Ian S. Robinson, Henry IV of Germany, 1056–1106 (Cambridge University Press, 1999), p. 167n.
- ^ Vita Heinrici IV. imperatoris, ch. 4, p. 17; Liber de unitate ecclesiae, I 13.
References
- M. Black-Veldtrupp, Kaiserin Agnes (1043-1077). Quellenkritische Studien (Cologne, 1995).
- D. Schwennicke, Europäische Stammtafeln. Stammtafeln zur Geschichte der Europäischen Staaten. Neue Folge Band XII, Schwaben
- E. Hlawitschka, 'Zur Herkunft und zu den Seitenverwandten des Gegenkönigs Rudolf,’ in Die Salier und das Reich, vol. 1: Salier, Adel und Reichsverfassung, ed. S. Weinfurter with H. Kluger (Sigmaringen, 1991), pp. 175-220.
- T. Struve, 'Das Bild des Gegenkönigs Rudolf von Schwaben in der zeitgenössischen Historiographie,’ in Ex ipsis rerum documentis. Festschrift für Harald Zimmermann zum 65. Geburtstag, ed. K. Herbers, H. H. Kortüm, C. Servatius (Sigmaringen, 1991), pp. 459–475.
Sources
- Robinson, Ian Stuart (2002). Bertholds und Bernolds Chroniken. Lateinisch und deutsch (in German). Darmstadt: Wiss. Buchgesellschaft. pp. 35–277. ISBN 3-534-01428-6.
- H. Bresslau and P. Kehr, eds., Die Urkunden Heinrichs III, MGH Diplomata 5 (Berlin, 1931).
- Vita Heinrici IV. imperatoris, ed., W. Eberhard, MGH Script. rer. Germ. 58 (Hannover and Leipzig, 1899).
- Liber de unitate ecclesiae conservanda in W. Schwenenbecher, ed., MGH Libelli, 2 (Hannover, 1892), pp. 184–284.