The Bavarian War from 1420 to 1422, also known as the Great War of the Lords, was a conflict between
Louis VII the Bearded of
Bayern-Ingolstadt and
Henry XVI of
Bavaria-Landshut. The conflict overshadowed Louis VII's reign, which lasted more than thirty years.
Background and history
Henry XVI already had a dispute with Louis VII's father
Stephen III. On 17 April 1414, Henry and other enemies of Louis VII founded the
Parakeet Society The Parakeet Society was a union of the enemies of Louis VII, Duke of Bavaria, Louis VII the Bearded, duke of Bavaria-Ingolstadt. It was founded on April 17, 1414 by his cousin, duke Henry XVI of Bavaria, Henry XVI of Bavaria-Landshut. The other mem ...
. On 8 July 1415, the society was changed into the
League of Constance, an alliance for mutual defense against Louis VII. In 1417 in Constance, Louis insulted Henry by calling him "the son of a cook". When Louis then accused Henry of having shed human blood, Henry and fifteen of his followers physically attacked Louis and injured him severely. After this attack, Louis described Henry as a ''pluethunt'' ("blood hound"), which did little to defuse the conflict.
Henry XVI evaded punishment for the attack on Louis VII only through the intercession of
Frederick of Brandenburg and his cousins Dukes
Ernest
Ernest is a given name derived from Germanic word ''ernst'', meaning "serious". Notable people and fictional characters with the name include:
People
* Archduke Ernest of Austria (1553–1595), son of Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor
* Ernest, ...
and
William III in Munich and especially by paying 6000 guilders to King
Sigismund Sigismund (variants: Sigmund, Siegmund) is a German proper name, meaning "protection through victory", from Old High German ''sigu'' "victory" + ''munt'' "hand, protection". Tacitus latinises it '' Segimundus''. There appears to be an older form of ...
. Henry XVI wanted revenge.
The conflict escalated into a war when an army from
Bavaria-Ingolstadt
Bavaria-Ingolstadt ( or ') was a duchy which was part of the Holy Roman Empire from 1392 to 1447.
History
After the death of Stephen II in 1375, his sons Stephen III, Frederick, and John II jointly ruled Bavaria-Landshut. After seventeen year ...
burned down the castle of the
Burgrave of Nuremberg
The Burgraviate of Nuremberg (german: Burggrafschaft Nürnberg) was a state of the Holy Roman Empire from the early 12th to the late 15th centuries. As a burgraviate, it was a county seated in the town of Nuremberg; almost two centuries pas ...
.
John III, who had succeeded his brother
William II as Duke of
Bavaria-Straubing
Bavaria-Straubing denotes the widely scattered territorial inheritance in the Wittelsbach house of Bavaria that were governed by independent dukes of Bavaria-Straubing between 1353 and 1432; a map (''illustration'') of these marches and outliers ...
in 1418, remained neutral.
Destruction
The village of Neidertshofen
near
Gaimersheim
Gaimersheim is a municipality in the Eichstätt (district), district of Eichstätt, in Bavaria, Germany. It is situated 7 km northwest of Ingolstadt.
Mayors
* 1946–1960: Sebastian Schiebel (CSU)
* 1960–1984: Martin Meier (SPD)
* 1984−20 ...
was probably destroyed during the Bavarian War. The village of
Dettenheim was also burnt down. Among the ruined castles were the seat of the burgraves of Nuremberg, the castle of the Bavarian nobleman Kaspar Törring,
Guttenberg Castle There are several possible meanings for Guttenberg, Guttenburg or Gutenburg:
People
* David Guttenberg (born 1951), U.S. state politician (Alaska)
* Enoch zu Guttenberg (1946–2018), German conductor, father of Karl-Theodor
* Fred Guttenberg, Am ...
at
Kraiburg am Inn in Upper Bavaria and
Betzenstein Castle (at Betzenstein).
End of the war
The war ended when
Bavaria-Ingolstadt
Bavaria-Ingolstadt ( or ') was a duchy which was part of the Holy Roman Empire from 1392 to 1447.
History
After the death of Stephen II in 1375, his sons Stephen III, Frederick, and John II jointly ruled Bavaria-Landshut. After seventeen year ...
was defeated in the Battle of Alling. At the instigation of King Sigismund, who intended to focus his forces on the Hussite Wars, a four-year ceasefire between the warring parties was concluded on 2 October 1422 in Regensburg under the mediation of John II of Heideck, the bishop of Eichstätt.
[Alfred Wendehorst: ''Das Bistum Eichstätt'', vol. 1: ''Die Bischofsreihe bis 1535'', in the series ''Germania Sacra'', New Series issue 45, Berlin, 2006, , p. 191] The Duchy of Bavaria-Ingolstadt would be governed by a royal Landeshauptmann, while Louis VII followed them to his court in the Kingdom of Hungary. Henry XVI was sent to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania to support the Teutonic Knights. Louis VII sued Henry XVI for the murder attempt at Constance and the destruction of Kaspar Törring's castle.
Footnotes
References and sources
*
* Matthias von Lexer: ''Johannes Turmair's genannt Aventinus bayerische Chronik'', Verlag für Kunstreproduktionen Chr. Schmidt, Neustadt an der Aisch, 1996,
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bavarian War (1420-1422)
1420s conflicts
Wars involving Bavaria
1420s in the Holy Roman Empire