Landenberg was a noble family in

medieval Switzerland The early history of Switzerland begins with the earliest settlements up to the beginning of Habsburg rule, which in 1291 gave rise to the independence movement in the central cantons of Uri, Schwyz, and Unterwalden and the growth of the Old Swi ...

History

By the beginning 14th century, they were the most powerful family of eastern Switzerland, separating into four lines, Alt-Landenberg, Landenberg-Greifensee, Hohenlandenberg and Breitenlandenberg. The main line was extinct early, Rudolf I and his son Pantaleon both falling in the battle of Morgarten in 1315. The Landenberg-Greifensee line was the most successful during the 14th century but was outlived by the Hohenladenberg and Breitenlandenberg ones. Breitenlandenberg proved the most successful in the longer run, rising to significant power in the 15th century and lasting into the 19th. The influence of the Landenberg-Greifensee line peaked in the 1350s with Hermann IV, whose sons came into financial difficulties and had to sell a number of castles, among them Alt-Landenberg and Greifensee. The reasons for this decline was their close ties with the house of

Habsburg The House of Habsburg (), alternatively spelled Hapsburg in Englishgerman: Haus Habsburg, ; es, Casa de Habsburgo; hu, Habsburg család, it, Casa di Asburgo, nl, Huis van Habsburg, pl, dom Habsburgów, pt, Casa de Habsburgo, la, Domus Hab ...

, which was itself struggling with difficulties and losing its hold over the territory due to both the rise of the city of

Zürich , neighboring_municipalities = Adliswil, Dübendorf, Fällanden, Kilchberg, Maur, Oberengstringen, Opfikon, Regensdorf, Rümlang, Schlieren, Stallikon, Uitikon, Urdorf, Wallisellen, Zollikon , twintowns = Kunming, San Francisco Z ...

and the

growth of the Old Swiss Confederacy The Old Swiss Confederacy began as a late medieval alliance between the communities of the valleys in the Central Alps, at the time part of the Holy Roman Empire, to facilitate the management of common interests such as free trade and to ensure ...

. The Breitenlandenberg and Hohenlandenberg lines overcame this crisis by allying themselves with Zürich, adopting Zürich citizenship. Their territorial influence remained confined to the

Zürcher Oberland The Zürcher Oberland ("Zurich highlands") in Switzerland, is the hilly south-eastern part of the canton of Zurich, bordering on the Toggenburg, including the districts of Uster, Hinwil, Pfäffikon as well as the Töss Valley as far as the dis ...

due to the pressure of territorial expansion from both Zürich and the Swiss Confederacy, but by the end of the 14th century they became again very wealthy and gave out major credits to the cities of Winterthur and Constance. The Hohenlandenberg line owned Andelfingen until 1434. The Breitenlandenberg line rose to great importance in Zürichgau in the 15th century. They had Zürich citizenship from the 14th century, and often intermarried with families of the Zürich patriciate like Schäfli. They also entered the

Old Zürich War The Old Zurich War (german: Alter Zürichkrieg), 1440–46, was a conflict between the canton of Zurich and the other seven cantons of the Old Swiss Confederacy over the succession to the Count of Toggenburg. In 1436, Count Friedrich VII of T ...

on the side of Zürich, and Wildhans von Breitenlandenberg was beheaded with his entire garrison at the siege of Greifensee in 1444. The knights of Breitenlandenberg also fought with Zürich, this time on the side of the Swiss, in the Burgundy Wars. They declined from the 16th century and sold the ancestral Breitenlandeberg castle in the 17th century, residing mostly in Zürich, although they retained jurisdiction in a number of communes, at

Salenstein Salenstein is a municipality in Kreuzlingen District in the canton of Thurgau in Switzerland. Salenstein was the home village of Napoleon III, who lived at Castle Arenenberg in his youth. History In the ''Eichholz'' area near Salenstein, b ...

into the 18th century. The male line of Breitenlandenberg was extinct in the 1870s.

Alt-Landenberg

*Beringer, fl. 1209 *Rudolf I, d. 1315

Landenberg-Greifensee

*Hermann I *Hermann II (d. 1306) *Hermann IV (d. 1361), son of Hermann II, married Elisabeth of Schellenberg (d. 1340) and Diemut von Roteneck

Hohenlandenberg

*Beringer II, known for his belligerence and fraud, which resulted in the castle of Hohenlandenberg being destroyed in 1344 *Jakob, married Barbara of Hegi **sons Ulrich and Hugo IV, the latter

bishop of Constance The Prince-Bishopric of Constance, (german: Hochstift Konstanz, Fürstbistum Konstanz, Bistum Konstanz) was a small ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Empire from the mid-12th century until its secularisation in 1802–1803. In his dua ...

in 1496 *Ulrich

Breitenlandenberg

*Hermann I (d. before 1377), married Adelheid of Radegg-Blumberg. From 1330 at Turbenthal. *Albrecht I (d. 1388, at the

battle of Näfels The Battle of Näfels was fought on 9 April 1388 between the Canton of Glarus, supported by its allies of the Old Swiss Confederation, and the Duchy of Austria ruled by the House of Habsburg. It was a decisive victory for Glarus, which achieved i ...

), married Verena of Ebersberg *Hermann IV "Schöch" (d. 1437), married Ursula Truchsess of

Diessenhofen Diessenhofen is a village and a municipality in Frauenfeld District in the canton of Thurgau in Switzerland. The village is situated on the south shore of the High Rhine just opposite the German town of Gailingen am Hochrhein. History Diessenho ...

**sons of Hermann IV were Hermann,

, Kaspar, abbot of St. Gall abbey, Wildhans von Breitenlandenberg who fell in the

, and Rudolf V. *Rudolf V (d. 1460), married Agathe Muntprat (d. 1505) *Frischhans (1446-1516), married Margaretha of Büsingen *Hans (d. 1540), married Blanchefleur of Rechberg, knighted in 1476 at the

battle of Grandson The Battle of Grandson, which took place on 2 March 1476, was part of the Burgundian Wars, and resulted in a major defeat for Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, at the hands of the Swiss. Prelude In late February 1476, Charles the Bold, ...

*Johann Rudolf (d. 1551) *Hans Rudolf (d. 1606) *Hans Dietrich (1571-1620), at

*Hartmann Friedrich (1617-1677) at Salenstein *Wolf Dietrich I (1655-1733), at Salenstein *Wolf Dietrich (1712-1796), at Salenstein *Hans Caspar (1735-1798)

References

* *J. Studer, ''Die Edeln von Landenberg'', 1904

External links

{{Authority control History of Zürich Swiss noble families Roman Catholic families Schramberg