The Sieghardinger dynasty was one of the most important families of the Bavarian nobility from the middle of the 9th to the beginning of the 13th century. The name of the family comes from their nickname "Sieghard" (also Sighard or Sigehard), which first came into being with Sieghard XI. The family went extinct at the end of the 12th century.

History

The ancestors of the Sieghardinger family were wealthy in the Rhine-Neckar region. The Sieghardinger - with the progenitor Sieghard I (mentioned in 858/861), Count in

Kraichgau The Kraichgau () is a hilly region in Baden-Württemberg, southwestern Germany. It is bordered by the Odenwald and the Neckar to the North, the Black Forest to the South, and the Upper Rhine Plain to the West. To the east, its boundary is c ...

- ruled for about two centuries as counts in

Chiemgau Chiemgau () is the common name of a geographic area in Upper Bavaria. It refers to the foothills of the Alps between the rivers Inn and Traun, with the Chiemsee at its center. The political districts that contain the Chiemgau are Rosenheim and Tr ...

, and in other areas; these included areas in

Pinzgau The Bezirk Zell am See is an administrative district ('' Bezirk'') in the federal state of Salzburg, Austria, and congruent with the Pinzgau region (). The area of the district is , with a population of 84,124 (May 15, 2001), and population den ...

, Pongau,

Flachgau The Bezirk Salzburg-Umgebung (German, "surrounding area of Salzburg") is an administrative district ('' Bezirk'') in the federal state of Salzburg, Austria, and congruent with the Flachgau region (), except for the Statutarstadt of Salzburg, whic ...

Eisacktal Eisack Valley ( it, Valle Isarco ; german: Eisacktal) is a district ( it, comprensorio; german: Bezirksgemeinschaft) in South Tyrol, Italy. It comprises the middle part of the valley of the Eisack, from Franzensfeste in the north to Waidbruck in ...

Inntal The Inntal is the valley containing the Inn river in Switzerland, Austria and Germany. The valley has a total length of 517 km and the biggest city located in Inntal is Innsbruck. The valley is divided into the following sections based on ...

and in the

Puster Valley The Puster Valley ( it, Val Pusteria ; german: Pustertal, ) is one of the largest longitudinal valleys in the Alps that runs in an east-west direction between Lienz in East Tyrol, Austria, and Mühlbach near Brixen in South Tyrol, Italy. The Sou ...

. In the first half of the 11th century, the Sieghardingers were Counts of Ebersberg and Margraves of

Carniola Carniola ( sl, Kranjska; , german: Krain; it, Carniola; hu, Krajna) is a historical region that comprised parts of present-day Slovenia. Although as a whole it does not exist anymore, Slovenes living within the former borders of the region st ...

. A subsidiary branch was that of the Counts of Tengling, from whom the Counts of Schala, Burghausen, Peilstein, Mörle and Kleeberg, descended but soon after died out at the end of the 12th century. The Meinhardiner (House of Gorizia) are also said to have descended from the Sieghardinger family. The extensive property that the family had acquired in Carinthia was inherited by the Sponheim family. Other members of the family named Sighard and Friedrich registered in 987 for the Swabian

Ellwangen Ellwangen an der Jagst, officially Ellwangen (Jagst), in common use simply Ellwangen () is a town in the district of Ostalbkreis in the east of Baden-Württemberg in Germany. It is situated about north of Aalen. Ellwangen has 25,000 inhabitants ...

. Their heirs are said to have become related to high-ranking Swabian families in the next generations, e.g. with a daughter of the Swabian Duke Conrad I, the Swabian Count Palatine, and after 1079 the Swabian duchy and after 1138 the German kingship. From Friedrich the imperial family

Hohenstaufen The Hohenstaufen dynasty (, , ), also known as the Staufer, was a noble family of unclear origin that rose to rule the Duchy of Swabia from 1079, and to royal rule in the Holy Roman Empire during the Middle Ages from 1138 until 1254. The dynast ...

is said to have emerged. Important Sieghardingers in clerical offices were: * Frederick, Archbishop of Salzburg (958–991) *

Piligrim Piligrim (Pilgrim of Passau, Pilegrinus, Peregrinus) (died 20 May 991) was Bishop of Passau. Piligrim was ambitious, but also concerned with the Christianization of Hungary. He was educated at the Benedictine Niederaltaich Abbey, and was made bis ...

, Bishop of Passau (971–991) * Hartwig, Bishop of Brixen (1022–1039) * Sigehard, Patriarch of Aquileia (1068-1077) and Chancellor of Henry IV.

References

** Heinz Dopsch:
Sighardinger
'' In: '' Neue Deutsche Biographie'' (NDB). Band 24, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 2010, , S. 399 f.
Digitalisat
. (German) ** Michael Mitterauer: ''Karolingische Markgrafen im Südosten''. Archiv für österr. Geschichte, 123. Band. Böhlau, Graz-Wien-Köln 1963 (Dissertation)Nachweis
zu Michael Mitterauer: ''Karolingische Markgrafen im Südosten'' in der

Deutschen Nationalbibliothek The German National Library (DNB; german: Deutsche Nationalbibliothek) is the central archival library and national bibliographic centre for the Federal Republic of Germany. It is one of the largest libraries in the world. Its task is to colle ...

(german) (German) ** Siegfried Mueller: ''Die Grafen von Tengling. Die Adelssippe der Sighardinger von den Ursprüngen bis um 1140.''Tengling 2015. 176 Seiten. {{ISBN, 9783737535564. (German) __FORCETOC__ Noble families 9th century in Germany German families