The War of the Thuringian Succession (German: ''Thüringisch-hessischer Erbfolgekrieg'') (1247–1264) was a military conflict over a successor to the last

Landgrave of Thuringia Thuringia is a historical and political region of Central Germany. Kings of Thuringia *500?–507 Bisinus *507–529 Baderich *507–525 Berthachar *507–532 Herminafried :''Conquered by the Franks.'' Frankish dukes of Thur ...

for control of the state of

Thuringia Thuringia (; officially the Free State of Thuringia, ) is one of Germany, Germany's 16 States of Germany, states. With 2.1 million people, it is 12th-largest by population, and with 16,171 square kilometers, it is 11th-largest in area. Er ...

(now in modern-day

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

Cause of the conflict

With the death of the childless

Landgrave Landgrave (, , , ; , ', ', ', ', ') was a rank of nobility used in the Holy Roman Empire, and its former territories. The German titles of ', ' ("margrave"), and ' ("count palatine") are of roughly equal rank, subordinate to ' ("duke"), and su ...

Henry Raspe Henry Raspe (; – 16 February 1247) was the Landgrave of Thuringia from 1231 until 1239 and again from 1241 until his death. In 1246, with the support of the Papacy, he was elected King of Germany in opposition to Conrad IV, but his conteste ...

in 1247, the Ludowingian line of Thuringian landgraves became extinct in the male line. His property included not only large parts of

, but also the Countship of Hesse had come into Ludowingian possession through the female line. In 1122, before his acquisition of the title of Landgrave, Count Louis I of Thuringia had married

Hedwig of Gudensberg Hedwig of Gudensberg, also known as ''Hedwig of Hesse'' (1098–1148) was German regent: she served as regent of Thuringia during the minority of her son Louis II from 1140. Life She was the daughter and heiress of Giso IV, Count of Gudensberg (1 ...

, the female heir of the Hessian comital family of the Gisonen. The Gisonen, whose lands were initially mainly in the upper

Lahn The Lahn () is a , right (or eastern) tributary of the Rhine in Germany. Its course passes through the States of Germany, federal states of North Rhine-Westphalia (23.0 km), Hesse (165.6 km), and Rhineland-Palatinate (57.0 km). ...

area, had previously come into the significant inheritance of Count Werner in

Lower Hesse Lower Hesse is a historic designation for an area in northern Hesse, Germany. The term Lower Hesse originated in the Middle Ages for the so-called "lower principality" of Hesse, which was separated until 1450 from the so-called "upper principali ...

. Then, through the marriage of Giso IV with Kunigunde of Bilstein, they had also acquired widespread property and

vogt An , sometimes simply advocate, (German, ), or (French, ), was a type of medieval office holder, particularly important in the Holy Roman Empire, who was delegated some of the powers and functions of a major feudal lord, or for an institutio ...

ship rights from the Counts of Bilstein. Claims on the

Ludowingians The Ludovingians or Ludowingians () were the ruling dynasty of Thuringia and Hesse during the 11th to 13th centuries. Their progenitor was Louis the Bearded who was descended from a noble family whose genealogy cannot be precisely determined ...

' inheritance were made by Henry Raspe's niece and his nephew.

Sophie of Thuringia Sophie of Thuringia (20 March 1224 – 29 May 1275) was the second wife and only Duchess consort of Henry II, Duke of Brabant and Lothier. She was the heiress of Hesse which she passed on to her son, Henry upon her retention of the territory fo ...

, married to

Henry II, Duke of Brabant Henry II of Brabant (, ; 1207 – February 1, 1248) was Duke of Brabant and Duke of Lothier, Lothier after the death of his father Henry I, Duke of Brabant, Henry I in 1235. His mother was Matilda of Boulogne, Duchess of Brabant, Matilda of Bo ...

and Lothier, was the daughter of Henry Raspe's brother Louis IV and she claimed the territories on behalf of her son

Henry Henry may refer to: People and fictional characters * Henry (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters * Henry (surname) * Henry, a stage name of François-Louis Henry (1786–1855), French baritone Arts and entertainmen ...

. (Sophie's sister Gertrude was abbess of the imperial convent of Altenberg in

Wetzlar Wetzlar () is a city in the state of Hesse, Germany. It is the twelfth largest city in Hesse with currently 55,371 inhabitants at the beginning of 2019 (including second homes). As an important cultural, industrial and commercial center, the un ...

and thus excluded from the succession.)

Henry III, Margrave of Meissen Henry III, called Henry the Illustrious (''Heinrich der Erlauchte'') (c. 1215 – 15 February 1288) from the House of Wettin was Margrave of Meissen and last Margrave of Lusatia (as Henry IV) from 1221 until his death; from 1242 also Landgrav ...

, was the son of Henry Raspe's older sister Jutta. Another competitor was the

Archbishop of Mainz The Elector of Mainz was one of the seven Prince-electors of the Holy Roman Empire. As both the Archbishop of Mainz and the ruling prince of the Electorate of Mainz, the Elector of Mainz held a powerful position during the Middle Ages. The Archb ...

, who could claim Hesse was a fiefdom of the Archbishopric and now, after the extinction of the Ludowingians, demanded its return.

Results of the war

The war lasted over 17 years. Sophie did not succeed in winning the overall Ludowinger inheritance for her son Henry, but the war secured his Hessian possessions. This created the

Landgraviate of Hesse The Landgraviate of Hesse () was a principality of the Holy Roman Empire. It existed as a single entity from 1264 to 1567, when it was divided among the sons of Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse. History In the early Middle Ages, the territory of He ...

. The Margrave of Meissen acquired Thuringia and also the title of Landgrave of Thuringia. The importance of the dispute and its outcome lies in that an increasingly strong territorial principality of Hesse emerged and that, at the same time, the goal of the Ludowingians of building a strong territorial base in the heart of Germany through the combination of Hesse and Thuringia, came to an end. The Wettiners of the Margraviate of Meissen did subsequently achieve this goal. With the acquisition of the

Electorate of Saxony The Electorate of Saxony, also known as Electoral Saxony ( or ), was a territory of the Holy Roman Empire from 1356 to 1806 initially centred on Wittenberg that came to include areas around the cities of Dresden, Leipzig and Chemnitz. It was a ...

in 1423, they gained a centre of power on the Elbe.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:War Of The Thuringian Succession History of Hesse Military history of Thuringia

Thuringian Thuringian is an East Central German dialect group spoken in much of the modern German Free State of Thuringia north of the Rennsteig ridge, southwestern Saxony-Anhalt and adjacent territories of Hesse and Bavaria. It is close to Upper Saxon s ...

13th century in the Holy Roman Empire

Cause of the conflict

Results of the war

See also

References