Hermann I, Landgrave of Thuringia

Template:Infobox nobility Hermann I (died 25 April 1217), Landgrave of Thuringia and (as Hermann III) Count Palatine of Saxony, called the Hard, was the second son of Louis II, Landgrave of Thuringia (the Iron), and Judith of Hohenstaufen,<ref>Jonathan R. Lyon, "Princely Brothers and Sisters: The Sibling Bond in German Politics, 1100-1250", Cornell Press, 243</ref> the sister of Emperor Frederick Barbarossa.

Life

Little is known of his early years, but in 1180 Hermann joined a coalition against Henry the Lion, Duke of Saxony, and with his brother, Louis III, Landgrave of Thuringia, suffered a short imprisonment after his defeat by Henry at Weissensee.Template:Sfn The brothers were released the following year.<ref name=Remy>Remy, Arthur F.J. "Hermann I." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 7. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910. 13 Dec. 2012</ref> Louis had been made Count Palatine of Saxony as a reward for his services to the emperor, but transferred the dignity to Hermann. He strengthened his authority over the County Palatine by marrying Sophia,<ref>Jonathan R. Lyon, "Princely Brothers and Sisters: The Sibling Bond in German Politics, 1100-1250", Cornell Press, 243</ref> daughter of Lutgard of Stade and Frederick II of Sommerschenburg, a former Count Palatine.

Louis III died in 1190. Emperor Henry VI attempted to seize Thuringia as a vacant fief of the Holy Roman Empire, but Hermann frustrated the plan and established himself as the landgrave. Having joined a league against the emperor, he was accused, probably wrongly, of an attempt to murder him.Template:Citation needed Henry VI was not only successful in detaching Hermann from the hostile combination, but gained his support for the scheme to unite Sicily with the Empire.Template:Sfn

Hermann joined the German Crusade of 1197 but returned on news of Henry VI's death.<ref name=Remy/> In the wars between the rival kings, Philip of Swabia and Otto of Brunswick (1198-1208), Hermann's support was purchased by the emperor's brother, Duke Philip of Swabia, but as soon as Philip's cause appeared to be weakening he transferred his allegiance to Otto of Brunswick, the later Emperor Otto IV. Philip accordingly invaded Thuringia in 1204 and compelled Hermann to come to terms by which he surrendered the lands he had obtained in 1198. After the death of Philip and the recognition of Otto, Hermann was among the princes who assembled at Nuremberg in 1211 and invited Frederick of Hohenstaufen, King of Sicily (afterwards Emperor Frederick II), to come to Germany and assume the crown. In consequence of this step the Saxons attacked Thuringia, but the landgrave was saved by Frederick's arrival in Germany in 1212.Template:Sfn

After the death of his first wife in 1195, Hermann married Sophia, daughter of Otto of Wittelsbach.<ref>Jonathan R. Lyon, "Princely Brothers and Sisters: The Sibling Bond in German Politics, 1100-1250", Cornell Press, 243</ref> By her he had four sons, two of whom, Louis IV of Thuringia and Henry Raspe, succeeded their father in turn as landgrave. His oldest son Louis, who succeeded him, was the husband of St. Elizabeth of Hungary. Hermann died at Gotha in 1217 and was buried at Reinhardsbrunn.Template:Sfn

Hermann was fond of the society of men of letters, and Walther von der Vogelweide and other Minnesingers were welcomed to his castle, the Wartburg.Template:Sfn In this connection he figures in Richard Wagner's Tannhäuser und der Sängerkrieg auf Wartburg.

Issue

With Sophia of Sommerschenburg:

• Jutta (1184–1235),<ref>Jonathan R. Lyon, "Princely Brothers and Sisters: The Sibling Bond in German Politics, 1100-1250", Cornell Press, 243</ref> married twice:
  1. in 1194 to Margrave Theodoric I of Meissen (1161–1221)<ref>Jonathan R. Lyon, "Princely Brothers and Sisters: The Sibling Bond in German Politics, 1100-1250", Cornell Press, 243</ref>
  2. in 1223 to Count Poppo VII of Henneberg (d. 1245)<ref>Jonathan R. Lyon, "Princely Brothers and Sisters: The Sibling Bond in German Politics, 1100-1250", Cornell Press, 243</ref>
• Hedwig, married in 1211 to Count Albert II of Weimar-Orlamünde<ref>Jonathan R. Lyon, "Princely Brothers and Sisters: The Sibling Bond in German Politics, 1100-1250", Cornell Press, 243</ref>

With Sophia of Wittelsbach:

• Irmgard (b. 1197), married in 1211 to Count Henry I of Anhalt<ref>Jonathan R. Lyon, "Princely Brothers and Sisters: The Sibling Bond in German Politics, 1100-1250", Cornell Press, 243</ref>
• Herman (b. 1202–1216)
• Louis IV (1200–1227)<ref>Jonathan R. Lyon, "Princely Brothers and Sisters: The Sibling Bond in German Politics, 1100-1250", Cornell Press, 243</ref>
• Henry Raspe (1204–1247)<ref>Jonathan R. Lyon, "Princely Brothers and Sisters: The Sibling Bond in German Politics, 1100-1250", Cornell Press, 243</ref>
• Conrad (1206–1240), Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights<ref>Jonathan R. Lyon, "Princely Brothers and Sisters: The Sibling Bond in German Politics, 1100-1250", Cornell Press, 243</ref>
• Agnes,<ref>Jonathan R. Lyon, "Princely Brothers and Sisters: The Sibling Bond in German Politics, 1100-1250", Cornell Press, 243</ref> married twice:
  1. in 1225 to Henry "the Profane" of Babenberg (1208–1228), a son of Duke Leopold VI of Austria.<ref>Jonathan R. Lyon, "Princely Brothers and Sisters: The Sibling Bond in German Politics, 1100-1250", Cornell Press, 243</ref> They had a daughter, Gertrude of Austria who claimed the inheritance of the House of Babenberg.
  2. in 1229 to Duke Albert I of Saxony (Template:Circa – 1261)<ref>Jonathan R. Lyon, "Princely Brothers and Sisters: The Sibling Bond in German Politics, 1100-1250", Cornell Press, 243</ref>

Sources

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• E. Winkelmann, Philipp von Schwaben und Otto IV. von Braunschweig (Leipzig, 1873–1878)
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• F. Wachter, Thüringische and obersächsische Geschichte (Leipzig, 1826)
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