Abenberg inheritance

Who he is

Name

No count: Frederick II of Abenberg, the last of the line, died in 1199 (NDB). Heirs and claimants: the Zollern burgraves of Nuremberg (named as heirs by the NDB), the see of Bamberg (for its advocacy and fiefs), and Frederick's young widow Gertrud, who will marry Count Ludwig I of Ziegenhain

Title

Extinct comital house; the inheritance is open

Since

1199

Family

Counts in the Rangau and the Radenzgau, advocates of the see of Bamberg; from 1139 also styled counts of Frensdorf. Founders of Heilsbronn abbey (1132), their burial church. Kin included Archbishop Conrad I of Salzburg and Bishop Reginhard of Würzburg. Frederick II was praised by Wolfram von Eschenbach as 'the young hero of Abenberg'.

Confidence

medium

NDB 'Abenberg, Grafen von' (extinct 1199, Zollern heirs); de.wikipedia (part of the lands to Bamberg in 1189, Abenberg and the Cadolzburg to the burgraves in 1236 'by marriage'); Timo (Bamberg) on the advocacy in 1201.

Overlord

Bamberg for the advocacy and the Bamberg fiefs; Würzburg and the king for other fiefs; Abenberg itself was the house's own castle.

What it holds

• Abenberg castle and town (the house's seat)
• The Cadolzburg west of Nuremberg
• Heilsbronn abbey's advocacy and burial church
• Frensdorf near Bamberg
• The advocacy of the see of Bamberg and Bamberg fiefs (reverting to the see)
• Scheinfeld castle (to Bamberg in 1201)

How it was acquired

Royal sub-county in the eastern Rangau from about 1008; Abenberg named from 1071.

Allies and rivals

Bamberg against the burgraves' claims; the widow's new kin.

How things stand that morning

Nobody holds the inheritance whole that winter. Bamberg is recovering its advocacy and fiefs; the burgrave of Nuremberg presses the Zollern claim to the house lands; who sits in Abenberg castle is not pinned. Allegiance of the claimants: STAUFEN (both Bamberg and the burgrave are Philip's men), so the dispute is inside Philip's party.

Wealth

Lands of the Rangau between the Rezat and the Bibert; the advocacies.

Military

Abenberg castle, the Cadolzburg, Scheinfeld; the house's vassals and ministeriales, now without a lord.

Threats

• A feud between Bamberg and the burgrave over the inheritance
• Seizures by neighbours (the Truhendingen, the Hohenlohe, the king's ministeriales)

What the year holds

What happened next, if nothing in play changes it. Each event carries what it depends on and what would stop it.

1. 1200-1201Bamberg secures the advocacy and its fiefs; in 1201 Timo promises not to grant the advocacy as a fief again and takes Scheinfeld.Depends on: the burgrave not pressing for the advocacy Stopped by: royal intervention for the burgrave
2. not pinned (1200s to 1236)The Zollern burgraves take Abenberg and the Cadolzburg.Depends on: the Zollern claim being accepted Stopped by: a rival claim through the widow or by Bamberg

Places of note

• Abenberg castle: The house's seat, rebuilt in stone 1130-40
• Heilsbronn abbey: Cistercian house founded 1132 by the counts; their burial church
• Cadolzburg: Castle west of Nuremberg
• Frensdorf: Castle near Bamberg; the counts called themselves 'of Frensdorf' from 1139

Where the sources disagree

• Sources disagree on how Abenberg reached the burgraves: en.wikipedia says through Frederick's wife Sophie of Raabs; de.wikipedia says by marriage in 1236; the NDB says only that the Zollern burgraves, not of the same stock, inherited.

Evidence: The extinction in 1199 is firm (NDB); the division of the inheritance is not.

On the map: The Abenberg lands were scattered through the Rangau; only the castles are drawn.