Adalbert II Count of Mörsberg (''Moersberg'' in 26-letter alphabet) (born about 1070, died between 1124 and August 30, 1125) was ''

Vogt During the Middle Ages, an (sometimes given as modern English: advocate; German: ; French: ) was an office-holder who was legally delegated to perform some of the secular responsibilities of a major feudal lord, or for an institution such as ...

'' of the monasteries Allerheiligen in Schaffhausen, Switzerland, and Pfaffen-Schwabenheim near

Bad Kreuznach Bad Kreuznach () is a town in the Bad Kreuznach district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is a spa town, most well known for its medieval bridge dating from around 1300, the Alte Nahebrücke, which is one of the few remaining bridges in th ...

, Germany, Count of

Dill, Germany Dill is an ''Ortsgemeinde'' – a municipality belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality – in the Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis (district) in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' of Kirchb ...

, and Mörsberg (now a part of France), as well as owner of the Mörsburg castle near Winterthur. Adalbert seems to have been born around 1070 A.D. as son of Eberhard VII. von Nellenburg. One of his uncles was archbishop of Trier, another one was the abbot of the Benedictine abbey of Reichenau island. Only some five years later, Adalbert lost his father who died in 1075 in the Saxon Rebellion. Between 1096 and 1098, already during the lifetime of his uncle Burchard III, the governing Count f Nellenburg, he took over the charge of the proprietary monasteries of the Nellenburgers as a ''Vogt''. There he acquired a bad reputation because of illegitimate demands for monasterial property and brutality against the monks. Contemporary documents prove the efforts of his relatives to make amends for the damage caused by Adalbert. By marrying Mechthild of Bar-Mömpelgard, daughter of Theodoric I, Count of Montbéliard of House Scarponnois and Ermentrude of

Burgundy Burgundy (; french: link=no, Bourgogne ) is a historical territory and former administrative region and province of east-central France. The province was once home to the Dukes of Burgundy from the early 11th until the late 15th century. The c ...

, heiress of the

County of Montbéliard The Princely County of Montbéliard (french: Comté princier de Montbéliard; german: Grafschaft Mömpelgard), was a princely county of the Holy Roman Empire seated in the city of Montbéliard in the present-day Franche-Comté region of France. ...

, Adalbert attained ownership of

Château de Morimont The Château de Morimont (german: Moersberg) is a ruined castle in the Alsace region of France, in the ''commune'' of Oberlarg in the Haut-Rhin ''département''. It is 40 km southwest of Mulhouse and 45 km west of the Swiss city of Basel ...

near

Ferrette Ferrette (; german: Pfirt ; gsw-FR, Pfìrt) is a commune in the Haut-Rhin department in Alsace in north-eastern France. It is situated close to the Swiss border. Its main attraction is the Château de Ferrette. County of Ferrette The County o ...

in Alsace after death of his father-in-law in 1105. At that time he took the title of a Count of ''Morisberk ''which is not documented before and after his lifetime. When also his uncle died in 1105 or 1106 without any male descendants, Adalbert's older brother Dietrich received the family seat and title of a Count of Nellenburg while Adalbert himself received a considerable share of allod (including Dill castle in

Hunsrück The Hunsrück () is a long, triangular, pronounced upland in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is bounded by the valleys of the Moselle-Saar (north-to-west), the Nahe (south), and the Rhine (east). It is continued by the Taunus mountains, past ...

with the monastery of Schwabenheim near Kreuznach, properties in

Sponheim Sponheim is a municipality in the district of Bad Kreuznach in Rhineland-Palatinate in western Germany. History Sponheim was the capital of the County of Sponheim. Sponheim Abbey There was a Benedictine abbey which was founded in 1101 by Step ...

Hamm Hamm (, Latin: ''Hammona'') is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located in the northeastern part of the Ruhr area. As of 2016 its population was 179,397. The city is situated between the A1 motorway and A2 motorway. Hamm railwa ...

Kastellaun Kastellaun is a town in the Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis (district) in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is the seat of the like-named ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality. Geography Location The town lies in the eastern Hunsrück ...

,) and the Nellenburg

fief A fief (; la, feudum) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an Lord, overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a for ...

s (the Kreuznach imperial estate with Böckelheim castle). In 1107, he is documented as Count of Dill. Mörsburg castle near Winterthur was named after him. Dill castle and Mörsburg seem to have been strengthened substantially or were probably only erected at the time. His cousin Bruno of Bretten was archbishop of Trier from 1102 to 1124. Adalbert wedded his daughter Mechthild (d. March 12, 1152/80) to Meginhard of Sponheim (c. 1085 to c. 1135). This act was of great importance in view of the fact that the title of count and considerable property were transferred to Meginhard which prompted the formation of the

County of Sponheim The County of Sponheim (german: Grafschaft Sponheim, former spelling: Spanheim, Spanheym) was an independent territory in the Holy Roman Empire that lasted from the 11th century until the early 19th century. The name comes from the municipality ...

References

*Josef Heinzelmann
"Spanheimer-Späne. Schachwappen und Konradinererbe"
in: ''Jahrbuch für westdeutsche Landesgeschichte'' 25 (1999), pp. 7–68. *Hans Kläui

in: ''Genealogisches Handbuch der Schweizer Geschichte'' IV, p. 194. {{DEFAULTSORT:Morsberg, Adalbert von Counts of the Holy Roman Empire 1070s births 1125 deaths