Adolf III,
Count of Schauenburg and Holstein (1160 – 3 January 1225) was the ruler of the Counties of Schauenburg and Holstein. He is particularly remembered for his establishment of a new settlement for traders on the banks of the
Alster
The Alster () is a right tributary of the Elbe river in Northern Germany. It has its source near Henstedt-Ulzburg, Schleswig-Holstein, flows somewhat southwards through much of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg and joins the Elbe in central ...
near the ''Neue Burg'' in
Hamburg
(male), (female) en, Hamburger(s),
Hamburgian(s)
, timezone1 = Central (CET)
, utc_offset1 = +1
, timezone1_DST = Central (CEST)
, utc_offset1_DST = +2
, postal ...
.
Descent
Adolf III was the only son of Count
Adolf II of Holstein-Wagria and succeeded him in 1164, initially under the guardianship of his mother
Mechthild of Schwarzburg-Käfernburg, a daughter of Count Sizzo III of Schwarzburg-Käfernburg.
[Genealogie Graf von Holstein-Wagrien am 14.1.2007]
Life
Count Adolf III at first supported
Henry the Lion
Henry the Lion (german: Heinrich der Löwe; 1129/1131 – 6 August 1195) was a member of the Welf dynasty who ruled as the duke of Saxony and Bavaria from 1142 and 1156, respectively, until 1180.
Henry was one of the most powerful German p ...
. He accompanied him on his expedition against
Philipp von Heinsberg
Philip I () (c. 1130 – 13 August 1191) was the Archbishop of Cologne and Archchancellor of Italy from 1167 to 1191.
He was the son of Count Goswin II of Heinsberg and Adelaide of Sommerschenburg. He received his ecclesiastic training in Colog ...
,
Archbishop of Cologne
The Archbishop of Cologne is an archbishop governing the Archdiocese of Cologne of the Catholic Church in western North Rhine-Westphalia and is also a historical state in the Rhine holding the birthplace of Beethoven and northern Rhineland-Palati ...
, fought at the
Battle of Halerfeld on 1 August 1180 (to the north-west of
Osnabrück
Osnabrück (; wep, Ossenbrügge; archaic ''Osnaburg'') is a city in the German state of Lower Saxony. It is situated on the river Hase in a valley penned between the Wiehen Hills and the northern tip of the Teutoburg Forest. With a population ...
) at the side of Count
Bernhard I of Ratzeburg
Bernhard is both a given name and a surname. Notable people with the name include:
Given name
* Bernhard of Saxe-Weimar (1604–1639), Duke of Saxe-Weimar
*Bernhard, Prince of Saxe-Meiningen (1901–1984), head of the House of Saxe-Meiningen 194 ...
, when he received from Henry the Lion the decisive rights in the region of the Middle Weser which formed the basis of the
County of Schauenburg
The County of Schaumburg (german: link=no, Grafschaft Schaumburg), until ca. 1485 known as Schauenburg, was a state of the Holy Roman Empire, located in the present German state of Lower Saxony. Its territory was more or less congruent with ...
.
In 1180 however Adolf defected from Henry, who thereupon drove him from Holstein. Adolf attached himself to
Frederick Barbarossa
Frederick Barbarossa (December 1122 – 10 June 1190), also known as Frederick I (german: link=no, Friedrich I, it, Federico I), was the Holy Roman Emperor from 1155 until his death 35 years later. He was elected King of Germany in Frankfurt on ...
(Emperor Frederick I), with whose help he regained his lordship in 1181 after the fall of Henry. In 1188 however Frederick turned down Adolf's claim to the town of
Lübeck
Lübeck (; Low German also ), officially the Hanseatic City of Lübeck (german: Hansestadt Lübeck), is a city in Northern Germany. With around 217,000 inhabitants, Lübeck is the second-largest city on the German Baltic coast and in the stat ...
. Adolf accompanied him on the
Third Crusade
The Third Crusade (1189–1192) was an attempt by three European monarchs of Western Christianity (Philip II of France, Richard I of England and Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor) to reconquer the Holy Land following the capture of Jerusalem by ...
. In August 1190 he reached
Tyre, where he left the crusading army and returned to Holstein to defend his lands against Henry the Lion, who had in the meantime returned from exile. In 1196, he went to the Holy Land for the second time for the
Crusade of Henry VI, he then returned home in 1198.
The reign of Adolf III coincided with Denmark's attempts at expansion under Kings
Canute VI
Canute VI (; c. 1163 – 12 November 1202) was King of Denmark (1182–1202).
Contemporary sources describe Canute as an earnest, strongly religious man.
Background
Canute VI was the eldest son of King Valdemar I and Sophia of Polotsk. H ...
and his brother and successor
Valdemar II
Valdemar (28 June 1170 – 28 March 1241), later remembered as Valdemar the Victorious (), was the King of Denmark (being Valdemar II) from 1202 until his death in 1241.
Background
He was the second son of King Valdemar I of Denmark and Sophi ...
. After Adolf lost the
Battle of Stellau
{{Infobox military conflict
, conflict = The Battle of Stellau
, partof = the Danish Crusades
, date = 1201
, place = Wrist, Germany
, result = Danish victory
, combatant1 = Denm ...
in 1201 and was later taken prisoner in Hamburg by Valdemar, this expansion was successful for some decades. In captivity Adolf was forced to renounce his title to the County of Holstein in 1203 in order to gain his freedom, and on his release retired to the County of Schauenburg.
The reconquest of Holstein was left for his son and heir,
Adolf IV of Holstein
Adolf IV (before 1205 – 8 July 1261), was a Count of Schauenburg (1225–1238) and of Holstein (1227–1238), of the House of Schaumburg. Adolf was the eldest son of Adolf III of Schauenburg and Holstein by his second wife, Adelheid of Quer ...
.
In about 1224, at the request of
Konrad von Rüdenberg,
Prince-Bishop of Minden
The Prince-Bishopric of Minden (german: Fürstbistum Minden; Bistum Minden; Hochstift Minden; Stift Minden) was an ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Empire. It was progressively secularized following the Protestant Reformation when ...
, Count Adolf III relinquished the ''
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 ...
ei'' of
Wennigsen Abbey in
Wennigsen
Wennigsen is a municipality in the district of Hanover, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated near the Deister hills, approx. 15 km southwest of Hanover.
Geography
Wennigsen borders on (from north and clockwise) Gehrden, Ronnenberg, Spri ...
. The deed recording this act is the first surviving written record of this monastery.
[750 Jahre Wennigsen 1200–1950 '', Herausgegeben vom Vorbereitenden Ausschuss für die 750-Jahrfeier der Gemeinde Wennigsen Gedruckt 1950 bei den Buchdruckwerkstätten Hannover, S. 8]
Count Adolf III married firstly, in 1182, Adelheid of Assel (d. 25 December 1185) and secondly Adelheid of Querfurt.
He had five children:
*
Adolf IV
* Konrad
*
Bruno of Schauenburg
Bruno may refer to:
People and fictional characters
*Bruno (name), including lists of people and fictional characters with either the given name or surname
* Bruno, Duke of Saxony (died 880)
* Bruno the Great (925–965), Archbishop of Cologne, ...
,
Bishop of Olmütz
The following is a list of diocesan bishops and archbishops of Olomouc. Not much is known about the beginnings of the Diocese of Olomouc. It was reestablished in 1063 and in 1777 it was elevated to an archdiocese.
Bishops of Olomouc
*''898 ...
* Mechthilde
* Margarete
Ancestry
Notes
Sources
*
*
*
Die Schlacht bei Stellau 1201 http://gutenberg.spiegel.de/liliencr/stellau/stellau.htm am 24.7.2006
External links
Pfadfinderstamm Graf Adolf von Schauenburg
{{DEFAULTSORT:Adolf 03 Of Holstein
1160 births
1225 deaths
Counts of Holstein
House of Schauenburg
Christians of the Third Crusade
Christians of the Crusade of 1197