The Battle of Gammelsdorf (german: Schlacht von Gammelsdorf) took place in November 1313. The cause of the skirmish was the guardianship of the underage duke of Lower Bavaria. This was sought by both Duke Louis the Bavarian and Duke Frederick I of Austria. It circled around the question of who would execute tutelage over the minor children of the late Lower Bavarian Dukes, thus also commanding the tremendous economic power of that region. Their

Upper Bavarian Upper Bavaria (german: Oberbayern, ; ) is one of the seven administrative districts of Bavaria, Germany. Geography Upper Bavaria is located in the southern portion of Bavaria, and is centered on the city of Munich, both state capital and seat o ...

cousin, Duke Louis, the later Emperor Louis IV, ''the Bavarian'', as agreements within the several branches of the Bavarian line of the

House of Wittelsbach The House of Wittelsbach () is a German dynasty, with branches that have ruled over territories including Bavaria, the Palatinate, Holland and Zeeland, Sweden (with Finland), Denmark, Norway, Hungary (with Romania), Bohemia, the Electorate ...

determined and as the burghers of the Lower Bavarian cities wanted to see it done, or Duke Frederick I of Austria, ''the Fair'', also Louis' cousin, both having been raised and educated together in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

. After Louis had militarily occupied the then two most important towns of Bavaria, Landshut and Straubing, the ducal widows decided to call their children's Austrian cousin for assistance – though in the decade before, Lower Bavaria had bitterly fought Austria over lands, economic resources, and sovereignty. The Upper Bavarians and troops deputized by the Lower Bavarian towns were led by Duke Louis. While the probably numerically superior nobility or aristocracy and knighthood of Lower Bavaria and the Austrians were led by Duke Frederic. Finally – though more of a skirmish than a battle – the decisive engagement for control over those fertile, economically attractive lands was fought at

Gammelsdorf Gammelsdorf is a municipality in the district of Freising in Bavaria in Germany. It was the site of the 1313 Battle of Gammelsdorf. Until the mid-1990s Gammelsdorf was home of the "Circus", formerly known as the world's first village cinema, and ...

on 9 November 1313 between

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

and Austria. The weather worked to Louis' advantage. A thick fog covered the battlefield, so that Louis's actual strength was hidden from Frederick. Louis' city militias fought on foot, though others were mounted. At the end of the day, Louis' smaller force was victorious. Nonetheless, he did not pursue and destroy Frederick's defeated fighters, and no names of the fallen nobles were recorded. Frederick was forced to renounce his tutelage over the

Lower Bavaria Lower Bavaria (german: Niederbayern, Bavarian: ''Niedabayern'') is one of the seven administrative regions of Bavaria, Germany, located in the east of the state. Geography Lower Bavaria is subdivided into two regions () – Landshut and Donau-W ...

n dukes, and maybe even more important for the man from

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

, he had put a halt on

Habsburg The House of Habsburg (), alternatively spelled Hapsburg in Englishgerman: Haus Habsburg, ; es, Casa de Habsburgo; hu, Habsburg család, it, Casa di Asburgo, nl, Huis van Habsburg, pl, dom Habsburgów, pt, Casa de Habsburgo, la, Domus Hab ...

desires for annexation of parts of Bavaria for a long time. A monument stands in memory of the battle near the battlefield.

References

Battles involving Bavaria Battles involving Austria

Battle of Gammelsdorf The Battle of Gammelsdorf (german: Schlacht von Gammelsdorf) took place in November 1313. The cause of the skirmish was the guardianship of the underage duke of Lower Bavaria. This was sought by both Duke Louis the Bavarian and Duke Frederick I o ...

Conflicts in 1313 Louis IV, Holy Roman Emperor {{Austria-battle-stub