The Franconian War (german: Fränkische Krieg) was waged in 1523 when the
Swabian League
The Swabian League (''Schwäbischer Bund'') was a mutual defence and peace keeping association of Imperial State, Imperial Estates – free Imperial cities, prelates, principalities and knights – principally in the territory of the early mediev ...
attacked several
robber baron castles in
Franconia
Franconia (german: Franken, ; Franconian dialect: ''Franggn'' ; bar, Frankn) is a region of Germany, characterised by its culture and Franconian dialect (German: ''Fränkisch'').
The three administrative regions of Lower, Middle and Upper Fr ...
, whose nobles were supporters of
Hans Thomas of Absberg in the Absberg Feud.
Definitions
Franconian War
![Kartefranken1523](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9a/Kartefranken1523.png)
By comparison with other wars and battles the Franconian War was limited in extent and restricted to the
region of Franconia. In a narrow sense, the term 'Franconian War' refers to the campaign by the Swabian League against 23 castles in June and July 1523. When the term first arose is still unclear, but reports of the conflict from the period immediately after 1523 were already speaking of 'acts of war'. In the 19th century the term was given a note of romance. Today's historians use the term mainly because it conveys the sense that two opponents with conflicting interests were involved in the fighting and the situation was more complex than one might think, if it were simply seen as a retaliation against the robber barons. Around the same time, similar causes also led to the Palatine
Knights' War.
Absberg Feud
Long before the year 1523, Thomas of Absberg had started to kidnap merchants and imperial diplomats from Nuremberg and Augsburg as they travelled. Although these raids often took place in present-day
Lower Franconia
Lower Franconia (german: Unterfranken) is one of seven districts of Bavaria, Germany. The districts of Lower, Middle and Upper Franconia make up the region of Franconia.
History
After the founding of the Kingdom of Bavaria the state was totally r ...
, he concealed the whereabouts of those he abducted, hiding them in different castles and changing their locations. He had allies far into Bohemian territory, so he could hide his own whereabouts and elude pursuit. He continued his raids even after 1523, but was eventually murdered in 1531 by a follower. The raids of Hans Thomas Absberg during the period 1519-1530 were documented and fought by the Nuremberg War Office (''Kriegsstube'').
Feud
A feud , referred to in more extreme cases as a blood feud, vendetta, faida, clan war, gang war, or private war, is a long-running argument or fight, often between social groups of people, especially families or clans. Feuds begin because one part ...
ing at that time was a legitimate means of enforcing one's interests. For the Franconian
Imperial Knight
The Free Imperial knights (german: link=no, Reichsritter la, Eques imperii) were free nobles of the Holy Roman Empire, whose direct overlord was the Emperor. They were the remnants of the medieval free nobility (''edelfrei'') and the ministeri ...
s, whose importance was waning, it was also a means to combat the power of the emerging territorial states, such as the
Bishopric of Bamberg
The Prince-Bishopric of Bamberg (german: Hochstift Bamberg) was an ecclesiastical State of the Holy Roman Empire. It goes back to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Bamberg established at the 1007 synod in Frankfurt, at the behest of King Henry II ...
and
Burgraviate of Nuremberg
The Burgraviate of Nuremberg (german: Burggrafschaft Nürnberg) was a state of the Holy Roman Empire from the early 12th to the late 15th centuries. As a burgraviate, it was a county seated in the town of Nuremberg; almost two centuries pass ...
, as well their margraviates,
Kulmbach and
Ansbach
Ansbach (; ; East Franconian: ''Anschba'') is a city in the German state of Bavaria. It is the capital of the administrative region of Middle Franconia. Ansbach is southwest of Nuremberg and north of Munich, on the river Fränkische Rezat, a ...
. However, the robber barons often misused this means of dispute, because a feud had ''inter alia'' to be properly announced and needed a reasonable justification. This misuse spelt the end of feuding as a legitimate arm of policy. It was replaced by an even more effective peace under the ''
Landfrieden
Under the law of the Holy Roman Empire, a ''Landfrieden'' or ''Landfriede'' (Latin: ''constitutio pacis'', ''pax instituta'' or ''pax jurata'', variously translated as "land peace", or "public peace") was a contractual waiver of the use of legiti ...
''.
Course of the war
Starting position of the Swabian League
![Wappenschild](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/72/Wappenschild.jpg)
The Swabian League, which can be viewed as a first attempt at a peacekeeping force, was asked for help by the
Imperial City of Nuremberg
The Imperial City of Nuremberg (german: Reichsstadt Nürnberg) was a free imperial city — independent city-state — within the Holy Roman Empire. After Nuremberg gained piecemeal independence from the Burgraviate of Nuremberg in the High Midd ...
. The alliance had been created in order to assist its members in the preservation of the ''Landfriede''. The Swabian League, which as its name suggests, had its roots in Swabia was made up of Swabian and Franconian Imperial Circles, as well as various Franconian Imperial Cities and territorial lords, for example, the
Bishopric of Würzburg
In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop.
History
In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associate ...
. Under the leadership of Nuremberg, the League began to raise a powerful army comprising contingents of its member states. The list of castles that Nuremberg wanted to have destroyed was long - in negotiations among the members of the League, agreement was finally reached in 1522 on the castles that were then to be attacked.
![Personenliste Fränkischer Krieg](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/34/Personenliste_Fr%C3%A4nkischer_Krieg.jpg)
According to
Roth von Schreckenstein, members of the Swabian League included the following Bavarian, Franconian and Swabian noble families:
Seckendorff,
Stain
A stain is a discoloration that can be clearly distinguished from the surface, material, or medium it is found upon. They are caused by the chemical or physical interaction of two dissimilar materials. Accidental staining may make materials app ...
,
Reischach,
Wellwart,
Schwendi,
Echter,
Torringer,
Seibolstorff,
Nothaft,
Preysing,
Nußberg,
Hundt,
Freiberg
Freiberg is a university and former mining town in Saxony, Germany. It is a so-called ''Große Kreisstadt'' (large county town) and the administrative centre of Mittelsachsen district.
Its historic town centre has been placed under heritage c ...
,
Auer Auer may refer to:
People
* Auer (surname)
Places and rivers
; Germany:
* Auer (Odenwald), a river in the Hessian Odenwald
* Auer Bach, a river of North Rhine-Westphalia, tributary of the Wupper
* Auer Mühlbach, a river in Bavaria, branch of ...
,
Löffelholz,
Ehingen
Ehingen (Donau) (; Swabian: ''Eegne'') is a town in the Alb-Donau district in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, situated on the left bank of the Danube, approx. southwest of Ulm and southeast of Stuttgart.
The city, like the entire district of ...
,
Hürnheim,
Sotzingen,
Thumb
The thumb is the first digit of the hand, next to the index finger. When a person is standing in the medical anatomical position (where the palm is facing to the front), the thumb is the outermost digit. The Medical Latin English noun for thumb ...
,
Gültlingen
Gültlingen is a village in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Sine 1 January 1975, it is a part (a ''Stadtteil'') of the town Wildberg.
History
The "Gültlingen Gold Helmet" (460-480 AD), was found together with other artifacts and is now in the ...
,
Rieringen,
Ow zu
Wachendorf, and
Knöringen
Knöringen is a municipality in Südliche Weinstraße district, in Rhineland-Palatinate, western Germany.
References
Municipalities in Rhineland-Palatinate
Südliche Weinstraße
{{SüdlicheWeinstraße-geo-stub ...
. In addition they were joined by various
counts of Oettingen. An exact contemporary listing is found in the Bamburg Castle Book.
Starting position of the robber barons around Hans Thomas Absberg
Various factors led to the steady decline of the knighthood, for example, the decline in their importance compared with the territorial states or cities with thriving trade relations and even the loss of their function in raising troops for war. Noble families who had successfully dealt with this structural change usually presented themselves for service to territorial princes or the Emperor and were given important posts such as ''
Hofmeister'' or ''
Amtmann
__NOTOC__
The ''Amtmann'' or ''Ammann'' (in Switzerland) was an official in German-speaking countries of Europe and in some of the Nordic countries from the time of the Middle Ages whose office was akin to that of a bailiff. He was the most seni ...
''. Nevertheless, Hans Thomas Absberg had strong backing among the Franconian knights; his closest followers came from prominent families, like the
Rosenbergs
Julius Rosenberg (May 12, 1918 – June 19, 1953) and Ethel Rosenberg (; September 28, 1915 – June 19, 1953) were American citizens who were convicted of spying on behalf of the Soviet Union. The couple were convicted of providing top-secret i ...
,
Thüngens,
Guttenbergs,
Wirsbergs,
Sparnecks, and
Aufseßes. Many of the small estates into which the Franconian region was politically divided benefited from his raids. Besides In addition to imperially free estates, the borders of the bishoprics of
Bamberg
Bamberg (, , ; East Franconian: ''Bambärch'') is a town in Upper Franconia, Germany, on the river Regnitz close to its confluence with the river Main. The town dates back to the 9th century, when its name was derived from the nearby ' castle. C ...
and
Würzburg
Würzburg (; Main-Franconian: ) is a city in the region of Franconia in the north of the German state of Bavaria. Würzburg is the administrative seat of the ''Regierungsbezirk'' Lower Franconia. It spans the banks of the Main River.
Würzburg is ...
,
Brandenburg-Kulmbach
The Principality of Bayreuth (german: Fürstentum Bayreuth) or Margraviate of Brandenburg-Bayreuth (''Markgraftum Brandenburg-Bayreuth'') was an immediate territory of the Holy Roman Empire, ruled by a Franconian branch of the Hohenzollern dynas ...
and the road to
Bohemia
Bohemia ( ; cs, Čechy ; ; hsb, Čěska; szl, Czechy) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. Bohemia can also refer to a wider area consisting of the historical Lands of the Bohemian Crown ruled by the Bohem ...
and
Saxony
Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a landlocked state of ...
all lay close together.
Wider political context
The Swabian League not only took its duty seriously to provide assistance for the city of Nuremberg as a member of the League, but also had a cause for concern because of a connection between the banned
Ulrich of Württemberg Ulrich (), is a German given name, derived from Old High German ''Uodalrich'', ''Odalric''. It is composed of the elements '' uodal-'' meaning "(noble) heritage" and ''-rich'' meaning "rich, powerful". Attested from the 8th century as the name of Al ...
and the rebel knight,
Franz von Sickingen
Franz von Sickingen (2 March 14817 May 1523) was an Imperial Knight who, with Ulrich von Hutten, led the so-called "Knights' Revolt," and was one of the most notable figures of the early period of the Protestant Reformation. Sickingen was nickn ...
. Von Sickingen's raids extended as far as Trier and he had strong support in the central German knighthood. Even when Von Sickingen died in May 1523 of his war wounds, the Palatine
Knights' War and
German Peasants' War
The German Peasants' War, Great Peasants' War or Great Peasants' Revolt (german: Deutscher Bauernkrieg) was a widespread popular revolt in some German-speaking areas in Central Europe from 1524 to 1525. It failed because of intense oppositio ...
erupted a few years later, causing widespread unrest that endangered the growing power of the principalities.
Destruction by the Swabian League in 1523
Before the army of the Swabian League marched, the knights who had broken the ''Landfrieden'' were given the opportunity to repent and swear an oath of purgation (''Reinigungseid''). Some of them took the oath and were thus released from further punishment, others were not permitted to take the oath, still others ignored the offer.
Woodcarver
Wood carving is a form of woodworking by means of a cutting tool (knife) in one hand or a chisel by two hands or with one hand on a chisel and one hand on a mallet, resulting in a wooden figure or figurine, or in the sculptural ornamentation ...
and "
war correspondent" captured the events of 1523 in 23 carvings. At the end of the campaign, some families were able to reconcile with the Swabian League and their estates were restored in return for a sum of gold and the promise that they would respect the peace. Other knights continued their rampaging in the company of Thomas of Absberg, so that, even in 1527, various communities established mounted patrols in order to guard against the raids.
Aftermath
Horst Carl sees in the events of 1523 a defining moment for Franconia and Swabia. The picture of "Franconian troublemakers and Swabian law enforcers" (''fränkischen Unruhestiftern und schwäbischen Ordnungshütern'') has had lasting influence on both regions in terms of their self-portrayal and their view of the other region.
[Horst Carl]
See also
*
History of Franconia
Franconia (german: Franken) is a region that is not precisely defined, but which lies in the north of the Free State of Bavaria, parts of Baden-Württemberg and South Thuringia and Hesse in Germany. It is characterised by its own cultural and li ...
References
Literature
Modern specialist literature
* Horst Carl: ''Der Schwäbische Bund 1488–1534. Landfrieden und Genossenschaft im Übergang vom Spätmittelalter zur Reformation'' (= ''Schriften zur südwestdeutschen Landeskunde.'' Bd. 24). DRW-Verlag, Leinfelden-Echterdingen, 2000, , pp. 472–480, (also: Tübingen, University, Habilitations-Schrift, 1998).
* Horst Carl: ''Fränkische Unruhestifter und schwäbische Ordnungshüter? - Schwäbisches und fränkisches Regionalbewusstsein im Kontext frühneuzeitlicher Politik.'' In: Thomas Kühne, Cornelia Rauh-Kühne (Hrsg.): ''Raum und Geschichte. Regionale Traditionen und föderative Ordnungen von der Frühen Neuzeit bis zur Gegenwart'' (= ''Schriften zur südwestdeutschen Landeskunde.'' Bd. 40). DRW-Verlag, Leinfelden-Echterdingen, 2001, , pp. 24–37.
* Karl Heinz Kalb: ''Zum Wesen der Kriegsführung am Beginn der Neuzeit. Ihre Auswirkungen am oberen Main'' (= ''Amtlicher Schulanzeiger für den Regierungsbezirk Oberfranken. Heimatbeilage.'' Nr. 58, ). Regierung von Oberfranken, Bayreuth, 1977.
* Peter Ritzmann: ''„Plackerey in teutschen Landen“. Untersuchungen zur Fehdetätigkeit des fränkischen Adels im frühen 16. Jahrhundert und ihrer Bekämpfung durch den Schwäbischen Bund und die Reichsstadt Nürnberg, insbesondere am Beispiel des Hans Thomas von Absberg und seiner Auseinandersetzung mit den Grafen von Oettingen (1520–31).'' Dissertations-Verlag NG-Kopierladen GmbH., Munich, 1995, (also: Munich, university, Dissertation, 1994).
* Reinhardt Schmalz: ''Der Fränkische Krieg 1523 und die Schuld der Sparnecker.'' In: ''Archiv für Geschichte von Oberfranken.'' Vol. 85, 2005, pp. 151–158.
* Thomas Steinmetz: ''Conterfei etlicher Kriegshandlungen von 1523 bis in das 1527 Jar – Zu Burgendarstellungen über die "Absberger Fehde" oder den "Fränkischen Krieg".'' In: ''Beiträge zur Erforschung des Odenwaldes und seiner Randlandschaften.'' Vol. 4, 1986, , pp. 365–386.
Classical specialist literature
* Joseph Baader: ''Die Fehde des Hans Thomas von Absberg wider den schwäbischen Bund. Ein Beitrag zur Culturgeschichte des sechszehnten Jahrhunderts.'' Kellerer, Munich, 1880.
* Joseph Baader (ed.): ''Verhandlungen über Thomas von Absberg und seine Fehde gegen den Schwäbischen Bund 1519 bis 1530'' (= ''Bibliothek des Litterarischen Vereins in Stuttgart.'' Jg. 27, Publication 1 = Publication 114, ). Auf Kosten des Litterarischen Vereins, Tübingen, 1873
digitalised
* Johann Heilmann: ''Kriegsgeschichte von Bayern, Franken, Pfalz und Schwaben von 1506 bis 1651.'' Band 1: ''Kriegsgeschichte und Kriegswesen von 1506–1598.'' Literarisch-artistische Anstalt der G. J. Cotta'schen Buchhandlung, Munich, 1868
pp. 29–36
* Karl Freiherr von
Reitzenstein
Reitzenstein was a German dynasty of Franconian knights.
The House of Reitzenstein took its name from Reitzenstein near Issigau. The family was directly related to the House of Sparneck.
Prominent members of the family:
* Franziska von Reitzens ...
: ''Der Schwäbische Bund in Ober-Franken oder des Hauses Sparneck Fall 1523. Akten zur fränkischen Geschichte.'' Kühn, Weimar, 1859
digitalised
* Karl Heinrich Freiherr Roth von Schreckenstein: ''Geschichte der ehemaligen freien Reichsritterschaft in Schwaben, Franken und am Rheinstrome, nach Quellen bearbeitet.'' Band 2: ''Vom Jahre 1437 bis zur Aufhebung der Reichsritterschaft.'' Laupp, Tübingen, 1862
pp. 249–253
External links
{{Commonscat, Fränkischer Krieg, Franconian War
Warfare of the early modern period
1520s conflicts
Feuds in Germany
1520s in the Holy Roman Empire
History of Franconia
House of Absberg
Weißenburg-Gunzenhausen