Henry IV, Count of Holstein-Rendsburg (1397 – 28 May 1427) was
Count
Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...
of
Holstein
Holstein (; nds, label=Northern Low Saxon, Holsteen; da, Holsten; Latin and historical en, Holsatia, italic=yes) is the region between the rivers Elbe and Eider. It is the southern half of Schleswig-Holstein, the northernmost state of German ...
-
Rendsburg
Rendsburg ( da, Rendsborg, also ''Rensborg'', nds, Rendsborg, also ''Rensborg'') is a town on the River Eider and the Kiel Canal in the central part of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is the capital of the ''Kreis'' (district) of Rendsburg-Ecke ...
and
Duke
Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ran ...
of
Schleswig
The Duchy of Schleswig ( da, Hertugdømmet Slesvig; german: Herzogtum Schleswig; nds, Hartogdom Sleswig; frr, Härtochduum Slaswik) was a duchy in Southern Jutland () covering the area between about 60 km (35 miles) north and 70 km ...
from 1404 until his death.
Life
Henry was the son of
Gerhard VI of Holstein and
Catherine Elisabeth of Brunswick-Lüneburg
Catherine Elisabeth of Brunswick-Lüneburg (c. 1367 – after 1423) was Duchess consort of Schleswig and Countess consort of Holstein-Rendsburg. She was the regent of some of the fiefs of her son Henry during his minority from 1404 to 1415.
Biogr ...
(d. 1417/1422) from the
Holstein-Rendsburg
Holstein-Rendsburg is the name of a county that existed from 1290 to 1459, ruled by a line of the Schauenburg family.
Rise and fall of the county
The Schauenburgs had ruled in Holstein since 1110/1111. In 1290, when Count Gerhard I of Holstei ...
line of the
House of Schauenburg
The House of Schaumburg was a dynasty of German rulers. Until c. 1485, it was also known as the House of Schauenburg. Together with its ancestral possession, the County of Schaumburg, the family also ruled the County of Holstein and its partitions ...
. His father, Gerhard VI, fell in battle on 4 August 1404 during an attempt to conquer
Dithmarschen
Dithmarschen (, Northern Low Saxon, Low Saxon: ; archaic English: ''Ditmarsh''; da, Ditmarsken; la, label=Medieval Latin, Tedmarsgo) is a district in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is bounded by (from the north and clockwise) the districts of ...
. Henry was seven years old at the time; his mother took up his guardianship, while the
regency
A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state '' pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy ...
was taken up by his uncle
Henry III.
Henry III had been at war with Denmark since 1408 over the Duchy of Schleswig. Henry III claimed it as a hereditary
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 ...
; the Danish
Margaret I Margaret I may refer to:
* Margaret I, Countess of Flanders (died 1194)
* Margaret I of Scotland (1283–1290), usually known as the Maid of Norway
* Margaret I, Countess of Holland (1311–1356), Countess of Hainaut and Countess of Holland
* Ma ...
and later
Eric VII, wanted the duchy for themselves. In 1413, the regency ended. Henry IV, together with his younger brothers
Adolf VIII and
Gerhard VII, continued the war with Denmark. In 1417, a cease fire was agreed, after mediation by the city 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 ...
. In 1423, the war continued.
On 28 June 1424 in
Buda
Buda (; german: Ofen, sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Budim, Будим, Czech and sk, Budín, tr, Budin) was the historic capital of the Kingdom of Hungary and since 1873 has been the western part of the Hungarian capital Budapest, on the ...
, Emperor
Sigismund Sigismund (variants: Sigmund, Siegmund) is a German proper name, meaning "protection through victory", from Old High German ''sigu'' "victory" + ''munt'' "hand, protection". Tacitus latinises it '' Segimundus''. There appears to be an older form of ...
ruled in favour of the Danes; however, this did not end hostilities. Henry IV appealed to
Pope Martin V
Pope Martin V ( la, Martinus V; it, Martino V; January/February 1369 – 20 February 1431), born Otto (or Oddone) Colonna, was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 11 November 1417 to his death in February 1431. Hi ...
to overrule the emperor's decision. However, this appeal was unsuccessful. In 1426, Danish troops occupied areas around the cities of
Schleswig
The Duchy of Schleswig ( da, Hertugdømmet Slesvig; german: Herzogtum Schleswig; nds, Hartogdom Sleswig; frr, Härtochduum Slaswik) was a duchy in Southern Jutland () covering the area between about 60 km (35 miles) north and 70 km ...
and
Flensburg
Flensburg (; Danish, Low Saxon: ''Flensborg''; North Frisian: ''Flansborj''; South Jutlandic: ''Flensborre'') is an independent town (''kreisfreie Stadt'') in the north of the German state of Schleswig-Holstein. Flensburg is the centre of the ...
. Henry IV tried to gain support from the Hanseatic cities in Saxony, from the Frisians in
Eiderstedt
Eiderstedt (german: Eiderstedt, ; da, Ejdersted; North Frisian: ''Ääderstää'') is a peninsula in the district of Nordfriesland in the German federal state of Schleswig-Holstein.
Overview
It is approximately 30 km in length and 15& ...
and even from the
Victual Brothers
, native_name_lang =
, named_after = french: vitailleurs (provisioners, Hundred Years' War)
, image = Vitalienbrueder, Wandmalerei in d, Kirche zu Bunge auf Gotland, gemalt ca. 1405.JPG
, image_size = 250px ...
.
[See: Karl Jansen, 1880]
During the
Danish-Holstein-Hanseatic war Henry IV fell in battle on 28 May 1427, during the siege of Flensburg. He was buried in the St. Lawrence church in
Itzehoe
Itzehoe (; nds, Itzhoe) is a town in the German state of Schleswig-Holstein.
As the capital of the district Steinburg, Itzehoe is located on the Stör, a navigable tributary of the Elbe, 51 km (31.7 mi) northwest of Hamburg and 24  ...
.
Legacy
During Henry's rule as Duke of Schleswig, representatives of the North Frisian
Hundred
100 or one hundred (Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 and preceding 101.
In medieval contexts, it may be described as the short hundred or five score in order to differentiate the English and Germanic use of "hundred" to de ...
s gathered on 17 June 1426 on the island
Föhr
Föhr ( ''Fering'' North Frisian: ''Feer''; da, Før) is one of the North Frisian Islands on the German coast of the North Sea. It is part of the Nordfriesland district in the federal state of Schleswig-Holstein. Föhr is the second-largest No ...
to record Frisian law in the . This is the oldest preserved formulation or Frisian law.
Ancestry
References
*
External links
* , viewed on 29 June 2011
* , viewed on 29 June 2011
Footnotes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Henry 04, Count of Holstein-Rendsburg
Henry 03
Henry 04
House of Schauenburg
1397 births
1427 deaths
15th-century German people