Henry VI of Plauen (29 December 1536,
Meissen
Meissen (in German orthography: ''Meißen'', ) is a town of approximately 30,000 about northwest of Dresden on both banks of the Elbe river in the Free State of Saxony, in eastern Germany. Meissen is the home of Meissen porcelain, the Albrecht ...
– 22 January 1572 in
Schleiz) was
Burgrave of Meissen, Lord of Plauen and Lord of Schleiz and Lobenstein.
Life
Henry VI was the younger of two sons of
Henry IV, Burgrave of Plauen
Henry IV of Plauen (1510, probably on 24 August, Hartenštejn Castle – 19 May 1554, Stadtsteinach, during the siege of the Plassenburg), was High Chancellor of the Kingdom of Bohemia, Burgrave of Meissen, Lord of Plauen, Gera, Greiz, Schleiz ...
, from his marriage to Countess Margaret of
Salm (1517–1573).
Biography
After his father's death he and his older brother
Henry V Henry V may refer to:
People
* Henry V, Duke of Bavaria (died 1026)
* Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor (1081/86–1125)
* Henry V, Duke of Carinthia (died 1161)
* Henry V, Count Palatine of the Rhine (c. 1173–1227)
* Henry V, Count of Luxembourg (121 ...
jointly ruled their extensive possessions. They also inherited a dispute with the Princely
House of Reuss
Reuss (german: Reuß , ) was the name of several historical states located in present-day Thuringia, Germany. Several lordships of the Holy Roman Empire which arose after 1300 and became Imperial Counties from 1673 and Imperial Principalities in ...
. However, they were both still minors, so a month after the death of their father, King
Ferdinand of Bohemia promised to protect them against the Reuss family. In addition to the high debt they inherited from their father, they incurred new debt due to this court case against the
Reuss Reuss may refer to:
*Reuss (surname)
*Reuss (river) in Switzerland
*Reuss (state) or Reuß, several former states or countries in present-day Germany, and the Republic of Reuss
*Reuss Elder Line and Reuss Younger Line (House of Reuss), members incl ...
family. In 1556, they lost the districts of
Hof and
Schauenstein
Schauenstein is a town in the district of Hof, in Bavaria, Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most ...
by imperial arbitration.
In May 1559 the brothers had to pledge the Lordships of
Plauen
Plauen (; Czech language, Czech: ''Plavno'') is, with around 65,000 inhabitants, the fifth-largest city of Saxony, Germany after Leipzig, Dresden, Chemnitz and Zwickau, the second-largest city of the Vogtland after Gera, as well as the larges ...
and
Oelsnitz and the district of
Schöneck to Elector
August of Saxony. On 28 September 1560, the imperial court in Vienna ruled against them: they had to give the Lordship of Greiz to the Reuss family on 1 January 1561 and half each of the Lordships of
Gera and
Schleiz. All they had left were their Bohemian estates and the Bohemian fiefs of
Úvalno (german: Lobenstein) and
Posterstein
Posterstein is a German municipality in the Thuringian Landkreis of Altenburger Land.
Geography
Neighboring municipalities
Municipalities near Posterstein are Heukewalde, Löbichau, Nöbdenitz, and Vollmershain in the district of Altenburger L ...
Castle. The dispute with the Reuss family, however, reached a conclusion. It ended with a treaty, which was confirmed and sealed by the Emperor in Prague on 9 March 1562. On 14 March 1562, the brothers were invested by the Emperor.
In 1563 the brothers decided to divide their lands. Henry VI received the Lordships of
Schleiz and
Úvalno and the district of
Pausa
In linguistics, pausa (Latin for 'break', from Greek παῦσις, ''pausis'' 'stopping, ceasing') is the hiatus between prosodic declination units. The concept is somewhat broad, as it is primarily used to refer to allophones that occur in cer ...
. When they had to repay the loan, they found that the money wasn't there (Henry VI was accused of having spent it) and as a result, the heartland of Plauen, the Lordships of
Plauen
Plauen (; Czech language, Czech: ''Plavno'') is, with around 65,000 inhabitants, the fifth-largest city of Saxony, Germany after Leipzig, Dresden, Chemnitz and Zwickau, the second-largest city of the Vogtland after Gera, as well as the larges ...
and
Oelsnitz and the district
Schöneck were forever lost to
Saxony.
In preparation for his marriage on 9 April 1564 at
Fallersleben to Princess Catherine of Brunswick-Lüneburg-Gifhorn (born: 1548 in
Gifhorn; died: 10 December 1565 in
Schleiz) he pledged the district of
Pausa
In linguistics, pausa (Latin for 'break', from Greek παῦσις, ''pausis'' 'stopping, ceasing') is the hiatus between prosodic declination units. The concept is somewhat broad, as it is primarily used to refer to allophones that occur in cer ...
to a citizen in Leipzig, who sold the claims in 1569 to Elector August of Saxony.
On 27 August 1566 Henry married again, this time with Anna of Pomerania-Stettin (born: 5 February 1531 in
Stettin
Szczecin (, , german: Stettin ; sv, Stettin ; Latin language, Latin: ''Sedinum'' or ''Stetinum'') is the capital city, capital and largest city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in northwestern Poland. Located near the Baltic Sea and the Po ...
; died 13 October 1592 in
Rosenburg). In constant shortage of money he pledged Úvalno in 1567 to the Schwarzburg family and 1569 to the Vitzthum of Eckstaedt family. He could not redeem this loan either, so he lost Úvalno as well.
Henry VI. died on 22 January 1572 in poverty as the last of the
Vogts of Plauen. Both his marriages were childless. He was buried in the Mountain Church at Schleiz. His property passed to the Reuss family who contested control of the Lordship of
Schleiz with Saalburg and Burgk with his widow for the next twenty years. Anna of Pomerania refused to leave her
Wittum, which Henry had given her with the Emperor's confirmation, but without the consent of the Reuss family. Even after she remarried in 1576, Anne refused to give up Schleiz. The dispute was settled in 1590: Anna handed Schleiz over to the Reuss family, in exchange for a cash payment of guilders.
Henry VI. was a member of the ancient Plauen line and is only remotely related with the Reuss of Plauen at Greiz line, who later were the Princes of
Reuss Elder Line
The Principality of Reuss-Greiz (german: Fürstentum Reuß-Greiz), called the Principality of the Reuss Elder Line (german: Fürstentum Reuß älterer Linie) after 1848, was a sovereign state in modern Germany, ruled by members of the House of ...
[A family tree and explanations can be found in: Johannes Richter: ''Zur Genealogie und Geschichte der Burggrafen zu Meißen und Grafen zum Hartenstein aus dem älteren Hause Plauen'', in: ''Sächsische Heimatblätter'', issue 5/1992] Their common ancestor was Henry I, the founder of the House of Plauen, who lived in the 13th Century.
References
* Berthold Schmidt: ''Die Reußen, Genealogie des Gesamthauses Reuß älterer und jüngerer Linie, sowie der ausgestorbenen Vogtslinien zu Weida, Gera und Plauen und der Burggrafen zu Meißen aus dem Hause Plauen'', Schleiz, 1903
* Berthold Schmidt: ''Burggraf Heinrich IV. zu Meißen, Oberstkanzler der Krone Böhmens und seine Regierung im Vogtland'', Gera, 1888
* Berthold Schmidt: ''Geschichte des Reußenlandes'' half-volumes 1 and 2, Gera, 1923 and 1927
* Johannes Richter: ''Zur Genealogie und Geschichte der Burggrafen zu Meißen und Grafen zum Hartenstein aus dem älteren Hause Plauen'', in: ''Sächsische Heimatblätter'', issue 5/1992
* Johannes Richter: ''Burggraf Heinrich IV. von Meissen, Graf zu Hartenstein, Herr zu Plauen und Gera - "Der Eroberer von Hof"'', in: ''Geschichte am Obermain'', vol. 19, Lichtenfels, 1993/94
Footnotes
External links
* https://web.archive.org/web/20110527163142/http://www.vogtlandkreis.de/shownews.php?id=224
{{DEFAULTSORT:Henry Vi, Burgrave Of Plauen
Meissen
House of Reuss
1536 births
1572 deaths
Burgraves of Germany