Johann I von Habsburg-Laufenburg (also ''Johannes von Rapperswil-Laufenburg- Habsburg'', ''von Laufenburg-Rapperswil''; born around 1297; died 21 September 1337 in Grynau) was the Count of

Habsburg-Laufenburg This is a family tree of the Habsburg family. This family tree only includes male scions of the House of Habsburg from 1096 to 1564. Otto II was the first to take the Habsburg Castle name as his own, adding "von Habsburg" to his title and creati ...

and later Count of the

House of Rapperswil The House of Rapperswil respectively Counts of Rapperswil (''Grafen von Rapperwil'' since 1233, before ''Lords'') ruled the upper ''Zürichsee'' and ''Seedamm'' region around Rapperswil and parts of, as of today, Swiss cantons of St. Gallen, ...

Early life

Johann was born between 1295 and 1297 AD probably in the

Rapperswil Castle Rapperswil Castle ( Swiss German: ''Schloss Rapperswil'') is a castle, built in the early 13th century by the House of Rapperswil, in the formerly independent city of Rapperswil. The castle is located on the eastern '' Zürichsees western '' ...

in the medieval city of

Rapperswil Rapperswil (Swiss German: or ;Andres Kristol, ''Rapperswil SG (See)'' in: ''Dictionnaire toponymique des communes suisses – Lexikon der schweizerischen Gemeindenamen – Dizionario toponomastico dei comuni svizzeri (DTS, LSG)'', Centre de dial ...

as the oldest son of Elisabeth Countess of Rapperswil († 1309) by second marriage with Count ''Rudolf von Habsburg-Laufenburg'' († 1315). ''Rudolf, Ludwig and Clara'' are mentioned as siblings of Johann, Stadtarchiv Rapperswil as well as his stepbrother Reichsvogt ''

Wernher von Homberg Wernher von Homberg (also ''Werner''; ''Hohenberg'', 1284 – 21 March 1320) was a knight in the service Emperor Henry VII, and later of Frederick the Fair. His Minnesang poems are recorded in the ''Codex Manesse''. Wernher's father was Ludwig o ...

'' and his stepsister ''Cecilia von Homberg'' who became the abbess of the

Oetenbach Nunnery Oetenbach was a Dominican nunnery in the medieval municipality of Zürich in Switzerland. Oetenbach was named after the small stream of the same name at its first location at Zürichhorn, situated outside of the European Middle Ages town walls, but ...

, born to Countess Elisabeth by first marriage with Count ''Ludwig von Homberg''. Johann may be raised in Laufenburg and even educated at the royal Habsburg court, as well as his son ''Johann II'' († 1380) and those brothers ''Rudolf IV'' and ''Gotfrid II''. On 23 March 1310 (''X. Kal. April. Ind. Vili.'') Gebhard, provost of Strassburg, authenticated as ''vicar in temporalibus'' of the Bishop Gerhard of Konstanz that Count Rudolf and Johann, his son, ''to enlarge the spiritual welfare of their ancestors and the wife Elisabeth, with his permission'' to grant to the church

Jonen Jonen is a municipality in the district of Bremgarten in the canton of Aargau in Switzerland. History The first traces of a settlement come from an extensive burial ground from the Hallstatt period. There are remains of a Roman estate in Scha ...

in Rapperswil, whose feudal law belongs to the Counts, a ''resident priest donated for Sundays and public holidays'' (benefice, in German: ''Pfründe''). Sealed have Propst Gebhard, Count Rudolf for himself and his son (who has no seal) and (at the request of the Counts) Abbot Joh. V. Einsiedeln and the mayor of the city Rapperswil.

Count of Habsburg-Laufenburg-Rapperswil

Johann was married to Agnes von Werd († after 9 February 1354), daughter of Sigismund of Werd, landgrave of the Lower Alsace. Johann's mother, Countess Elisabeth died in 1309, and after the death of his father Rudolf III in 1314, Count Johann was Landgraf of the ''Unterklettgau'' bailiwick and

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 ...

of the

Rheinau Abbey Rheinau Abbey (Kloster Rheinau) was a Benedictine monastery in Rheinau in the Canton of Zürich, Switzerland, founded in about 778 and suppressed in 1862. It is located on an island in the Rhine. History The foundation of the abbey, on a strategic ...

. In 1315 Count Johann renewed the municipal law of the city of Laufenburg. Agnes and Johann had four children: Johan(nnes), Gotfried (II), Ruldof (IV), and Agnes who became a nun at the

Säckingen Abbey Säckingen Abbey is a former Roman Catholic abbey located in Bad Säckingen, Baden-Württemberg in Germany. The Abbey was founded in the 6th or 7th century by Fridolin of Säckingen, an Irish monk. While the Abbey had both monks and nuns, only th ...

Feud with the city of Zürich

On 18 July 1336, Rudolf Brun, mayor of the city of Zürich, defeated his political opponents, the former members of the ''Rat'' (council) of Zürich, of which around 12 members found refuge by count Johann in

. In feud (German: ''Fehde''), an approved tradition in medieval law, of the so-called ''Äusseres Zürich'' coalition of the

Grafschaft Rapperswil The House of Rapperswil respectively Counts of Rapperswil (''Grafen von Rapperwil'' since 1233, before ''Lords'') ruled the Obersee (Zürichsee), upper ''Zürichsee'' and ''Seedamm'' region around Rapperswil and parts of, as of today, Canton (Sw ...

, some knights and nobles which supported them, Count Johann became the leader of the opposition in the

city of Zürich A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

. Latter was supported among others by the House of Toggenburg as its military arm, as well by the

Einsiedeln Abbey Einsiedeln Abbey (german: Kloster Einsiedeln) is a Benedictine Catholic monastery in the village of Einsiedeln in the canton of Schwyz, Switzerland. The abbey is dedicated to Our Lady of the Hermits, in recognition of Meinrad of Einsiedeln, a he ...

which supported Brun's regime. The counselors hoped for support by Count Johann and offered probably in return the forgiveness of debt of the

Herrschaft Rapperswil The House of Rapperswil respectively Counts of Rapperswil (''Grafen von Rapperwil'' since 1233, before ''Lords'') ruled the upper ''Zürichsee'' and ''Seedamm'' region around Rapperswil and parts of, as of today, Swiss cantons of St. Gallen, G ...

, as some sources hypothesize. Some, if not most of the refugees, were decades before their exile

vassals A vassal or liege subject is a person regarded as having a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch, in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. While the subordinate party is called a vassal, the dominant party is called a suzerain. ...

of the Counts of Rapperswil, including the ancient councilors family Bilgeri those members lost six of their seats in the council of Zürich.

Death on 21 September 1337

Graf ''Diethelm von Toggenburg'' moved On 21 September 1337 with a fleet, numerous soldiers and siege material from Zürich over the ''Obersee'' to the Grynau Castle. The castle was at that time located at the confluence of the Linth river in the former '' Tuggenersee'' and served as a base of the "outer Zürich" (''äusseres Zürich'') alliance. Although they thereby passed the city of

, the Zürich troops were convinced not to be bothered by the people of Rapperswil, due to their large number. Count Johann made the best of it and landed, hidden by the lakeshore ''

Buechberg Buechberg (also Buchberg) is an elongated molasse hill in the Swiss cantons of Schwyz and St. Gallen on Obersee lakeshore. Geography The Molasse hill is a remain of the last glacial period in Switzerland. Situated on the southeastern Obers ...

'', silently his soldiers from Rapperswil crossing the lake. From the wooded eastern slope of the mountain, Johann raided the Zürich troops carelessly encamped; which headless fled to their ships, and Graf Diethelm was taken as prisoner. As the Zürich troops remarked that Graf Johann had just a handful of soldiers, they competed for the counterattack, attacked Johann's small squad, and Count ''Johann von Habsburg-Laufenburg found after valiant resistance the death. In the pain and wrath, his abiders cut down the captived'' ount of' 'Toggenburg' in pieces.''

Aftermath

Count Johann's children – Johann II, the oldest of three sons, Rudolf and Gotfrid, and Agnes – were set under guardianship of Albrecht, Duke of Austria, sealed by a document between the city of Zürich and the German King respectively Duke Albrecht on 21 November 1337. The document included also a peace contract and regulations, and included among others: ''Johann's children got the documents related to their rights in Raprechtswile'' and their possessions in the ''March'' (Alt-Rapperswil) area. Furthermore, the document also included the Zürich councils (''äussere Bürger'') who refuged to Rapperswil and financial compensations by the former councils to Brun's entourage. These restrictions also included Johann I's children – the German king had to vouch for Brun's regime, Duke Albrecht for Rapperswil and the underage Rapperswils Counts. After the death of Count Rudolf von Habsburg-Laufenburg the inheritance of the Rapperswil possessions and rights went to Countess Elisabeth's son Wernher von Homberg, thenafter to Johann I and to his son ''Johann II''. As mentioned, Johann I and after those dead, his son Johann II supported the opposition of the former council members of Zürich against Rudolf Brun, since 1336 the self-style mayor of the city. An uprising in Zürich failed in 1350, and the city of

and the remaining two castles of the House of Rapperswil were widely destroyed by Brun's troops. Count Johann II was arrested in Zürich for two years, and in 1352 he had to sell most of the remaining property to

Albert II, Duke of Austria Albert II (12 December 1298 – 16 August 1358), known as ''the Wise'' or ''the Lame'', a member of the House of Habsburg, was duke of Austria and Styria from 1330, as well as duke of Carinthia and margrave of Carniola from 1335 until his death ...

, a generous conveyor of the then city republic, to rebuild the ruins.

Literature

* Erwin Eugster: ''Adlige Territorialpolitik in der Ostschweiz. Kirchliche Stiftungen im Spannungsfeld früher landesherrlicher Verdrängungspolitik''. Zürich 1991, . *

Roger Sablonier Roger Sablonier (16 April 1943 – 8 June 2010) was a Swiss historian and writer of non-fiction publications, and Emeritus (Prof. Dr.) of the faculty of the University of Zürich. Biography Born in Uster on 16 April 1941 as the son of Mary Ida ( ...

: ''Gründungszeit ohne Eidgenossen: Politik und Gesellschaft in der Innerschweiz um 1300''. hier + jetzt, Baden 2008, .

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Habsburg-Laufenburg, Johann I People from Rapperswil-Jona House of Rapperswil 1337 deaths Johann I Johann 1 1295 births