John I, Count of Oldenburg ( – ) was a ruling Count of

Oldenburg Oldenburg may also refer to: Places *Mount Oldenburg, Ellsworth Land, Antarctica *Oldenburg (city), an independent city in Lower Saxony, Germany **Oldenburg (district), a district historically in Oldenburg Free State and now in Lower Saxony *Olde ...

from 1233 until his death.

Life

His father,

Christian II Christian II (1 July 1481 – 25 January 1559) was a Scandinavian monarch under the Kalmar Union who reigned as King of Denmark and Norway, from 1513 until 1523, and Sweden from 1520 until 1521. From 1513 to 1523, he was concurrently Duke ...

, had ruled jointly with his uncle,

Otto I Otto I (23 November 912 – 7 May 973), traditionally known as Otto the Great (german: Otto der Große, it, Ottone il Grande), was East Francia, East Frankish king from 936 and Holy Roman Emperor from 962 until his death in 973. He was the olde ...

. After Christian II died in 1233, Otto I acted as guardian for the underage John I. When John I came of age, he ruled jointly with Otto I. After Otto I died in 1251, John I ruled alone. In 1244, Otto I and John I together founded the

Cistercian The Cistercians, () officially the Order of Cistercians ( la, (Sacer) Ordo Cisterciensis, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint ...

Rosenthal monastery in

Menslage Menslage is a municipality in the Osnabrück (district), district of Osnabrück, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is part of the Samtgemeinde Artland (the "collective community" of Artland). References

Osnabrück (district) {{Osnabrück-ge ...

. In 1251, the monastery moved to a fort in the Börsteler Forest, which John I already owned. In 1258 and 1259, he fought in the Bremen Prince-Archbishopric

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 ...

on the side of his cousin Hildebold of Wunstorf against

Rüstringen Rüstringen or Rustringen was an old Frisian gau, which lies between the modern district Friesland and the Weser river in modern Lower Saxony. Nowadays, only a small part of the original territory remains, namely the Butjadingen peninsula. The lar ...

, Östringen and Stedingen. When the feud had ended, he kept the territories he had conquered. After a dispute with the City of

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (german: Stadtgemeinde Bremen, ), is the capital of the German state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (''Freie Hansestadt Bremen''), a two-city-state consis ...

, he had to cede the castle in

Berne german: Berner(in)french: Bernois(e) it, bernese , neighboring_municipalities = Bremgarten bei Bern, Frauenkappelen, Ittigen, Kirchlindach, Köniz, Mühleberg, Muri bei Bern, Neuenegg, Ostermundigen, Wohlen bei Bern, Zollikofen , website ...

. As a replacement, John I and his uncle built a castle in

Delmenhorst Delmenhorst (; Northern Low Saxon: ''Demost'') is an urban district (''Kreisfreie Stadt'') in Lower Saxony, Germany. It has a population of 74,500 and is located west of downtown Bremen with which it forms a contiguous urban area, whereas the ...

, which provoked a strong reaction from Stedingen. Like his predecessors, he had many disputes with his relatives, the Counts of Oldenburg-

Wildeshausen Wildeshausen (Low Saxon: ''Wilshusen'') is a town and the capital of the Oldenburg district in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated by the river Hunte. History In 1648, Wildeshausen and the surrounding district was ceded to Sweden, in the Peace ...

. Ultimately, their county was divided between the bishops of

Münster Münster (; nds, Mönster) is an independent city (''Kreisfreie Stadt'') in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is in the northern part of the state and is considered to be the cultural centre of the Westphalia region. It is also a state distr ...

and

. This resulted in Oldenburg and Delmenhorst being almost completely surrounded by these territories, and led to centuries of disputes between the Counts of Oldenburg and the two Prince-Bishops. John I was a direct patrilineal ancestor of the British

King Charles III Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person to a ...

and of many

Kings of Denmark This is a list of Monarchy of Denmark, Danish monarchs, that is, the kings and queens regnant of Denmark. This includes: * The Kingdom of Denmark (up to 1397) ** Personal union of Denmark and Norway (1380–1397) * The Kalmar Union (1397–1536) ...

and

Tsars of Russia This is a list of all reigning monarchs in the history of Russia. It includes the princes of medieval Rus′ state (both centralised, known as Kievan Rus′ and feudal, when the political center moved northeast to Vladimir and finally to Mos ...

Marriage and issue

He married Richeza, a daughter of Count Henry II of Hoya, and had the following children: * Heilwig, married Ekbert, Count of Bentheim-Tecklenburg (d. )http://wiki-de.genealogy.net
* Christian III, Count of Oldenburg ( – 1285) * Maurice (d. 1319),

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...

* Otto II (d. 1304)

References

* Hans Friedl, Wolfgang Günther, Hilke Günther-Arndt, and Heinrich Schmidt (eds.): ''Biographisches Handbuch zur Geschichte des Landes Oldenburg'', Oldenburg, 1992,

Footnotes

Counts of Oldenburg 1200s births 1270 deaths Year of birth uncertain Year of death uncertain 13th-century German nobility {{Germany-noble-stub

Life

Marriage and issue

See also

References

Footnotes