Louis the Springer (german: Ludwig der Springer), sometimes called Louis the Jumper or Louis the Leaper (died 8 May 1123), was a German nobleman and

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: ...

Thuringia Thuringia (; german: Thüringen ), officially the Free State of Thuringia ( ), is a state of central Germany, covering , the sixth smallest of the sixteen German states. It has a population of about 2.1 million. Erfurt is the capital and larg ...

from 1056 until his death. Little is known about him, although he is mentioned in many legends. He was a prominent opponent of the

Salian The Salian dynasty or Salic dynasty (german: Salier) was a dynasty in the High Middle Ages. The dynasty provided four kings of Germany (1024–1125), all of whom went on to be crowned Holy Roman emperors (1027–1125). After the death of the l ...

emperors Henry IV and

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 (1 ...

during the

Investiture Controversy The Investiture Controversy, also called Investiture Contest (German: ''Investiturstreit''; ), was a conflict between the Church and the state in medieval Europe over the ability to choose and install bishops (investiture) and abbots of monast ...

Life

Louis was a son of Louis the Bearded and a member of the

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 ...

n noble

Ludowingians The Ludovingians or Ludowingians (german: Ludowinger) were the ruling dynasty of Thuringia and Hesse during the 11th to 13th centuries. Their progenitor was Louis the Bearded who was descended from a noble family whose genealogy cannot be pre ...

dynasty. He was baptized in the parish church in Altenbergen (today part of

Leinatal Leinatal is a former municipality in the district of Gotha, in Thuringia, Germany. Since December 2019, it is part of the municipality Georgenthal Georgenthal is a municipality in the district of Gotha, in Thuringia, Germany. The former munici ...

). Around 1080, Louis and his brother Beringe founded the Schönrain Priory. In a document dated 1100, the two brothers are called "of Schauenburg", after a castle which their father had built near

Friedrichroda Friedrichroda () is a town in the district of Gotha, Thuringia, Germany. It is situated at the north foot of the Thuringian Forest, 21 km by rail southwest of the town of Gotha. It is surrounded by fir-clad hills and possesses numerous han ...

. Louis continued the policy of his father of expanding his influence into the

Thuringian Basin The Thuringian Basin (german: Thüringer Becken) is a depression in the central and northwest part of Thuringia in Germany which is crossed by several rivers, the longest of which is the Unstrut. It stretches about from north to south and around ...

by founding castles and monasteries. His marriage to Adelheid of Stade, widow of the Saxon count palatine Frederick III, brought him into the highest levels of the German aristocracy. Louis built the castles of

Wartburg The Wartburg () is a castle originally built in the Middle Ages. It is situated on a precipice of to the southwest of and overlooking the town of Eisenach, in the state of Thuringia, Germany. It was the home of St. Elisabeth of Hungary, the ...

, which became the nucleus of the

Landgraviate of Thuringia The Duchy of Thuringia was an eastern frontier march of the Merovingian kingdom of Austrasia, established about 631 by King Dagobert I after his troops had been defeated by the forces of the Slavic confederation of Samo at the Battle of Wogastis ...

, around 1080 and Neuenburg around 1100. Louis himself did not use the title of

landgrave Landgrave (german: Landgraf, nl, landgraaf, sv, lantgreve, french: landgrave; la, comes magnus, ', ', ', ', ') was a noble title used in the Holy Roman Empire, and later on in its former territories. The German titles of ', ' ("margrave"), a ...

; his son

Louis I Louis I may refer to: * Louis the Pious, Louis I of France, "the Pious" (778–840), king of France and Holy Roman Emperor * Louis I, Landgrave of Thuringia (ruled 1123–1140) * Ludwig I, Count of Württemberg (c. 1098–1158) * Louis I of Blois ...

was the first member of the dynasty to use that title. During the

Great Saxon Revolt The Great Saxon Revolt was a civil war fought between 1077 and 1088, early in the history of the Holy Roman Empire. The revolt was led by a group of opportunistic German princes who elected as their figurehead the duke of Swabia, Rudolf of Rh ...

, Louis first sided with Emperor Henry IV, who probably made him a count in 1080. Later, he supported the future archbishop

Ruthard of Mainz Ruthard (died 1109) was Archbishop of Mainz from 1089 to 1109, and a leading opponent of the Emperor Henry IV and his antipope Clement III (Wibert of Ravenna). He spent nearly eight years in exile because of his opposition, and played a part in th ...

against the king. In 1085, he founded the monastery of

Reinhardsbrunn Reinhardsbrunn in Friedrichroda near Gotha, in the German state of Thuringia, is the site of a formerly prominent Benedictine abbey, the house monastery of the Ludovingian Landgraves of Thuringia abbey extant between 1085 and 1525. Later used a ...

with monks from

Hirsau Abbey Hirsau Abbey, formerly known as Hirschau Abbey, was once one of the most important Benedictine abbeys of Germany. It is located in the Hirsau borough of Calw on the northern slopes of the Black Forest mountain range, in the present-day state of ...

. In 1092, Pope

Urban II Pope Urban II ( la, Urbanus II; – 29 July 1099), otherwise known as Odo of Châtillon or Otho de Lagery, was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 12 March 1088 to his death. He is best known for convening th ...

confirmed him as ''

advocatus 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 monastery and exempted the monastery of episcopal jurisdiction, making it subject only to the

Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of Rome ...

. In 1094, Urban granted it the right to freely elect its abbot. In 1094 or 1095, Bishop

Walram of Naumburg Walram or Galeran (died 12 April 1111) was the bishop of Naumburg from 1090 or 1091 until his death. He was involved in the Investiture Contest. He initially supported the emperor, but switched to the pope's side by 1105. He corresponded with Ansel ...

wrote to Louis to persuade him to return to the emperor's side, but Louis had Bishop

Herrand of Halberstadt Herrand (died 23/24 October 1102) was a German prelate who served as abbot of Ilsenburg (–1090) and bishop of Halberstadt (1090–1102).. Life Herrand was probably born in Swabia around 1040. He belonged to a prominent family that produced sever ...

give a reply to the learned bishop on his behalf. Wolfgang Hartmann has proposed the hypothesis that, considering his hostile stance towards the Salians, among the statues of famous church founders in the

Naumburg Cathedral Naumburg Cathedral (german: Naumburger Dom St. Peter und St. Paul, ), located in Naumburg, Germany, is the former cathedral of the Bishopric of Naumburg-Zeitz. The church building, most of which dates back to the 13th century, is a renowned landmark ...

there must be statues of Louis and his wife.

Legend

According to legend, Louis received his nickname "the Jumper" when he boldly leaped into a river. He was attempting to take possession of the County Palatine of Saxony, that is, the area west of the river

Saale The Saale (), also known as the Saxon Saale (german: Sächsische Saale) and Thuringian Saale (german: Thüringische Saale), is a river in Germany and a left-bank tributary of the Elbe. It is not to be confused with the smaller Fränkische Saale, ...

and north of the

Unstrut The Unstrut () is a river in Germany and a left tributary of the Saale. The Unstrut originates in northern Thuringia near Dingelstädt (west of Kefferhausen in the Eichsfeld area) and its catchment area is the whole of the Thuringian Basin. It ...

. To this end, he stabbed the ruling Count Palatine, Frederick III. He was arrested and incarcerated in

Giebichenstein Castle Giebichenstein Castle (german: Burg Giebichenstein) is a castle in Halle, Saxony-Anhalt, Halle (Saale) in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is part of the Romanesque Road (''Strasse der Romanik''). Being a Burgward in the 9th century, the castle becam ...

in Halle. After three years in captivity, he expected to be executed. He escaped by leaping from the castle tower into the river Saale, where a servant was waiting for him with a boat and his favourite horse, a snow-white horse named ''Swan''. As atonement for murdering Frederick, he built the St. Ulrici church in

Sangerhausen Sangerhausen () is a town in Saxony-Anhalt, central Germany, capital of the district of Mansfeld-Südharz. It is situated southeast of the Harz, approx. east of Nordhausen, and west of Halle (Saale). About 26,000 people live in Sangerhausen ( ...

and later he founded Reinhardsbrunn Abbey. Another legend relates how he came to build the

. He found the location in 1067, while he was hunting in the area. He saw the mountain and exclaimed: ''Wait, mountain, thou shalt bear me a castle!''. However, this mountain was outside his territory. To circumvent this problem, he had his men carry dirt from his own territory and dump it on the mountain. He then had twelve of his most loyal knights stand on that spot, stick their swords in the ground and swear that the soil they were standing on, rightfully belonged to Louis.

Marriage and issue

Louis married Adelheid of Stade, the widow of Frederick III of Goseck, Count Palatine of Saxony and daughter of Lothair Udo II. Together, they had the following children: * Herman *

(d. 1140) * Henry Raspe I (d. 1130) * Udo I, bishop of Naumburg (d. 1148) * Kunigunde * Cicilia (d. 1141), married Count Gerlach I of Veldenz * Adelaide, married

Ulric II, Margrave of Carniola Ulric II (also ''Ulrich'', ''Odalric'', ''Oudalricus'', ''Udalrich'') (died 13 May 1112) was the Margrave of Istria from 1098 until circa 1107 and Carniola from 1098 until his death. He was the second son of Ulric I and Sophia, a daughter of Be ...

Jonathan R. Lyon, "Princely Brothers and Sisters: The Sibling Bond in German Politics, 1100-1250", Cornell Press, 243 * Conrad

Footnotes

Bibliography

* Wilfried Warsitzka: ''Die Thüringer Landgrafen'', Verlag Dr. Bussert & Stadeler, 2002, * Wolfgang Hartmann: ''Vom Main zur Burg Trifels — vom Kloster Hirsau zum Naumburger Dom. Auf hochmittelalterlichen Spuren des fränkischen Adelsgeschlechts der Reginbodonen'', in the series ''Veröffentlichungen des Geschichts- und Kunstvereins Aschaffenburg e.V.'', vol. 52, Aschaffenburg, 2004. *

External links

*
Entry at genealogie-mittelalter.de

{{DEFAULTSORT:Louis Springer Counts of Germany Rulers of Thuringia 1042 births 1123 deaths 11th-century German nobility 12th-century German nobility Ludovingians