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 ...
in
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 la ...
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 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 mona ...
.
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 ...
n noble
Ludowingians dynasty. He was baptized in the parish church in Altenbergen (today part of
Leinatal). 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.
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 Woga ...
, 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"), ...
; 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 R ...
, Louis first sided with Emperor
Henry IV, who probably made him a count in 1080. Later, he supported the future archbishop
Ruthard of Mainz against the king. In 1085, he founded the monastery of
Reinhardsbrunn 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 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 R ...
. In 1094, Urban granted it the right to freely elect its abbot.
[
In 1094 or 1095, Bishop Walram of Naumburg wrote to Louis to persuade him to return to the emperor's side, but Louis had Bishop Herrand of Halberstadt 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 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 Franconian 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. ...
. 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 (Saale) in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is part of the Romanesque Road (''Strasse der Romanik'').
Being a Burgward in the 9th century, the castle became a royal residence ...
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 Sangerhause ...
and later he founded Reinhardsbrunn Abbey.
Another legend relates how he came to build the 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 ...
. 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
* 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 ...
(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[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