The Münch were a Swiss knightly family in the city of

Basel Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...

and its environs. The first mention of the family dates from 1154; it died out in 1759. In the thirteenth century it was, with the Schaler family, one the most influential families in Basel.Die Münch im mittelalterlichen Basel
''(in German)'' From about the end of the fourteenth century members of the family took no further part in the political life of the city.

History

The earliest mention of the family dates from 1154, when a Münch was in the service of the Prince-Bishop of Basel. During the thirteenth century members of the family built a number of castles in the country surrounding Basel, and these gave rise to a variety of branches of the family. Some of these were soon extinguished – the Münch of Stettenberg disappeared in 1310, and the Münch of Münchsberg followed them in 1356. The two principal lines were the Münch of Landskron, extinguished in 1460, and the Münch of

Münchenstein Münchenstein (Swiss German: ''Minggestai'') is a municipality in the district of Arlesheim in the canton of Basel-Landschaft in Switzerland. Historical records Münchenstein is first mentioned in 1196 as ''Kekingen''. In 1270, it was mentione ...

and of Löwenberg, which died out in 1759. Until the mid-fourteenth century, members of the Landskron branch appear in political positions in the government of Basel, and three of them became

Bürgermeister Burgomaster (alternatively spelled burgermeister, ) is the English form of various terms in or derived from Germanic languages for the chief magistrate or executive of a city or town. The name in English was derived from the Dutch . In so ...

of the city; from that time on they are seen more often as functionaries of the Habsburg court. Hartung Münch von Landskron was

bishop of Basel The Diocese of Basel (; ) is a Latin Church, Latin Catholic diocese in Switzerland. Historically, the bishops of Basel were also secular rulers of the Prince-Bishopric of Basel (). Today the diocese of Basel includes the Swiss Cantons of Switze ...

from 1325 to 1328, and Konrad occupied the same seat from 1393 to 1395. The last of the line was Johans XI, who died in 1460; his brother Burkart VII had died at the Battle of St. Jakob an der Birs in 1444. Westuebersicht Schloss Muenchenstein wiki

Westuebersicht Schloss Muenchenstein wiki

The castle of

Burg Münchenstein The German word Burg means castle. Burg or Bürg may refer to: Places Placename element * '' -burg'', a combining form in Dutch, German and English placenames * Burg, a variant of burh, the fortified towns of Saxon England Settlements * Burg, A ...

was built between approximately 1260 and 1275 by Hugo III. The Münch von Münchenstein were active in the politics of Basel until about the end of the fourteenth century, but not thereafter. was bishop of Basel from 1418 until 1422. In the fifteenth century the family ran into financial trouble: Konrad VIII mortgaged Burg Münchenstein in 1470, and in 1526 the lordship of Löwenberg was sold to the

Abbey of Lucelle Lucelle Abbey or Lützel Abbey (; ) was a Cistercian monastery in the present village of Lucelle, in the Haut-Rhin department in Alsace, France, but located right on the Swiss border. The name of the original foundation was ''Lucis cella'', the ...

. The Münchenstein branch of the family was extinguished in 1759.

History

References

Further reading