The Thuringian Counts' War (), or Thuringian Counts' Feud (''Thüringer Grafenfehde'') was a conflict between several ancient aristocratic families and the

House of Wettin The House of Wettin () was a dynasty which included Saxon monarch, kings, Prince Elector, prince-electors, dukes, and counts, who once ruled territories in the present-day German federated states of Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia. The dynas ...

for supremacy in

Thuringia Thuringia (; officially the Free State of Thuringia, ) is one of Germany, Germany's 16 States of Germany, states. With 2.1 million people, it is 12th-largest by population, and with 16,171 square kilometers, it is 11th-largest in area. Er ...

. The war lasted from 1342 to 1346.''Die Saale aus der Luft''
by Bogner, Franz Xaver. Retrieved 23 Dec 2014 The conflict is also called by various other names in English sources including War of the Thuringian Counts and Thuringian Comital War. In 1247, the last Thuringian landgrave from the House of the

Ludovingians The Ludovingians or Ludowingians () were the ruling dynasty of Landgraviate of Thuringia, Thuringia and Landgraviate of Hesse, Hesse during the 11th to 13th centuries. Their progenitor was Louis the Bearded, Count of Thuringia, Louis the Bear ...

Henry Raspe Henry Raspe (; – 16 February 1247) was the Landgrave of Thuringia from 1231 until 1239 and again from 1241 until his death. In 1246, with the support of the Papacy, he was elected King of Germany in opposition to Conrad IV, but his conteste ...

, died without a male heir. During the

war of succession A war of succession is a war prompted by a succession crisis in which two or more individuals claim to be the Order of succession, rightful successor to a demise of the Crown, deceased or deposition (politics), deposed monarch. The rivals are ...

that followed,

Henry the Illustrious Henry III, called Henry the Illustrious (''Heinrich der Erlauchte'') (c. 1215 – 15 February 1288) from the House of Wettin was List of Margraves of Meissen, Margrave of Meissen and last March of Lusatia, Margrave of Lusatia (as Henry IV) from ...

, Margrave of

Meissen Meissen ( ), is a town of approximately 30,000 about northwest of Dresden and 75 km (46 mi) west of Bautzen on both banks of the Elbe river in the Free State of Saxony, in eastern Germany. Meissen is the home of Meissen porcelain, th ...

, finally won the landgraviate for the House of Wettin, whilst the Hessian territories went to

Henry I of Hesse Henry I of Hesse "the Child" ( German: ''Heinrich das Kind'') (24 June 1244 – 21 December 1308) was the first Landgrave of Hesse. He was the son of Henry II, Duke of Brabant and Sophie of Thuringia. Life In 1247, as Heinrich Raspe, La ...

and formed the new

Landgraviate of Hesse The Landgraviate of Hesse () was a principality of the Holy Roman Empire. It existed as a single entity from 1264 to 1567, when it was divided among the sons of Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse. History In the early Middle Ages, the territory of He ...

. The grandson of Henry the Illustrious, Frederick I, the Brave, and his son, Frederick II, the Serious, tried to secure the suzerainty of the Wettins over Thuringia and thus fell inevitably into opposition with the other princes in the land. On 1 September 1342, the various counts and lords of Thuringia of sealed a pact in

Arnstadt Arnstadt () is a town in Ilm-Kreis, Thuringia, Germany, on the river Gera (river), Gera about south of Erfurt, the capital of Thuringia. Arnstadt is one of the oldest towns in Thuringia, and has a well-preserved historic centre with a partially ...

which effectively allied them against Frederick the Serious.Langhof, Peter (1995). ''Die Thüringer Grafenfehde und die Schwarzburger''
pdf
Retrieved 23 Dec 2014. The parties to the alliance included the counts of Schwarzburg, Weimar-Orlamünde and Hohnstein and the

advocates An advocate is a professional in the field of law. Different countries and legal systems use the term with somewhat differing meanings. The broad equivalent in many English law–based jurisdictions could be a barrister or a solicitor. Howeve ...

of Gera and Plauen. Conflict broke out in October. The

Electoral Mainz The Electorate of Mainz ( or '; ), previously known in English as Mentz and by its French name Mayence, was one of the most prestigious and influential states of the Holy Roman Empire. In the hierarchy of the Catholic Church, the Archbishop-Elec ...

archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...

, Henry III of Virneburg, who was already in dispute with the citizens of

Erfurt Erfurt () is the capital (political), capital and largest city of the Central Germany (cultural area), Central German state of Thuringia, with a population of around 216,000. It lies in the wide valley of the Gera (river), River Gera, in the so ...

over

city rights Town privileges or borough rights were important features of European towns during most of the second millennium. The city law customary in Central Europe probably dates back to Italian models, which in turn were oriented towards the tradition ...

, supported the counts and so the citizens of Erfurt took the side of Frederick the Serious. By 14 December 1342 the first peace treaty, brokered by the Emperor, was signed. Because the counts and advocates were bound to pay a very high sum - 338,000 Marks of Erfurt silver - for "breaking the peace", however, the peace did not hold and fighting soon flared up again. Frederick now sought to weaken the opposing allies by agreeing separate treaties with his enemies: first on 6 September 1343 with the advocates of Gera and Plauen, on 28 July 1345 with the Schwarzburgs, and finally on 11 April 1346 in the Treaty of Dresden with the Count of Weimar-Orlamünde. Each of the allies had to turn their main territories into

fief A fief (; ) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a form of feudal alle ...

s of the Wettins and so lost their

imperial immediacy In the Holy Roman Empire, imperial immediacy ( or ) was the status of an individual or a territory which was defined as 'immediate' () to Emperor and Empire () and not to any other intermediate authorities, while one that did not possess that stat ...

and their political independence. The outcome of the comital war strengthened the position of the Wettins in Thuringia, although were unable to finally drive the Schwarzburgs and the advocates out of Thuringia and these vassals continued to play an important role until the end of the monarchy in Thuringia in 1918 (cf.

Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt was a small historic state in present-day Thuringia, Germany, with its capital at Rudolstadt. History Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt was established in 1599 in the course of a resettlement of House of Schwarzburg, Schwarzburg dy ...

Schwarzburg-Sondershausen Schwarzburg-Sondershausen was a small principality in Germany, in the present day state of Thuringia, with its capital at Sondershausen. History Schwarzburg-Sondershausen was a county (earldom) until 1697. In that year, it became a principal ...

, Reuß). However, after the counts' war they could not further expand their territories, but were restricted to their homelands and therefore no longer in a position to threaten the dominance of the Wettins in Thuringia. For the counts of Weimar-Orlamünde the result of the war meant the end of their imperial immediacy. A short while later,

Weimar Weimar is a city in the state (Germany), German state of Thuringia, in Central Germany (cultural area), Central Germany between Erfurt to the west and Jena to the east, southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together w ...

fell to Wettin as an agreed fief and became an important ''

residenz ''Residenz'' () is a German word for "domicile", now obsolete except in the formal sense of an official residence. A related term, ''Residenzstadt'', denotes a city where a sovereign ruler resided, and thus carries a similar meaning to the contemp ...

'' of the Ernestine branch of the Wettins (cf.

Saxe-Weimar Saxe-Weimar () was one of the Saxon duchies held by the Ernestine branch of the Wettin dynasty in present-day Thuringia. The chief town and capital was Weimar. The Weimar branch was the most genealogically senior extant branch of the House of W ...

and Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach).

References

Literature

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Thuringer Grafenkrieg 14th-century conflicts 1340s in the Holy Roman Empire Eisenach History of Weimar House of Wettin Feuds in Germany Wars of succession involving the states and peoples of Europe