Haute-Alsace
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Upper Alsace (southern
Alsace Alsace (, ; ; Low Alemannic German/ gsw-FR, Elsàss ; german: Elsass ; la, Alsatia) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in eastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine next to Germany and Switzerland. In 2020, it had ...
) was a
landgraviate 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 ...
of the
Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a Polity, political entity in Western Europe, Western, Central Europe, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its Dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, dissolution i ...
centred on
Ensisheim Ensisheim (; gsw-FR, Anze) is a Communes of France, commune in the Haut-Rhin Departments of France, department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. It is also the birthplace of the composer Léon Boëllmann. The Germanic languages, Germanic et ...
and Landser, north of the
County of Ferrette The County of Ferrette (or Pfirt) was a feudal jurisdiction in Alsace in the Middle Ages and the early modern period. It roughly corresponds with the Sundgau and comprised the lordships of Ferrette (Pfirt), Altkirch, Thann, Belfort, Rougemo ...
(Pfirt). The
counts of Habsburg The House of Habsburg (), alternatively spelled Hapsburg in Englishgerman: Haus Habsburg, ; es, Casa de Habsburgo; hu, Habsburg család, it, Casa di Asburgo, nl, Huis van Habsburg, pl, dom Habsburgów, pt, Casa de Habsburgo, la, Domus Hab ...
ruled the territory from the 1130s down to its cession to France in the 17th century.


History

In 1130, the
Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Emperor, originally and officially the Emperor of the Romans ( la, Imperator Romanorum, german: Kaiser der Römer) during the Middle Ages, and also known as the Roman-German Emperor since the early modern period ( la, Imperator ...
, Lothair III of Supplinburg in order to diminish the power of the Hohenstaufen family in the region, merged three local regions into several larger fiefs. The County of Sundgau,
County of Ferrette The County of Ferrette (or Pfirt) was a feudal jurisdiction in Alsace in the Middle Ages and the early modern period. It roughly corresponds with the Sundgau and comprised the lordships of Ferrette (Pfirt), Altkirch, Thann, Belfort, Rougemo ...
, and the parts west of the
Rhine ), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland , source1_coordinates= , source1_elevation = , source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein , source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland , source2_coordinates= , so ...
from the
Duchy of Swabia The Duchy of Swabia (German: ''Herzogtum Schwaben'') was one of the five stem duchies of the medieval German Kingdom. It arose in the 10th century in the southwestern area that had been settled by Alemanni tribes in Late Antiquity. While the ...
were merged to form the new Landgraviate of Upper Alsace. In 1188, the first mentions of the Landgraviate appear in official records, however the date of probable creation was around 1130. The Landgraviate included the prementioned areas, along with several
Seigneuries ''Seigneur'' is an originally feudal title in France before the Revolution, in New France and British North America until 1854, and in the Channel Islands to this day. A seigneur refers to the person or collective who owned a ''seigneurie'' (o ...
and
city-state A city-state is an independent sovereign city which serves as the center of political, economic, and cultural life over its contiguous territory. They have existed in many parts of the world since the dawn of history, including cities such as ...
s located in Upper Alsace.Bischoff 2020
Albert III, Count of Habsburg Albert III (died 25 November 1199), also known as Albert the Rich, was Count of Habsburg and a progenitor of the royal House of Habsburg. ''The Encyclopædia Britannica: a dictionary'', 1894, p.405, -->&lpg=PA405 Books-Google-AAJ He was the ...
, received the landgraviate of Upper Alsace from the
Emperor Frederick I Frederick Barbarossa (December 1122 – 10 June 1190), also known as Frederick I (german: link=no, Friedrich I, it, Federico I), was the Holy Roman Emperor from 1155 until his death 35 years later. He was elected King of Germany in Frankfurt on ...
in 1186. Frederick's son, Duke Frederick V, was his lord with the title of Duke of Alsace (''Elisatiae dux''). On 9 May 1469, Duke
Charles the Bold Charles I (Charles Martin; german: Karl Martin; nl, Karel Maarten; 10 November 1433 – 5 January 1477), nicknamed the Bold (German: ''der Kühne''; Dutch: ''de Stoute''; french: le Téméraire), was Duke of Burgundy from 1467 to 1477. ...
of Burgundy acquired the landgraviate of Upper Alsace and the county of Ferrette for 50,000 Rhenish
florins The Florentine florin was a gold coin struck from 1252 to 1533 with no significant change in its design or metal content standard during that time. It had 54 grains (3.499 grams, 0.113 troy ounce) of nominally pure or 'fine' gold with a purcha ...
. At the time of its purchase, the landgraviate was heavily mortgaged and pawned. Landser was mortgaged to Thüring von Hallwill for 7,000 florins. On 20 September Charles appointed Peter von Hagenbach as the "grand bailiff (''Landvogt'') of Ferrette and Alsace" with his seat at Ensisheim. This official was a successor of the previous Austrian-appointed ''Landvogt'', and thus in the service of the landgrave of Upper Alsace. The ''Landvogtei'' (bailiwick) of Alsace itself was an imperial office then mortgaged to the
Electoral Palatinate The Electoral Palatinate (german: Kurpfalz) or the Palatinate (), officially the Electorate of the Palatinate (), was a state that was part of the Holy Roman Empire. The electorate had its origins under the rulership of the Counts Palatine of ...
. On 14 April 1646, the imperial ambassador
Trauttmansdorff Trauttmansdorff Castle is a castle located south of the city of Meran, South Tyrol, northern Italy. It is home to the Touriseum, a museum of tourism and since 2001 the surrounding grounds have been open as the Trauttmansdorff Castle Gardens, a ...
, during negotiations to end the
Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (80 ...
, offered "Upper and Lower Alsace and the
Sundgau Sundgau ( or ; ) is a geographical territory in the southern Alsace region (Haut Rhin and Belfort), on the eastern edge of France. The name is derived from Alemannic German ''Sunt- gowe'' ("South shire"), denoting an Alemannic county in the Old Hi ...
, under the title of Landgraviate of Alsace" to the French. There was no such territory, since Alsace was at the time divided into several jurisdictions held by competing powers. The Archduke Ferdinand Charles held the landgraviate of Upper Alsace, while a relative held the ''Landvogtei'' (bailiwick) of
Hagenau Haguenau (; Alsatian: or ; and historically in English: ''Hagenaw'') is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department of France, of which it is a sub-prefecture. It is second in size in the Bas-Rhin only to Strasbourg, some to the south. To the n ...
with a protectorate over the
Décapole The Décapole (''Dekapolis'' or german: Zehnstädtebund) was an alliance formed in 1354 by ten Imperial cities of the Holy Roman Empire in the Alsace region to maintain their rights. It was disbanded in 1679. In 1354 Emperor Charles IV of Luxemb ...
(a league of ten imperial cities).


Landgraves

The Landgraviate was owned by the 'Landgrave of Upper Alsace', which was always a member of the
House of Habsburg The House of Habsburg (), alternatively spelled Hapsburg in Englishgerman: Haus Habsburg, ; es, Casa de Habsburgo; hu, Habsburg család, it, Casa di Asburgo, nl, Huis van Habsburg, pl, dom Habsburgów, pt, Casa de Habsburgo, la, Domus Hab ...
from 1324 by inheritance. The first Landgrave of the area was
Werner II, Count of Habsburg Werner II of Habsburg (died 19 August 1167) was Count of Habsburg also called Werner III and a progenitor of the royal House of Habsburg. He was the great-great-grandfather of King Rudolph I of Germany. He was the son of Count Otto II of Habsb ...
, and was succeeded by his family. The last Landgrave was
Ferdinand Charles, Archduke of Austria Ferdinand Charles (17 May 1628 – 30 December 1662) was the Archduke of Further Austria, including Tyrol, from 1646 to 1662. As the son of Archduke Leopold V and Claudia de' Medici, he succeeded his father upon the latter's death in 1632, un ...
.Harmonville 1842 , p.  141


See also

*
Upper Rhine The Upper Rhine (german: Oberrhein ; french: Rhin Supérieur) is the section of the Rhine between Basel in Switzerland and Bingen in Germany, surrounded by the Upper Rhine Plain. The river is marked by Rhine-kilometres 170 to 529 (the sc ...
*
University of Upper Alsace University of Upper Alsace (french: Université de Haute-Alsace, UHA) is a multidisciplinary teaching and research centre based in the two cities of Mulhouse and Colmar, France. Research and teaching at UHA concentrates mainly on science, technolog ...


Notes


References


Sources

* Kaeppelin, Charles E. R, and Mary L. Hendee. '' Alsace Throughout the Ages''. Franklin, Pa: C. Miller, 1908. * Putnam, Ruth.
Alsace and Lorraine: From Cæsar to Kaiser, 58 B.C.–1871 A.D.
' New York: 1915. * * * * * {{Authority control __NOTOC__ History of Alsace Counties of the Holy Roman Empire Landgraves of the Holy Roman Empire de:Liste der Landvögte im Elsass