Count Bodo VII of Stolberg and Wernigerode (1375 – 15 March 1455 in Stolberg), also known as Bodo the Elder, was a German nobleman. He ruled the counties of Stolberg in the southern

Harz The Harz (), also called the Harz Mountains, is a highland area in northern Germany. It has the highest elevations for that region, and its rugged terrain extends across parts of Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Thuringia. The name ''Harz'' der ...

and

Wernigerode Wernigerode () is a town in the Harz (district), district of Harz, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Until 2007, it was the capital of the Wernigerode (district), district of Wernigerode. Its population was 32,181 in 2020. Wernigerode is located southwes ...

in the northern

Life

Bodo was the son of Count Henry of Stolberg and Elizabeth née Countess of Hohenstein. Nothing is known about his youth. Perhaps he spent some time at a court of the Counts of Schwarzburg, possibly the one in the

Sondershausen Sondershausen () is a town in Thuringia, central Germany, capital of the Kyffhäuserkreis district, situated about 50 km (30 mi) north of Erfurt. On 1 December 2007, the former municipality Schernberg was merged with Sondershausen. Until 1918 i ...

. After his father's death, he initially ruled jointly with his elder brother Henry, who died . The first time Bodo is mentioned as acting alone, was when he acquired the imperial

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 ...

of Resperwenda in 1403. After the last Count of Wernigerode died in 1429, Bodo acquired the

County of Wernigerode The County of Wernigerode () was a state of the Holy Roman Empire which arose in the Harzgau region of the former Duchy of Saxony, at the northern foot of the Harz mountain range. The comital residence was at Wernigerode, now part of Saxony-Anhal ...

in the northern Harz. One of his most important achievements, was a treaty of inheritance with the Houses of Schwarzburg and Hohnstein in 1433. Bodo died on 15 March 1455 and was buried on 17 March in the crypt of the St. Martin's Church in Stolberg.

Marriage and issue

In June 1431, at the age of 50, Count Bodo married Anna, the daughter of Count Henry of Schwarzburg, who bore him two children: * Henry, born in 1433, succeeded Bodo as Count of Stolberg and Wernigerode * Elizabeth, born in 1434, married

William IV, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg William is a masculine given name of Germanic origin. It became popular in England after the Norman conquest in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle Ages and into the modern era. It is ...

References

* Botho Graf zu Stolberg-Wernigerode: ''Geschichte des Hauses Stolberg'', George Adalbert von Mülverstedt, Magdeburg 1883, p. 171-289. Counts of Stolberg-Wernigerode People from Stolberg, Saxony-Anhalt House of Stolberg 1375 births 1455 deaths 14th-century German nobility 15th-century German nobility {{Germany-count-stub