Christian III, Count of Oldenburg (first attested in 12691285) was a ruling Count of Oldenburg. His parents were

John I John I may refer to: People Religious figures * John I (bishop of Jerusalem) * John Chrysostom (349 – c. 407), Patriarch of Constantinople * John I of Antioch (died 441) * Pope John I of Alexandria, Coptic Pope from 496 to 505 * Pope John I, P ...

of Oldenburg and Richeza (or ''Rixa'') of Hoya-Stumpenhausen.

Life

Christian III was first mentioned in a document in 1269 as . From 1272, his brother Otto II appears as co-ruler. During the early years of his reign, the

ministeriales The ''ministeriales'' (singular: ''ministerialis'') were a legally unfree but socially elite class of knights, administrators, and officials in the High Middle Ages in the Holy Roman Empire, drawn from a mix of servile origins, free commoners, and ...

, led by the Knight Robert von Westerholt, revolted. The rebels managed to invade the city of Oldenburg. Christian, who was still defending Oldenburg Castle, set the city on fire, so that the attackers were left with neither food nor shelter, and had to withdraw. Christian pursued them, and decisively defeated them in the Battle of the Tungeler Marsh. Robert von Westerholt and other rebellious noblemen were taken prisoner. The

chronicle A chronicle (, from Greek ''chroniká'', from , ''chrónos'' – "time") is a historical account of events arranged in chronological order, as in a timeline. Typically, equal weight is given for historically important events and local events ...

of Rasted describes his victory in great detail. In contemporary sources, Christian is described as peace-loving ("... the peasants lived in peace and complete tranquility") and friendly towards the church. He was pious and also knew how to enjoy life ("... loved a good wine"). He married Jutta of Bentheim and had three sons. His oldest son, John II succeeded in 1285 as Count of Oldenburg; Otto became

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 ...

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (, ), is the capital of the States of Germany, German state of the Bremen (state), Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (), a two-city-state consisting of the c ...

in 1344.

References

* Hans Friedl, Wolfgang Günther, Hilke Günther-Arndt, and Heinrich Schmidt (eds.): ''Biographisches Handbuch zur Geschichte des Landes Oldenburg'', Oldenburg 1992, * Hermann Lübbing: ''Die Rasteder Chronik 1059-1477'', Oldenburg, 1976, Counts of Oldenburg 13th-century births Year of birth unknown 1285 deaths 13th-century German nobility {{Germany-count-stub

Life

See also

References