Gottfried VIII, Count of Ziegenhain (after 1350 – 1394) was a German nobleman. He was the ruling Count of Ziegenhain and Nidda from 1372 until his death. He is best known as the leader of the Star League, an alliance of local nobles against the Landgraves

Henry II Henry II may refer to: Kings * Saint Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor (972–1024), crowned King of Germany in 1002, of Italy in 1004 and Emperor in 1014 *Henry II of England (1133–89), reigned from 1154 *Henry II of Jerusalem and Cyprus (1271–1 ...

and Herman II of

Hesse Hesse or Hessen ( ), officially the State of Hesse (), is a States of Germany, state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt, which is also the country's principal financial centre. Two other major hist ...

Background

He was the son of Count Gottfried VII (d. October 1372) and his wife Agnes of Falkenstein. His parents had married in 1349. No record exists of his birth, nor of an elder brother. He is, however, mentioned in a document dated 28 December 1355, in which Emperor Charles IV states that he has asked

Pope Innocent VI Pope Innocent VI (; 1282 – 12 September 1362), born Étienne Aubert, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 18 December 1352 to his death, in September 1362. He was the fifth Avignon pope and the only one with the ...

to appoint Gottfried, the son of Count Gottfried of Ziegenhain, as a

canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the material accepted as officially written by an author or an ascribed author * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western canon, th ...

Mainz Mainz (; #Names and etymology, see below) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, and with around 223,000 inhabitants, it is List of cities in Germany by population, Germany's 35th-largest city. It lies in ...

. In those days, an ecclesiastical career was usually planned for younger sons, while the eldest brother would inherit the county. This would suggest Gottfried had an elder brother. This hypothetical brother must have died young, as in 1360 Gottfried VIII is mentioned as the only son of Gottfried VII.Gottfried's sister Agnes married in 1370 to Count Kraft IV of Hohenlohe-Weikersheim. After 1450, there would be a lengthy dispute between Hesse and Hohenlohe about the inheritance of Ziegenhain, in which Hohenlohe's claim was based on this marriage, and also on the marriage between Gottfried's granddaughter Elisabeth and Count Albert I of Hohenlohe-Weikersheim. Gottfried VIII was

knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

ed on 14 March 1371.

References

* Martin Röhling: ''Die Geschichte der Grafen von Nidda und der Grafen von Ziegenhain'', in the series ''Niddaer Geschichtsblätter'', issue 9, Niddaer Heimatmuseum e.V., Nidda, 2005, * Gerhard Köbler: ''Historisches Lexikon der deutschen Länder'', 4th ed., 1992

Footnotes

Counts of Ziegenhain 14th-century births Year of birth unknown 1394 deaths 14th-century German nobility {{Germany-noble-stub