Henry, Count of Pfannberg (before 1241 – 24 July 1282) was a Count of Pfannberg. He was the Governor of

Styria Styria ( ; ; ; ) is an Austrian Federal states of Austria, state in the southeast of the country. With an area of approximately , Styria is Austria's second largest state, after Lower Austria. It is bordered to the south by Slovenia, and cloc ...

from 1253 to 1254 and high judge of Styria from 1276 to 1279.

Life

He was a son of Count Ulrich II (d. 1249) and the last Countess of Lebenau. He played a prominent rôle in the political life in Styria in the chaotic period between the death of Frederick II, the last Duke of Austria from the

House of Babenberg The House of Babenberg was a noble dynasty of Austrian Dukes and Margraves. Descending from the Popponids and originally from Bamberg in the Duchy of Franconia (present-day Bavaria), the Babenbergs ruled the imperial Margraviate of Austria from ...

in 1246 and the death of

Ottokar II of Bohemia Ottokar II (; , in Městec Králové, Bohemia – 26 August 1278, in Dürnkrut, Austria, Dürnkrut, Lower Austria), the Iron and Golden King, was a member of the Přemyslid dynasty who reigned as King of Bohemia from 1253 until his death in 1278 ...

in 1278. Henry's role was much more prominent than that of his brothers Ulrich, Bernard and Siegfried. In the dispute between

Philip of Spanheim Philip of Spanheim (also: Philip of Sponheim; died 22 July 1279) was a 13th century bishop who was elected Archbishop of Salzburg (1247–1257) and Patriarch of Aquileia (1269–1271). He held the title of a Count of Lebenau (1254–1279) and was ...

, who had been elected as Archbishop of

Salzburg Salzburg is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020 its population was 156,852. The city lies on the Salzach, Salzach River, near the border with Germany and at the foot of the Austrian Alps, Alps moun ...

, and Count Meinhard I of Gorizia and Tyrol, Henry and his brother Bernard initially sided with Philip of Spanheim, in order to protect their fiefs in Carinthia, Styria and Salzburg. A deed of their alliance has survived, which was sealed on 1 June 1250 in Fohnsdorf; a number of vassals of the Pfannbergs are named as guarantors. Their stance in later years is less clear. Henry was bribed by King Bela IV of Hungary, who attempted to make his son Duke of Styria. In 1252, Ulrich sided with Ottokar, who was ruling Austria by then. Ulrich allegedly acted on behalf of all four brothers. In 1253 Ottokar had settled himself in Styria. He appointed Henry as governor of Styria and returned to Bohemia. Bela IV then attacked Bohemia, and in the war that followed, Ottokar's father, King

Wenceslaus I of Bohemia Wenceslaus I (; c. 1205 – 23 September 1253), called One-Eyed, was King of Bohemia from 1230 to 1253. Wenceslaus was a son of Ottokar I of Bohemia and his second wife Constance of Hungary. Marriage and children In 1224, Wenceslaus married ...

, was killed. The war was ended by the Treaty of Buda of 1254, in which Ottokar ceded Styria to Bela.

Marriage and issue

In 1260, Henry married Agnes of Plain-Hardegg, the daughter (or sister) of Count Conrad III (1230-1260). Agnes' mother was Euphemia of Ortenburg. Agnes is last mentioned in a record dated 10 April 1298 in

Ehrenhausen Ehrenhausen is a former municipality in the district of Leibnitz in Styria, Austria. Since the 2015 Styria municipal structural reform, it is part of the municipality Ehrenhausen an der Weinstraße. Geography Ehrenhausen lies on the Mur river i ...

, when she donated her

dower Dower is a provision accorded traditionally by a husband or his family, to a wife for her support should she become widowed. It was settlement (law), settled on the bride (being given into trust instrument, trust) by agreement at the time of t ...

, namely Loschental Castle in the Lavant Valley and the tower in

Lavamünd Lavamünd () is a market town in the district of Wolfsberg (district), Wolfsberg in the Austrian state of Carinthia (state), Carinthia. The Drava#Hydroelectric power plants, Lavamünd hydroelectric power plant on the Drava River and the Soboth res ...

with all appurtenances, to the

Archbishopric of Salzburg The Prince-Archbishopric of Salzburg (; ) was an ecclesiastical principality and state of the Holy Roman Empire. It comprised the secular territory ruled by the archbishops of Salzburg, as distinguished from the much larger Catholic diocese f ...

, in return for the archbishop praying for the salvation of her soul. Henry and Agnes had three children: * Herman (d. 1287), married Elisabeth, a daughter of Ulrich II of Heunburg and Agnes of Baden, and secondly, after 1297, with Henry II of Hohenlohe * Rainold (d. 1292),

abbot Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the head of an independent monastery for men in various Western Christian traditions. The name is derived from ''abba'', the Aramaic form of the Hebrew ''ab'', and means "father". The female equivale ...

of Rein Abbey (1280-1292) * Ulrich IV (1261 – after 1318), married Margaret (1268 – 8 December 1292), another daughter of Ulrich II of Heunburg and Agnes of Baden

References

* Karlmann Tangl: ''Die Grafen von Pfannberg'', in: ''Archiv für Kunde österreichischer Geschichts-Quellen'', vol. 18, Vienna, 1857 * Othmar Pickl: ''Geschichte des Marktes Frohnleiten'', Graz, 1956 * (Article about the Pfannberg family) {{Authority control Counts of Pfannberg 13th-century births Year of birth unknown 1282 deaths 13th-century nobility from the Holy Roman Empire