Henry IV, Count of Holstein-Rendsburg (1397 – 28 May 1427) was

Count Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...

Holstein Holstein (; ; ; ; ) is the region between the rivers Elbe and Eider (river), Eider. It is the southern half of Schleswig-Holstein, the northernmost States of Germany, state of Germany. Holstein once existed as the German County of Holstein (; 8 ...

Rendsburg Rendsburg (, also ''Rensborg'', , also ''Rensborg'') is a town on the Eider (river), River Eider and the Kiel Canal in the central part of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is the capital of the ''Kreis'' (district) of Rendsburg-Eckernfoerde, Rends ...

and

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of Royal family, royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobi ...

Schleswig The Duchy of Schleswig (; ; ; ; ; ) was a duchy in Southern Jutland () covering the area between about 60 km (35 miles) north and 70 km (45 mi) south of the current border between Germany and Denmark. The territory has been di ...

from 1404 until his death.

Life

Henry was the son of Gerhard VI of Holstein and Catherine Elisabeth of Brunswick-Lüneburg (d. 1417/1422) from the Holstein-Rendsburg line of the

House of Schauenburg The House of Schaumburg was a dynasty of German rulers. Until , it was also known as the House of Schauenburg. Together with its ancestral possession, the County of Schaumburg, the family also ruled the County of Holstein and its partitions Hols ...

. His father, Gerhard VI, fell in battle on 4 August 1404 during an attempt to conquer

Dithmarschen Dithmarschen (, ; archaic English: ''Ditmarsh''; ; ) is a district in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is bounded by (from the north and clockwise) the districts of Nordfriesland, Schleswig-Flensburg, Rendsburg-Eckernförde, and Steinburg, by the ...

. Henry was seven years old at the time; his mother took up his guardianship, while the

regency In a monarchy, a regent () is a person appointed to govern a state because the actual monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge their powers and duties, or the throne is vacant and a new monarch has not yet been dete ...

was taken up by his uncle Henry III. Henry III had been at war with Denmark since 1408 over the Duchy of Schleswig. Henry III claimed it as a hereditary

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 ...

; the Danish

Margaret I Margaret I may refer to: * Margaret I, Countess of Flanders (died 1194) * Margaret I of Scotland (1283–1290), usually known as the Maid of Norway * Margaret I, Countess of Holland (1311–1356), Countess of Hainaut and Countess of Holland * Ma ...

and later Eric VII, wanted the duchy for themselves. In 1413, the regency ended. Henry IV, together with his younger brothers Adolf VIII and Gerhard VII, continued the war with Denmark. In 1417, a cease fire was agreed, after mediation by the city of

Lübeck Lübeck (; or ; Latin: ), officially the Hanseatic League, Hanseatic City of Lübeck (), is a city in Northern Germany. With around 220,000 inhabitants, it is the second-largest city on the German Baltic Sea, Baltic coast and the second-larg ...

. In 1423, the war continued. On 28 June 1424 in

Buda Buda (, ) is the part of Budapest, the capital city of Hungary, that lies on the western bank of the Danube. Historically, “Buda” referred only to the royal walled city on Castle Hill (), which was constructed by Béla IV between 1247 and ...

, Emperor

Sigismund Sigismund (variants: Sigmund, Siegmund) is a German proper name, meaning "protection through victory", from Old High German ''sigu'' "victory" + ''munt'' "hand, protection". Tacitus latinises it ''Segimundus''. There appears to be an older form of ...

ruled in favour of the Danes; however, this did not end hostilities. Henry IV appealed to

Pope Martin V Pope Martin V (; ; January/February 1369 – 20 February 1431), born Oddone Colonna, was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 11 November 1417 to his death in February 1431. His election effectively ended the We ...

to overrule the emperor's decision. However, this appeal was unsuccessful. In 1426, Danish troops occupied areas around the cities of

and

Flensburg Flensburg (; Danish language, Danish and ; ; ) is an independent city, independent town in the far north of the Germany, German state of Schleswig-Holstein. After Kiel and Lübeck, it is the third-largest city in Schleswig-Holstein. Flensburg's ...

. Henry IV tried to gain support from the Hanseatic cities in Saxony, from the Frisians in

Eiderstedt Eiderstedt (, ; ; North Frisian: ''Ääderstää'') is a peninsula in the district of Nordfriesland in the German federal state of Schleswig-Holstein. Overview It is approximately 30 km in length and 15 km in width and has been cre ...

and even from the

Victual Brothers The Victual Brothers () were a loosely organized guild of privateers who later turned to piracy. They affected maritime history, maritime trade during the 14th century in both the North Sea, North and Baltic Sea, Baltic Seas. They were initially ...

.See: Karl Jansen, 1880 During the Danish-Holstein-Hanseatic war Henry IV fell in battle on 28 May 1427, during the siege of Flensburg. He was buried in the St. Lawrence church in

Itzehoe Itzehoe (; ) is a town in Schleswig-Holstein in northern Germany. As the capital of the district Steinburg, Itzehoe is located on the Stör, a navigable tributary of the Elbe, 51 km (31.7 mi) northwest of Hamburg and 24 km (14.9&nb ...

Legacy

During Henry's rule as Duke of Schleswig, representatives of the North Frisian

Hundred 100 or one hundred (Roman numerals, Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 (number), 99 and preceding 101 (number), 101. In mathematics 100 is the square of 10 (number), 10 (in scientific notation it is written as 102). The standar ...

s gathered on 17 June 1426 on the island

Föhr Föhr (; ''Fering'' North Frisian: ''Feer''; ) is one of the North Frisian Islands on the German coast of the North Sea. It is part of the Nordfriesland district in the federal state of Schleswig-Holstein. Föhr is the second-largest North Sea ...

to record Frisian law in the . This is the oldest preserved formulation or Frisian law.

Ancestry

References

External links

* , viewed on 29 June 2011 * , viewed on 29 June 2011

Footnotes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Henry 04, Count of Holstein-Rendsburg Henry 03 Henry 04 House of Schauenburg 1397 births 1427 deaths 15th-century German nobility