John I, Count of Oldenburg ( – ) was a ruling Count of Oldenburg from 1233 until his death.

Life

His father, Christian II, had ruled jointly with his uncle,

Otto I Otto I (23 November 912 – 7 May 973), known as Otto the Great ( ) or Otto of Saxony ( ), was East Francia, East Frankish (Kingdom of Germany, German) king from 936 and Holy Roman Emperor from 962 until his death in 973. He was the eldest son o ...

. After Christian II died in 1233, Otto I acted as guardian for the underage John I. When John I came of age, he ruled jointly with Otto I. After Otto I died in 1251, John I ruled alone. In 1244, Otto I and John I together founded the

Cistercian The Cistercians (), officially the Order of Cistercians (, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint Benedict, as well as the contri ...

Rosenthal monastery in Menslage. In 1251, the monastery moved to a fort in the Börsteler Forest, which John I already owned. In 1258 and 1259, he fought in the Bremen Prince-Archbishopric

Feud A feud , also known in more extreme cases as a blood feud, vendetta, faida, clan war, gang war, private war, or mob war, is a long-running argument or fight, often between social groups of people, especially family, families or clans. Feuds begin ...

on the side of his cousin Hildebold of Wunstorf against

Rüstringen Rüstringen or Rustringen was an old Frisian gau (country subdivision), gau, which lies between the modern district Friesland (district), Friesland and the Weser river in modern Lower Saxony. Nowadays, only a small part of the original territory re ...

, Östringen and Stedingen. When the feud had ended, he kept the territories he had conquered. After a dispute with the City of

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 ...

, he had to cede the castle in

Berne Bern (), or Berne (), ; ; ; . is the '' de facto'' capital of Switzerland, referred to as the " federal city".; ; ; . According to the Swiss constitution, the Swiss Confederation intentionally has no "capital", but Bern has governmental i ...

. As a replacement, John I and his uncle built a castle in

Delmenhorst Delmenhorst (; Northern Low Saxon: ''Demost'') is an urban district (''List of German urban districts, Kreisfreie Stadt'') in Lower Saxony, Germany. It has a population of 74,500 and is located west of downtown Bremen (city), Bremen with which ...

, which provoked a strong reaction from Stedingen. Like his predecessors, he had many disputes with his relatives, the Counts of Oldenburg-

Wildeshausen Wildeshausen (; Low Saxon: ''Wilshusen'') is a town and the capital of the Oldenburg district in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated by the river Hunte. History In the 1648 Peace of Westphalia which ended the Thirty Years' War Sweden gained lar ...

. Ultimately, their county was divided between the bishops of

Münster Münster (; ) is an independent city#Germany, independent city (''Kreisfreie Stadt'') in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is in the northern part of the state and is considered to be the cultural centre of the Westphalia region. It is also a ...

and

. This resulted in Oldenburg and Delmenhorst being almost completely surrounded by these territories, and led to centuries of disputes between the Counts of Oldenburg and the two Prince-Bishops. John I was a direct patrilineal ancestor of the British

King Charles III Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. Charles was born at Buckingham Palace during the reign of his maternal grandfather, King George VI, and ...

and of many Kings of Denmark and Tsars of Russia.

Marriage and issue

He married Richeza, a daughter of Count

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 ...

of Hoya, and had the following children: * Heilwig, married Ekbert, Count of Bentheim-Tecklenburg (d. )http://wiki-de.genealogy.net
* Christian III, Count of Oldenburg ( – 1285) * Maurice (d. 1319),

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...

* Otto II (d. 1304)

References

* Hans Friedl, Wolfgang Günther, Hilke Günther-Arndt, and Heinrich Schmidt (eds.): ''Biographisches Handbuch zur Geschichte des Landes Oldenburg'', Oldenburg, 1992,

Footnotes

Counts of Oldenburg 1200s births 1270 deaths Year of birth uncertain Year of death uncertain 13th-century German nobility {{Germany-noble-stub

Life

Marriage and issue

See also

References

Footnotes