Landgrave John of Lower Hesse (c. 1278 – 14 February 1311) was a son of Landgrave

Henry I Henry I may refer to: 876–1366 * Henry I the Fowler, King of Germany (876–936) * Henry I, Duke of Bavaria (died 955) * Henry I of Austria, Margrave of Austria (died 1018) * Henry I of France (1008–1060) * Henry I the Long, Margrave of the ...

of Hesse, from his second marriage with Mechthild of Cleves. John reigned from 1308 to 1311 as Landgrave in

Lower Hesse Lower Hesse is a historic designation for an area in northern Hesse, Germany. The term Lower Hesse originated in the Middle Ages for the so-called "lower principality" of Hesse, which was separated until 1450 from the so-called "upper principalit ...

Inheritance dispute

From 1292, there was an inheritance dispute in the

House of Hesse The House of Hesse is a European dynasty, directly descended from the House of Brabant. They ruled the region of Hesse, one branch as prince-electors until 1866, and another branch as grand dukes until 1918. Burke's Royal Families of the World, ...

, between Henry's sons from his two marriages, as his second wife demanded a share for her own children. This led to armed clashes which lasted until Henry's death. Henry the Younger, Henry's oldest son from his first marriage to Adelaide of Brunswick, had been co-ruler from 1284. At Mechtild's insistence, John was made co-ruler in 1296. Henry the Younger died in 1298 and his brother

Otto I Otto I (23 November 912 – 7 May 973), traditionally known as Otto the Great (german: Otto der Große, it, Ottone il Grande), was East Francia, East Frankish king from 936 and Holy Roman Emperor from 962 until his death in 973. He was the olde ...

took his place. The inheritance was eventually divided after Henry died in 1308. John received

with the capital

Kassel Kassel (; in Germany, spelled Cassel until 1926) is a city on the Fulda River in northern Hesse, Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Kassel and the district of the same name and had 201,048 inhabitants in December 2020 ...

and the imperial fiefs. His half-brother Otto I received the ''Land of the

Lahn The Lahn is a , right (or eastern) tributary of the Rhine in Germany. Its course passes through the federal states of North Rhine-Westphalia (23.0 km), Hesse (165.6 km), and Rhineland-Palatinate (57.0 km). It has its source in t ...

'', the later

Upper Hesse The term Upper Hesse (german: Provinz Oberhessen) originally referred to the southern possessions of the Landgraviate of Hesse, which were initially geographically separated from the more northerly Lower Hesse by the . Later, it became the name of ...

, with the capital

Marburg Marburg ( or ) is a university town in the German federal state (''Bundesland'') of Hesse, capital of the Marburg-Biedenkopf district (''Landkreis''). The town area spreads along the valley of the river Lahn and has a population of approximate ...

. Otto's part did not include imperial fiefs.

Reign

Hesse had mortgaged

Gudensberg Gudensberg () is a small town in northern Hesse, Germany. Since the municipal reform in 1974, the nearby villages of Deute, Dissen, Dorla, Gleichen, Maden and Obervorschütz have become parts of the municipality. Geography Gudensberg is situated ...

to the

Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg The Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg (german: Herzogtum Braunschweig und Lüneburg), or more properly the Duchy of Brunswick and Lüneburg, was a historical duchy that existed from the late Middle Ages to the Late Modern era within the Holy Roman ...

. In 1309, John conquered the city and forced Duke Albert II of Brunswick-Göttingen to accept his repayment. Emperor Henry VII appointed him protector of the free imperial cities of

Mühlhausen Mühlhausen () is a city in the north-west of Thuringia, Germany, north of Niederdorla, the country's geographical centre, north-west of Erfurt, east of Kassel and south-east of Göttingen. Mühlhausen was first mentioned in 967 and bec ...

Nordhausen Nordhausen may refer to: * Nordhausen (district), a district in Thuringia, Germany ** Nordhausen, Thuringia, a city in the district **Nordhausen station, the railway station in the city * Nordhouse, a commune in Alsace (German: Nordhausen) * Narost ...

and

Goslar Goslar (; Eastphalian: ''Goslär'') is a historic town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the administrative centre of the district of Goslar and located on the northwestern slopes of the Harz mountain range. The Old Town of Goslar and the Mines ...

. Margrave

Frederick I Frederick I may refer to: * Frederick of Utrecht or Frederick I (815/16–834/38), Bishop of Utrecht. * Frederick I, Duke of Upper Lorraine (942–978) * Frederick I, Duke of Swabia (1050–1105) * Frederick I, Count of Zoll ...

saw this as an intrusion into his Landgraviate of Thuringia and took up arms to stop the intrusion. The fight went badly for John and he had to retire to Kassel to recover.Johanna Elisabeth Wigand, ''Geschichte der Regenten von Hessen-Cassel'', Kassel, 1882, facsimile edition by Dieter Carl, Vellmar, 2001, , p. 7-8

Death

John died of the

plague Plague or The Plague may refer to: Agriculture, fauna, and medicine *Plague (disease), a disease caused by ''Yersinia pestis'' * An epidemic of infectious disease (medical or agricultural) * A pandemic caused by such a disease * A swarm of pes ...

on 14 February 1311 in Kassel. He was buried in the Ahnaberg monastery. No further hostitlites between John and Frederick took place and John's plan to create a new fortified city on the Thuringian side of the river Fulda was never implemented. After John's death, Lower Hesse fell to Otto I.

Family

In 1306, John married Adelaide of Brunswick-Lüneburg, the daughter of Duke Albert II of Brunswick-Göttingen. Like her husband, she died of the plague in 1311 in Kassel. She was buried beside her husband in Annaberg monastery,Saxony. John and Adelaide had a daughter, Elisabeth (d. 1339). She married Otto VI of Ochsenstein.

External links

Historical Background

Footnotes

Landgraves of Hesse 1270s births Year of birth uncertain 1311 deaths 13th-century German nobility 14th-century German nobility {{Germany-noble-stub