Meinhard III ( – 22 July 1258), a member of the

House of Gorizia The House of Gorizia, also called the Meinhardiner, were a comital, princely and ducal dynasty in the Holy Roman Empire. Named after Gorizia Castle in Gorizia (now in Italy, on the border with Slovenia), they were originally "advocates" (''Vog ...

, was Count of Gorizia from 1231 and

Count of Tyrol The (Princely) County of Tyrol was an estate of the Holy Roman Empire established about 1140. After 1253, it was ruled by the House of Gorizia and from 1363 by the House of Habsburg. In 1804, the County of Tyrol, unified with the secularised ...

(as Meinhard I) from 1253 until his death.

Life

He was the son of Count Engelbert III of Gorizia and his wife Matilda, daughter of

Berthold I of Istria Berthold III ( – 14 December 1188), a member of the Bavarian House of Andechs, was Margrave of Istria (as Berthold I) from 1173 until his death. He was the son of Count Berthold II of Andechs, ruler over Dießen in Bavaria, Plassenburg in Fr ...

and sister of the powerful

Andechs Andechs is a municipality in the district of Starnberg in Bavaria in Germany. It is renowned in Germany and beyond for Andechs Abbey, a Benedictine The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB ...

duke Berthold IV of Merania. Through his mother, Meinhard inherited the County of Mittelburg in central

Istria Istria ( ; Croatian language, Croatian and Slovene language, Slovene: ; Italian language, Italian and Venetian language, Venetian: ; ; Istro-Romanian language, Istro-Romanian: ; ; ) is the largest peninsula within the Adriatic Sea. Located at th ...

. His father died in 1220, nevertheless he did not come in control over all his family's possessions around Lienz and

Gorizia Gorizia (; ; , ; ; ) is a town and (municipality) in northeastern Italy, in the autonomous region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia. It is located at the foot of the Julian Alps, bordering Slovenia. It is the capital of the Province of Gorizia, Region ...

upon the death of his uncle Count Meinhard the Elder. About 1237 he married Adelaide (''Adelheid''), one of the two daughters of Count Albert IV of Tyrol, attended with reasonable succession prospects in the Tyrolean lands. Meinhard strongly supported the

Hohenstaufen The Hohenstaufen dynasty (, , ), also known as the Staufer, was a noble family of unclear origin that rose to rule the Duchy of Swabia from 1079, and to royal rule in the Holy Roman Empire during the Middle Ages from 1138 until 1254. The dynast ...

emperor Frederick II in his fierce conflict with

Pope Innocent IV Pope Innocent IV (; – 7 December 1254), born Sinibaldo Fieschi, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 25 June 1243 to his death in 1254. Fieschi was born in Genoa and studied at the universities of Parma and Bolo ...

and in return was appointed Imperial governor of the

Duchy of Styria The Duchy of Styria (; ; ) was a duchy located in modern-day southern Austria and northern Slovenia. It was a part of the Holy Roman Empire until its dissolution in 1806 and a Cisleithanian crown land of Austria-Hungary until its dissolution i ...

and the

March of Carniola March is the third month of the year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. Its length is 31 days. In the Northern Hemisphere, the meteorological beginning of spring occurs on the first day of March. The March equinox on the 20 or 21 ...

after the last

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 fr ...

duke Frederick the Warlike had died without heirs in 1246. From 1250 onwards also governor in the princeless

Duchy of Austria The Duchy of Austria (; ) was a medieval principality of the Holy Roman Empire, established in 1156 by the '' Privilegium Minus'', when the Margraviate of Austria ('' Ostarrîchi'') was detached from Bavaria and elevated to a duchy in its own ri ...

, Meinhard facing the fall of the Hohenstaufen dynasty did not prevail: his rule in Carniola was challenged by the Carinthian ducal

House of Sponheim The House of Sponheim or Spanheim was a medieval Germans, German noble family, which originated in Rhenish Franconia. They were Imperial immediacy, immediate Counts of County of Sponheim, Sponheim until 1437 and Dukes of Duchy of Carinthia, Carint ...

, and in Austria and Styria he was expelled by the

Bohemian Bohemian or Bohemians may refer to: *Anything of or relating to Bohemia Culture and arts * Bohemianism, an unconventional lifestyle, originally practised by 19th–20th century European and American artists and writers. * Bohemian style, a ...

prince Ottokar II Přemysl in 1251. During the turmoil after the death of Emperor Frederick II, Count Meinhard, backed by his father-in-law Albert IV of Tyrol, tried to gain control over the Duchy of Carinthia but failed in an unsuccessful campaign against Duke Bernhard von Spanheim and his son

Philip Philip, also Phillip, is a male name derived from the Macedonian Old Koine language, Greek (''Philippos'', lit. "horse-loving" or "fond of horses"), from a compound of (''philos'', "dear", "loved", "loving") and (''hippos'', "horse"). Prominen ...

, the elected

Archbishop of Salzburg The Archdiocese of Salzburg (; ) is a Latin Church, Latin rite archdiocese of the Catholic Church centered in Salzburg, Austria. It is also the principal diocese of the ecclesiastical province of Salzburg. The archdiocese is one of two Austrian ...

. On 8 September 1252, he was finally defeated and arrested at Greifenburg. According to the Peace of Lieserhofen, concluded on 27 December 1252, he had to give his sons Meinhard IV and Albert to Archbishop Philip as hostages. Both were imprisoned at Hohenwerfen Castle in Salzburg and not released until 1258. Meinhard and Albert IV of Tyrol also had to pay a compensation and to renounce certain possessions including Mittersill, Virgen, Matrei and Oberdrauburg. Upon the death of Count Albert IV of Tyrol in 1253, Meinhard and his brother-in-law, Count Gebhard of Hirschberg, split Tyrol, of which Meinhard took the southern part with

Meran Merano (, ; ) or Meran () is a (municipality) in South Tyrol, Northern Italy. Generally best known for its spa resorts, it is located within a basin, surrounded by mountains standing up to above sea level, at the entrance to the Passeier Va ...

, in constant quarrels with the Trento bishops. His son Meinhard II later also acquired the Hirschberg lands from Gebhard's heirs in 1284 and two years later even received Carinthia from the hands of the

Habsburg The House of Habsburg (; ), also known as the House of Austria, was one of the most powerful dynasties in the history of Europe and Western civilization. They were best known for their inbreeding and for ruling vast realms throughout Europe d ...

king

Rudolf I of Germany Rudolf I (1 May 1218 – 15 July 1291) was the first King of Germany of the Habsburg dynasty from 1273 until his death. Rudolf's imperial election of 1273, election marked the end of the Interregnum (Holy Roman Empire), Great Interregnum whic ...

. Meinhard I died in 1258 and is buried at Tirol Castle.

Marriage and children

About 1237, Meinhhard married Adelaide, daughter of

Albert IV, Count of Tyrol Albert may refer to: Companies * Albert Computers, Inc., a computer manufacturer in the 1980s * Albert Czech Republic, a supermarket chain in the Czech Republic * Albert Heijn, a supermarket chain in the Netherlands * Albert Market, a street ma ...

. They had four known children: * Adelheid († 1291), married Count Frederick I of Ortenburg * Meinhard II (1238–1295), Count of Gorizia and

Tyrol Tyrol ( ; historically the Tyrole; ; ) is a historical region in the Alps of Northern Italy and western Austria. The area was historically the core of the County of Tyrol, part of the Holy Roman Empire, Austrian Empire and Austria-Hungary, f ...

Duke of Carinthia The Duchy of Carinthia (; ; ) was a duchy located in southern Austria and parts of northern Slovenia. It was separated from the Duchy of Bavaria in 976, and was the first newly created Imperial State after the original German stem duchy, stem duc ...

* Albert I († 1304), Count of Gorizia * Bertha († 1267), married Conrad, Count of Wullenstetten

External links

Medieval genealogy
{{DEFAULTSORT:Meinhard 01 Of Gorizia-Tyrol Counts of Tyrol 1200s births 1258 deaths Counts of Gorizia