The ''Reichskrieg'' was a

war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

fought in 1311 and 1312 by the

imperial cities In the Holy Roman Empire, the collective term free and imperial cities (german: Freie und Reichsstädte), briefly worded free imperial city (', la, urbs imperialis libera), was used from the fifteenth century to denote a self-ruling city that ...

of the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars. From the accession of Otto I in 962 ...

against Eberhard I, Count of Württemberg, known as 'Eberhard the Illustrious Highness'.

Course

Eberhard I supported the Bohemian estates and the Bohemian king,

Henry of Carinthia Henry of Gorizia (german: Heinrich, cs, Jindřich; – 2 April 1335), a member of the House of Gorizia, was Duke of Carinthia and Landgrave of Carniola (as Henry VI) and Count of Tyrol from 1295 until his death, as well as King of Bohemia, M ...

in their conflict against Emperor Albert I of Habsburg and his successor, Henry VII. In 1309, charges were brought against Eberhard because of the grasping, self-serving way he discharged his duties as ''

Landvogt A ''Vogt'' (plural ''Vögte'') was a title and office in the Old Swiss Confederacy, inherited from the feudal system of the Holy Roman Empire, corresponding to the English ''reeve''. The German term ''Vogtei'' is ultimately a loan from Latin '' ...

'', and he was therefore summoned by Henry VII to a ''

Hoftag A ''Hoftag'' (pl. ''Hoftage'') was the name given to an informal and irregular assembly convened by the King of the Romans, the Holy Roman Emperor or one of the Princes of the Empire, with selected chief princes within the empire. Early scholar ...

'' at

Speyer Speyer (, older spelling ''Speier'', French: ''Spire,'' historical English: ''Spires''; pfl, Schbaija) is a city in Rhineland-Palatinate in Germany with approximately 50,000 inhabitants. Located on the left bank of the river Rhine, Speyer li ...

. Eberhard left Speyer prematurely, whereupon Henry imposed the

Imperial Ban The imperial ban (german: Reichsacht) was a form of outlawry in the Holy Roman Empire. At different times, it could be declared by the Holy Roman Emperor, by the Imperial Diet, or by courts like the League of the Holy Court (''Vehmgericht'') or ...

on him. Henry now supported the Swabian imperial cities in their confrontation with Count Eberhard of Württemberg, who had also operated an aggressive territorial policy against the cities. Because Henry was going to

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

, he appointed the new ''Reichslandvogt'', Conrad IV of

Weinsberg Weinsberg ( South Franconian: ''Weischberg'') is a town in the north of the state of Baden-Württemberg in Germany. It was founded around 1200 and is situated in the Heilbronn district. The town has about 11,800 inhabitants. It is noted for its wi ...

, as the army commander of the Swabian imperial cities and several nobles. The principal Swabian cities involved were

Esslingen am Neckar Esslingen am Neckar ( Swabian: ''Esslenga am Neckor'') is a town in the Stuttgart Region of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany, seat of the District of Esslingen as well as the largest town in the district. Within Baden-Württemberg it is ...

and

Reutlingen Reutlingen (; Swabian: ''Reitlenga'') is a city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is the capital of the eponymous district of Reutlingen. As of June 2018, it has a population of 115,818. Reutlingen has a university of applied sciences, which ...

; the nobles included von Tübingen, von Vaihingen and Herter of Dusslingen. In spring 1311 the ''

Reichskrieg A ''Reichskrieg'' ("Imperial War", pl. ''Reichskriege'') was a war fought by the Holy Roman Empire as a whole against a common enemy. After the Peace of Westphalia in 1648, a ''Reichskrieg'' was a formal state of war that could only be declared ...

'' began, the first military action presumably being the siege of enemy's family castle, Wirtemberg, which took place at the beginning of May. After a failed

relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term '' relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that th ...

attempt on 26 May, the castle was captured on 13 July. After the

Hohenasperg Hohenasperg, located in the federal state of Baden-Württemberg near Stuttgart, Germany, of which it is administratively part, is an ancient fortress and prison overlooking the town of Asperg. It was an important Celtic oppidum, and a number ...

Castle fell in August 1312, Eberhard, now a fugitive, was received by his

Baden Baden (; ) is a historical territory in South Germany, in earlier times on both sides of the Upper Rhine but since the Napoleonic Wars only East of the Rhine. History The margraves of Baden originated from the House of Zähringen. Baden ...

brother-in-law, Margrave Rudolf Hesso in one of the two ''

bergfried ''Bergfried'' (plural: ''bergfriede''; English: ''belfry''; French: ''tour-beffroi''; Spanish: ''torre del homenaje'') is a tall tower that is typically found in castles of the Middle Ages in German-speaking countries and in countries under German ...

s'' of

Besigheim Besigheim () is a municipality in the district of Ludwigsburg in Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. It is situated 13 km north of Ludwigsburg at the confluence of the Neckar and Enz rivers. The town has many old buildings and a town ...

. Only the death of Henry VII on 24 August 1313, and the political situation after the king's election in 1314, when Louis IV was crowned king and

Frederick the Fair Frederick the Fair (german: Friedrich der Schöne) or the Handsome (c. 1289 – 13 January 1330), from the House of Habsburg, was the duke of Austria and Styria from 1308 as well as the anti-king of Germany from 1314 until 1325 and then co-kin ...

was declared as

counter-king An anti-king, anti king or antiking (german: Gegenkönig; french: antiroi; cs, protikrál) is a would-be king who, due to succession disputes or simple political opposition, declares himself king in opposition to a reigning monarch. OED "Anti-, ...

, prevented Württemberg's defeat. Eberhard then cleverly manoeuvered between king and counter-king, so that he was not only able to compensate himself for his territorial losses but also gain additional territories. The Reichsheer captured or destroyed ''inter alia'' the following castles: Wirtemberg,

, Hohenjungingen, Ror, Old Lichtenstein, Haideck, Hochbiedeck,

Greifenstein Greifenstein is a municipality in the Lahn-Dill-Kreis in Hesse, Germany. Its administrative seat is Beilstein. Greifenstein covers 67.43 km² on the eastern slope of the Westerwald range. It was named for the castle of the same name in t ...

, Untergreifenstein,Hartmann Schedel: ''Weltchronik''. Reprint of hefull coloured edition of 1493. Introduction and commentary by Stephan Füssel. Weltbild, Augsburg, 2004, Dischingen near Stuttgart (thanks to coins discovered at the site by G. Weindefenung its destruction was dated to the early 14th century). and

Marbach am Neckar Marbach am Neckar is a town about 20 kilometres north of Stuttgart. It belongs to the district of Ludwigsburg, the Stuttgart region and the European metropolitan region of Stuttgart. Marbach is known as the birthplace of Friedrich Schiller, to ...

. The following were not captured: Hohenneuffen, Hohenurach and town, Hohenwittlingen Castle and Seeburg.

References

Literature

* Hans-Martin Maurer: ''Geschichte Württembergs in Bildern.'' Kohlhammer, Stuttgart, 1992, * Theodor Schön: ''Schloß Wirtemberg in Blättern des Schwäbischen Albvereins''. 1897 * Erwin Haas: ''Die sieben württembergischen Landesfestungen''. * Jürgen Meyer: ''Zerstört ward alles, stehen blieb kein Stein''. In: ''Im Schatten der Vergangenheit.'' Oertel + Spörer, 2004,

External links

* Die Schedelsche Weltchronik: 222 at

Wikisource Wikisource is an online digital library of free-content textual sources on a wiki, operated by the Wikimedia Foundation. Wikisource is the name of the project as a whole and the name for each instance of that project (each instance usually ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Reichskrieg (1311-1312) Wars of the Middle Ages 14th-century conflicts Wars involving Württemberg 14th century in the Holy Roman Empire