Margrave Rudolf III of Hachberg-Sausenberg (1343–1428) was the son of Margrave Rudolf II of Hachberg-Sausenberg and Catherine of Thierstein. He inherited Hachberg-Sausenberg when his father died in 1352. As he was a minor at the time, 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 ...

acted as regent. When Rudolf II came of age, he and Otto I ruled jointly, until Otto's death in 1384. Rudolf III is considered the most important of the Margraves of Hachberg-Sausenberg.

Reign

Construction activities

Rudolf III initiated a number of construction projects. Two gatehouses, one large building and a tower were added to his residence Rötteln Castle in 1360. In 1387 and 1392, other large buildings were added. In 1401, he built a church in the village of Rötteln (now the

Evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes evangelism, or the preaching and spreading of th ...

Church). In 1418, he expanded this church to the main church of his territory. Rudolf's tomb and the tomb of his second wife, Anna, both in this church, are considered major examples of

Gothic art Gothic art was a style of medieval art that developed in Northern France out of Romanesque art in the 12th century, led by the concurrent development of Gothic architecture. It spread to all of Western Europe, and much of Northern Europe, Norther ...

in the

Upper Rhine Upper Rhine ( ; ; kilometres 167 to 529 of the Rhine) is the section of the Rhine between the Middle Bridge, Basel, Middle Bridge in Basel, Switzerland, and the Rhine knee in Bingen am Rhein, Bingen, Germany. It is surrounded by the Upper Rhine P ...

Expansion of the country's sovereignty

During his long reign, Rudolf was able to extend his country's sovereignty significantly: * In 1365, he exchanged the village Huttinger against Höllstein (with the Bishop of Basel) * In 1366, he received a share of Sausenberg from his uncle Otto I * In 1368 he purchased the villages of

Weil am Rhein Weil am Rhein (, ; High Alemannic German, High Alemannic: ''Wiil am Rhii'') is a German town and commune. It is on the east bank of the River Rhine, and extends to the tripoint of Switzerland, France, and Germany. It is the most southwesterly tow ...

, Wintersweiler, Welmlingen, plus some manors in Haltingen and the city and district of Otlikon from Knight Konrad of Münch. He also purchased Dossebach from William of Hauenstein and his son Henman of Hauenstein * In 1394, Bishop Conrad of Münch, enfeoffed him with a fief in Breisgau * In 1400, he purchased the Lordship of Neuenstein, including the villages of Gersbach, Schlechtbach, Raitbach, Kürnberg and Schweigmatt. Neuenstein Castle had been enfeoffed to the monastery of St. Blasien, but in 1401, the monastery renounced its rights on the castle.

Marriage and issue

Rudolf III first married Adelheid of Lichtenberg and later Anne of

Freiburg Freiburg im Breisgau or simply Freiburg is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fourth-largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, Mannheim and Karlsruhe. Its built-up area has a population of abou ...

Neuchâtel Neuchâtel (, ; ; ) is a list of towns in Switzerland, town, a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality, and the capital (political), capital of the cantons of Switzerland, Swiss canton of Neuchâtel (canton), Neuchâtel on Lake Neuchâtel ...

. On 13 February 1387, Rudolf closed a marriage contract with Konrad of Freiburg and Else of Neuchâtel for Konrad's 13-year-old sister Anna. Her dowry would be , in the form of the city and district of Sennheim valued at 7500 florins, Istein Castle, valued at 3000 florins, 1500 florins in cash, on the condition that he would use it to create manors in the area between Hauenstein, the forest and the mountains on both sides of the river, within one year after the wedding.''Regesten der Markgrafen von Baden und Hachberg'', vol. 1, deed number ''h751'' With Anne, he had seven sons and six daughters. One son and three daughters fell victim to the plague in 1420. His son Otto (1388–1451) was Bishop of Constance from 1411 to 1434 as Otto III of Hachberg and was the host of the

Council of Constance The Council of Constance (; ) was an ecumenical council of the Catholic Church that was held from 1414 to 1418 in the Bishopric of Constance (Konstanz) in present-day Germany. This was the first time that an ecumenical council was convened in ...

in 1415. As such, he was involved in the burning at the stake of the Czech reformer

Jan Hus Jan Hus (; ; 1369 – 6 July 1415), sometimes anglicized as John Hus or John Huss, and referred to in historical texts as ''Iohannes Hus'' or ''Johannes Huss'', was a Czechs, Czech theologian and philosopher who became a Church reformer and t ...

. The only other son to survive him, was the youngest,

William William is a masculine given name of Germanic languages, Germanic origin. It became popular in England after the Norman Conquest, Norman conquest in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle ...

, who succeeded him in 1428.

References

* Fritz Schülin: ''Rötteln-Haagen, Beiträge zur Orts-, Landschafts- und Siedlungsgeschichte'', Lörrach 1965, p. 65. * Fritz Schülin: ''Binzen, Beiträge zur Orts-, Landschafts- und Siedlungsgeschichte'', Schopfheim 1967, p. 523-524 (genealogical tables of the House of Hachberg-Sausenberg). * Karl Seith: ''Die Burg Rötteln im Wandel ihrer Herrengeschlechter, Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte und Baugeschichte der Burg'', Röttelbund e.V., Haagen, undated, p. 6, according to Schülin in: ''Das Markgräflerland'', vol. 3, issue 1, 1931 * Gerhard Möhring: ''Chronologie zu Markgraf Rudolf III. von Hachberg, Herr zu Sausenberg und Rötteln (1343-1428)'', in: ''Das Markgräflerland'', vol. 1, p. 53-63, Schopfheim, 2001 * ''Regesten der Markgrafen von Baden und Hachberg 1050 – 1515'', Baden Historical Commission, edited by Richard Fester, Innsbruck, 189
online
*

Historical novel

* Elke Bader: ''Anna von Rötteln — im Hagelsturm der Begierde'', Jakobus-Verlag, Barsbüttel, 2008, (this Anna von Rötteln is Anne of Freiburg)

External links

BrillOnline Reference Works; Encyclopedia of the Medieval Chronicle

Footnotes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rudolf 03 Hachberg Sausenberg Margraves of Baden-Hachberg House of Zähringen 1343 births 1428 deaths 14th-century German nobility 15th-century German nobility

Gallery

Lörrach - Röttler Kirche - Grabnische Rudolf III.jpg Rudolf III v H-S Sandsteinplatte.jpg Anna v Frbg Sandsteinplatte.jpg Rudolf III of Hachberg-Sausenberg.jpg Lörrach - Röttler Kirche - Stiftertafel.jpg