Margrave William of Hachberg-Sausenberg (11 July 1406 – 15 August 1482) was the son of Margrave Rudolf III of Hachberg-Sausenberg and Anne of Freiburg-Neuchâtel. He ruled from 1428 to 1441, and abdicated on 21 June 1441 in favor of his infant sons, Rudolf IV and Hugo. As they were still infants, his cousin Count John of Freiburg-Neuchâtel took over the government as regent.

Marriage and issue

William married Elizabeth, daughter of the Count William VII of Montfort-Bregenz. His wife's relatives intervened because of his lavish lifestyle and he had to promise not to mortgage any assets from her

dowry A dowry is a payment such as land, property, money, livestock, or a commercial asset that is paid by the bride's (woman's) family to the groom (man) or his family at the time of marriage. Dowry contrasts with the related concepts of bride price ...

without their consent. Nevertheless, his lifestyle led to a divorce in 1436. They had at least three children: two sons, Rudolf IV and Hugo, who succeeded him, and a daughter, Ursula, who became the second wife of Count James Truchseß of Waldburg. As William was constantly in debt and the pressure of his creditors increased, he found eventually that he could only keep his ancestral lands in the family by abdicating in favour of his sons.

Construction activities

After his father had expanded

Rötteln Castle Rötteln Castle (), located above the Lörrach suburb of , lies in the extreme southwest corner of the German state of Baden-Württemberg, just 10 kilometres (6 miles) north-east of the Swiss City of Basel. The fortification was one of the most po ...

, William dedicated himself to the expansion of Sausenburg Castle. Siegel Wilhelm v H

Expansion of the country's sovereignty

He bought in 1432 the

low justice High, middle and low justices are notions dating from Western feudalism to indicate descending degrees of judicial power to administer justice by the maximal punishment the holders could inflict upon their subjects and other dependents. The scale ...

in Efringen,

Kirchen Kirchen (Sieg) is a town and Luftkurort (climatic spa) in the district of Altenkirchen (district), Altenkirchen in the north of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is situated on the river Sieg (river), Sieg, approx. 12 km southwest of Siegen. A ...

Eimeldingen Eimeldingen is a municipality in the district of Lörrach, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north a ...

, Holzen and Niedereggenen. On 3 November 1437, Margrave William of Hachberg, in his capacity as bailiff, gave ''Cüne am Bühel'' rights to Waldshut, Guardian of the Abbess of Königsfelden Abbey, the third part of the grain tithe to Birkingen, the tithe to Eschbach and the wine tithe on Schönenbühel to Waldshut. He had boughts these rights from Albrecht Merler, who lived at Kadelburg. It is not known when he bought these rights.

Diplomatic services

Via his cousin John of Freiburg-Neuchâtel, William gained access to the court of the Duke of

Burgundy Burgundy ( ; ; Burgundian: ''Bregogne'') is a historical territory and former administrative region and province of east-central France. The province was once home to the Dukes of Burgundy from the early 11th until the late 15th century. ...

Dijon Dijon (, ; ; in Burgundian language (Oïl), Burgundian: ''Digion'') is a city in and the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Côte-d'Or Departments of France, department and of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Regions of France, region in eas ...

. During the

Council of Basel The Council of Florence is the seventeenth ecumenical council recognized by the Catholic Church, held between 1431 and 1445. It was convened in territories under the Holy Roman Empire. Italy became a venue of a Catholic ecumenical council aft ...

, he was called upon as mediator between Austria and Burgundy and later as mediator between Burgundy and France. In 1432, the Protector of the Council, Duke William III of Bavaria appointed William of Hachberg as acting head. In 1434, Duke Philip III of Burgundy, appointed him as councillor and Chamberlain.Sachs, p. 548 In 1437, the Duke of Austria appointed him governor of the Austrian possessions in the

Sundgau Sundgau ( or ; ) is a geographical territory in the southern Alsace region (Haut Rhin and Territoire de Belfort, Belfort), on the eastern edge of France. The name is derived from Alemannic German ''Sunt-Gau (territory), gowe'' ("South shire"), den ...

Alsace Alsace (, ; ) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in the Grand Est administrative region of northeastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine, next to Germany and Switzerland. In January 2021, it had a population of 1,9 ...

and

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 ...

. As governor of

Further Austria Further Austria, Outer Austria or Anterior Austria (; , formerly ''die Vorlande'' (pl.)) was the collective name for the early (and later) possessions of the House of Habsburg in the former Swabian stem duchy of south-western Germany, includin ...

, he was involved in the war between Emperor Frederick III and the

Old Swiss Confederacy The Old Swiss Confederacy, also known as Switzerland or the Swiss Confederacy, was a loose confederation of independent small states (, German or ), initially within the Holy Roman Empire. It is the precursor of the modern state of Switzerlan ...

. After the Swiss defeated the Austrians in the Battle of St. Jakob an der Sihl in 1443, the Emperor sent William to King

Charles VII of France Charles VII (22 February 1403 – 22 July 1461), called the Victorious () or the Well-Served (), was King of France from 1422 to his death in 1461. His reign saw the end of the Hundred Years' War and a ''de facto'' end of the English claims to ...

to plea for help. France sent , the so-called

Armagnac Armagnac (, ) is a distinctive kind of brandy produced in the Armagnac (region), Armagnac region in Gascony, southwest France. It is distilled from wine usually made from a blend of grapes including Baco 22A, Colombard, Folle blanche and Ugni ...

Footnotes

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 (Genealogy of the line Hachberg-Sausenberg) * Karl Seith: ''Die Burg Rötteln im Wandel ihrer Herrengeschlechter, Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte und Baugeschichte der Burg'', special edition published by the vom Röttelbund e.V., Haagen, date unknown, p. 13; cited by Schülin as "In: Markgräflerland, vol. 3, issue 1, 1931" *Paul-Joachim Heinig: ''Kaiser Friedrich III. (1440-1493). Hof, Regierung und Politik,'' Cologne, Weimar and Vienna, 1997, p. 324-328 * , pp. 542–556

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wilhelm Hachberg Sausenberg Margraves of Baden 1406 births 1482 deaths 15th-century German people