Adolf VIII of Holstein
Encyclopedia
Adolf VIII of Holstein (1401 – 4 December 1459), Duke of Southern Jutland (Danish
, Sønderjylland), i.e. Slesvig
, and Count of Holstein
, was the mightiest vassal of the Danish realm.
, who had for centuries been counts of Holstein
, and as such, vassals of the Holy Roman Empire
. His great-grandfather, having also been a Regent of the Kingdom of Denmark
, had received the Duchy of Sønderjylland from the Danish crown as a hereditary fief
. It had been lost, but Queen Margaret I of Denmark
had returned it, although with restrictions of power.
Count Adolf's parents were Catherine Elisabeth of Brunswick and Lunenburg (Wolfenbüttel)
, daughter of Magnus II, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg
, and Gerhard VI of Holstein-Rendsburg, who as Gerhard II was also Duke of Schleswig. Adolf was only three years old when his father was killed in action against the Ditmarsians in the Battle at Hamme, in Schleswig-Holstein
near Heide
, on 4 August 1404. Adolf was educated at the court of the Margrave of Brandenburg at Hohenzollern Castle.
on 28 May 1427.
Adolf and his younger brother Gerhard VII then succeeded Henry as Counts of Holstein-Rendsburg, continuing their efforts to receive the Duchy of Schleswig. However, Gerhard died in 1433 in Emmerich upon Rhine. The second Treaty of Vordingborg (Freden i Vordingborg) concluded in July 1435 at Vordingborg Castle
between the Danish King Erik of Pomerania and Adolf. In 1439, the new Danish King Christopher III acquired the loyalty of Adolf by granting him the entire Duchy of Schleswig as a hereditary fief but under the Danish crown. Adolf's lands were located in both sides of the border between Denmark and the Holy Roman Empire
.
The current branch of Danish royal house became extinct in 1448 with the death of Christopher III of Denmark. Adolf was a cognatic
descendant of King Eric V of Denmark
, whose mother Queen Dowager
Margaret Sambiria
had obtained a papal confirmation of the right of also female descendancy of Christopher I of Denmark
to succeed to the throne of Denmark. The throne was offered by Statsraad to Adolf, who as Duke of Schleswig, was the vassal with the biggest holdings in the Danish realm. Adolf, by that time old and childless, declined and supported the candidacy of his own nephew the Count of Oldenburg
who became Christian I of Denmark
.
Adolf was married to Margarete von Höllenstein of the German noble family of Hohnstein
. In 1459 Adolf died and left no descendants to inherit. His sisters were the late Helvig
(Hedwig), who was married with Dietrich, Count of Oldenburg and had left children, and the elderly Ingeborg of Holstein
, Abbess of Vadstena
, who lived as a nun, was both unmarried and childless. His brother Gerhard had mixed twins, with the son drowned still young and the daughter a nun in Preetz
. There were several claimants to Schleswig and Holstein, since several branches of the Schauenburg family, counts of different parts of Holstein, had left female offspring and their cognatic heirs. Furthermore the Schauenburgs still continued to rule the County of Holstein-Pinneberg in the male line. Adolf's branch was not genealogically very senior.
The representatives of Schleswig and Holstein (nobility and some delegates of the Estates) convened in Ribe
where, on 5 March 1460, the succession was confirmed to Christian I of Denmark
, the eldest nephew of the late Duke of Schleswig and Count of Holstein-Rendsburg.
Danish language
Danish is a North Germanic language spoken by around six million people, principally in the country of Denmark. It is also spoken by 50,000 Germans of Danish ethnicity in the northern parts of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, where it holds the status of minority language...
, Sønderjylland), i.e. Slesvig
Slesvig
Slesvig is the Danish name for:* Schleswig, Schleswig-Holstein, a German city* The former Duchy of Schleswig * A former name for Hedeby, a Viking Age trading center, originally the largest town in the Nordic Countries...
, and Count of Holstein
Counts of Schauenburg and Holstein
The Counts of Schauenburg and Holstein were titles of the Holy Roman Empire. The dynastic family came from Schauenburg near Rinteln on the Weser in Germany...
, was the mightiest vassal of the Danish realm.
Background
Adolf descended from a branch of the family of SchauenburgCounts of Schauenburg and Holstein
The Counts of Schauenburg and Holstein were titles of the Holy Roman Empire. The dynastic family came from Schauenburg near Rinteln on the Weser in Germany...
, who had for centuries been counts of Holstein
Holstein
Holstein is the region between the rivers Elbe and Eider. It is part of Schleswig-Holstein, the northernmost state of Germany....
, and as such, vassals of the Holy Roman Empire
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...
. His great-grandfather, having also been a Regent of the Kingdom of Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
, had received the Duchy of Sønderjylland from the Danish crown as a hereditary fief
Fiefdom
A fee was the central element of feudalism and consisted of heritable lands granted under one of several varieties of feudal tenure by an overlord to a vassal who held it in fealty in return for a form of feudal allegiance and service, usually given by the...
. It had been lost, but Queen Margaret I of Denmark
Margaret I of Denmark
Margaret I was Queen of Denmark, Norway and Sweden and founder of the Kalmar Union, which united the Scandinavian countries for over a century. Although she acted as queen regnant, the laws of contemporary Danish succession denied her formal queenship. Her title in Denmark was derived from her...
had returned it, although with restrictions of power.
Count Adolf's parents were Catherine Elisabeth of Brunswick and Lunenburg (Wolfenbüttel)
Elisabeth of Brunswick
Elisabeth of Brunswick and Lunenburg was Duchess consort of Sønderjylland and Schleswig and Countess consort of Holstein-Rendsburg...
, daughter of Magnus II, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg
Magnus II, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg
Magnus , called Magnus with the Necklace or Magnus II, was Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, ruling the Brunswick-Lüneburg principalities of Wolfenbüttel and, temporarily, Lüneburg....
, and Gerhard VI of Holstein-Rendsburg, who as Gerhard II was also Duke of Schleswig. Adolf was only three years old when his father was killed in action against the Ditmarsians in the Battle at Hamme, in Schleswig-Holstein
Schleswig-Holstein
Schleswig-Holstein is the northernmost of the sixteen states of Germany, comprising most of the historical duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of Schleswig...
near Heide
Heide
Heide is a town in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is the capital of the Kreis Dithmarschen. Population: 21,000.The German word Heide means "heath". In the 15th century four adjoining villages decided to build a church in the "middle of the heath". This remained the town's name to date...
, on 4 August 1404. Adolf was educated at the court of the Margrave of Brandenburg at Hohenzollern Castle.
Career
Adolf's elder brother Henry IV, Count of Holstein succeeded their father. As Duke of Schleswig, he was under the tutelage of the Danish crown due to his minority until 1414. However, then the crown denied Henry's claim to dukedom. Henry and his mother and brothers stood together and fought for his claim. Henry was killed in action beleaguering FlensburgFlensburg
Flensburg is an independent town in the north of the German state of Schleswig-Holstein. Flensburg is the centre of the region of Southern Schleswig...
on 28 May 1427.
Adolf and his younger brother Gerhard VII then succeeded Henry as Counts of Holstein-Rendsburg, continuing their efforts to receive the Duchy of Schleswig. However, Gerhard died in 1433 in Emmerich upon Rhine. The second Treaty of Vordingborg (Freden i Vordingborg) concluded in July 1435 at Vordingborg Castle
Vordingborg Castle
The Vordingborg Castle ruins are located in the town of Vordingborg, Denmark and are the town's most famous attraction.-History:...
between the Danish King Erik of Pomerania and Adolf. In 1439, the new Danish King Christopher III acquired the loyalty of Adolf by granting him the entire Duchy of Schleswig as a hereditary fief but under the Danish crown. Adolf's lands were located in both sides of the border between Denmark and the Holy Roman Empire
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...
.
The current branch of Danish royal house became extinct in 1448 with the death of Christopher III of Denmark. Adolf was a cognatic
Cognatic
Cognatic kinship is a mode of descent calculated from an ancestor or ancestress counted through any combination of male and female links, or a system of bilateral kinship where relations are traced through both a father and mother....
descendant of King Eric V of Denmark
Eric V of Denmark
Eric V "Klipping" was King of Denmark and son of Christopher I. Until 1264 he ruled under the auspices of his mother, the competent Queen Dowager Margaret Sambiria. Between 1261 and 1262, Eric was a prisoner in Holstein following a military defeat...
, whose mother Queen Dowager
Queen Dowager
A queen dowager or dowager queen is a title or status generally held by the widow of a deceased king. In the case of the widow of a deceased emperor, the title of empress dowager is used...
Margaret Sambiria
Margaret Sambiria
Margaret Sambiria, in Danish: Margrethe Sambiria or Sambirsdatter, was the Queen consort of Christopher I of Denmark, and acted as regent for Eric V of Denmark...
had obtained a papal confirmation of the right of also female descendancy of Christopher I of Denmark
Christopher I of Denmark
Christopher I was King of Denmark between 1252 and 1259. He was the son of Valdemar II of Denmark by his wife, Infanta Berengária of Portugal. He succeeded his brothers Eric IV Plovpenning and Abel of Denmark on the throne. Christopher was elected King upon the death of his older brother Abel in...
to succeed to the throne of Denmark. The throne was offered by Statsraad to Adolf, who as Duke of Schleswig, was the vassal with the biggest holdings in the Danish realm. Adolf, by that time old and childless, declined and supported the candidacy of his own nephew the Count of Oldenburg
Rulers of Oldenburg
right|120px|thumb|Shield of the Counts of Oldenburg120px|thumb|right|Shield of the Counts of Oldenburg-DelmenhorstThis is a list of the counts, dukes, grand dukes, and prime ministers of Oldenburg.-Counts of Oldenburg:* 1101–1108 Elimar I* 1108–1143 Elimar II...
who became Christian I of Denmark
Christian I of Denmark
Christian I was a Danish monarch, king of Denmark , Norway and Sweden , under the Kalmar Union. In Sweden his short tenure as monarch was preceded by regents, Jöns Bengtsson Oxenstierna and Erik Axelsson Tott and succeeded by regent Kettil Karlsson Vasa...
.
Adolf was married to Margarete von Höllenstein of the German noble family of Hohnstein
Hohnstein
Hohnstein is a town in the Sächsische Schweiz-Osterzgebirge district, in the Free State of Saxony, Germany. It is situated in Saxon Switzerland, 12 km east of Pirna, and 28 km southeast of Dresden . It is dominated by its castle, standing on a sandstone rock....
. In 1459 Adolf died and left no descendants to inherit. His sisters were the late Helvig
Helvig of Schauenburg
Helvig of Schauenburg , also known as Hedwig of Schauenburg, was a duchess of Schleswig and a countess of Holstein from the family of Schauenburg, and ancestor of the Danish Royal houses of Oldenburg and Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg.She was a daughter of Count Gerhard VI of...
(Hedwig), who was married with Dietrich, Count of Oldenburg and had left children, and the elderly Ingeborg of Holstein
Ingeborg of Holstein
Ingeborg of Holstein , was Abbess of Vadstena Abbey 1447-1452 and 1457-1465.She was the daughter of Gerhard VI of Holstein and Elisabeth of Brunswick. In 1408, she was placed in the convent by Queen Margaret I of Denmark by consent of the Pope. In 1447, she was appointed Abbess...
, Abbess of Vadstena
Vadstena Abbey
Vadstena Abbey was the motherhouse of the Bridgettine Order, situated on Lake Vättern, in the Diocese of Linköping, Sweden. The abbey started as one of the farms donated by the king, but the town of Vadstena grew up around it...
, who lived as a nun, was both unmarried and childless. His brother Gerhard had mixed twins, with the son drowned still young and the daughter a nun in Preetz
Preetz
Preetz is a town in the district of Plön, in Schleswig-Holstein, Northern Germany. In the town centre is a small lake, the Kirchsee.-History:...
. There were several claimants to Schleswig and Holstein, since several branches of the Schauenburg family, counts of different parts of Holstein, had left female offspring and their cognatic heirs. Furthermore the Schauenburgs still continued to rule the County of Holstein-Pinneberg in the male line. Adolf's branch was not genealogically very senior.
The representatives of Schleswig and Holstein (nobility and some delegates of the Estates) convened in Ribe
Ribe
Ribe , the oldest extant Danish town, is in southwest Jutland and has a population of 8,192 . Until 1 January 2007, it was the seat of both the surrounding municipality, and county...
where, on 5 March 1460, the succession was confirmed to Christian I of Denmark
Christian I of Denmark
Christian I was a Danish monarch, king of Denmark , Norway and Sweden , under the Kalmar Union. In Sweden his short tenure as monarch was preceded by regents, Jöns Bengtsson Oxenstierna and Erik Axelsson Tott and succeeded by regent Kettil Karlsson Vasa...
, the eldest nephew of the late Duke of Schleswig and Count of Holstein-Rendsburg.
Source
This article derives mainly from the Salmon Konversationsleksikon 2nd edition (JH Schultz Forlag. 1915 to 1930).Other sources
- Gregersen, H. V. (1981) Slesvig og Holsten før 1830 (Politiken) ISBN 978-87-567-3479-0 Danish
- Trap J. P. (1975) Hertugdømmet Slesvig (Selskabet for Udgivelse af Kilder til Dansk Historie) ISBN 978-87-7500-701-1 Danish
- Pulsiano, Phillip; Wolf, Kirsten (1993) Medieval Scandinavia: An Encyclopedia (Taylor & Francis) ISBN 0-8240-4787-7