Erhanger (Duke of Swabia)

Origin

Erhanger came from a noble family of Ahalolfings , whose possessions were in Franconia and Swabia . Erhanger was probably the son of Bertold I , who received the title of Palatinate of Swabia thanks to the marriage of his sister Richard with Emperor Karl III Tolstoy .

Board

After the death of King Arnulf in 900 in Swabia , the influence of the local nobility intensified, especially of two clans - the Burkhardingers , who had already established themselves in the Margrave of Recy in 807 , and the Akhalolfinges, who were arguing among themselves for influence in Swabia. Large church hierarchs also fought for power, primarily the bishops of Constance and the abbots of St. Gallen and Reichenau . They took advantage of the weakening of royal power during the reign of the infant Louis IV Child . Initially, the winner was Margrave Recy Burchard I , who tried to extend his power to the whole of Swabia and since 909 sources have called him “duke of Alemania” (dux Alamannorum) in official documents. However, after the death of Louis, the Duke of Franconia Conrad I was elected the new king, accusing Burchard of usurping the royal authority. The Duke of Swabia was found guilty of treason and executed, after which the most powerful feudal lords in Swabia were the Akhalolfings.

Erhanger was first mentioned in historical sources in 912 . In most of the documents he is endowed with the title of count ( lat. Comes ), however, it is impossible to precisely localize his possessions on the basis of this data. Since Erhanger is referred to as a palatine in one of the documents, it is assumed that he was a palatine of Swabia, possibly inheriting this title after the death of his father. He probably contributed to the fall of Duke Burchard I in 911. After that, together with his brother Bertold Erhanger sought to expand his power in Swabia, but ran into resistance from Bishop Constance Solomon III , Chancellor of King Conrad, who sided with the bishop, trying to weaken the position of the tribal nobility . This led to a conflict between the king and Erhanger.

Initially, the conflict did not develop into an open struggle. In 913, Erhanger reconciled with the king, which was secured by the marriage of Konrad and Kuniguda, the sister of Erhanger, the widow of Margrave of Bavaria Luitpold . In the same year, Erhanger teamed up with the Duke of Bavaria Arnulf and was able to repel the attack of the Hungarians , while the king remained inactive.

In 914, Erhanger’s confrontation with the king resumed. Erhanger captured Bishop Solomon III, as a result of which the conflict escalated into a military clash between the Palatine and Conrad. As a result, Bishop Solomon was released, Erhanger was captured and sent to the king, who was expelled from the country.

Soon the king had a new adversary - Burchard II , the son of the executed Duke Burchard I. In the fall of 915, Erhanger returned from exile with his brother Bertold united with Burchard. They defeated the army of King Conrad at the Battle of Valvis and captured Bishop Solomon. After that, Erhanger was proclaimed the Duke of Swabia.

Soon a fierce feud began between the king and the sovereign Swabian and Bavarian princes, whose side was taken by the Duke of Saxony Henry . The king, seeking support against the rebellious dukes, turned to the church for help. In September 916, at the initiative of King Conrad, a synod was convened in Hohenaltheim , in which the high clergy of Franconia, Swabia and Bavaria, as well as the papal legate, took part. The synod supported the king and condemned Erhanger and Berthold to life imprisonment. Trying to reconcile with the king, the brothers arrived at the royal court, but Conrad, contrary to the decision of the synod, ordered Erhanger, Bertold, and their nephew Liufried to be executed on January 21, 917 .

Marriage and children

Wife: Berta (d. After 917). It is not known whether he had children.

• Zot Thomas. Erchanger // Lexikon des Mittelalters, Bd. 3. Sp. 2123-2124. - 1986.
• Bulst Tile Maria Louise, Jordan Karl, Fleckenstein Joseph. The Holy Roman Empire: the era of formation / Per. with him. Drobinskaya K. L., Neborskaya L. N. edited by I. Ermachenko - St. Petersburg. : Eurasia, 2008 .-- 480 p. - 1000 copies. - ISBN 978-5-8071-0310-9 .

• Erchanger, Herzog von Schwaben (German) (link not available) . Mittelalterliche Genealogie im Deutschen Reich bis zum Ende der Staufer. Date of treatment December 18, 2011. Archived on April 8, 2015.
• Ahalolfinger ( inaccessible link) . Foundation for Medieval Genealogy . Date of treatment December 18, 2011. Archived December 23, 2011.