Dudo-Henry of Laurenburg
Encyclopedia
Dudo-Henry of Laurenburg (German: Dudo-Heinrich von Laurenburg) (ca. 1060 – ca. 1123) was Count of Laurenburg
in 1093 and is considered the founder of the House of Nassau
. The House of Nassau would become an important aristocratic family in Germany
, from which are descended the present-day rulers of the Netherlands
and Luxembourg
.
in Siegerland
. It is presumed from their ancestral possessions in the Lipporn
area that they were descendants of the Lords of Lipporn, who were mentioned as early as 881 in a document of Prüm Abbey
as the owners of parts of the Lipporn-Laurenburg area. Around 950, the Lords of Lipporn obtained the Esterau (the area near present day Holzappel
) from Herman I, Duke of Swabia
. In 991, a Drutwin from Lipporn is mentioned as Count in the Königssondergau
east of Wiesbaden
.
Probably with his father, Dudo built the castle of Laurenburg on the edge of the Esterau. This was sometime before 1093, because a "Comes Dudo de Lurenburch" is mentioned in founding charter of the Maria Laach Abbey
, in fifth place of the witness list. Some historians, however, have claimed that this document was fabricated. He is later mentioned in a document from 1117 as the Vogt in Siegerland, having succeeded his father. He was a supporter of the Salian emperors
, opposing the Archbishops of Mainz, Cologne
, and Trier
and the Counts of Katzenelnbogen
.
Around 1100, Dudo began building Nassau Castle, which would eventually become the home castle of the House of Nassau. This resulted in a century-long dispute with the Bishopric of Worms
, which owned the land.
In 1117, Dudo donated land to Schaffhausen Abbey for construction of a monastery in Lipporn. This monastery, built under Dudo's son Robert I in 1126, was the Benedictine
Schönau Abbey
. From 1141 until her death in 1164, the abbey would be the home of St. Elizabeth of Schönau
.
In 1122, Dudo received the castle of Idstein
in the Taunus
as a fief under the Archbishopric of Mainz
. This was part of the inhertance of Count Udalrich of Idstein-Eppstein. He also received the Vogtship of the richly-endowed Benedictine
Bleidenstadt Abbey (in present-day Taunusstein
).
), daughter of Count Louis II of Arnstein (Anastasia, possibly as heiress to Louis II, had claims on the Vogtship of Koblenz
). Three children were born of this union:
This article incorporates text translated from the corresponding German Wikipedia and French Wikipedia articles, as of 2009-01-20.
Laurenburg
Laurenburg is a municipality in the Rhein-Lahn district of Rhineland-Palatinate, in western Germany. The town, a health resort situated in the lower Lahn River valley, belongs to the Diez Municipal Association.-History:...
in 1093 and is considered the founder of the House of Nassau
House of Nassau
The House of Nassau is a diversified aristocratic dynasty in Europe. It is named after the lordship associated with Nassau Castle, located in present-day Nassau, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. The lords of Nassau were originally titled Count of Nassau, then elevated to the princely class as...
. The House of Nassau would become an important aristocratic family in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, from which are descended the present-day rulers of the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
and Luxembourg
Luxembourg
Luxembourg , officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , is a landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany. It has two principal regions: the Oesling in the North as part of the Ardennes massif, and the Gutland in the south...
.
Biography
Count Dudo was the son of Robert (German: Ruprecht), the Archbishop of Mainz’s VogtVogt
A Vogt ; plural Vögte; Dutch voogd; Danish foged; ; ultimately from Latin [ad]vocatus) in the Holy Roman Empire was the German title of a reeve or advocate, an overlord exerting guardianship or military protection as well as secular justice...
in Siegerland
Siegerland
The Siegerland is a region of Germany covering the old district of Siegen and the upper part of the district of Altenkirchen, belonging to the Rhineland-Palatinate adjoining it to the west.Geologically, the Siegerland belongs to the Rheinisches Schiefergebirge...
. It is presumed from their ancestral possessions in the Lipporn
Lipporn
Lipporn is a municipality in the district of Rhein-Lahn, in Rhineland-Palatinate, in western Germany....
area that they were descendants of the Lords of Lipporn, who were mentioned as early as 881 in a document of Prüm Abbey
Prüm Abbey
Prüm Abbey is a former Benedictine abbey in Prüm/Lorraine, now in the diocese of Trier , founded by a Frankish widow Bertrada, and her son Charibert, count of Laon, on 23 June 720. The first abbot was Angloardus....
as the owners of parts of the Lipporn-Laurenburg area. Around 950, the Lords of Lipporn obtained the Esterau (the area near present day Holzappel
Holzappel
Holzappel is a municipality in the Rhein-Lahn-Kreis, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, with a population in 2006 of 1100.Holzappel was a county and state of the Holy Roman Empire from 1643 until 1714. It was founded by Peter Melander of Holzappel, an imperial field marshal during the Thirty Years'...
) from Herman I, Duke of Swabia
Herman I, Duke of Swabia
Herman I was the first Conradine Duke of Swabia , the son of Gebhard, Duke of Lorraine, and a cousin of King Conrad I of Germany....
. In 991, a Drutwin from Lipporn is mentioned as Count in the Königssondergau
Königssondergau
The Königssondergau was a Frankish gau which existed in the area north of the confluence of the Rhine and Main rivers in Germany, from Frankish times until the end of the 12th century. Often mistakenly equated with the Rheingau, the Gau was based around the former Roman administrative district...
east of Wiesbaden
Wiesbaden
Wiesbaden is a city in southwest Germany and the capital of the federal state of Hesse. It has about 275,400 inhabitants, plus approximately 10,000 United States citizens...
.
Probably with his father, Dudo built the castle of Laurenburg on the edge of the Esterau. This was sometime before 1093, because a "Comes Dudo de Lurenburch" is mentioned in founding charter of the Maria Laach Abbey
Maria Laach Abbey
Maria Laach Abbey is a Benedictine abbey situated on the southwestern shore of the Laacher See , near Andernach, in the Eifel region of the Rhineland-Palatinate in Germany. It is a member of the Beuronese Congregation within the Benedictine Confederation...
, in fifth place of the witness list. Some historians, however, have claimed that this document was fabricated. He is later mentioned in a document from 1117 as the Vogt in Siegerland, having succeeded his father. He was a supporter of the Salian emperors
Salian dynasty
The Salian dynasty was a dynasty in the High Middle Ages of four German Kings , also known as the Frankish dynasty after the family's origin and role as dukes of Franconia...
, opposing the Archbishops of Mainz, Cologne
Archbishopric of Cologne
The Electorate of Cologne was an ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Empire and existed from the 10th to the early 19th century. It consisted of the temporal possessions of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cologne . It was ruled by the Archbishop in his function as prince-elector of...
, and Trier
Archbishopric of Trier
The Archbishopric of Trier was a Roman Catholic diocese in Germany, that existed from Carolingian times until the end of the Holy Roman Empire. Its suffragans were the dioceses of Metz, Toul and Verdun. Since the 9th century the Archbishops of Trier were simultaneously princes and since the 11th...
and the Counts of Katzenelnbogen
County of Katzenelnbogen
The County of Katzenelnbogen was an immediate state of the Holy Roman Empire. It existed between 1095 and 1479, when it was inherited by the Landgraves of Hesse.The estate comprised two separate territories...
.
Bishopric of Worms
The Bishopric of Worms was an ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Empire. Located on both banks of the Rhine around Worms just north of the union of that river with the Neckar, it was largely surrounded by the Palatinate. Worms had been the seat of a bishop from Roman times...
, which owned the land.
In 1117, Dudo donated land to Schaffhausen Abbey for construction of a monastery in Lipporn. This monastery, built under Dudo's son Robert I in 1126, was the Benedictine
Benedictine
Benedictine refers to the spirituality and consecrated life in accordance with the Rule of St Benedict, written by Benedict of Nursia in the sixth century for the cenobitic communities he founded in central Italy. The most notable of these is Monte Cassino, the first monastery founded by Benedict...
Schönau Abbey
Schönau Abbey (Nassau)
Schönau Abbey is a monastery in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Limburg on the outskirts of the municipality of Strüth in the Rhein-Lahn district, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany...
. From 1141 until her death in 1164, the abbey would be the home of St. Elizabeth of Schönau
Elizabeth of Schönau
Elizabeth of Schönau was a German Benedictine visionary. When her writings were published, the title of "Saint" was added to her name. She was never canonized, but in 1584 her name was entered in the Roman Martyrology and has remained there...
.
In 1122, Dudo received the castle of Idstein
Idstein
Idstein is a town of about 25,000 inhabitants in the Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis in the Regierungsbezirk of Darmstadt in Hesse, Germany. Because of its well preserved historical Altstadt it is part of the Deutsche Fachwerkstraße , connecting towns with fine timber-frame buildings and...
in the Taunus
Taunus
The Taunus is a low mountain range in Hesse, Germany that composes part of the Rhenish Slate Mountains. It is bounded by the river valleys of Rhine, Main and Lahn. On the opposite side of the Rhine, the mountains are continued by the Hunsrück...
as a fief under the Archbishopric of Mainz
Archbishopric of Mainz
The Archbishopric of Mainz or Electorate of Mainz was an influential ecclesiastic and secular prince-bishopric in the Holy Roman Empire between 780–82 and 1802. In the Roman Catholic Church hierarchy, the Archbishop of Mainz was the primas Germaniae, the substitute of the Pope north of the Alps...
. This was part of the inhertance of Count Udalrich of Idstein-Eppstein. He also received the Vogtship of the richly-endowed Benedictine
Benedictine
Benedictine refers to the spirituality and consecrated life in accordance with the Rule of St Benedict, written by Benedict of Nursia in the sixth century for the cenobitic communities he founded in central Italy. The most notable of these is Monte Cassino, the first monastery founded by Benedict...
Bleidenstadt Abbey (in present-day Taunusstein
Taunusstein
Taunusstein is the biggest town in the Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis in the Regierungsbezirk of Darmstadt in Hesse, Germany. It consists of more than 29,000 inhabitants.- Location :...
).
Descendants
Dudo-Henry of Laurenburg married Anastasia of Arnstein an der Lahn (near present day ObernhofObernhof
Obernhof is a municipality in the district of Rhein-Lahn, in Rhineland-Palatinate, in western Germany....
), daughter of Count Louis II of Arnstein (Anastasia, possibly as heiress to Louis II, had claims on the Vogtship of Koblenz
Koblenz
Koblenz is a German city situated on both banks of the Rhine at its confluence with the Moselle, where the Deutsches Eck and its monument are situated.As Koblenz was one of the military posts established by Drusus about 8 BC, the...
). Three children were born of this union:
- Robert (Ruprecht) I, Count of NassauRobert I of NassauRobert I of Nassau was from 1123 co-Count of Laurenburg and would later title himself the first Count of Nassau. The House of Nassau would become an important aristocratic family in Germany, from which are descended the present-day rulers of both the Netherlands and Luxembourg.-Biography:Robert...
(1123–1154) - Arnold I, Count of LaurenburgArnold I of LaurenburgArnold I of Laurenburg , an early member of the House of Nassau, was from 1123 co-Count of Laurenburg. The House of Nassau would become an important aristocratic family in Germany, from which are descended the present-day Kings of the Netherlands and Grand Dukes of Luxembourg.-Biography:Arnold was...
(1123–1148) - Demudis, who married Emich, Count of Diez
External links
This article incorporates text translated from the corresponding German Wikipedia and French Wikipedia articles, as of 2009-01-20.