Henry VI, Burgrave of Plauen
Encyclopedia
Henry VI of Plauen was Burgrave
of Meissen, Lord of Plauen and Lord of Schleiz and Lobenstein.
, from his marriage to Countess Margaret of Salm (1517–1573). After his father's death he and his older brother Henry V
jointly ruled their extensive possessions. They also inherited a dispute with the Princely House of Reuss. However, they were both still minors, so a month after the death of their father, King Ferdinand of Bohemia
promised to protect them against the Reuss family. In addition to the high debt they inherited from their father, they incurred new debt due to this court case against the Reuss
family. In 1556, they lost the districts of Hof and Schauenstein
by imperial arbitration.
In May 1559 the brothers had to pledge the Lordships of Plauen
and Oelsnitz and the district of Schöneck
to Elector August of Saxony. On 28 September 1560, the imperial court in Vienna ruled against them: they had to give the Lordship of Greiz to the Reuss family on 1 January 1561 and half each of the Lordships of Gera
and Schleiz
. All they had left were their Bohemian estates and the Bohemian fiefs of Úvalno
and Posterstein
Castle. The dispute with the Reuss family, however, reached a conclusion. It ended with a treaty, which was confirmed and sealed by the Emperor in Prague on 9 March 1562. On 14 March 1562, the brothers were invested by the Emperor.
In 1563 the brothers decided to divide their lands. Henry VI received the Lordships of Schleiz
and Úvalno
and the district of Pausa
. When they had to repay the loan, they found that the money wasn't there (Henry VI was accused of having spent it) and as a result, the heartland of Plauen, the Lordships of Plauen
and Oelsnitz and the district Schöneck
were forever lost to Saxony
.
In preparation for his marriage on 9 April 1564 at Fallersleben to Princess Catherine of Brunswick-Lüneburg-Gifhorn (born: 1548 in Gifhorn
; died: 10 December 1565 in Schleiz
) he pledged the district of Pausa
to a citizen in Leipzig, who sold the claims in 1569 to Elector August of Saxony.
On 27 August 1566 Henry married again, this time with Anna of Pomerania-Stettin (born: 5 February 1531 in Stettin; died 13 October 1592 in Rosenberg
). In constant shortage of money he pledged Úvalno in 1567 to the Schwarzburg family and 1569 to the Vitzthum of Eckstaedt family. He could not redeem this loan either, so he lost Úvalno as well.
Henry VI. died on 22 January 1572 in poverty as the last of the Vogt
s of Plauen. Both his marriages were childless. He was buried in the Mountain Church at Schleiz. His property passed to the Ruess family who contested control of the Lordship of Schleiz
with Saalburg and Burgk with his widow for the next twenty years. Anna of Pomerania refused to leave her Wittum
, which Henry had given her with the Emperor's confirmation, but without the consent of the Reuss family. Even after she remarried in 1576, Anne refused to give up Schleiz. The dispute was settled in 1590: Anna handed Schleiz over to the Reuss family, in exchange for a cash payment of guilders.
Henry VI. was a member of te ancient Plauen line and is only remotely related with the Reuss of Plauen at Greiz line, who later were the Princes of Reuss Elder Line
Their common ancestor was Henry I, the founder of the House of Plauen, who lived in the 13th Century.
Burgrave
A burgrave is literally the count of a castle or fortified town. The English form is derived through the French from the German Burggraf and Dutch burg- or burch-graeve .* The title is originally equivalent to that of castellan or châtelain, meaning keeper of a castle and/or fortified town...
of Meissen, Lord of Plauen and Lord of Schleiz and Lobenstein.
Life
Henry VI was the younger of two sons of Henry IV, Burgrave of PlauenHenry IV, Burgrave of Plauen
Henry IV of Plauen , was Colonel Chancellor of the Kingdom of Bohemia, Burgrave of Meissen, Lord of Plauen, Gera, Greiz, Schleiz and Bad Lobenstein, Lord of Toužim, Hartenštejn Castle, Andělská Hora Castle and Žlutice...
, from his marriage to Countess Margaret of Salm (1517–1573). After his father's death he and his older brother Henry V
Henry V, Burgrave of Plauen
Henry V of Plauen was Burgrave of Meissen and Lord of Plauen and Voigtsberg.- Life :...
jointly ruled their extensive possessions. They also inherited a dispute with the Princely House of Reuss. However, they were both still minors, so a month after the death of their father, King Ferdinand of Bohemia
Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor
Ferdinand I was Holy Roman Emperor from 1558 and king of Bohemia and Hungary from 1526 until his death. Before his accession, he ruled the Austrian hereditary lands of the Habsburgs in the name of his elder brother, Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor.The key events during his reign were the contest...
promised to protect them against the Reuss family. In addition to the high debt they inherited from their father, they incurred new debt due to this court case against the Reuss
Reuss
Reuss was the name of several historical states located in present-day Thuringia, Germany. Its rulers, the Reuss family, named all of their male children Heinrich after the end of the 12th century in honour of Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor , to whom they owed the estates of Weida and Gera...
family. In 1556, they lost the districts of Hof and Schauenstein
Schauenstein
Schauenstein is a town in the district of Hof, in Bavaria, Germany. It is situated 13 km west of Hof....
by imperial arbitration.
In May 1559 the brothers had to pledge the Lordships of Plauen
Plauen
Plauen is a town in the Free State of Saxony, east-central Germany.It is the capital of the Vogtlandkreis. The town is situated near the border of Bavaria and the Czech Republic.Plauen's slogan is Plauen - echt Spitze.-History:...
and Oelsnitz and the district of Schöneck
Schöneck, Saxony
Schöneck is a town in the Vogtlandkreis district, in the Free State of Saxony, Germany. It is situated 18 km southeast of Plauen, and 35 km north of Cheb. Schöneck is known as the biggest ski resort in the eastern part of Germany. With more than 700 m it is the highest-located city in the...
to Elector August of Saxony. On 28 September 1560, the imperial court in Vienna ruled against them: they had to give the Lordship of Greiz to the Reuss family on 1 January 1561 and half each of the Lordships of Gera
Gera
Gera, the third-largest city in the German state of Thuringia , lies in east Thuringia on the river Weiße Elster, approximately 60 kilometres to the south of the city of Leipzig and 80 kilometres to the east of Erfurt...
and Schleiz
Schleiz
Schleiz is a town in the district of Saale-Orla-Kreis in Thuringia, Germany.- Location :Schleiz is in the Thuringian Vogtland area, an area of wooded hills on the borders of Thuringia, Saxony, Bavaria and the Czech Republic...
. All they had left were their Bohemian estates and the Bohemian fiefs of Úvalno
Úvalno
Úvalno is a village and municipality in Bruntál District in the Moravian-Silesian Region of the Czech Republic.- Natives :* Hans Kudlich – Austrian political activist, Austrian legislator, writer and physician-Notes:...
and Posterstein
Posterstein
Posterstein is a German municipality in the Thuringian Landkreis of Altenburger Land.-Neighboring municipalities:Municipalities near Posterstein are Heukewalde, Löbichau, Nöbdenitz, and Vollmershain in the district of Altenburger Land; as well as Paitzdorf and the city of Ronneburg in the district...
Castle. The dispute with the Reuss family, however, reached a conclusion. It ended with a treaty, which was confirmed and sealed by the Emperor in Prague on 9 March 1562. On 14 March 1562, the brothers were invested by the Emperor.
In 1563 the brothers decided to divide their lands. Henry VI received the Lordships of Schleiz
Schleiz
Schleiz is a town in the district of Saale-Orla-Kreis in Thuringia, Germany.- Location :Schleiz is in the Thuringian Vogtland area, an area of wooded hills on the borders of Thuringia, Saxony, Bavaria and the Czech Republic...
and Úvalno
Úvalno
Úvalno is a village and municipality in Bruntál District in the Moravian-Silesian Region of the Czech Republic.- Natives :* Hans Kudlich – Austrian political activist, Austrian legislator, writer and physician-Notes:...
and the district of Pausa
Pausa, Saxony
Pausa is a town in the Vogtlandkreis district, in the Free State of Saxony, Germany. It is situated 13 km east of Schleiz, and 14 km northwest of Plauen....
. When they had to repay the loan, they found that the money wasn't there (Henry VI was accused of having spent it) and as a result, the heartland of Plauen, the Lordships of Plauen
Plauen
Plauen is a town in the Free State of Saxony, east-central Germany.It is the capital of the Vogtlandkreis. The town is situated near the border of Bavaria and the Czech Republic.Plauen's slogan is Plauen - echt Spitze.-History:...
and Oelsnitz and the district Schöneck
Schöneck
Schöneck may refer to:*Schöneck, Hesse, town in Germany*Schöneck, Saxony, town in Germany*Schœneck, municipality in Lorraine, France*Skarszewy , Poland...
were forever lost to Saxony
Electorate of Saxony
The Electorate of Saxony , sometimes referred to as Upper Saxony, was a State of the Holy Roman Empire. It was established when Emperor Charles IV raised the Ascanian duchy of Saxe-Wittenberg to the status of an Electorate by the Golden Bull of 1356...
.
In preparation for his marriage on 9 April 1564 at Fallersleben to Princess Catherine of Brunswick-Lüneburg-Gifhorn (born: 1548 in Gifhorn
Gifhorn
Gifhorn is a town and capital of the district Gifhorn in the east of Lower Saxony, Germany. It has a population of about 42,000 and is mainly influenced by the small distance to the industrial and commercially important cities nearby, Brunswick and Wolfsburg...
; died: 10 December 1565 in Schleiz
Schleiz
Schleiz is a town in the district of Saale-Orla-Kreis in Thuringia, Germany.- Location :Schleiz is in the Thuringian Vogtland area, an area of wooded hills on the borders of Thuringia, Saxony, Bavaria and the Czech Republic...
) he pledged the district of Pausa
Pausa, Saxony
Pausa is a town in the Vogtlandkreis district, in the Free State of Saxony, Germany. It is situated 13 km east of Schleiz, and 14 km northwest of Plauen....
to a citizen in Leipzig, who sold the claims in 1569 to Elector August of Saxony.
On 27 August 1566 Henry married again, this time with Anna of Pomerania-Stettin (born: 5 February 1531 in Stettin; died 13 October 1592 in Rosenberg
Rosenberg
- Places :* Rosenberg, Baden, a municipality in the district of Neckar-Odenwald, Baden-Württemberg, Germany* Rosenberg , a municipality in the district of Ostalbkreis, Baden-Württemberg, Germany...
). In constant shortage of money he pledged Úvalno in 1567 to the Schwarzburg family and 1569 to the Vitzthum of Eckstaedt family. He could not redeem this loan either, so he lost Úvalno as well.
Henry VI. died on 22 January 1572 in poverty as the last of the Vogt
Vogt
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...
s of Plauen. Both his marriages were childless. He was buried in the Mountain Church at Schleiz. His property passed to the Ruess family who contested control of the Lordship of Schleiz
Schleiz
Schleiz is a town in the district of Saale-Orla-Kreis in Thuringia, Germany.- Location :Schleiz is in the Thuringian Vogtland area, an area of wooded hills on the borders of Thuringia, Saxony, Bavaria and the Czech Republic...
with Saalburg and Burgk with his widow for the next twenty years. Anna of Pomerania refused to leave her Wittum
Wittum
Wittum , Widum or Witthum is a medieval Latin legal term, known in marital and ecclesiastical law.- Provide for a widow at the wedding :...
, which Henry had given her with the Emperor's confirmation, but without the consent of the Reuss family. Even after she remarried in 1576, Anne refused to give up Schleiz. The dispute was settled in 1590: Anna handed Schleiz over to the Reuss family, in exchange for a cash payment of guilders.
Henry VI. was a member of te ancient Plauen line and is only remotely related with the Reuss of Plauen at Greiz line, who later were the Princes of Reuss Elder Line
Reuss Elder Line
The Principality of Reuss Elder Line was a state in Germany, ruled by members of the House of Reuss. The Counts Reuss of Greiz, Lower- and Upper Greiz , were elevated to princely status in 1778. Its members bore the title Prince Reuss, Elder Line, or Prince Reuss of Greiz...
Their common ancestor was Henry I, the founder of the House of Plauen, who lived in the 13th Century.
Links
- http://www.vogtlandkreis.de/shownews.php?id=224