ooh, he lied. He only got 60 Thalers not 100.
Arnold eh? *slaps head and groans*
Ayeshteni
Arnold eh? *slaps head and groans*
Ayeshteni
The true history of the house von Habsburg
- Thread starter Veldmaarschalk
- Start date
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Ayeshteni said:ooh, he lied. He only got 60 Thalers not 100.
Arnold eh? *slaps head and groans*
Ayeshteni
He is honest, but not stupid
Looks like he's beginning to get himself in hot water. Family killings among the Hapsburgs seem quite frequent
Oi Vay! :rofl:
Nice touch, shame the Prussian didnt get rowdy then Junior could have cleaned house Commando-style
Otto IV 'The Black Margrave'
1152 ~ 1170
1152 ~ 1170
Otto IV 'The Black Margrave'
Graz, October 4th 1764
After his trip to Pressburg, Karl-Friedrich returned to Graz again. He though about asking Arnold if he could rent a room above the Inn, but then decided that it was better not to. Arnold was a trustworthy friend, but he would continue asking questions about the mission.
He hadn’t seen any suspicious characters in Pressburg so most likely, he had just imagined things. It was time to continue with writing his history of the house von Habsburg. Until now most von Habsburgs weren’t very pleasant ones, but what he read about Otto IV ‘The Black Margrave’ made his stomach turn. He wondered if he really should write the truth about Otto IV or make the story a bit more flattering for the empress.
He hadn’t received any news yet what so ever from the Imperial court since the last letter a few months ago, were they angry at him because he didn’t sent the documents he had found already to her ? Maybe he should go to Vienna ?
After about a week, he had made his mind up, he would continue with his mission and would write the truth and wouldn’t make it fancier then it was.
After his trip to Pressburg, Karl-Friedrich returned to Graz again. He though about asking Arnold if he could rent a room above the Inn, but then decided that it was better not to. Arnold was a trustworthy friend, but he would continue asking questions about the mission.
He hadn’t seen any suspicious characters in Pressburg so most likely, he had just imagined things. It was time to continue with writing his history of the house von Habsburg. Until now most von Habsburgs weren’t very pleasant ones, but what he read about Otto IV ‘The Black Margrave’ made his stomach turn. He wondered if he really should write the truth about Otto IV or make the story a bit more flattering for the empress.
He hadn’t received any news yet what so ever from the Imperial court since the last letter a few months ago, were they angry at him because he didn’t sent the documents he had found already to her ? Maybe he should go to Vienna ?
After about a week, he had made his mind up, he would continue with his mission and would write the truth and wouldn’t make it fancier then it was.
‘Your highness,
If one thing is true then we can say that Otto IV came to rule the von Habsburg lands with blood on his hands, or should we say poison. I have now found enough documents and papers that make it clear that Otto IV was the murderer of his father Albrecht III.
And this murder wasn’t his only one, but let me start with the beginning.
Otto IV was born in 1132 AD and was as already mentioned his fathers only son. An injury he received in the battle of Geneve in 1169 AD was the cause of his death in 1170 AD. He was married five times, his first wife was Sofie Staden, a cousin of the infamous Gertrude Staden, this marriage produced one son, Welf born in 1152 AD. The second marriage was with Guilheumina d’Este from the ruling house of the duchy of Lombardia and Provence, this marriage brought two sons, Rupprecht born in 1153 AD but who was murdered in 1165 AD and Ulrich born in 1154 AD and died in 1155 AD. The third marriage with Adelheid von Babenberg, a daughter of the count of Passau brought two sons, Friedrich born in 1158 AD and Rudolf born in 1160 AD and murdered in 1163 AD and one daughter, Eufemia born in 1159 AD. Adelheid committed suicide in 1167 AD. His fourth marriage was with Agnez de Porhoet a daughter of the duke of Brittany, Agnez ‘died’ just a few months after her marriage with Otto IV and Otto then married her sister Argentael de Porhoet, this marriage brought one daughter Hedwiga born in 1170 AD, some people also believe that this marriage produced a son, who was born after Otto’s death, and this alleged son was named after his father.
Otto IV, though married to a Staden, restarted the feud with that family, who were no promoted to dukes of Brandenburg and Österreich. His assassination attempt on Peter Staden succeeded but the attempt on Ernst Staden failed and backfired on him when the Staden’s succeeded in killing two of his sons, Rupprecht and Rudolf. Otto IV also succeeded in murdering young Antoon Gerbod who was a heir to the duchies of Brandenburg and Österreich, the Gerbod’s themselves were the ruling house of the duchy of Swabia.
During Otto IV’s reign, there also was for the first time a war between two Habsburgs. In 1154 AD, Otto IV had gone on a Crusade to Macedonia and succeeded in liberating the area around the ancient town of Phillipopolis, he installed a cousin Dietrich von Habsburg as bishop there. Dietrich was a son of the bastard-son of Otto II, Gozelo. But it seemed that insanity was spreading within the von Habsburg family and Dietrich became known as the ‘Crazy Bishop’ who in 1158 AD rebelled against Otto IV. This rebellion was crushed and the town of Phillipopolis was sacked by Otto’s troops, and a new bishop was installed.
The sacking of Phillipopolis
In 1162 AD a war had started between the Holy Roman Empire and the kingdom of Scotland, the emperor Odon von Franken made Otto IV a commander of one of his armies which conquered Gwynedd in Wales from the Scottish king, Ferteth Dunn Chaillean.
Otto IV was also responsible for the death of his fourth wife, Agnez de Porhoet, not that he murdered her, but when she got an illness that turned in to pneumonia he refused to let anyone help her. The reason for this was, that in those days, a ruler could call for a special tax because of his marriage and Otto IV was in need of money, so if his wife would die he would be able to marry again and collect the tax again. The reason I am so sure about this is, because I have found a personal letter of Otto IV to his steward where he explains the whole thing.
Not far from the Habichtsburg, the home of the von Habsburg a Muslim Sheikh had conquered the county of Geneve, Otto IV saw this as a fine opportunity to expand the lands of the von Habsburg and therefor invaded the county in 1169 AD. The battle that followed was a success but Otto was injured seriously and he died of those wounds in 1170 AD.
It must be clear to you that Otto IV wasn’t called the Black Margrave solely because he wore black armour.
Your highness, it will be sometime before you will receive my next letter since I now will have to travel to Austrian Netherlands, where I will continue my history of the von Habsburg.
Your faithful and loyal servant,
Karl-Friedrich von Lenzburg.
PS
On a small side-note it may interest you that the new bishop that Otto IV installed instead of his cousin, Dietrich ‘The Crazy Bishop’ was relative of mine called Andreas von Lenzburg, who had served as Otto IV’s chancellor for quite some time.’
If one thing is true then we can say that Otto IV came to rule the von Habsburg lands with blood on his hands, or should we say poison. I have now found enough documents and papers that make it clear that Otto IV was the murderer of his father Albrecht III.
And this murder wasn’t his only one, but let me start with the beginning.
Otto IV was born in 1132 AD and was as already mentioned his fathers only son. An injury he received in the battle of Geneve in 1169 AD was the cause of his death in 1170 AD. He was married five times, his first wife was Sofie Staden, a cousin of the infamous Gertrude Staden, this marriage produced one son, Welf born in 1152 AD. The second marriage was with Guilheumina d’Este from the ruling house of the duchy of Lombardia and Provence, this marriage brought two sons, Rupprecht born in 1153 AD but who was murdered in 1165 AD and Ulrich born in 1154 AD and died in 1155 AD. The third marriage with Adelheid von Babenberg, a daughter of the count of Passau brought two sons, Friedrich born in 1158 AD and Rudolf born in 1160 AD and murdered in 1163 AD and one daughter, Eufemia born in 1159 AD. Adelheid committed suicide in 1167 AD. His fourth marriage was with Agnez de Porhoet a daughter of the duke of Brittany, Agnez ‘died’ just a few months after her marriage with Otto IV and Otto then married her sister Argentael de Porhoet, this marriage brought one daughter Hedwiga born in 1170 AD, some people also believe that this marriage produced a son, who was born after Otto’s death, and this alleged son was named after his father.
Otto IV, though married to a Staden, restarted the feud with that family, who were no promoted to dukes of Brandenburg and Österreich. His assassination attempt on Peter Staden succeeded but the attempt on Ernst Staden failed and backfired on him when the Staden’s succeeded in killing two of his sons, Rupprecht and Rudolf. Otto IV also succeeded in murdering young Antoon Gerbod who was a heir to the duchies of Brandenburg and Österreich, the Gerbod’s themselves were the ruling house of the duchy of Swabia.
During Otto IV’s reign, there also was for the first time a war between two Habsburgs. In 1154 AD, Otto IV had gone on a Crusade to Macedonia and succeeded in liberating the area around the ancient town of Phillipopolis, he installed a cousin Dietrich von Habsburg as bishop there. Dietrich was a son of the bastard-son of Otto II, Gozelo. But it seemed that insanity was spreading within the von Habsburg family and Dietrich became known as the ‘Crazy Bishop’ who in 1158 AD rebelled against Otto IV. This rebellion was crushed and the town of Phillipopolis was sacked by Otto’s troops, and a new bishop was installed.
The sacking of Phillipopolis
In 1162 AD a war had started between the Holy Roman Empire and the kingdom of Scotland, the emperor Odon von Franken made Otto IV a commander of one of his armies which conquered Gwynedd in Wales from the Scottish king, Ferteth Dunn Chaillean.
Otto IV was also responsible for the death of his fourth wife, Agnez de Porhoet, not that he murdered her, but when she got an illness that turned in to pneumonia he refused to let anyone help her. The reason for this was, that in those days, a ruler could call for a special tax because of his marriage and Otto IV was in need of money, so if his wife would die he would be able to marry again and collect the tax again. The reason I am so sure about this is, because I have found a personal letter of Otto IV to his steward where he explains the whole thing.
Not far from the Habichtsburg, the home of the von Habsburg a Muslim Sheikh had conquered the county of Geneve, Otto IV saw this as a fine opportunity to expand the lands of the von Habsburg and therefor invaded the county in 1169 AD. The battle that followed was a success but Otto was injured seriously and he died of those wounds in 1170 AD.
It must be clear to you that Otto IV wasn’t called the Black Margrave solely because he wore black armour.
Your highness, it will be sometime before you will receive my next letter since I now will have to travel to Austrian Netherlands, where I will continue my history of the von Habsburg.
Your faithful and loyal servant,
Karl-Friedrich von Lenzburg.
PS
On a small side-note it may interest you that the new bishop that Otto IV installed instead of his cousin, Dietrich ‘The Crazy Bishop’ was relative of mine called Andreas von Lenzburg, who had served as Otto IV’s chancellor for quite some time.’
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the_hdk said:another great aar by Veldmarschalk...
I'll be reading this one
Thanks and of cours also thanks for the support to my other readers.
I'm getting more and more afraid of our friend's health... And somehow I doubt his forefathers promotion on expense of a Habsburg will help.
Nikolai said:I'm getting more and more afraid of our friend's health... And somehow I doubt his forefathers promotion on expense of a Habsburg will help.
Quite. I expect a letter from the Empress, stating..
"If you extol the virtues of your family one more time, we shall have to have you executed. You are supposed to chronicle the Habsburgs, not the von Lenzburgs"
But thats just my prediction.
Aye.
Just a thought, what chances are there that a von Lenzburg married a Habsburg sometime, giving our hero a claim to the throne?
Nice couple of updates once again.
Forgot to tell I like the format you're using this time.
Forgot to tell I like the format you're using this time.
Thanks all for the encouraging words.
At first I wasn't planning something special for Karl-Friedrich at all, he would be just the narrarator of the story, but then stnylan made a post about him daydreaming which got me thinking to create some kind of sub-plot to the story.
I don't know where it will lead to, yet.
EDIT
In one of my next updates I will be telling something about what is happening in the rest of Europe.
At first I wasn't planning something special for Karl-Friedrich at all, he would be just the narrarator of the story, but then stnylan made a post about him daydreaming which got me thinking to create some kind of sub-plot to the story.
I don't know where it will lead to, yet.
EDIT
In one of my next updates I will be telling something about what is happening in the rest of Europe.
The Loyal Welf
1170 ~ 1185
1170 ~ 1185
Liège
Liège, November 14th 1764
The trip to Liège had taken a lot longer then Karl-Friedrich had expected. He had wanted to travel over Vienna and then follow the Danube, through Bavaria and then through the Schwarzwald. Cross the Rhine and then ride through Lorraine and Luxembourg. But after he had received a letter from his empress Maria Theresa in Graz, he thought it saver and wiser to cross the Alps over the Brenner and then enter Bavarian territory.
And sitting in his small lodging in Liège he again opened the envelope that contained the letter of the empress and started reading it for tenth time.
Karl-Friedrich hands started shaking again, he thought he had done magnificent so far, unveiling all those plots and secrets and here he was being accused of being a liar and more importantly from be a traitor. At least he now knew, the Prussians were after him but not only the Prussians, there were also Austrian spies who seemed to follow him with every step he took. Who could that contact in Graz be ? Arnold ? No, Arnold was his friend, he couldn’t, better not think about it to much. I will write a letter tomorrow, where I will tell about Welf I von Habsburg and where I will also explain what had happened in Graz. Yes, that is what I do.
The trip to Liège had taken a lot longer then Karl-Friedrich had expected. He had wanted to travel over Vienna and then follow the Danube, through Bavaria and then through the Schwarzwald. Cross the Rhine and then ride through Lorraine and Luxembourg. But after he had received a letter from his empress Maria Theresa in Graz, he thought it saver and wiser to cross the Alps over the Brenner and then enter Bavarian territory.
And sitting in his small lodging in Liège he again opened the envelope that contained the letter of the empress and started reading it for tenth time.
‘Hauptman von Lenzburg,
With great interest, but growing displeasure, we have read your letters about the early von Habsburgs. We have asked for an honest and true report. But up until now you only have produced lies, gossip, unsubstantiated facts and false information.
We therefor urge you, that your next report tells the truth and not another dirty untrue story. We have made it clear to you, that the reason for this mission is to prove that we, the von Habsburg are the one and only true leaders of the Holy Roman Empire and the rest of the world. Your reports seem to suggest that this was all achieved by foul deeds and dirty scheming. A lot of people are calling us ‘The Great White Glob’ for no reason at all, your mission is therefor from the utmost importance for the Empire and the von Habsburg.
We are also getting tired of your demands for extra gold, as you know the Empire has just lost a war, we therefor don’t have the money to sent our officers on a luxury holiday throughout the Empire. You are from noble birth yourself, and your family estates should provide you with enough money to accomplish this task, to us this is seems a rather reasonable demand since you are also now studying the history of your own family, as seen in your latest letter to us. Which was of course totally irrelevant information for us.
We are especially interested in the reason for your suggested trip to Liège, as far as we know it that was never Habsburg land. When you move to Liège we expect that you will be travelling through Vienna, that would then be a good time to hand over all the documents and letters your have collected so far. We will then have be studied by real scholars who will prove that they are all falsifications by that evil Prussian Friedrich.
From our contacts in Graz we have heard that you have been seen in the Old Inn with a man who is suspected of being a Prussian spy, this news was very disturbing to us. What was the reason for this meeting ? And why weren’t we informed about this in your latest letter ?
Signed,
Maria Theresa von Habsburg,
Empress of the Holy Roman Empire, Archduchess of Österreich........’
With great interest, but growing displeasure, we have read your letters about the early von Habsburgs. We have asked for an honest and true report. But up until now you only have produced lies, gossip, unsubstantiated facts and false information.
We therefor urge you, that your next report tells the truth and not another dirty untrue story. We have made it clear to you, that the reason for this mission is to prove that we, the von Habsburg are the one and only true leaders of the Holy Roman Empire and the rest of the world. Your reports seem to suggest that this was all achieved by foul deeds and dirty scheming. A lot of people are calling us ‘The Great White Glob’ for no reason at all, your mission is therefor from the utmost importance for the Empire and the von Habsburg.
We are also getting tired of your demands for extra gold, as you know the Empire has just lost a war, we therefor don’t have the money to sent our officers on a luxury holiday throughout the Empire. You are from noble birth yourself, and your family estates should provide you with enough money to accomplish this task, to us this is seems a rather reasonable demand since you are also now studying the history of your own family, as seen in your latest letter to us. Which was of course totally irrelevant information for us.
We are especially interested in the reason for your suggested trip to Liège, as far as we know it that was never Habsburg land. When you move to Liège we expect that you will be travelling through Vienna, that would then be a good time to hand over all the documents and letters your have collected so far. We will then have be studied by real scholars who will prove that they are all falsifications by that evil Prussian Friedrich.
From our contacts in Graz we have heard that you have been seen in the Old Inn with a man who is suspected of being a Prussian spy, this news was very disturbing to us. What was the reason for this meeting ? And why weren’t we informed about this in your latest letter ?
Signed,
Maria Theresa von Habsburg,
Empress of the Holy Roman Empire, Archduchess of Österreich........’
Karl-Friedrich hands started shaking again, he thought he had done magnificent so far, unveiling all those plots and secrets and here he was being accused of being a liar and more importantly from be a traitor. At least he now knew, the Prussians were after him but not only the Prussians, there were also Austrian spies who seemed to follow him with every step he took. Who could that contact in Graz be ? Arnold ? No, Arnold was his friend, he couldn’t, better not think about it to much. I will write a letter tomorrow, where I will tell about Welf I von Habsburg and where I will also explain what had happened in Graz. Yes, that is what I do.
‘Your highness,
First of all I am glad that you are showing such great interest in my study about your family. I can honestly swear to you that everything I wrote to you is the truth and nothing but the truth, I have warned truth can be a dangerous thing. Once I have finished my entire report I will hand it over to you personally and at the same time will give you all the evidence and facts that I have collected, not later but also not sooner.
I never had a meeting with a Prussian spy in Graz, I had a meeting with a friend who warned me about that man, so your contacts are wrong. I haven’t told you about it cause I thought I was imagining things, but I will be more carefully in the future and will try my utmost to prevent the information I have from falling into the wrong hands.
As you may know, my brother has inherited all my fathers estates and he refuses to pay me even ‘one Schilling’. My travel arrangements can hardly be called luxurious, but as an officer in the Imperial army I am used to hardship so I will bite through.
Hopefully with this everything is cleared up and I will now continue with the story about Welf I von Habsburg the eldest son of ‘the Black Margrave’.
Welf I von Habsburg was born in 1152 AD and was married with Czenzi Thursa, a daughter of the Margrave of Moravia who had no sons of his own, so a son born from this marriage would inherited this important realm in the kingdom of Bohemia. For two reasons this plan failed.
1. Welf and Czenzi only got daughters, five in total. Heilwiva born in 1171 AD, Judita born in 1172 AD, Csilla born in 1174 AD, Katherina born in 1178 AD and finally Adela born in 1180 AD.
2. But even if a son would have been born, Moravia would never come in to the hands of the von Habsburg that way, since Czenzi’s father rebelled against his liege the king of Bohemia in 1176 AD, the rebellion failed and the Thursa family lost all its titles.
Besides his five daughters Welf I had one bastard son, named Leopold who was born in 1172 AD and would later become the count of Liège.
The Holy Roman Empire was in a time of turmoil in those days, the Salian dynasty or the von Franken family as they were sometimes called had died out in the primary male line. In theory this meant that all the nobles of the Empire would gather to elect a new Emperor, but that was theory. In reality a strong family would lay claim to this title and then make it so that they were elected. A thing that has now turned in to common practice by the von Habsburg of course.
But in this case the dynasty that took the title was a special one, since it was a foreign dynasty, a mixed family of Scottish and Italian stock and the first Emperor of this family was Dioniso o’Ath Fodhla, which in modern terms would be translated as ‘of Atholl’ but somehow this dynasty was strongly in favour of its Gaelic inheritance.
Emperor Dioniso knew that to establish his dynasty he would have to do something special and remarkable so when in 1173 AD, the Pope called for a Crusade to liberate Burgos in northern Spain he named himself the leader of this Crusade and called upon his vassals to join him.
Margrave Welf I, whose loyalty to the Emperor, was renowned not only enthusiastically joined Emperor Dioniso but was also given command of one of the armies. How strange it may seem to us now but the Muslims in Europe had made large conquests in east and west, destroying for example the kingdom of France. Only a small corridor of Christian lands, consisting of the duchies of Champagne and Orleans existed between Germany and Brittany on the Atlantic coast. All three dukes were vassals of the Holy Roman Empire.
Before Emperor Dioniso wanted to move to Spain he first needed to secure his line of operation and that is why Welf I was given command of an army to conquer Liège, which was in Muslim hands. After successfully having accomplished this Welf and his army were sent to central France to conquer the county of Tourraine, this was also a success and emperor Dioniso gave those two counties to Welf I. Sadly enough for Welf and the von Habsburg, the time of his independent command came to an end and he was subordinated to the army of the emperor himself, this army liberated Burgos in 1180 AD from the Muslim kingdom of the Zirids.
The von Habsburg were now considered members of the ‘high nobility’ within the Empire, the first family after the dukes and princes of the Empire. Welf I had hoped that the Emperor would elevate him to the duke of Steiermark, but this did not happen. The dukes of Swabia and Brandenburg-Österreich prevented this, they hadn’t forgotten the father of Welf, Otto IV and his murderers. The duke of Brandenburg-Österreich Ernst Staden, who had survived the assassination on him by Otto IV is supposed to have said
In 1182 AD, therefor Welf I was obliged to march to Pressburg to try and suppress this rebellion before it could spread to the other counties under his rule. The revolt was crushed but with price, Welf I was wounded at first it didn’t look serious but it grew worse and worse and though he was able to live on for a couple of years, he died in 1185 AD, the wound plus the pneumonia that he had attracted killed him. Since he had no legitimate sons, and bastard sons weren't entitled to inherit, his half-brother Friedrich I von Habsburg became the new Margrave.
Welf I did a lot of good for the von Habsburg and he was known in the Empire as The Loyal Welf, but he also had his disappointments, first of all he had no legitimate sons who could have inherited his father-in-laws titles if he hadn’t rebelled and he hadn’t achieved his greatest wish and that was becoming duke of Steiermark.
The reason I had to travel to Liège is that all the records concerning Welf I were taken by his son Leopold when he was made count of Liège in 1188 AD.
Your most loyal servant,
Karl-Friedrich von Lenzburg.
PS
I don’t want to demand anything, but a small allowance would be very much appreciated.’
First of all I am glad that you are showing such great interest in my study about your family. I can honestly swear to you that everything I wrote to you is the truth and nothing but the truth, I have warned truth can be a dangerous thing. Once I have finished my entire report I will hand it over to you personally and at the same time will give you all the evidence and facts that I have collected, not later but also not sooner.
I never had a meeting with a Prussian spy in Graz, I had a meeting with a friend who warned me about that man, so your contacts are wrong. I haven’t told you about it cause I thought I was imagining things, but I will be more carefully in the future and will try my utmost to prevent the information I have from falling into the wrong hands.
As you may know, my brother has inherited all my fathers estates and he refuses to pay me even ‘one Schilling’. My travel arrangements can hardly be called luxurious, but as an officer in the Imperial army I am used to hardship so I will bite through.
Hopefully with this everything is cleared up and I will now continue with the story about Welf I von Habsburg the eldest son of ‘the Black Margrave’.
Welf I von Habsburg was born in 1152 AD and was married with Czenzi Thursa, a daughter of the Margrave of Moravia who had no sons of his own, so a son born from this marriage would inherited this important realm in the kingdom of Bohemia. For two reasons this plan failed.
1. Welf and Czenzi only got daughters, five in total. Heilwiva born in 1171 AD, Judita born in 1172 AD, Csilla born in 1174 AD, Katherina born in 1178 AD and finally Adela born in 1180 AD.
2. But even if a son would have been born, Moravia would never come in to the hands of the von Habsburg that way, since Czenzi’s father rebelled against his liege the king of Bohemia in 1176 AD, the rebellion failed and the Thursa family lost all its titles.
Besides his five daughters Welf I had one bastard son, named Leopold who was born in 1172 AD and would later become the count of Liège.
The Holy Roman Empire was in a time of turmoil in those days, the Salian dynasty or the von Franken family as they were sometimes called had died out in the primary male line. In theory this meant that all the nobles of the Empire would gather to elect a new Emperor, but that was theory. In reality a strong family would lay claim to this title and then make it so that they were elected. A thing that has now turned in to common practice by the von Habsburg of course.
But in this case the dynasty that took the title was a special one, since it was a foreign dynasty, a mixed family of Scottish and Italian stock and the first Emperor of this family was Dioniso o’Ath Fodhla, which in modern terms would be translated as ‘of Atholl’ but somehow this dynasty was strongly in favour of its Gaelic inheritance.
Emperor Dioniso knew that to establish his dynasty he would have to do something special and remarkable so when in 1173 AD, the Pope called for a Crusade to liberate Burgos in northern Spain he named himself the leader of this Crusade and called upon his vassals to join him.
Margrave Welf I, whose loyalty to the Emperor, was renowned not only enthusiastically joined Emperor Dioniso but was also given command of one of the armies. How strange it may seem to us now but the Muslims in Europe had made large conquests in east and west, destroying for example the kingdom of France. Only a small corridor of Christian lands, consisting of the duchies of Champagne and Orleans existed between Germany and Brittany on the Atlantic coast. All three dukes were vassals of the Holy Roman Empire.
Before Emperor Dioniso wanted to move to Spain he first needed to secure his line of operation and that is why Welf I was given command of an army to conquer Liège, which was in Muslim hands. After successfully having accomplished this Welf and his army were sent to central France to conquer the county of Tourraine, this was also a success and emperor Dioniso gave those two counties to Welf I. Sadly enough for Welf and the von Habsburg, the time of his independent command came to an end and he was subordinated to the army of the emperor himself, this army liberated Burgos in 1180 AD from the Muslim kingdom of the Zirids.
The granting of the counties of Liège and Tourraine
The von Habsburg were now considered members of the ‘high nobility’ within the Empire, the first family after the dukes and princes of the Empire. Welf I had hoped that the Emperor would elevate him to the duke of Steiermark, but this did not happen. The dukes of Swabia and Brandenburg-Österreich prevented this, they hadn’t forgotten the father of Welf, Otto IV and his murderers. The duke of Brandenburg-Österreich Ernst Staden, who had survived the assassination on him by Otto IV is supposed to have said
‘No von Habsburg will be duke, as long as a Staden lives.’
Disappointed by this outcome Welf I had returned home. And since he and his troops had been away for years, though Welf I must have been able to go to home now and then since else he couldn’t have fathered so many daughters, meant that some lands had fallen into lawlessness. Most of all in the county of Pressburg, when the official sent by Welf I to deal with these troubles with a hard hand, the population of Pressburg rose into a rebellion. Somehow the people enjoyed the freedom that lawlessness gave them. In 1182 AD, therefor Welf I was obliged to march to Pressburg to try and suppress this rebellion before it could spread to the other counties under his rule. The revolt was crushed but with price, Welf I was wounded at first it didn’t look serious but it grew worse and worse and though he was able to live on for a couple of years, he died in 1185 AD, the wound plus the pneumonia that he had attracted killed him. Since he had no legitimate sons, and bastard sons weren't entitled to inherit, his half-brother Friedrich I von Habsburg became the new Margrave.
Welf I did a lot of good for the von Habsburg and he was known in the Empire as The Loyal Welf, but he also had his disappointments, first of all he had no legitimate sons who could have inherited his father-in-laws titles if he hadn’t rebelled and he hadn’t achieved his greatest wish and that was becoming duke of Steiermark.
The reason I had to travel to Liège is that all the records concerning Welf I were taken by his son Leopold when he was made count of Liège in 1188 AD.
Your most loyal servant,
Karl-Friedrich von Lenzburg.
PS
I don’t want to demand anything, but a small allowance would be very much appreciated.’
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