County of Kyburg

Last updated
County/Bailiwick of Kyburg
Grafschaft/Landvogtei Kyburg
1053–1798
Siegel Graf Dillingen 1194 Sm.png
Coat of arms
(c.11801230) [1]
Wappen Vogtei Thurgau.svg
Coat of arms
(after 1263) [3]
Schweiz um 1200.png
Feudal territories in Switzerland c. 1200. The territory of the house of Kyburg, including their terrories inherited from Lenzburg in 1173, is shown in yellow.
Capital Kyburg
GovernmentFeudalism
Graf 
 d. 1121
Hartmann I. von Dillingen
Landvogt 
 17951798
Hans Caspar Ulrich
History 
 Death of Adalbert II von Winterthur
1053
 Inheritance from Lenzburg
1173
 Comital line extinct
1264
1383
 Neu-Kyburg line extinct
1417
1452
 Disestablished
1798
Preceded by
Succeeded by
Blank.png Counts of Winterthur
Helvetic Republic Flag of the Helvetic Republic (French).svg

The County of Kyburg probably came into existence in the 11th century and is first mentioned in 1027. After 1053 it was a possession of the counts of Dillingen. It was greatly expanded with the extinction of the House of Lenzburg in 1173.

Contents

During 11801250, the counts of Kyburg existed as a separate cadet line of the counts of Dillingen. The county was ruled by Hartmann V, nephew of the last count of Kyburg in the agnatic line, during 12511263. It then passed to the House of Habsburg as possession of the counts of Neu-Kyburg (also Kyburg-Burgdorf) after the extinction of the agnatic line of the House of Kyburg, until the extinction of Neu-Kyburg in 1417. It then passed under direct Habsburg suzerainty, then briefly to Zürich (14241442), to emperor Frederick III (14421452) and back to Zürich in 1452, from which time it was administered as a bailiwick ( Landvogtei ) of Zürich until the establishment of the Helvetic Republic in 1798.

Despite not being in possession anymore, the Habsburg monarchs continued carrying the historic title of "Princely Count of Kyburg" in the grand title of the Emperor of Austria.

Creation of the county

The first mention of Kyburg Castle was in 1027 when Emperor Conrad II destroyed the Chuigeburch. [4] By 1096 the Counts of Dillingen also included Count of Kyburg as one of their titles. By 1180 the family split into two lines, the Kyburgs and the Dillingens. The county expanded when the male line of the Counts of Lenzburg went extinct in 1173, followed by the Counts of Zähringen in 1218. From the Zähringen lands they inherited the cities of Thun, Burgdorf and Fribourg. Over the following decades they founded a number of towns including; Diessenhofen, Winterthur, Zug, Baden, Frauenfeld, Aarau, Mellingen, Lenzburg, Sursee, Weesen, Laupen, Richensee, Wangen an der Aare and Huttwil. [4] However, in 1250, quarreling between Hartmann IV and his nephew Hartmann V led to dividing the county in half. Hartmann IV (the Elder) received the original County of Kyburg and all the Kyburg lands east of the Reuss river [5] while Hartmann V (the Younger) received everything west of the Reuss as well as Zug and Arth. [6]

Under Habsburg rule

When Hartmann IV died without a male heir in 1264, the Count of Kyburg passed to Rudolf of Habsburg. The western Kyburg lands were sold to Rudolf in 1273 by Hartmann V's daughter Anna, but were permanently separated from the County of Kyburg. Initially after acquiring Kyburg Castle, Rudolf often directly ruled over the county from the castle. However, after his election to Emperor he only rarely returned to Kyburg. Over the following years, as the Habsburgs gained power in Austria, Kyburg went from a centerpiece of their power to a minor province. After 1364 the Habsburgs used Kyburg as collateral for loans or as a reward for vassals. In 1384 the county was pledged to the Counts of Toggenberg and in 1402 it was held by Kunigunde of Montfort-Bregenz. During the Appenzell Wars, the county was invaded in 1407 and the castle was besieged. [4]

In 1424 the city of Zürich bought the county for 8,750 gulden. At the time it included the Kloten and Embrach regions and the modern day Districts of Winterthur and Pfäffikon (but not the city of Winterthur). During the Old Zürich War of 1442, Zürich returned the county to Austria in exchange for their support. It returned to Zürich in 1452 as collateral for a 17,000 gulden loan, which the Habsburgs never repaid. The Habsburgs continued to claim Kyburg as one of their titles until 1918. [4]

Part of Zürich

County of Kyburg in the Canton of Zurich, 1750 LV Kyburg copy.svg
County of Kyburg in the Canton of Zürich, 1750

By acquiring the county, Zürich received a large area with rich farmland and a bewildering array of feudal laws, obligations and estates. By the 18th century the county still represented about half the territory of the entire canton. They divided the county into six administrative regions and appointed a Landvogt who ruled the entire county from Kyburg Castle. Under the Landvogt there were six Untervögte who administered the six regions. The position of Landvogt became a springboard to becoming a member of the city council or the mayor of Zürich. Beginning in 1535 the Landvogt was appointed by the council for a period of six years.

End of the county

During the 1798 French invasion of Switzerland, local peasants rose up in rebellion and attacked Kyburg Castle. The French controlled Helvetic Republic swept away the old feudal organizations including the County of Kyburg. It was dissolved and the area divided between several new districts. After the fall of Napoleon and the restoration in Switzerland, Kyburg and Pfäffikon were combined into a district in 1815. However, it was short lived and in 1831 the district was dissolved and the administrative seat moved away from Kyburg Castle. [4]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">House of Zähringen</span> Dynasty of Swabian nobility, 10th to 13th centuries

The House of Zähringen was a dynasty of Swabian nobility. The family's name derived from Zähringen Castle near Freiburg im Breisgau. The Zähringer in the 12th century used the title of Duke of Zähringen, in compensation for having conceded the title of Duke of Swabia to the Staufer in 1098. The Zähringer were granted the special title of Rector of Burgundy in 1127, and they continued to use both titles until the extinction of the ducal line in 1218.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Canton of Bern</span> Canton of Switzerland

The canton of Bern or Berne is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. Its capital city, Bern, is also the de facto capital of Switzerland. The bear is the heraldic symbol of the canton, displayed on a red-yellow background.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Winterthur</span> Place in Zürich, Switzerland

Winterthur is a city in the canton of Zürich in northern Switzerland. With over 110,000 residents it is the country's sixth-largest city by population, and is the ninth-largest agglomeration with about 140,000 inhabitants. Located about 20 kilometres (12 mi) northeast of Zürich, Winterthur is a service and high-tech industrial satellite city within Greater Zürich.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Burgdorf, Switzerland</span> Municipality in Switzerland in Bern

Burgdorf is the largest city in the Emmental in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. It was the capital of the district of the same name until 2010, when it became part of the new Emmental district.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lenzburg Castle</span> Castle in Lenzburg in the canton of Aargau, Switzerland

Lenzburg Castle is a castle located above the old part of the town of Lenzburg in the Canton of Aargau, Switzerland. It ranks among the oldest and most important of Switzerland. The castle stands on the almost circular castle hill, which rises approximately 100 m (330 ft) over the surrounding plain but is only about 250 m (820 ft) in diameter. The oldest parts of the castle date to the 11th century, when the Counts of Lenzburg built it as their seat. The castle, its historical museum and the castle hill with its Neolithic burial grounds are listed as heritage sites of national significance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Counts of Toggenburg</span>

The counts of Toggenburg ruled the Toggenburg region of today's canton of St. Gallen, Switzerland, and adjacent areas during the 13th to 15th centuries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kyburg (castle)</span> Building in Kyburg, Switzerland

Kyburg Castle is a castle in Switzerland, overlooking the Töss river some 3 km south-east of Winterthur, in Kyburg municipality, canton of Zürich. It is a Swiss heritage site of national significance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zürcher Oberland</span> Highlands in Switzerland

The Zürcher Oberland in Switzerland, is the hilly south-eastern part of the canton of Zurich, bordering on the Toggenburg, including the districts of Uster, Hinwil, Pfäffikon as well as the Töss Valley as far as the district of Winterthur. The territory gradually fell under the control of the city of Zurich from 1408 to 1452. In the 18th century, the jurisdiction lay with the reeve of Grüningen for the southern part, and with the reeve of Kyburg for the northern part together with most of the Zürcher Unterland.

The Kyburg family was a noble family of grafen (counts) in the Duchy of Swabia, a cadet line of the counts of Dillingen, who in the late 12th and early 13th centuries ruled the County of Kyburg, corresponding to much of what is now Northeastern Switzerland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Burgdorferkrieg</span>

The Burgdorferkrieg or Kyburgerkrieg was a war in 1383-84 between the counts of Neu-Kyburg and the city of Bern for supremacy in the County of Burgundy in what is now Switzerland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Burgdorf Castle</span> Castle in Burgdorf, Bern, Switzerland

Burgdorf Castle is a castle in the municipality of Burgdorf in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. It is a Swiss heritage site of national significance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thun Castle</span> Historic site in Thun

Thun Castle is a castle in the city of Thun, in the Swiss canton of Bern. It was built in the 12th century, today houses the Thun Castle museum, and is a Swiss heritage site of national significance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Counts of Lenzburg</span> Comital family

The Counts of Lenzburg were a comital family in the Duchy of Swabia in the 11th and 12th centuries, controlling substantial portions of the pagi of Aargau and Zürichgau.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Töss Monastery</span>

Töss Monastery was a community of Dominican nuns located in the former Swiss city of Töss, now a part of Winterthur. Nothing of the original buildings exists today.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">House of Rapperswil</span>

The House of Rapperswil respectively Counts of Rapperswil ruled the upper Zürichsee and Seedamm region around Rapperswil and parts of, as of today, Swiss cantons of St. Gallen, Glarus, Zürich and Graubünden when their influence was most extensive around the 1200s until the 1290s. They acted also as Vogt of the most influential Einsiedeln Abbey in the 12th and 13th century, and at least three abbots of Einsiedeln were members of Rapperswil family.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Regensberg Castle</span> Building in Regensberg, Switzerland

Regensberg Castle is a hill castle which was built about the mid-13th century AD by the House of Regensberg in the Swiss municipality of Regensberg in the Canton of Zürich.

Regensberg was a family of counts from the Canton of Zürich in Switzerland. The family had possessions in the medieval Zürichgau from the probably mid-11th century and became extinct in 1331 AD. With the extinction of the male line, the city republic of Zürich laid claim to the Regensberg lands and formed the Herrschaft Regensberg respectively Äussere Vogtei.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of Thurgau</span>

The Thurgau was a pagus of the Duchy of Alamannia in the early medieval period. A County of Thurgau existed from the 13th century until 1798. Parts of Thurgau were acquired by the Old Swiss Confederacy during the early 15th century, and the entire county passed to the Confederacy as a condominium in 1460.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Counts of Dillingen</span>

The Counts of Dillingen were a Swabian comital family of the Hupaldinger (Hucpaldinger) dynasty during AD 955–1286.

References

  1. A coat of arms with four lions, as in that of the counts of Dillingen, is recorded in a seal of 1220. Franz Ernst Pipitz, Die Grafen von Kyburg (1839), 27–30. The coat of arms with two lions is first mentioned as Kiburg in nigro gilvan tabulam fore ponis, obliquansque duos gilvos secet illa leones (i.e. sable, a bend or, two lions [passant] of the same) in the Clipearius Teutonicorum by Konrad von Mure (ca. 1264, v. 34), ed. Paul Ganz (1899). The shield is shown in red rather than black in depictions of the 14th century. The black shield mentioned by von Mure was introduced as the municipal arms of Kyburg in 1926. Peter Ziegler, Die Gemeindewappen des Kantons Zürich, Antiquarische Gesellschaft in Zürich, Wappenzeichnungen von Walter Käch und Fritz Brunner, Zürich 1977, p. 67. Die Form mit dem schwarzen Wappenschild wurde 1926 von der Gemeinde Kyburg als Wappen übernommen.
  2. Coat of arms of Neu-Kyburg, replacing the black field of the original coat of arms with the red of the House of Habsburg.
  3. Coat of arms of Neu-Kyburg, replacing the black field of the original coat of arms with the red of the House of Habsburg.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Kyburg in German , French and Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland .
  5. Kyburg, Hartmann IV. von (der Ältere) in German , French and Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland .
  6. Kyburg, Hartmann V. von (der Jüngere) in German , French and Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland .