List of monarchs of Baden

Last updated

Monarchy of Baden
State
Coat of Arms of the Grand Duchy of Baden 1877-1918.svg
GrandDukeFriedrichII.jpg
Details
Style His Royal Highness (for Grand Dukes)
First monarchBerthold I (as Count)
Last monarch Frederick II (as Grand Duke)
Formation962
Abolition22 November 1918
AppointerHereditary
Pretender(s) Bernhard (as Margrave)

Baden was an Imperial Estate of the Holy Roman Empire and later one of the German states along the frontier with France, primarily consisting of territory along the right bank of the Rhine, opposite Alsace and the Palatinate.

Contents

History

The territory evolved out of the Breisgau, an early medieval county in the Duchy of Swabia. A continuous sequence of counts is known since 962; the counts belong to the House of Zähringen. In 1061, the counts first acquired the additional title of Margrave of Verona. Even though they lost the March of Verona soon thereafter, they kept the title of margrave. In 1112, the title of Margrave of Baden was first used.

For most of the early modern period, the Margraviate of Baden was divided into two parts, one ruled by the Catholic Margraves of Baden-Baden, and the other by the Protestant Margraves of Baden-Durlach. In 1771, the main Baden-Baden line became extinct, and all of the Baden lands came under the rule of the Baden-Durlach line. The reunited margraviate existed until 1803.

During the Napoleonic era, in the imperial reorganisation of 1803, Baden gained a great deal of additional territory, and its ruler was promoted to become one of the few prince-electors of the Holy Roman Empire. However, this situation lasted only for three years until the crushing Battle of Austerlitz at the hands of Napoleon's armies, which caused the Holy Roman Empire to be declared dissolved eight months later, in August 1806.

By definition the Electorate of Baden then ceased to exist as such. Just as the former Holy Roman Emperor now assumed the title of Emperor of Austria, so the ruler of Baden assumed that of Grand Duke of Baden. The Grand Duchy of Baden, with increased additional territory, continued in existence approximately within its 1806 borders until the fall of the German monarchies in 1918, when it became the Republic of Baden.

Counts in Breisgau

The Margraviate of Baden

During the 11th century, the Duchy of Swabia lacked a powerful central authority and was under the control of various comital dynasties, the strongest of them being the House of Hohenstaufen, the House of Welf, the Habsburgs and the House of Zähringen. Emperor Henry III had promised the ducal throne to the Zähringen scion Berthold, however, upon Henry's death in 1056, his widow Agnes of Poitou appointed Rudolf of Rheinfelden as Duke of Swabia. Berthold renounced his rights and was compensated with the Duchy of Carinthia and the March of Verona in Italy. Not able to establish himself, he finally lost both territories, when he was deposed by King Henry IV of Germany during the Investiture Controversy in 1077. Berthold retired to his Swabian home territory, where he died the next year. The Veronese margravial title was nevertheless retained by his eldest son, Herman I.

Herman II, son of Herman I and grandson of Berthold, had concluded an agreement with the rival Hohenstaufen dynasty, and about 1098 was enfeoffed with immediate territory by Emperor Henry IV. He chose to establish his residence in Germany, as he had been born and raised there. His lordship of choice was Baden (present-day Baden-Baden), where his father had gained the right to rule by marrying the heiress, Judit von Backnang-Sulichgau, Countess of Eberstein-Calw. In Baden, Herman II had Hohenbaden Castle built. Construction began about 1100, and when it was completed in 1112, he marked the occasion by adopting the title of Margrave of Baden.

House of Zähringen

Partitions of Baden under Zähringen rule

      
            
Margraviate
of Baden

(1161–1515)
(Pforzheim line
from 1348)
      Margraviate
of Hachberg

(1190–1415)
Margraviate
of Sausenberg

(1290–1503)
Margraviate
of Pforzheim

(1291–1348)
Margraviate
of Eberstein

(1288–1353)
      
      
      
(In 1515 new divisions were made)
            
Margraviate
of Baden

(Rodemachern line
from 1588)

(1515–1771)
Margraviate
of Rodemachern

(1536–1666)
Margraviate
of Hachberg

(1577–1591)
Margraviate
of Durlach

(1515–1771)
      
      
Margraviate of Baden
(Durlach line)
(1771–1803)

Table of monarchs

(Note: Between 1190 and 1515 there were three main numberings of monarchs in Baden: the Baden numbering, valid for all divisions of Baden with exception of Hachberg; the Hachberg numbering, valid in the namesake territory; and the Hachberg-Sausenberg, division of the previous, which also adopted an independent numbering for its monarchs. With the reunion of Baden in 1503, Baden original numbering ended up prevailing over the others.)

Elector of Baden, 1803–1806

Elector of Baden
Baden Dynasty
ImageName
(Birth–Death)
BeganEndedNotes
Karl Friedrich von Baden.jpg Charles Frederick
Karl Friedrich
(1728–1811)
27 April 180325 July 1806The first and only Elector of Baden. Became Grand Duke of Baden.

Grand Dukes of Baden, 1806–1918

Grand Dukes of Baden
Baden Dynasty
ImageName
(Birth–Death)
BeganEndedNotes
Karl Friedrich von Baden.jpg Charles Frederick
Karl Friedrich
(1728–1811)
25 July 180610 June 1811
Grossherzog Karl von Baden 1811.jpg Charles I
Karl I
(1786–1818)
10 June 18118 December 1818Grandson of Charles Frederick.
Grossherzog Ludwig von Baden 1820.jpg Louis I
Ludwig I
(1763–1830)
8 December 181830 March 1830Uncle of Charles.
Leopold, Grand Duke of Baden.PNG Leopold I
Leopold I
(1790–1852)
30 March 183024 April 1852Half-brother of Louis I.
Ludwig II. Grand duke of Baden.png Louis II
Ludwig II
(1824–1858)
24 April 185222 January 1858Son of Leopold I. Ruled under the regency of his brother Frederick.
Friedrich I of Baden.jpg Frederick I
Friedrich I
(1826–1907)
22 January 185828 September 1907Brother of Louis II. Served as regent 1852–1858. Took the title of Grand Duke in 1856. Became a subordinate ruler in the German Empire after the Unification of Germany in 1871.
GrandDukeFriedrichII.jpg Frederick II
Friedrich II
(1857–1928)
28 September 190722 November 1918Son of Frederick I. The last Grand Duke of Baden. Abdicated in the German Revolution of 1918–1919.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">House of Zähringen</span> Dynasty of Swabian nobility

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">History of Baden-Württemberg</span>

The history of Baden-Württemberg covers the area included in the historical state of Baden, the former Prussian Hohenzollern, and Württemberg, part of the region of Swabia since the 9th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frederick I, Margrave of Baden</span> Margrave of Baden and of Verona from 1250 to 1268

Frederick I of Baden, a member of the House of Zähringen, was Margrave of Baden and of Verona, as well as claimant Duke of Austria from 1250 until his death. As a fellow campaigner of the Hohenstaufen king Conradin, he likewise was beheaded at the behest of King Charles I of Naples.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Swabia</span> Cultural, historic, and linguistic region of Germany

Swabia is a cultural, historic and linguistic region in southwestern Germany. The name is ultimately derived from the medieval Duchy of Swabia, one of the German stem duchies, representing the historic settlement area of the Germanic tribe alliances named Alemanni and Suebi.

The Dukes of Swabia were the rulers of the Duchy of Swabia during the Middle Ages. Swabia was one of the five stem duchies of the medieval German kingdom, and its dukes were thus among the most powerful magnates of Germany. The most notable family to rule Swabia was the Hohenstaufen family, who held it, with a brief interruption, from 1079 until 1268. For much of that period, the Hohenstaufen were also Holy Roman Emperors. With the death of Conradin, the last Duke of Hohenstaufen, the duchy itself disintegrated although King Rudolf I attempted to revive it for his Habsburg family in the late 13th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frederick I, Duke of Swabia</span> Duke of Swabia from 1079 to 1105

Frederick I before 21 July was Duke of Swabia from 1079 to his death, the first ruler from the House of Hohenstaufen (Staufer).

Berthold II, Duke of Carinthia, also known as Berthold I of Zähringen, was a progenitor of the Swabian House of Zähringen. From 1061 until 1077, he was the Duke of Carinthia and Margrave of Verona.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Margraviate of Baden</span> Border state of the Holy Roman Empire (1112–1803)

The Margraviate of Baden was a historical territory of the Holy Roman Empire. Spread along the right banks of the Upper Rhine in south-western Germany, it was named a margraviate in 1112 and existed until 1535, when it was split into the two margraviates of Baden-Durlach and Baden-Baden. The two parts were reunited in 1771 under Margrave Charles Frederick, even if the three parts of the state maintained their distinct seats to the Reichstag. The restored Margraviate of Baden was elevated to the status of electorate in 1803. In 1806, the Electorate of Baden, receiving territorial additions, became the Grand Duchy of Baden. The rulers of Baden, known as the House of Baden, were a line of the Swabian House of Zähringen.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Duchy of Swabia</span> One of five stem duchies of the German Kingdom

The Duchy of Swabia was one of the five stem duchies of the medieval German Kingdom. It arose in the 10th century in the southwestern area that had been settled by Alemanni tribes in Late Antiquity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Duchy of Austria</span> State of the Holy Roman Empire (1156–1453)

The Duchy of Austria was a medieval principality of the Holy Roman Empire, established in 1156 by the Privilegium Minus, when the Margraviate of Austria (Ostarrîchi) was detached from Bavaria and elevated to a duchy in its own right. After the ruling dukes of the House of Babenberg became extinct in male line, there was as much as three decades of rivalry on inheritance and rulership, until the German king Rudolf I took over the dominion as the first monarch of the Habsburg dynasty in 1276. Thereafter, Austria became the patrimony and ancestral homeland of the dynasty and the nucleus of the Habsburg monarchy. In 1453, the archducal title of the Austrian rulers, invented by Duke Rudolf IV in the forged Privilegium Maius of 1359, was officially acknowledged by the Habsburg emperor Frederick III.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Berthold, Duke of Merania</span>

Berthold IV, a member of the House of Andechs, was Margrave of Istria and Carniola. By about 1180/82 he assumed the title of Duke of Merania, referring to the Adriatic seacoast of Kvarner which his ancestors had conquered in the 1060s and annexed to Istria and Carniola.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">March of Verona</span> Frontier territory of the Holy Roman Empire in northeast Italy (952–1167)

The March of Verona and Aquileia was a vast march of the Holy Roman Empire in the northeastern Italian region during the Middle Ages, centered on the cities of Verona and Aquileia. Seized by King Otto I of Germany in 952, it was held by the Dukes of Bavaria; from 976 in personal union with the Duchy of Carinthia. The margravial regime ended with the advent of the Lombard League in 1167.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">March of Istria</span> Historical Carolingian border march

The March of Istria was originally a Carolingian frontier march covering the Istrian peninsula and surrounding territory conquered by Charlemagne's son Pepin of Italy in 789. After 1364, it was the Istrian province of the Habsburg monarchy, the Austrian Empire and Austria-Hungary.

Berthold II, also known as Berchtold II, was the Duke of Swabia from 1092 to 1098. After he conceded the Duchy of Swabia to the Staufer in 1098, the title of "Duke of Zähringen" was created for him, in use from c. 1100 and continued by his successors until 1218.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coat of arms of Baden</span>

The coat of arms of Baden comes from the personal arms of the Margraves and Grand Dukes of Baden, the traditional rulers of the region. Following the revolution and abolition of the Grand Duchy in 1918, the arms and griffin supporters were usurped from the Grand Dukes by the new republic to represent the people and country.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Margraviate of Baden-Durlach</span> German principality from 1535 to 1771

The Margraviate of Baden-Durlach was an early modern territory of the Holy Roman Empire, in the upper Rhine valley, which existed from 1535 to 1771. It was formed when the Margraviate of Baden was split between the sons of Margrave Christopher I and was named for its capital, Durlach. The other half of the territory became the Margraviate of Baden-Baden, located between the two halves of Baden-Durlach. Baden-Durlach became Lutheran during the Protestant Reformation, unlike Baden-Baden, which remained Catholic. Baden-Durlach occupied Baden-Baden from 1594 to 1622, but was driven out after being defeated at the Battle of Wimpfen, during the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648). The territory was ravaged during the Nine Years' War (1688–1697). Following the extinction of the Baden-Baden line in 1771, the Baden-Durlach inherited their territories and reunited the Margraviate of Baden. The reunified territory was caught up in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, emerging in 1806 as the Grand Duchy of Baden.

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

The Counts of Freiburg were the descendants of Count Egino of Urach. They ruled over the city of Freiburg and the Breisgau between approximately 1245 and 1368.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Margraviate of Baden-Hachberg</span> Territory of the Holy Roman Empire

The Margraviate of Baden-Hachberg was a territory of the Holy Roman Empire, in the upper Rhine valley, which existed from 1212 to 1415.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Henry II, Margrave of Baden-Hachberg</span>

Henry II, Margrave of Baden-Hachberg was the ruling Margrave of Baden-Hachberg from 1231 to 1289.

References

  1. He is numbered III after Jakob von Baden (Archbishop of Trier), usually counted as James II but didn't rule.
  2. He is numbered V after Frederick of Baden (Bishop of Utrecht), usually counted as Frederick IV but didn't rule.