Everything about The Duchy Of Westphalia totally explained
The
Duchy of Westphalia was a historic territory in the greater region of
Westphalia, located in the east of modern
North Rhine-Westphalia,
Germany. Originally, Westphalia formed with
Angria and
Eastphalia one of the three main regions of
Saxony.
Creation of the Duchy of Westphalia (1102-1180)
Frederick I, the
Archbishop of Cologne, had acquired half of the
County of Arnsberg in 1102. The other counties of the region couldn't resist the encroachment of the Archbishopric, and soon after the counties of
Werl,
Reuthen and
Volmarstein followed. The former count of Arnsberg created a new County known as
Werl-Arnsberg, and successfully kept it independent of the Archbishops. When
Henry the Lion of Saxony was defeated in 1180, the
Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa promoted
Philip I of Heinsberg, and officially gave to him these territories and the south of the former Duchy of Saxony as the Duchy of Westphalia.
Expansion of the Duchy (1180-1445)
The Archbishop of Cologne,
Engelbert of Berg began a campaign to force the nobility in Westphalia into submission and to extract from them the stewardship of the various scattered church lands. Engelbert managed to connect the lands of the Duchy by annexing the territory from
Hellweg to
Diemel, and secured the south of the
Sauerland at
Attendorn in 1222. Further controversy of its expansion eventually leads to Engelbert's death at the hands of
Frederick I of Isenberg in 1225. In 1260 by an agreement with the Dukes of
Brunswick the
Weser River became the official border of their spheres of influence. In 1277 the Archbishops managed to defeat a large confederation of Westphalian and Lower Rhenish opponents, but further action in 1288 forced the Archbishops to abandon intentions on much of the greater territory of Westphalia. The annexation of
Werl-Arnsberg in 1368 united the territories of the north and south of the Sauerland.
The Archbishop
Frederick von Saarwerden began a hopeless campaign to maintain Colognian rights in
Marck, and in 1392 was forced to abandon them. His successor,
Dietrich II of Moers witnessed the last attempts by Cologne to gain rulership in Westphalia by attempting to break the powerful positions of
Cleves and
Marck. The financial burden placed upon the knights and cities of the Duchy of Westphalia led them into union in 1437. Cologne made peace with Cleves in 1441: this led
Soest, the richest town of the duchy, to refuse recognising Colognian supremacy in 1444 in the
Soester Feud, that lasted until
1449. Soest had become a part of the
Duchy of Cleves. Thereafter the town of
Arnsberg became the administrative capital of the duchy. Economically the loss of Soest had weakened the duchy. Especially as the surroundings of the town were very fertile and the grain was needed for the mountainous regions in the South. Peace with Marck was made in 1445 which witnessed territorial concessions from both sides.
Westphalia until the end of the Empire (1445-1806)
After the
Soester Feud, the city of Soest remained part of the Duchy of Cleves. Starting from 1463, the league of knights and cities in Westphalia began a long and bitter struggle against the Archbishops. During the reign of Archbishop
Herman V of Wied (1515-1546), the
Reformation arrived in Westphalia. Eventually the Reformation was suppressed, but during the reign of Archbishop
Gebhard II of Truchsess Waldburg (1577-1583) the Reformation returned and he was forced to attend to Westphalia in 1582 where several knights and cities had adopted the new doctrine. The newly elected Archbishop
Ernest of Bavaria (1583-1612) and his brother
Ferdinand of Bavaria managed to regain the Duchy for the Archbishopric at the beginning of the
Cologne War in 1583, and Protestantism survived only on the border region of
Waldeck and
Hesse. The Duchy of Westphalia was again confirmed the hereditary territory of the Archbishops in 1590.
Like most other territories of
Germany, Westphalia suffered during the
Thirty Years' War. In 1794 the Archbishops relocated to Westphalia after the
French had annexed the territories west of the
Rhine River. In the
secularisation of 1803 the Duchy of Westphalia became part of
Hesse-Darmstadt.
The Duchy after the Empire (1806-1815)
In 1807 the newly created
Kingdom of Westphalia was created although it didn't include the Duchy and had its' capital in Hesse at
Cassel. The
Congress of Vienna awarded the Duchy of Westphalia to
Prussia in exchange for important lands west of the Rhine, and the Duchy was incorporated into the
Province of Westphalia in 1815.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Duchy Of Westphalia'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://duchy_of_westphalia.totallyexplained.com">Duchy of Westphalia Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
