November 6, 1479: Birth of Philipp I, Margrave of Baden

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Baden-Durlach, Christopher of Baden, Francis I of France, Holy Roman Empire, Italian Wars, Margrave of Baden, Philip of Baden, Wilhelm IV of Bavaria

Margrave Philipp I of Baden (November 6, 1479 – September 17, 1533) took over the administration of his father’s possessions Baden (Baden-Baden), Durlach, Pforzheim and Altensteig and parts of Eberstein, Lahr and Mahlberg in 1515 and ruled as governor until he inherited the territories in 1527. From 1524 till 1527, he also acted as an imperial governor in the second Imperial Government.

Philipp I was the fifth son of the Margrave Christopher I of Baden and Ottilie of Katzenelnbogen. His father intended to avoid splitting the inheritance and regarded Philipp as his most capable son, so he wanted Philipp to inherit the sovereignty over all his territories. He intended Philipp to marry with Joan, the heiress of Margrave Philipp of Hachberg-Sausenberg — a junior branch of the House of Baden branch line, so that Philipp would become sovereign of a considerable territory. The plan failed due to resistance of the French king, François I. 

Because of the resistance of Philipp’s worldly brothers, Christopher later changed his will twice. Philip’s brother Bernhard III inherited the holdings on the left bank of the Rhine, his brother Ernst inherited the baronies Hachberg, Usenberg, Sausenburg, Rötteln and Baden Castle in Badenweiler in South Baden.

Margrave Philipp I married on January 3, 1503 Elisabeth of the Palatinate ( November 16, 1483 – June 24, 1522), the daughter of the Elector Philipp from his marriage to Margaret of Bavaria (1456–1501), daughter of Duke Ludwig IX of Bavaria-Landshut. Elisabeth of the Palatinate first married on February 12, 1496 in Heidelberg with Landgrave Wilhelm III of Hesse-Marburg (1471–1500). The nuptials took place in 1498 in Frankfurt am Main. The marriage was to last only three years ending with Wilhelm’s death in 1500.  

Three years after the death of her first husband Elisabeth married on January 3, 1503 in Heidelberg with Margrave Philipp I of Baden-Sponheim (1479–1533). In a contract concluded in 1508 with respect to Elizabeth’s dowry, it was stipulated that the part of Sponheim that Baden had ceded to the Palatinate in 1463, was to be returned to Baden.

Philipp fought on the French side in the Italian Wars. In 1501 he commanded a ship in the French fleet, that supported the Venice in the war against the Turks.

During his reign, Philipp was confronted a wave of rebellions all over southern Germany. In a continuation of the Bundschuh movement and again under the leadership of Joss Fritz the peasants stood up and fought for their rights. This often led to abuse and violence. The rebels marched through Durlach to the monastery Gottesaue, which was looted and completely destroyed — under the eyes of the Margrave. He responded by attacking the homes of the rebels and for example in Berghausen three houses were set on fire.

The real aim, however, was the territory of the bishop Georg of Speyer, who finally escaped to the court of the Elector Palatine in Heidelberg. It wasn’t until 1525 that Elector Ludwig V and his army managed to end the insurgency. On May 25, 1525, Philipp I concluded the Treaty of Renchen with his peasants.

Philipp I died in 1533 without male heirs. Of his six children only his daughter Maria Jakobäa (1507–1580) survived him. In 1522, she married Duke Wilhelm IV of Bavaria. His two brothers, Ernest and Bernhard III divided his estate among themselves — the resulting margraviates of Baden-Durlach and Baden-Baden were reunified in 1771.

October 29, 1268: Death of Friedrich I, Margrave of Baden

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Charles I of Naples, Frederick I of Baden, Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II, Holy Roman Empire, House of Babenburg, House of Zähringen, Margrave of Baden

Friedrich I of Baden (1249 – October 29, 1268), 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 Carlo I of Naples.

Claim to Austria

He was born in Austrian Alland, the only son of the Swabian margrave Herman VI of Baden (c.1226–1250) and his wife Gertrude (1226–1288), niece and heiress of the late Babenberg duke Friedrich II of Austria.

As Duke Friedrich II of Austria had been killed at the 1246 Battle of the Leitha River, the ducal line of the Babenberg dynasty had become extinct. Margrave Herman VI of Baden, through his marriage with Gertrude, had raised inheritance claims to the Austrian and Styrian possessions.

However, after the death of Holy Roman Emperor Friedrich II in 1250, no strong Imperial authority existed to assert his title. Though he was backed by Pope Innocent IV and anti-king Willem of Holland, Herman could not prevail against the claims raised by the mighty Přemyslid king Wenceslaus I of Bohemia and his warlike son Ottokar II.

At the time of the death of his father, young Friedrich stayed at the Meissen court, where his mother Gertrude had fled. He could succeed Margrave Herman in Baden, with his uncle Rudolf I acting as regent. Also claimant to the Austrian and Styrian duchies through his mother, Frederick took his residence near Vienna. However, when in 1252 Ottokar II married Gertrude’s aunt Margaret and moved into Austria, he again had to flee, at first to Styria and later to the Sponheim court in Carinthia.

Association with Conradin

From about 1266, Friedrich grew up at the Wittelsbach residence of Duke Ludwig II of Bavaria, where he became friends with Conradin, Duke of Swabia, the young son of King Conrad IV of Germany and heir to the Imperial Hohenstaufen dynasty. From him Friedrich expected support in enforcing his claims to power.

In 1267 he made the fatal decision to accompany Conradin on his expedition against Charles (Carlo) of Anjou, who had been crowned King of Sicily by Pope Clement IV and killed Conradin’s uncle Manfred in the 1266 Battle of Benevento.

Conradin had moved into Rome on July 24, 1268, however, Carlo decisively defeated the Hohenstaufen troops at the Battle of Tagliacozzo on August 23, whereafter Conradin and Friedrich fled and passed into captivity on September 8, at Torre Astura, south of Anzio. Betrayed and handed over to King Carlo by their Frangipani followers, both remained in degrading imprisonment at Castel dell’Ovo in Naples.

The king himself condemned them to death; according to legend, they heard their verdict while playing chess and ineffectedly continued the game. Conradin and Friedrich were publicly beheaded in the Piazza del Mercato on October 29.

Conradin and Friedrich hearing their death sentence, history painting by J.H.W. Tischbein (1784)

Their mortal remains were at first hastily buried, but later transferred to the church of Santa Maria del Carmine, at the behest of Conradin’s mother Elisabeth of Bavaria. Pope Clement died a month after the execution; Carlo, though, was expelled from his kingdom in the Sicilian Vespers of 1282.