Official title for the ruler of a castle in medieval Europe
Burgrave
, also rendered as
burggrave
[1]
[2]
(from
German
:
Burggraf
,
[1]
Latin
:
burgravius, burggravius, burcgravius, burgicomes, also
praefectus
), was since the
medieval period
in Europe (mainly Germany) the official
title
for the ruler of a
castle
, especially a royal or episcopal castle, and its territory called a
Burgraviate
or
Burgravate
(German
Burggrafschaft
also
Burggrafthum
, Latin
praefectura
).
[1]
[3]
[4]
The burgrave was a "
count
" in rank (German
Graf
, Latin
comes
)
[2]
equipped with judicial powers,
[3]
[4]
under the direct authority of the
emperor
or
king
, or of a territorial
imperial state
?a
prince-bishop
or
territorial lord
. The responsibilities were administrative, military and jurisdictional.
A burgrave, who ruled over a substantially large territory, might also have possessed the
regality of coinage
, and could mint his own regional coins (see
silver bracteates
).
History
[
edit
]
Etymologically, the word burgrave is the English and French form of the
German
noble
title
Burggraf
(compounded from
Burg
:
castle
,
fortress
or equally
fortified town
and
Graf
: count
[2]
) from
Middle High German
burcgrave.
[5]
[6]
The feminine form is burgravine, in German
Burggrafin
(from Middle High German
burcgravin
).
[3]
[5]
[7]
From the early
High Middle Ages
, the German
Burggraf
(burgrave) was the military governor or commander of a castle,
[4]
similar to that of the
Anglo-Norman French
"
castellain
" and
Middle English
"
castellan
" (from
Latin
:
castellanus
).
[8]
[9]
In the mid-12th century, King
Conrad III of Germany
created a new quality for the title of burgrave during the
German eastward colonization
. They became protectors and administrators of extensive royal territories near major imperial castles, such as
Meissen
,
Altenburg
and
Leisnig
, and received "judicial lordship" (German:
Gerichtsherrschaft
[6]
). They also acted as colonizers and created their own dominions.
Under the reign of King
Rudolf I of Germany
, their dignity was considerably advanced.
[2]
Before his time, burgraves were ranked only as counts (
Graf
), below the princes (
Furst
), but during his reign, they began to receive the same esteem as princes.
[2]
Holy Roman Empire territories
[
edit
]
In the
Kingdom of Germany
, owing to the distinct conditions of the
Holy Roman Empire
, the title, borne by feudal nobles having the status of
Reichsfurst
(princes of the Empire), obtained a quasi-royal significance.
[10]
Like other officials of the
feudal state
, some burgraves became hereditary rulers. There were four
hereditary
burgraviates ranking as
principalities
within the Holy Roman Empire, plus the burgraviate of
Meissen
:
- The Burgraviate of Antwerp
(in present-day Belgium): this was a title inherited from the
Margraviate of Antwerp
by the Counts of
Nassau
, lords of
Breda
, who later became the title
Prince of Orange
.
[
clarification needed
]
The most famous holder was
William the Silent
, who used his influence over the city to control its local government and use it as a base for the
Dutch Revolt
. Subsequently in the
Low countries
, the rank of
burggraaf
evolved into the nobility synonymous with
viscount
.
[11]
[12]
[13]
[14]
[15]
The title "Viscount of Antwerp" is still claimed by the reigning
monarch of the Netherlands
as one of its subsidiary titles.
[16]
- The Burgraviate of Magdeburg
,
- The Burgraviate of Friedberg
,
- The Burgraviate of Meissen
,
- The Burgraviate of Nuremberg
: established by King
Conrad III of Germany
, the first burgraves were from the Austrian
Count's of
Raabs
, and then passed to the count's surviving son-in-law from the
House of Hohenzollern
, which, since
Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor
, continued to hold it until 1801. It was still included among the subsidiary titles of several German semi-sovereign princes; the king of
Prussia
, whose ancestors were burgraves of
Nuremberg
for over 200 years, maintaining the additional style of
Burggraf von Nurnberg
.
[10]
Bohemia
[
edit
]
In the
Crown of the Kingdom of Bohemia
, the title of burgrave was given by the
King of Bohemia
to the chief officer, or the regal official whose command is equivalent to a
viceroy
's.
[2]
From the 14th century, the burgrave of Prague?the highest-ranking of all burgraves, seated at
Prague castle
, gradually became the state's highest-ranking official, who also acted as the king's deputy;
[17]
the office became known as the high or supreme burgrave of the Kingdom of Bohemia (Czech:
Nejvy??i purkrabi
[
cz
]
); the appointment was usually for life. After the reforms of
Maria Theresa
(reign 1740?1780) and her son
Joseph II
(reign 1780?1790), the title of highest burgrave gradually lost its de facto power. The title of highest burgrave was still granted, however, and its holder remained the first officer of the kingdom. It was abolished in 1848.
Poland
[
edit
]
In the
Crown of the Kingdom of Poland
, the burgrave (Polish:
burgrabia
, earlier also
murgrabia
) was also of
senatorial
rank (i.e. held a seat in the
upper chamber
of the
Senate of Poland
). Ranking first among them was the "Burgrave of
Krakow
" (Polish:
Burgrabia krakowski
) of the former capital of Poland and
Wawel Castle
, who was appointed directly by the
King of Poland
. The royal office was originally created during the reign of
Casimir III the Great
. At that time, Krakow's burgrave was also
chief judge
of the supreme court of
Magdeburg law
(Polish:
S?d wy?szy prawa niemieckiego
) erected in Krakow in lieu of
Magdeburg
.
[18]
The burgrave of Krakow also collected an income from the royal
Wieliczka Salt Mine
, run by the Royal Salt Mines company
?upy krakowskie
since the 13th century.
Prussia
[
edit
]
In the
Kingdom of Prussia
, the burgrave was one of the four chief officers of a
province
, delegated by the
King of Prussia
.
[2]
Sweden
[
edit
]
In Sweden, the burgrave (
Swedish
:
burggreve
, earlier spelling
burggrefve
) was the highest official in the cities of
Gothenburg
and
Malmo
during periods in the 17th and early 18th centuries. The title was first introduced by the king
Gustavus Adolphus
in the 1621 charter for Gothenburg, though it was not actually used until 1625. The burgrave of Gothenburg was to protect the "highness, reputation and regalia" of the monarch and was appointed by him or her from a group of six candidates proposed by the city board. In Gothenburg, the title ceased to be used in 1683 but was briefly reintroduced by
Charles XII
between 1716 and 1719. Now appointed among three candidates, the burgrave was the executive of the city, keeping the city keys and supervising the board. Following the Gothenburg model, the title was introduced in Malmo by
Charles X Gustav
after the city was
ceded to Sweden
in 1658, but was abolished 19 years later in 1677.
[19]
England and France
[
edit
]
In Anglo-French parlance, a burgrave was considered analogous to a
viscount
.
[1]
[20]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
c
d
Ebers, Johann (1796).
The New and Complete Dictionary of the German and English Languages
(in German and English). Vol. 1. Leipzig: Breitkopf and Haertel. pp. 502?503.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
Ebers, Abraham Rees (1819).
The Cyclopædia: Or, Universal Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, and Literature
. Vol. V. London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme & Brown etc. Burggrave.
- ^
a
b
c
Encyclopædia Britannica
; Definition of
burgrave (title)
.
[1]
- ^
a
b
c
Duden
; Definition of
Burggraf
(in German).
[2]
- ^
a
b
Hennig, Beate (2014).
Kleines Mittelhochdeutsches Worterbuch
[
Small Middle High German Dictionary
] (in German). Berlin: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. p. 48.
ISBN
9783110328776
.
- ^
a
b
Brunner, Otto (1992).
Land and Lordship: Structures of Governance in Medieval Austria
(in German). Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. p. 201.
ISBN
9780812281835
.
- ^
Duden
; Definition of
Burggrafin
(in German).
[3]
- ^
Ebers, Abraham Rees (1819).
The Cyclopædia: Or, Universal Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, and Literature
. Vol. 6. London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme & Brown etc. CASTELLAIN.
- ^
Webster's New World College Dictionary
. London: John Wiley & Sons. 2003. castellan.
ISBN
9780764556029
.
- ^
a
b
Chisholm, Hugh
, ed. (1911).
"Burgrave"
.
Encyclopædia Britannica
. Vol. 4 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 820.
- ^
Motley, John Lothrop (1855).
The Rise of the Dutch Republic, vol. 2
. Harper & Brothers. p. 37.
- ^
Young, Andrew (1886).
A Short History of the Netherlands (Holland and Belgium)
. Netherlands: T. F. Unwin. p. 315.
- ^
Putnam, Ruth (1895).
William the Silent, Prince of Orange: the moderate man of the sixteenth century : the story of his life as told from his own letters, from those of his friends and enemies and from official documents, Volume 1
. Putnam. p.
211
.
viscount of antwerp.
- ^
Parker, Geoffrey (2002).
The Dutch Revolt
. Penguin.
- ^
Rowen, Herbert H. (1990).
The Princes of Orange: The Stadholders in the Dutch Republic
. Cambridge Univ. Press.
- ^
Koninklijkhuis (2013).
"Frequently asked questions re King William-Alexander"
. Rijksvoorlichtingsdienst (RVD). Archived from
the original
(web)
on 2013-06-21
. Retrieved
2013-05-30
.
The King's full official titles are King of the Netherlands, Prince of Orange-Nassau, Jonkheer van Amsberg, Count of Katzenelnbogen, Vianden, Diez, Spiegelberg, Buren, Leerdam and Culemborg, Marquis of Veere and Vlissingen, Baron of Breda, Diest, Beilstein, the town of Grave and the lands of Cuyk, IJsselstein, Cranendonk, Eindhoven and Liesveld, Hereditary Lord and Seigneur of Ameland, Lord of Borculo, Bredevoort, Lichtenvoorde, 't Loo, Geertruidenberg, Klundert, Zevenbergen, Hoge and Lage Zwaluwe, Naaldwijk, Polanen, St Maartensdijk, Soest, Baarn and Ter Eem, Willemstad, Steenbergen, Montfort, St Vith, Butgenbach and Dasburg, Viscount of Antwerp.
- ^
Heymann, Frederick Gotthold (1965).
George of Bohemia: King of Heretics
. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press. pp. 451?452, 505?506.
ISBN
9781400877584
.
- ^
Toze, M. Eobald (1770).
The Present State of Europe: Exhibiting a View of the Natural and Civil History of the Several Countries and Kingdoms ... To which is Prefixed, an Introductory Discourse on the Principles of Polity and Government
. Vol. 3. London: J. Nourse, Bookseller to His Majesty. p. 295.
- ^
Westrin, Theodor (1905).
"Burggrefve"
. In Meijer, Bernhard; Westrin, Theodor; et al. (eds.).
Nordisk familjebok
(in Swedish). Vol. 4 (Owl ed.). Stockholm. p. 622
. Retrieved
2019-04-19
.
{{
cite encyclopedia
}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (
link
)
- ^
Ebers, Johann (1794).
Vollstandiges Worterbuch der Englischen Sprache fur die Deutschen
[
Complete dictionary of the English language for the Germans
] (in English and German). Vol. 2. Leipzig: Breitkopf and Haertel. p. 1033.