Henry Raspe, Landgrave of Thuringia

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Henry Raspe, Landgrave of Thuringia bigraphy, stories - Landgrave of Thuringia (1241-1257) and anti-king of Germany (1246-1247)

Henry Raspe, Landgrave of Thuringia : biography

1204 – 16 February 1247

Henry Raspe () (1204 – 16 February 1247) succeeded his nephew Hermann II as Landgrave of Thuringia in central Germany in 1241; he later was elected anti-king in 1246–1247 in opposition to Conrad IV of Germany.

Ancestors

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Category:1204 births Category:1247 deaths Category:Rulers of Thuringia Category:13th-century monarchs in Europe Category:Landgraves of Thuringia

Marriages

In 1228, he married Elisabeth (1206-1231), the daughter of Albert II, Margrave of Brandenburg. After her death, he married Gertrude ( – 1241), the daughter of Leopold VI, Duke of Austria. After her death, he married Beatrix (1225-1288), the daughter of Henry II, Duke of Brabant.

All three of his marriages were childless. After his death, the Emperor enfeoffed Thuringia to Henry III, the son of his sister Jutta.

Biography

In 1226, Henry’s brother Louis IV, Landgrave of Thuringia, died en route to the Sixth Crusade, and Henry became regent for his under-age nephew Hermann II, Landgrave of Thuringia. He managed to expel his nephew and the boy’s young mother, St. Elisabeth of Hungary, from the line of succession and ca. 1231 formally succeeded his brother as landgrave.

In 1242 Henry, together with King Wenceslaus I of Bohemia, was selected by Emperor Frederick II to be administrator of Germany for Frederick’s under-age son Conrad.

After the papal ban on Frederick imposed by Pope Innocent IV in 1245, Raspe changed sides, and on 22 May 1246 he was elected anti-king in opposition to Conrad. The strong papal prodding that led to his election earned Raspe the derogatory moniker of "Pfaffenkönig" (parsons’ king). Henry defeated Conrad in the Battle of Nidda in southern Hesse in August 1246, but he died several months later in Wartburg Castle near Eisenach in Thuringia.