Gottfried VIII, Count of Ziegenhain

Gottfried VIII, Count of Ziegenhain (after 1350 – 1394) was a German nobleman. He was the ruling Count of Ziegenhain and Nidda from 1372 until his death. He is best known as the leader of the Star League, an alliance of local nobles against the Landgraves Henry II and Herman II of Hesse.

Gottfried VIII, Count of Ziegenhain
Coat of arms of the von Ziegenhain family
Bornafter 1350
Died1394
Noble familyHouse of Ziegenhain
Spouse(s)Agnes of Brunswick-Göttingen
FatherGottfried VII of Ziegenhain and Nidda
MotherAgnes of Falkenstein

Background

He was the son of Count Gottfried VII (d. October 1372) and his wife Agnes of Falkenstein. His parents had married in 1349. No record exists of his birth, nor of an elder brother. He is, however, mentioned in a document dated 28 December 1355, in which Emperor Charles IV states that he has asked Pope Innocent VI to appoint Gottfried, the son of Count Gottfried of Ziegenhain, as a canon in Mainz.[1] In those days, an ecclesiastical career was usually planned for younger sons, while the eldest brother would inherit the county. This would suggest Gottfried had an elder brother. This hypothetical brother must have died young, as in 1360 Gottfried VIII is mentioned as the only son of Gottfried VII.[2]

Gottfried VIII was knighted on 14 March 1371.

References
  • Martin Röhling: Die Geschichte der Grafen von Nidda und der Grafen von Ziegenhain, in the series Niddaer Geschichtsblätter, issue 9, Niddaer Heimatmuseum e.V., Nidda, 2005, ISBN 3-9803915-9-0
  • Gerhard Köbler: Historisches Lexikon der deutschen Länder, 4th ed., 1992

Footnotes
  1. Regesten der Grafen von Ziegenhain, Nr. 45, Online
  2. Gottfried's sister Agnes married in 1370 to Count Kraft IV of Hohenlohe-Weikersheim. After 1450, there would be a lengthy dispute between Hesse and Hohenlohe about the inheritance of Ziegenhain, in which Hohenlohe's claim was based on this marriage, and also on the marriage between Gottfried's granddaughter Elisabeth and Count Albert I of Hohenlohe-Weikersheim.


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