Louis I, Duke of Bavaria

Duke Ludwig I of Bavaria
Painting of Ludwig in Scheyern Abbey
Spouse(s)	Ludmilla of Bohemia
Issue Otto II Wittelsbach, Duke of Bavaria
Noble family	House of Wittelsbach
Father	Otto I Wittelsbach, Duke of Bavaria
Mother	Agnes of Loon
Born	(1173-12-23)23 December 1173 Kelheim
Died	15 September 1231(1231-09-15) (aged 57) Kelheim

Ludwig I (23 December 1173 – 15 September 1231), called the Kelheimer or of Kelheim (German: Ludwig der Kelheimer), since he was born and died at Kelheim,^[1] was the Duke of Bavaria from 1183 and Count Palatine of the Rhine from 1214. He was a son of Otto I and his wife Agnes of Loon. Ludwig was married to Ludmilla, a daughter of Duke Frederick of Bohemia.

Life

Early Years

Soon after his father's death in 1183, Ludwig was appointed under the guardianship of his uncle Conrad of Wittelsbach and Emperor Frederick Barbarossa.^[2] His mother, Agnes, an energetic and enterprising leader, had taken over the regency of Bavaria in the mean time, securing her son's inheritance. Upon his coming-of-age, in 1189, at sixteen years old, he had, with his reigning entry, already fallen in the midst of a conflict which triggered the nearly simultaneous extinction of the Burgrave of Regensburg and the Count of Sulzbach in the years 1188 and 1189.^[3] This allowed Barbarossa to expand his royal domains within the Empire to include Regensburg and Sulzbach, at Ludwig's expense. When the Emperor died on Crusade, and his son, Henry VI had ascended the throne on 15 April 1191 in Rome, he had immediately found a princely opposition on Ottokar I of Bohemia and his brother-in-law Count Albert III of Bogen who demanded a revision of the Staufen imperial land policy. Using that justification, Albert had designs to seize the Sulzbach domains from Emperor Henry's royal territory. Ludwig immediately attempted to mediate and called for a Hoftag in Laufen, which caught the attention of many great men within the Empire, to settle the dispute. Yet he could not stop the Count of Bogen and the Sulzbach land was taken. When Duke Ludwig turned against that, it came to war. Ludwig's forces were pushed back by the combined might of Count Albert and Duke Ottokar. Even when the vicious counter-attack of Leopold V, Duke of Austria and Berthold, Duke of Merania were not able to change the situation. And Ludwig had vowed to never stop until Count Albert was without Sulzbach.

It was in the summer of 1192 at Worms where he received the German tradition of knighting, which was the handing of sword and belt, in the presence of Emperor Henry VI and many other Princes.^[4] By 1193, Emperor Henry became involved in-person over the affair and seized Sulzbach and Albert and declared a standstill of arms; Albert was to be banished and Ottokar of Bohemia deprived of his duchy. In exchange for this service, Ludwig was to remain, for the next decade and a half, on the side of the Staufen. Ludwig would demonstrate his partisanship at the Hoftag at Würzburg, Mainz and his attendance of the Imperial retinue to Apulia and Sicily, where he would stand with the Emperor on securing Emperor Henry's inheritance of southern Italy.

Until the death of the emperor, Ludwig remained a loyal supporter of Henry VI and accompanied the Hohenstaufen in 1194 also to Italy on his second expedition for the conquest of the kingdom of Sicily, which was entitled Henry's wife Constance as sole heir. In the struggle for the throne after the death of Henry VI, he remained one of the main supporters of the Hohenstaufen Philip of Swabia. His continued support, however, had a price. When the Landgrave of Stefling died without an heir in 1196, instead of including the region over to his royal domain, Henry enfeoffed it to Ludwig instead. Suddenly, Eberhard, Archbishop of Salzburg and Conrad, Bishop of Regensburg, falling at variance, declared war on Duke Ludwig and spared no sacred nor profane structures. It was only through Ludwig's character that peace was restored.^[4]

The following year, in 1197, Ludwig went with the Emperor to Sicily to prepare for their departure for the German Crusade of 1197. But Henry had died of an illness; possibly Malaria, suddenly. And the journey was canceled. Henry's death thus began a most difficult epoch in German history.

Rise to Power

The northern and western German Princes demanded a new Emperor, choosing Otto of Brunswick, mainly under the encouragement of Pope Celestine III, while the southern and eastern German Princes remained loyal to the Staufen. While it was true that Emperor Henry was still alive when young Frederick was elected king at two years of age, he had no way of knowing his son would become challenged by such a force. The only force that could counter the north and west German's choice was Henry's brother, Philip of Swabia, whom had initially considered being regent, but was refused that right, as the south and east Germans needed an acting king. And Frederick was too young. Because of that, in 1198, it came to the double-election. This same year, Ludwig's old nemesis, Albert of Bogen, had died. Thus leaving him with one less problem and one great opportunity.

Ludwig took to wife the widowed Ludmilla of Bohemia in 1204, to gain the alliance of her uncle Ottokar I of Bohemia. This also gave him claim to the house of Bogen's lands, if at least not directly.

An old story goes that the Duke made her acquaintance with affection and she fearing he did it to delude her, hid three persons she trusted behind a curtain and gave them three pictures to hold up. This done, she begged of him to see her no more unless he promised to marry her before witnesses. The Duke hesitated and she pointed to the three pictures saying,"Those said persons should be witnesses to your promises." Ludwig, thinking those persons could never rise in judgement against him, made her all the protestations she could desire, so she drew back the curtains and revealed the three living witnesses. He was so taken with the contrivance that he solemnly married her afterwards.^[5]

That same year saw the Margraves of Cham die without heirs. While major areas were given by King Philip to Ludwig, the March of the Nordgau was left as an Imperial fief, and with the new wealth, Ludwig founded Landshut that same year.

By the month of June 1208, the many lords of the Empire were gathering with King Philip of Swabia at Bamberg, the seat of the Prince-Bishopric of Bamberg, to celebrate the wedding of his niece, Beatrice II, Countess of Burgundy, with Otto I, Duke of Merania. The ceremony was headed by Ekbert, Bishop of Bamberg, of the House of Andechs, and brother of the groom Otto and Henry II, Margrave of Istria, whom was also in attendance. After the ceremony, King Philip retired to his quarters, where Otto VIII, Count Palatine of Bavaria was waiting for him. And there, on the 21 June 1208, he was murdered. The killer evaded the king's guards and fled the city. The lords were immediately called for a court assembly, and they blamed the house of Andechs for the murder of the King. Whether they had a hand in it directly is under debate, but that it happened under their watch is not; they were at least guilty of connivance, with Ludwig suspecting Henry II the most. All Andechs were banned from their lands, minus Otto of Merania and Beatrice; whom were regarded blameless. Thus, an old ally of Bavaria became overnight an enemy. And Ludwig left Bamberg immediately and roused his army and seized the March of Istria.

After Philip's murder, he did not immediately support the Welf King Otto IV, rather he ran a new king's election in Bavaria, this time under his influence, in which he would decide whom he would support. Ultimately, like many others, to secure his accomplishments - and those of his family - he made deals with King Otto which granted him the imperial fiefs of the Andechs, assured succession of the Palatinate on the Rhine towards him and confirmed the everlasting reign of the Wittelsbach family in Bavaria.

But in 1211 Ludwig joined the Hohenstaufen party again; Emperor Frederick II rewarded him with the Palatinate of the Rhine in 1214: His son Otto was married to Agnes of the Palatinate, a granddaughter of Duke Henry the Lion and Conrad of Hohenstaufen. With this marriage, the Wittelsbach inherited the Palatinate and kept it as a Wittelsbach possession until 1918. Since that time also the lion has become a heraldic symbol in the coat of arms for Bavaria and the Palatinate.

Crusade

On the 23 July 1215, Ludwig was at Aachen, to oversee the re-crowning of Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor. While there, both Ludwig and Frederick took crusader vows. Ludwig was assigned Commander of the Imperial army ahead of the Emperor, until Frederick would arrive there himself.

He founded the city of Straubing in 1218.

The Emperor had given Ludwig 2000 marks of silver for his Crusade.

In May 1221, Ludwig sailed on with his Bavarian army with Ulrich II, Bishop of Passau, Herman V, Margrave of Baden, John of Brienne and many other nobles. As soon as their fleet had arrived at Damietta, a council was held with Pelagio Galvani, the papal legate, in the city. Ludwig had urged they assemble their armies and strike at the sultan's camp, before the river should take up its usual increase. A plan was formed and tents were set up just up the river on 29 June. On 6 July, the Legate had ordered a three-day fast and carrying the banner of Christ barefoot, planted it where the river rises. That next day, King John had come with a numerous army to bring further assistance to their cause. Then on 17 July they gathered at the village of Fareskur, where they were met by the enemy, and there held repelled the enemy so well, no losses came to the crusader side. The Legate had been generous in wages to the knights and their attendants, armed ships sparing neither body nor wealth to finish the task, along with the help of Duke Ludwig, King John, the bishops, archbishops and the Grandmasters of the Orders.

On 19 July the saracens had sent a large cavalry force against the Crusaders. The Muslims had surrounded the Christians and shot arrows at them, avoiding close combat. The Crusaders responded in kind and the Muslims withdrew. But the next day, on 20 July, the enemy had attacked fiercer than ever, only to injure and kill very few Crusaders in number. By 21 July, the Muslims retreated yet again. But in doing so, they burned many of their villages in the process, to prevent the Crusaders from gaining those footholds and their resources. This failed, as the Crusaders still managed to find food in many of the deserted villages. This granted the Crusaders a peaceful pass through Saramsah, which the Sultan had destroyed.

He was given as a hostage in Egypt to Al-Kamil but later released. In 1225 Ludwig took over the guardianship for the young king Henry. Subsequently, however, the ratio of Ludwig deteriorated to both, his ward and to the emperor. With the latter, there were differences in matters of church policy, during the conflict with Henry (Ludwig intrigued with the Pope against the Staufer) in 1229 he even fought with military means, but the Bavarian Duke was defeated. Thus under pressure he moved in 1230 back to Kelheim Castle.

He founded the city of Landau an der Isar in 1224.

Final Years

Ludwig was murdered in 1231 on a bridge in Kelheim. The crime was never cleared up since the murderer was immediately lynched. Due to the following aversion of the Wittelsbach family the city of Kelheim lost its status as one of the ducal residences. His son and successor, Otto the Illustrious, let break down the bridge in the following year and changed its gate to a chapel. Ludwig was buried in the crypt of Scheyern Abbey.

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