Von Rittenberg family history:
Karl von Rittenberg:
The story goes that the founder of the family was a young man known by the name Karl Schultz. Little is known about him and the first mentions are after he received the title of Burgrave. According to old manuscripts he was a landless knight who was in service of Duke Frederick I of Austria who went to the Holy Land during the Crusade of 1197 AD and returned the next year a rich man. Not much is known about how he got wealthy, however, it is recorded that the Duke himself was very satisfied with his services and rewarded him a fief - a small town with a run down fortified manor called Rittenberg. According to later family Chronicles it is known he had three children: a daughter named Liesa born in 1199AD who was later married off to an unknown noble, the elder son Otto born in 1203AD, and the youngest child Konrad born in 1206AD. During Karl’s reign, Von Rittenberg family expaned it’s holdings through loyalty to the Count of Manburg and the family estates from then on included three more villages including Alfenau. He retired his reign early in favor of his eldest son and became a monk some time later until his death in 1223AD.
Family legend says that Karl was in fact an impoverished noble and that the family name reaches much further in past, claiming even direct ancestry from Charlamagne, although there are no sources to support this.
Otto von Rittenberg:
According to the family chronicles he rose to become head of the family in 1203AD, taking the throne of Rittenberg castle and giving two of the villages to his younger brother Konrad. Otto was a prominent military leader, proving his worth against Al-Andalus Muslims in the Iberian peninsula while he was accompanying his sovereign, duke Leopold VI who was partaking in the Reconquista in the year of 1212AD. Otto again joined the Holy call and went on the fifth Crusade with some 200 men and his younger brother at his side in 1217AD and in the late summer of 1218AD he was recorded fighting at the successful siege of Damietta together with his monarch. After Austrian forces had arrived home in late spring of 1219AD he was awarded even more fiefs, now also including the fortress of Bunenburg and the surrounding villages.
During the war between Austria and it’s neighbors, he sided with the Austrian duke Frederick II, but later switched sides. He continued to rule family heirloom - Rittenberg, which by the end of his rule became a strongly fortified castle. He died in 1267AD and lived long enough to see his family take the next step in the Austrian politics.
Otto had two children, a son Otto born in 1227AD, and a daughter Hilda born in 1230AD.
Otto II von Rittenberg:
Otto II shown great oration skills from young age, being taught philosophy and the arts of diplomacy. He later utilized these gifts to further his ambitions that were basically continuation of his father’s goals. He was given a small village to manage by his father by the time he was 18 but he would usually neglect it and instead go on military expeditions during the confusing Austrian Interregnum that lasted for nearly thirty years.
In 1260AD Count Olaf von Manburg died without an heir, leaving a lot of his estates, but most importantly the title of count, behind with no owner. Because of his great loyalty and ambitious attitude, Otto II rose the family name to prominence after receiving the title of Count from Frederick I of Baden. The fast paced rise of his family name fed his ambitions and ego even further when he took some land off from minor nobles and awarded them to his father and uncle Konrad in the same year. Otto became Count of Manburg and after his father’s death, he gave the Rittenberg castle to his uncle, who was then given the title of Burgrave. Konrad died as well only 12 years later and was succeeded by his only son, Oskar von Rittenberg.
Otto II had two children: daughter Julia born in 1252AD and a son Karl born in 1253AD.
Karl II von Rittenberg:
Family chronicles do not mention him much while growing up. It is said that he fell off a horse at a young age and had a limp for the rest of his life, earning him the nickname “Lame”. He was not especially gifted at anything in particular, however his loyalty to the Habsburgs further advanced his position, especially marrying his sister to a powerful noble in Bavaria later during his reign. He ascended to the throne in Manburg in 1292AD.
He was especially very close to his cousin Oskar II, son of Oskar I, who became Burgrave of Rittenberg, after his elder brother was killed by a band of outlaws in an ambush in 1284AD. The two would often go hunting for wildlife. Karl died in 1294AD from an illness, leaving his young son in control of the family estates.
Karl II had two sons: Otto born in 1278AD and Rudolf born in 1282AD.
Otto III von Rittenberg:
Otto succeeded his father at a young age of fifteen, after his father’s untimely death. His mother was the daughter of an old noble family that had some possessions south of Manburg. After their line died out in 1300AD, Von Rittenbergs inherited the city of Bauerdorf and some smaller villages. Bauerdorf was placed under the rule of Otto’s younger brother Rudolf in the same year. Like his father, Otto also maintained good relations with the secondary branch of the family, confirming their holdings and giving them a share of the newly inherited ones after year 1300AD.
Otto III, Rudolf, Oskar and his sons, Konrad and Oskar II, were great supporters of Duke Albert I. They raised a combined force of around 1000 men and joined his forces at the battle of Gollheim in 1298AD against Albert’s rival for the title of the Holy Roman Emperor, Adolf of Nassau. Adolf was slain in battle and Albert I became the new Emperor of the Germans. For their combined effort, Von Rittenberg family received a sizable land in the county of Rastenburg. The land would was then given in it’s entirety to Oskar II lineage and in return, Oskar gave some villages back to Otto III in County of Manburg, while keeping Rittenberg castle and it’s surrounding villages. By the year 1308AD, most of the counties of Manburg and Rastenburg were under Rittenberg family control.
In 1312AD an accident shook the family as young Rudolf was shot by an arrow in a hunting accident. He died a few weeks later leaving two young boys behind, Otto and Ulrich. His fiefs were absorbed by his older brother Otto III, who gave back his brother’s lands to his nephews when they grew old enough.
Otto III married twice, both times marrying into surrounding noble houses, however he did not have an heir. He died in 1353AD with no one to inherit him.
Otto IV von Rittenberg:
Otto was known as a cunning individual, exceptionally smart and well-read. He, lost his father very early on, after which he looked up to his uncle, Otto III, who saw his younger brother in the two boys, but treated them like his own sons he never had. And while the eldest was poised from early on, the younger Ulrich was a mischievous. Otto III realized the potentials of both boys early on and directed them on their own path in order to highlight their talents. Otto IV was then sent off to study at the university, while young Ulrich was taught combat and leadership.
In 1323AD Otto IV returned from his studies and was given land of his father. By this time, his younger brother Ulrich was a squire at his uncle’s court in Manburg. Otto IV became the lord of Bauerdorf, showing his administrative skills very early when he turned the town into a trading haven in under five years, bringing a lot of fortune to his family. He would often travel to Rittenberg to see his cousins. He was very good with Ferdinand II, however he devloped rivalry with Konrad III, who had shown ambitions in taking over the primate in the family by overthrowing the main family line. Ferdinand II died in 1342AD as the lord of Bunenberg, leaving no heirs after dying in battle against the Bohemians. His older brother took his land.
During late 1350s Austria came into a power struggle between several Habsuburgs who were fighting for supremacy after the death of Albert II, when three of his sons were fighting for the throne. During the Austrian Civil war, factions were established with most of north west Austria being in favor of Albert’s second son Frederick III, while Vienna, Styria and the lands to the south were loyal to Rudolf IV. Albert III gained some support in the far-west, in Tyrol and parts of Salzburg and Carinthia.
Two cousins had to put aside their differences in order to combine their forces and fight along side Frederick III. In 1356AD Rudolf’s army of around 7 000 men marched west against his younger brother. Frederick and his supporters managed to put together an army of 8000 men, 2000 of which were under Rittenberg command. The battle took place on 18th of May 1356AD near Manningen and the outcome was a decisive victory of Frederick III. Rudolf managed to escape while his army endured heavy losses. However, the battle merely stalled the inevitable. Only two years later Rudolf launched another attack, this time through duchy of Greinburg, crushing his brother’s army and killing him in battle. His supporters were routed, including Otto and his cousin. Frederick III died without an heir and the fear of retaliation lead to a more ambitious idea of the Rittenbergs, who allied with the lords of Linz in the same year in order to separate entirely from Austria and form their own country.
Formation of the duchy:
In the contemporary Annals of St. Bernardine monk Eckbert it says that until 1360AD much of Frederick’s old lands were conquered by Rudolf except for castles owned by Rittenbergs and Glauenburgs of Linz. The castles were fortified well and Rudolf didn’t have the manpower to siege them. In addition, he was still fighting his other brother Albert III, who gained support from Bavaria and managed to hold off his brother’s raids. After a crushing defeat of Rudolf’s men against his younger brother and the Bavarians, the Rittenbergs and Glauenburgs managed to take back lost lands, including villages and some towns. Glauenburgs gained support in the west who joined them by 1362AD forming a Duchy of Linz. Rittenbergs, however, had less luck being relatively close to Vienna. However, as separatism grew stronger in other areas including Carniola, Carinthania, Salzburg and Styria, Rittenbergs finally managed to retake most of remaining Frederick’s lands, which included five counties. In 1367AD, Otto IV was given the title of a duke by the pope, while many more monarchs recognized the duchy sending support in attempt to diminish Habsburg’s strength and disrupt their quick rise to power. Rittenbergs, in particular, received a lot of aid from the Bohemians, who were rivals of the Habsburgs for some time.With Vienna being reduced to only one eighth of it’s original size and facing a much stronger adversary they were forced to concede defeat and recognize independence of the new states.
Otto IV gave the county of Rastenburg to his cousin Konrad III for his support and gave him the title of a count. In the following years, with pope’s permission a bishopric was established in the duchy with the seat in Ardagger. Villages were being rebuilt and new castles were constructed along the Duchy’s borders in order to prevent future attempts of raids.
Family chronicles also state that Otto then awarded his supporters from his lands, with the most prominent houses being elevated to the title of count. Adolf II von Bavaria was given the county of Lichtenau, Dietricht von Habicht was given the county of Dobersberg and Ebert von Greiffon was given the county of Greinburg.
After formation:
After duchies were formed there was a fear among them of an outside power taking Austria’s place and conquering them so the duchies of Manburg, Linz and the Prince-Archbishopric of Salzburg allied each other. Otto married his daughter Margaretha to Hartwig von Glauenburg, heir to the duchy of Linz in order to bring the two duchies together. This marked a short period of peace and prosperity. Duchy of Carniola in the south fell under Venetian influence relatively soon after it’s creation while the other states were safe for a while. In 1372AD Rudolf’s son and Austrian duke Albert III attacked the duchy of Manburg in attempt to retake the lands his father lost. The Austrians plundered and razed villages along the border for a few months before besieging the castle of Glauberg with a 10 000 strong army. Otto IV quickly assembled an army of some 5000 men and was joined by 2000 more from duchy of Linz lead by Otto’s son-in-law Hartwig. Despite being outnumbered, the allied force managed to beat back the Austrians thanks to brilliance of Otto’s brother Urlich. The invasion was prevented, however it was not long until Austrians tried again and in 1373AD they came back with 8000 men and besieged Rittenberg. Having a great sentimental and tactical importance of the castle, Otto IV assembled his army again with the help of Linz and marched on to meet the Austrians with some 8000 men. The battle occurred in the outskirts of the castle with an evenly sized armies, however, Ulrich’s talent came in to play once again and the Manburgians with the allies managed to rout the enemies. After some minor clashes later in the same year, Austria facing annihilation and great losses in manpower had no other choice but to sign truce for 10 years.
As the allies were cheering the victory things back home were far from peachy. While Otto and his brother were in Austria fighting the enemy, Otto’s cousin Konrad III was gaining support to lead a rebellion and overthrow him. The old rivalry resurfaced in the most daring of times and the battle occurred in 1374AD in the forest near the village of Grafenschlag between some 2000 men of Otto IV against 1500 men of Konrad III. Both leaders were slain in battle, ending the old rivalry and the short-lived civil war.
Otto IV had two children: Rudolf and Margaretha.
Rudolf II of Rittenberg:
Rudolf was born in 1332AD as the oldest of the two children of Otto IV. He was born in the time of great wars and his family’s struggle for power, in which he actively participated in along with his father and uncle. He is a decent military leader but his talent lies in administration, a talent necessary especially for a duchy that he inherited, which was destroyed by a succession war, a war of independence, a defensive war and a civil war. During his father’s reign, he was given the village of Gerungen when he was 18 and the town of Bauerdorf by the time he was 25. In 1374AD he inherited his father’s title and land.
Fearing a similar faith of his father, his first move was to take away land from his cousins and diminish their power in the duchy. Therefore, title of count was taken away from Konrad III’s successors. Konrad’s son Ferdinand III inherited Rittenberg and the title of Burgrave while the younger son, Oskar II inherited the title Burgrave and the castle of Bunenberg. Oskar II died in 1388AD leaving his land to his son Oskar III.
After the county of Rastenburg was left without a count, Rudolf gave it to a man that helped his father win the battle against Konrad, Hubert Von Hoffendolt.
In 1396AD a crusader force of Hungarians, Germans, French and other Christians marched against the Ottomans in an attempt to push them out of Europe. Among the Crusaders were Heinrich von Rittenberg, son of Ferdinand III and Oskar III, son of Oskar II, both grandsons of Konrad III. The Crusader army met with the Turks at Nicopolis and after a bloody battle, the Christians were completely crushed. The two Rittenbergs both died in battle with some 200 of their men. Their estates were absorbed by other noble families.
Rudolf II has two children, son Rudolf III born in 1367AD, current lord of Bauendorf, and a daughter Manuela born in 1371AD, wife of Kaspar von Steurberg, son of the Carinthian duke. Rudolf III has a son Otto born in 1392.
