👑Imperial House of Förnbacher de Austria

Archduchess, Princess, and Countess
Christine Rosemary Fornbacher
von Villingen-Schwenningen
von Baden-Württemberg.

Last direct original House of Fornbacher family member by name.

16th June 1943 - 15th March 2024.

👑Imperial House of Förnbacher de Austria

Archduke, Prince, and Count
Christian Förnbacher de Austria
von Villingen-Schwenningen
von Baden-Württemberg.
Great-Grandfather of Christine Rosemary Fornbacher.

The Förnbacher Parent House Group was that of the Luitpoldinger's In the last phase of the East Frankish Carolingian Empire, the early medieval Luitpoldinger Dynasty rose to become one of the leading families of the Frankish Imperial Aristocracy and temporarily achieved a king-like position in the tribal duchy of Bavaria in the 10th century.
The descendants of the first duke, Arnulf, were also known as Arnulfingers. Die Аи Herzogtums Ва НЕТ. Beginnings to Margrave Luitpold Bavarian special royalty under Arnulf Descent and end of the Luitpoldinger Beginnings to Margrave Luitpold A possible relationship to the Carolingians and the Huosi is disputed in research.
Various theories on this are widely related to the mother of Emperor Arnulf of Carinthia, Liutswinde. Indications of possible ancestors of the first confirmed Luitpoldinger, Margrave Luitpold, are given by various sources of the Freising diocese.
In 807, Count Liutpald appears for the first time, whose county was located on the lower Amper. It is not certain whether this Liutpald already belonged to the Frankish high nobility. Presumably, he only received his county by marrying into an important family living in the Freising area.
In 827, various donations were made from Allershausen to the Bishopric of Freising, with Herigolt's relative also mentioned as a witness.
[2] In 842 this Liutpald (I.) is mentioned for the last time. In the generation after him, after Ernestus I and Ernestus II, his sons Liutpald (II) and Heriolt appear
[3]. In the reconstructed ancestral line, the unknown son of Liutpald II (nothing is known about the family in the second half of the 9th century) would then be the father of Margrave Luitpold, the namesake of the family.
What is certain is that in 893 Luitpold was appointed Margrave of Carantania and Upper Pannonia (territories in present-day Austria and Hungary) by Emperor Arnulf, thus succeeding the Wilhelmines. Around 895, Luitpold acquired the counties of Donaugau and Nordgau around Regensburg and thus strengthened his leading position in the southeast of the empire.
He was entrusted by the Carolingian emperors with tasks in Moravia and the repelling of the Hungarian threat, during which he was killed in the Battle of Pressburg in 907.
Luitpold's brother-in-law Heriolt or Herigolt († after 895), who was married to his sister Rhinia, and his sons Albrich and Rafolt were bailiffs of Niederaltaich Abbey
[4]. Bavarian special royalty under Arnulf His son Arnulf the Evil was able to build on the foundations of the power Luitpold had laid and soon assumed the title of duke. In doing so, he was able to count on the support of the Bavarian nobility, who hoped to improve their position in this way.
After a reorganization of the army, for which he also confiscated church property and gave it to his vassals, he was able to push the Hungarians back by 913 and obtained a contractual assurance from them that they would not invade Bavaria again.
At the imperial level, Arnulf pursued a policy of autonomy in internal affairs and externally vis-à-vis the German kings Conrad I and Henry I. Arnulf did take part in Konrad's election. An intervention by Arnulf on behalf of his related dukes of Swabia against Conrad led to a prolonged conflict, in the course of which Arnulf temporarily fled to the Hungarians but was able to hold his own.
Scholars have not yet clarified whether Arnulf allowed himself to be proclaimed anti-king after the death of Conrad, or whether he aspired to a special Bavarian kingship. In the Treaty of Regensburg in 921, however, Arnulf recognized Henry's suzerainty after battles with him. In return, Henry approved Arnulf's independent rule, which included the appointment of bishops, the convocation of synods, and the exercise of actual regalia (coinage, customs duties).
In terms of foreign policy, he subjugated Bohemia and tried to obtain the Lombard crown for his son Eberhard in a (albeit unsuccessful) Italian campaign in 933/934, after the Lombard high nobility had offered it to him. Eberhard was designated by Arnulf as his successor in 935 with the consent of the nobility and became duke in 937.
Descent and end of the Luitpoldinger However, King Otto the Great deposed Eberhard in 938 after two campaigns in spring and autumn because of his resistance to him. The conflict probably arose because Otto did not continue the policy of accepting the Bavarian rights of his father Heinrich.
Otto appointed Arnulf's younger brother, Berthold, as Duke of Bavaria after the latter had renounced the exercise of the important right of appointing bishops and perhaps also the administration of the imperial estate in Bavaria.
Berthold's policy was loyal to the empire and the king. In 943 he defeated the Hungarians at Wels and thus repelled the Hungarian invasions for some time. After Berthold's death, it was not his son, Henry III who was enfeoffed with the duchy, but Henry, Otto's brother, who had married Judith, a daughter of Arnulf, in 937. The Luitpoldingers, who had been passed over, were left with only the office of Count Palatine, and Arnulf (II), another son of Duke Arnulf, his son Berthold, and his cousin Herold, the Archbishop of Salzburg, took part in the Liudolfine uprising.
Arnulf was killed in a battle near Regensburg in July 954, his son tried in vain to ally himself with the Hungarians. Herold was captured and deposed at the Battle of Mühldorf in 955.
In 983, Henry III, a Luitpoldinger, was able to return to the Bavarian duke's throne. However, in 985 he had to give way to Henry the Quarrelsome, who had reconciled with Otto.
Henry III was compensated for this with the Duchy of Carinthia, to which the Marches in Italy, which had been administered from Bavaria since 952, were also added. With his death in 989, the reliably verifiable male line of the Luitpoldinger came to an end.
A probable relationship to the Luitpoldingers is to the so-called Babenbergs, where the name Luitpold occurs in every generation and the rich property in Bavaria makes a direct relationship in the male line likely.
[5] Since Luitpald/Leopold was practically the leading name of the Babenbergs, they were sometimes referred to as the younger Luitpoldingers.
According to the European Pedigrees Volume I. [6] Leopold I. Count of the Donaugau and from 976 Margrave of the eastern Bavarian Mark – later Austria – a younger son of Duke Arnulf the Evil of Bavaria. According to this, the Babenbergs would be a younger branch of the Luitpoldingers.
In addition to the leading name Luitpold and the margraviate in the Duchy of Bavaria, this is also supported by the fact that the sons of Margrave Leopold I held important positions:
Henry and Adalbert were (984–1018) and (1018–1053) Margraves of Austria, Ernst was Duke of Swabia (1012–1015), Poppo was Archbishop of Trier (1016–1047) and Luitpold Archbishop of Mainz (1051–1059). A family connection to the Wittelsbachs, as claimed in the Großer Brockhaus,[7] has not been proven, but cannot be ruled out either.
The theories that contemplate such a union assume that the future Count of Scheyern and ancestor of the Wittelsbachs, Otto, was a direct descendant of Berthold, Duke Arnulf's youngest son. The Fornbacher's and also the Habsburgs are directly related to this family even from ancient times to today.

👑Lothair III, Holy Roman Emperor

Lothair III
Emperor of the Romans
Holy Roman Emperor Reign 1133–1137
Coronation 4 June 1133,
Rome Predecessor Henry V
Successor Frederick I King of Germany and Italy
Reign 1125–1137
Coronation 13 September 1125, Aachen (Germany) Predecessor Henry V
Successor Conrad III
Born before 9 June 1075 Lutterloh, Duchy of Saxony Died 4 December 1137 (aged 62) Breitenwang, Tyrol, Duchy of Bavaria
Burial Königslutter
Spouse Richenza of Northeim ​ ​ (m. 1107)​
Issue Gertrude, Duchess of Bavaria
House Supplinburg
Father Gebhard of Supplinburg
Mother Hedwig of Formbach

Lothair III, sometimes numbered Lothair II [] and also known as Lothair of Supplinburg (1075 – 4 December 1137), was Holy Roman Emperor from 1133 until his death. He was appointed Duke of Saxony in 1106 and elected King of Germany in 1125 before being crowned emperor in Rome. The son of the Saxon count Gebhard of Supplinburg, his reign was troubled by the constant intriguing of the Hohenstaufens, Duke Frederick II of Swabia and Duke Conrad of Franconia. He died while returning from a successful campaign against the Norman Kingdom of Sicily. Rise to power In 1013, a certain Saxon nobleman named Liutger was mentioned as a count in or of the Harzgau subdivision of Eastphalia. His grandson Count Gebhard, father of Emperor Lothair, possibly acquired the castle of Süpplingenburg about 1060 via his marriage with Hedwig, a daughter of the Bavarian count Frederick of Formbach and his wife Gertrud, herself a descendant of the Saxon margrave Dietrich of Haldensleben who secondly married the Billung duke Ordulf of Saxony upon Count Frederick's death.[4][5][6] Little is known of Lothair's youth. His name first appears in the contemporary records in 1088. His father Gebhard of Supplinburg joined the Saxon rebellion against the ruling Salian dynasty and died on 9 June 1075 in the Battle of Langensalza, fighting troops loyal to emperor Henry IV. Shortly after Gebhard's death Lothair was born at Unterlüß.[7] In 1107 he married Richenza, daughter of Count Henry of Northeim and Gertrude of Brunswick, heiress of the Brunonids.[8][9] Lothair's land purchases, inheritance and marriage alliances among the Saxon nobles, resulted in the acquisition of the domains of the House of Billung and the Counts of Northeim. The marriage with Richenza of the Brunonids in particular, made him the wealthiest nobleman among his fellow Saxons. He supported future emperor Henry V during his 1104 rebellion against his father Henry IV, and the ensuing disempowerment campaign, that culminated in the abdication of the emperor on December 31, 1105, and his son's coronation a few days later. For his loyalty Lothair was rewarded with the fief of title and estate of the Duchy of Saxony upon the death of duke Magnus of Billung, who had died without an heir in 1106.[10] Emboldened by the promotion and incensed over the king's increasingly autocratic rule, such as the wanton imposition of a new tax on ducal lords, Duke Lothair joined the growing opposition party to Henry. He acted autonomously by vesting Count Adolf of Schauenburg with the newly established County of Holstein in 1111. Lothair was temporarily deposed in 1112, when Henry transferred the ducal title to Otto of Ballenstedt. He was soon reinstated when count Otto fell into disgrace and he tactically submitted himself to Henry V. In 1115 however, he took command of the rebellious Saxon forces and defeated the emperor in the Battle of Welfesholz. Henry completely lost control over the administration and the revenue of Saxony.[11] When in 1123 Henry V vested Count Wiprecht of Groitzsch with the Margraviate of Meissen, Lothair enforced the appointment of Conrad of Wettin and ceded the March of Lusatia to Count Albert the Bear.[10][5][12] Reign Upon Emperor Henry V's death in 1125, Archchancellor Adalbert summoned the royal electoral assembly in Mainz. On August 24 the electors declined the candidacy of the primary contender Duke Frederick of Hohenstaufen, who destroyed his chances due to his appalling overconfidence (ambicone cecatus) and his refusal to accept free princely elections (libera electio). Adalbert of Mainz considered Lothair to be a suitable candidate.[13] Although the most powerful territorial prince in Saxony, he was of advanced age (slightly over fifty years of age) and had no male heir, not the ideal prerequisites for a long dynastic line of kings. He was elected King of Germany and asserted himself against Leopold III of Austria and Charles the Good.[14] His election was notable in that it marked a departure from the concept of hereditary succession as the electors preferred a sovereign with moderate powers after the Salian era of oppressio.[15] Somewhat naive concerning the complex power struggle between the papacy and the empire, Lothair also consented to several symbolic acts that were subsequently interpreted by the Roman Curia as signaling acceptance of papal confirmation of his position.[14][16] Duke Vladislaus I of Bohemia died in 1125. The succession was disputed among his surviving brother Soběslav I and his Moravian cousin Otto the Black, who was supported by Vladislaus' widow Richeza of Berg. In late 1125 Lothair joined Otto's side, who had advanced large sums of money.[17] A military campaign against Soběslav was launched and in February 1126 Lothair's force entered Bohemian territory and was promptly defeated at the Battle of Chlumec. Soběslav captured high-ranking nobles, like Albert the Bear and Louis I of Thuringia. However, Soběslav immediately went to meet Lothair at his camp and formally requested and received the fief of Bohemia. Peace was restored, prisoners set free and although the winner of the battle had submitted himself to the losing side, he secured full legitimacy and lasting prestige.[18][19] Dispute with the Staufers Having both Saxon and Bavarian ancestry, the Supplinburg dynasty was a political opponent of the Salian dynasty and the House of Hohenstaufen. Disputes arose with Duke Frederick II when he refused to hand over property to Lothair, which the king considered to be royal property, the Staufer on the other hand argued, that it belonged to the Salian heritage. The contentious assets had long been administered together with other Salian domestic estates, their origin was hard to determine and difficult to separate. Lothair advocated the principle that all of the assets in question had now become imperial properties due to the extinction of the Salian dynasty. The first armed engagements between Lothair and the Staufer took place as early as 1125 and increased in the years that followed. Lothair, with the approval obtained at a meeting of the princes in Regensburg, attempted to seize the crown lands, which provoked a Staufer reaction. Lothair then isolated Frederick II as he placed him under Imperial ban and withdrew the Franconian ducal fief from Conrad.[20] After Lothair's 1127 campaign against the Staufers had collapsed at the gates of Nuremberg, the Swabians and the Franconians declared Frederick's younger brother Conrad anti-king Conrad III. Looking for support of his kingship, in 1128 Conrad went to Italy, where he was crowned King of Italy by Anselm V, Archbishop of Milan.[14][20] Lothair took advantage of Conrad's absence and weak position and resumed his attacks on the Staufers and in 1129 conquered the Staufer cities Nuremberg and Speyer. Conrad, on the other hand failed to acquire the desired assistance in Italy, and having made no political progress, returned in 1130, which assured at least a partial victory for Lothair.[20][21] Lastly Lothair, in order to prevent the loss of Burgundy to a power hostile to the empire, appointed his loyal ally Conrad I, Duke of Zähringen as Rector of the Principatus Burgundiaey.[22] Domestic policies in the Northeast The Duchy of Pomerania, 1477 Emperor Lothar's policies and actions in the northern and eastern estates of the kingdom would have the longest-lasting impacts. As a Saxon by birth, he was certainly more focused on that region than previous and future monarchs. He already pursued active territorial policies before his royal tenure as early as 1111, when he installed count Adolf of Schauenburg in Holstein and Stormarn. In an act of royal consolidation policy Lothair established the Landgraviate of Thuringia, that encompassed the remaining and predominantly non-contiguous estates of the ill-fated former Merovingian Duchy of Thuringia. The brutal conquest of the old Thuringii kingdom under king Chlothar I had left the area devastated. Subsequently the Franks desired to rule the acquisition, which proved to be only partly successful, as a long process of depopulation and recurring population replacement by Franconians, Bavarians and Christianized Slavs followed. The 1129 appointment of Herman of Winzenburg to the comital office was a failure, as he allegedly was deposed a year later on charges of breach of the peace. The sources, however provide conflicting dates.[23] The 1131 investiture of Louis marked the beginning of smooth Ludowingian rule for more than a century.[24] In 1134 Lothar appointed the Ascanian Albert the Bear as Margrave of Brandenburg and in 1136 Conrad the Great of Wettin, already margrave of Meissen, for the office of the Margraviate of Lusatia, thereby uniting the two marches. In addition, he petitioned the pope to grant more executive rights for the Archbishoprics of Bremen and Magdeburg. King Eric II of Denmark was made an imperial prince of the emperor in 1135, and member of the Reichstag. Lothair's diplomatic missions to the warring parties of Poland and Bohemia/Hungary were successful and resulted in overdue tribute payment by the Polish Duke Bolesław III Wrymouth for the 1121 established Duchy of Pomerania, which in addition to the island of Rügen was eventually secured as a fief of the Empire.[25] Relations with the Papacy Seal of Lothair III ...and sketch graphic The 1130 papal election had resulted in another schism. A minority of the cardinals elected Innocent II before a majority of the cardinals appointed Anacletus II in a tumultuous process. Both popes claimed to have been legally elected and in a first collision Anacletus prevailed. Innocent had to leave Rome and fled to France. Nonetheless, Anacletus could only secure the support of Roger II of Sicily, Innocent was, with the help of Bernard of Clairvaux, able to secure the support of King Louis VI of France and King Henry I of England.[26] Both popes offered Lothair the imperial crown. The king was occupied with the Staufer resistance and once again it was Bernard of Clairvaux who convinced the sovereign to favor pope Innocent II.[27] In March 1131 these three met in Liège, where Lothair performed the ceremonial strator service (stirrup holder) for the pope and promised help in the conflict against Anacletus and Roger II of Sicily.[28] His request for investiture restoration was rejected, but all rights and privileges as laid out in the Concordat of Worms were confirmed.[14][failed verification] Innocent II crowned Lothair King of the Romans again on 29 March 1131.[29] Lothair was accompanied by a modest troop contingent as most men were garrisoned in Germany to counter Staufer aggression. He carefully avoided hostilities but attempted to besiege Milan, which, however, failed.[30] Eventually he arrived in Rome. As Anacletus controlled St. Peter, Lothair's imperial coronation took place in the Lateran Basilica on 4 June 1133.[27] Emperor Lothair continued to avoid explicit resistance against papal impediments on his royal office. He ignored Innocent's bull, in which he advocated imperial authority derived from him and Lothair recognized papal claims to the vast Matildine estates in Northern Italy (formerly owned by Margravine Matilda of Tuscany), although he was able to secure the territorial fiefs.[27][17] Campaign against Sicily Route of the Via Imperii In the northern empire Lothair finally succeeded and defeated the Staufers in 1135 thanks to the help of Henry the Proud, who had been the Duke of Bavaria since the death of his father, Henry the Black.[31] At the Reichstag in Bamberg in 1135 the brothers were pardoned and restored to their office and estates. Anti-king Conrad renounced his royal title,[32] The Staufers promised to take part in the emperor's second Italian campaign, before a ten-year constitutio pacis was declared.[17] Lothair, now uncontested ruler, set out in 1136 with a sizeable army. The campaign proved to be successful and indeed, Roger II of Sicily soon sought peace. In 1136 the campaign against Roger began at the insistence of Innocent II and Byzantine Emperor John II Comnenus.[33] Two columns, one led by Lothair, the other by his son-in-law Henry the Proud arrived in Italy.[31] On the river Tronto, Count William of Loritello did homage to Lothair and opened the gates of Termoli to him. Advancing deep into the southern part of the peninsula, the two armies met at Bari, and continued further south in 1137. Roger offered to give Apulia as a fief of the Empire to one of his sons and give another son as a hostage, terms which Lothair refused after being pressured by Innocent II.[17][34] The imperial troops, however, were adamant against campaigning during the hot summer and revolted. The emperor, who had hoped for the complete conquest of Sicily, instead captured Capua and Apulia from Roger and bestowed them on Roger's enemies.[35] Innocent, however, protested, claiming that Apulia fell under papal reign. Emperor and Pope eventually jointly bequeathed the duchy to Rainulf of Alife.[35] Lothair resided in Salerno from August to October 1137 and had copper coins (follari) minted in his name.[36] Death Sarcophagus of Lothair III, his wife Richenza, and their son-in-law Henry in the monastery church (Kaiserdom) in Königslutter On the return trip, he gave his son-in-law Henry of Bavaria the Margraviate of Tuscany and the Duchy of Saxony. He also gave him the imperial insignia, which depending on the point of view was interpreted as designation for the new king or not. On December 3, 1137, Lothair died on the return journey at Breitenwang. His body was boiled to prevent putrefaction,[37] and his bones were transferred to the Collegiate Church of Saints Peter and Paul at Königslutter, which he had chosen as his burial site and for which he had laid the cornerstone in 1135.[38] A month later, pope Anaclet II's death also ended the papal schism. When his grave was opened in 1620, a sword and an imperial orb were found among other things. With the imperial cathedral Lothar has created an outstanding architectural monument. His reign was more than just an episode between Salians and Staufer and considered an era of self-confident rule over the empire, even if his political vision of the establishment of a Welf kingdom on March 7, 1138, in Koblenz was destroyed by the “coup d'état” of the Staufers.[17] Issue The Süpplingenburg dynasty was only short-lived. By his wife, Richenza of Northeim, Lothair had only one surviving child, a daughter Gertrude, born 18 April 1115. To secure Welf support for his election as king, Lothair married Gertrude to Henry X, Duke of Bavaria, on 29 May 1127.[39] Their only son was Henry the Lion.[39] After Lothair's death in 1137, the Hohenstaufen Conrad was elected King as Conrad III. Henry the Proud, Lothair’s son-in-law and heir, refused to acknowledge the new king. In response, Conrad III deprived him of all his territories.

👑Hermann of Salm German anti-king

Herman(n) of Salm (c. 1035 – 28 September 1088), also known as Herman(n) of Luxembourg, the progenitor of the House of Salm, was Count of Salm and elected German anti-king from 1081 until his death.
Hermann was a son of Count Giselbert of Luxembourg (1007–1059). His elder brother Conrad inherited the County of Luxemburg and became a faithful supporter of the Salian king Henry IV of Germany in the Investiture Controversy and the civil war of the Great Saxon Revolt. Investiture Controversy The major issue between Pope Gregory VII and Henry IV was the appointment of bishops. It was a custom that if a bishop was to die, the emperor would appoint a new bishop based on his ecclesiastical qualifications. Henry, on the other hand, was appointing bishops for political reasons which made Gregory furious and thus prohibited the appointments of investiture by any lay person, including the emperor. From the 10th century, the rulers of the Holy Roman Empire were elected Kings of the Romans, who expected to be crowned by the Pope as Holy Roman Emperor. However, because Henry believed the papacy should submit to the crown, Pope Gregory had him excommunicated and declared that he was unworthy of being Emperor. Because of this, the church broke off from Henry and supported the election of German anti-kings. Election Upon Henry's humiliating Walk to Canossa, several princes met at Forchheim and had the Swabian duke Rudolf of Rheinfelden elected anti-king in 1077. Henry's and Rudolf's forces met in the 1080 Battle on the Elster, whereby Rudolf died from the wounds he received. While Henry turned to Italy in order to enforce his coronation in Rome, the Saxon and Swabian nobles led by the deposed Bavarian Duke Welf I elected Hermann as the second anti-king opposed to the Salian monarch in Ochsenfurt, Franconia on 6 August 1081. He immediately entered into an armed conflict with the loyal Hohenstaufen duke Frederick of Swabia and retired to the Saxon lands, where Archbishop Siegfried of Mainz crowned him king in Goslar on 26 December. Military campaigning Unfortunately for Pope Gregory, Hermann was nowhere near as strong a leader as Rudolph, and this caused Henry's power to grow. Henry was crowned Emperor by Antipope Clement III in 1084, leaving Hermann in a very awkward position. He gained broad support by the Saxon nobility, however, his plan to gather an army on the banks of the Danube and march across the Alps into Italy was dashed by the death of his main retainer, Count Otto of Nordheim. When Emperor Henry IV came into Saxony with a large army in 1085, Hermann fled to Denmark. Little is known of what happened to Hermann after this other than he served as an anti-king under Gregory's rule. During the revolt of Margrave Egbert II of Meissen, Hermann was able to return to Germany. Once again in alliance with Duke Welf I, he defeated the emperor at the 1086 Battle of Pleichfeld on the river Main, taking Würzburg. Soon after his victory, however, he had to witness Egbert's reconciliation with Emperor Henry and the killing of his ally Bishop Burchard II of Halberstadt. Tired of being a pawn in the hands of the grandees, he retired to his familial estates. King Conrad (III) began his rule after Hermann's death. He died near the Imperial castle of Cochem later that year of 1088 in a skirmish with his relative Count palatine Henry of Laach, ending the Great Saxon Revolt. His wife, Countess Sophia of Formbach, left him a son, Otto, who succeeded him in Salm.