House of Frohburg

The House of Frohburg (also Froburg) was a noble family in medieval Switzerland, with possessions in what is now the canton of Solothurn. They originate in the Wigger basin, near Zofingen. In the 10th century, they built Frohburg Castle on a hill near Trimbach. They had the title of counts from the later 11th century. They ruled the lands between Olten and Solothurn, and took parts of Aargau and Sisgau as fief from the bishop of Basel. They reached the peak of their power in the later 12th and early 13th century, building a number of castles, and founding towns such as Aarburg, Liestal, Olten (then a fortified river crossing), Waldenburg, Wiedlisbach and Zofingen. They also founded Schöntal Abbey near Waldenburg. The House of Frohburg was divided into three branches, Neu-Homberg, Waldenburg and Zofingen, in c. 1250. The Zofingen branch was extinct in 1307, followed by the Neo-Homberg one in 1325. The Waldenburg branch survived for another 40 years but declined in influence, being forced to sell most of its possessions, most of them to the ascending House of Habsburg. The last count of Frohburg was Hermann VI (d. 1367 as abbot of St. Urban's Abbey).

Counts of Frohburg

House of Frohburg

Partitions of Frohburg under House of Frohburg rule


County of Frohburg (1028-1213)
County of Zofingen (1213-1299)
	County of Waldenburg (1213-1367)	County of Homberg (1220-1303)
Annexed to the House of Habsburg
		Annexed to the Bishopric of Basel
	Annexed to the Bishopric of Basel and the County of Nidau

Table of rulers

Ruler	Born	Reign	Death	Ruling part	Consort	Notes
Adalbero (I)	?	c.1028-1050?	?	County of Frohburg	Unknown at least one child	First documented count of the family, in Breisgau.
Wolfrad	?	c.1050-1095	c.1095	Frohburg	Unknown four children	Possibly sons of Adalbero. They may have ruled jointly. In 1114, another Volmar is mentioned, but is not identical with Volmar I. This new Volmar appears as co-ruler with Volmar I and his brother Louis. Louis' son, Ortlieb, would become Bishop of Basel.
Volmar I	?	c.1050-1114	1114	Frohburg	Sophia of Pfirt two children
Volmar (I)	?	c.1095-1114	c.1114	Frohburg	Unknown
Louis I	?	c.1095-1114	c.1114?	Frohburg	Unknown one child
Adalbero I	?	1114-1152	c.1152	Frohburg	Sophia of Lenzburg four children	Sons of Volmar I, ruled jointly.
Herman I	?	1114-1125	c.1125	Frohburg	Unmarried	Sons of Volmar I, ruled jointly.
Volmar II	?	1152-1175	c.1175	Frohburg	Unknown four children	Sons of Adalbero I, possibly ruled jointly. Louis became Bishop of Basel in 1164.
Louis II	?	1152-1164	March 1179	Frohburg	Unmarried
Herman II	?	1175-1213	1213	Frohburg	A lady from the Kyburg family eight children
Louis III	?	1213-1256/9	1256/9	Frohburg-Zofingen	Gertrude of Habsburg six children	Children of Herman II, divided the land. Louis III was the founder of the Zofingen branch, with lands in the canton of Aargau. According to some theories, Gertrude, wife of King Rudolf I of Germany, was his daughter. Herman III founded the Waldenburg branch, with lands in the canton of Basel. The other two brothers did not take part on the divisions. One of them, Ulrich, pursued an ecclesiastical career being an abbot at Frienisberg Abbey.
Herman III	?	1213-1233/7	25 January 1233 or February 1237	Frohburg-Waldenburg	Heilwig of Habsburg three children
Volmar III	?	1213-1226	1226	Frohburg	Unmarried
Ulrich	?	1213-1223	1223	Frohburg	Unmarried
Louis IV	?	c.1220-1257	1257	Frohburg-Zofingen	Unmarried	Children of Louis III, probably divided fiefs in their father's lifetime: while Louis IV kept co-ruling with his father, Herman IV founded a new branch of the family at Homberg, by inheriting, through marriage, this land.
Herman IV & I^[1]	?	c.1220-1253/6/9	15 May 1253 or 1256/59^[2]	Frohburg-Homberg	A lady from the House of Homberg four children
Louis V	?	1237 - 22 November 1279/81	22 November 1279/81^[3]	Frohburg-Waldenburg	Agnes of Bechburg three children
Hartmann I	?	1256/9-1281/5	bet. 23 June 1281-6 December 1285	Frohburg-Zofingen	Clementia before 1263 no children Ita of Wolhusen before 1280 three children
Louis I^[1]	?	1253 - 27 April 1289	27 April 1289	Frohburg-Homberg	Elisabeth of Rapperswil 15 February 1283 six children	Children of Herman IV/I, ruled jointly. Louis I possibly co-ruled with his wife in the County of Rapperswil.
Frederick	?	1253 - 8 February 1285	8 February 1285	Frohburg-Homberg	Unmarried
Werner I	?	1253 - 6 February 1273	6 February 1273	Frohburg-Homberg	Kunigunde two children
Herman V	?	22 November 1279/81 - 1291	aft. 1 December 1291^[4]	Frohburg-Waldenburg	Unmarried	Left no descendants. He was succeeded by his younger brother.
Louis VI	?	22 November 1281/5 - 1299^[5]	aft. 5 July 1307^[6]	Frohburg-Zofingen	Unmarried	Son of Hartmann I, left no descendants. In 1299 he sold Zofingen to the Habsburgs.
Zofingen annexed to the House of Habsburg
Werner II	1284	27 April 1289 - 1303	21 March 1320 aged 35-36	Frohburg-Homberg	Maria of Oettingen (d. 10 July 1369) 11 June 1315 or 6 April 1316 two children	Children of Louis I and Elisabeth of Rapperswil, ruled jointly with their cousin Herman II (son of Werner I). Werner inherited his mother's fiefs in the canton of Schwyz, and was also a Minnesinger.
Louis II^[1]	?	27 April 1289 - 1303	1315	Frohburg-Homberg	Unmarried
Herman II^[1]	?	27 April 1289 - 1303	19 November 1303^[7]	Frohburg-Homberg	Unmarried
Homberg sold to the Bishopric of Basel^[8]
Volmar IV	?	1291 - 20 January 1320	20 January 1320	Frohburg-Waldenburg	Katharina of Toggenburg (d. 18 February 1313) three children	Left no descendants. He was succeeded by his younger brother.
John I	?	20 January 1320 - January/April 1366	bet. 20 January - April 1366	Frohburg-Waldenburg	Adelaide of Ramstein (d. bet. 17 October 1367-29 May 1371) 3 November 1326 no children	Sons of Volmar IV, probably ruled jointly. Herman was also abbot of St. Urban Abbey. After both deaths with no descendants, their line died out. Their properties were sold to the Count of Nidau and the Bishop of Basel.
Herman VI	?	20 January 1320 - 19 October 1367	19 October 1367	Frohburg-Waldenburg	Unmarried
Waldenburg annexed to the Bishopric of Basel and the County of Nidau

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d As Homberg was inherited from other family, the Frohburgs restarted their counting in this fief.
^ Manuel généalogique Suisse (1908), Tome I, p. 31.
^ Herrgott (1737), Vol. III, DLXXXVIII, p. 489.
^ Urkundenbuch Landschaft Basel (1881), Vol. 1, no. 175.
^ Hunziker et al.: Zofingen vom Mittelalter bis 1798. S. 59–62.
^ Herrgott (1737), Vol. III, DXCIV, p. 493.
^ Herrgott (1737), Vol. III, DCLIV
^ Aegidius Tschudi: Chronicon Helveticum, Band I. S. 229

Bibliography

Hektor Ammann, Die Frohburger und ihre Städtegründungen Zürich, 1934.
Peter Schenker: Frohburg [Froburg], von in German, French and Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland.
Franziska Hälg-Steffen: Homberg, von in German, French and Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland.

[Homberg-1] As Homberg was inherited from other family, the Frohburgs restarted their counting in this fief.

[2] Manuel généalogique Suisse (1908), Tome I, p. 31.

[3] Herrgott (1737), Vol. III, DLXXXVIII, p. 489.

[4] Urkundenbuch Landschaft Basel (1881), Vol. 1, no. 175.

[5] Hunziker et al.: Zofingen vom Mittelalter bis 1798. S. 59–62.

[6] Herrgott (1737), Vol. III, DXCIV, p. 493.

[7] Herrgott (1737), Vol. III, DCLIV

[8] Aegidius Tschudi: Chronicon Helveticum, Band I. S. 229

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House of Frohburg

Contents

Counts of Frohburg