County of Gorizia

The County of Gorizia (Italian: Contea di Gorizia, German: Grafschaft Görz, Slovene: Goriška grofija, Friulian: Contee di Gurize), from 1365 Princely County of Gorizia, was a State of the Holy Roman Empire. Originally mediate Vogts of the Patriarchs of Aquileia, the Counts of Gorizia (Meinhardiner) ruled over several fiefs in the area of Lienz and in the Friuli region of northeastern Italy with their residence at Gorizia (Görz).

(Princely) County of Gorizia Contea (Principesca) di Gorizia (Italian) (Gefürstete) Grafschaft Görz (German)
c. 1117–1500
Flag Coat of arms
County of Gorizia (red) at the time of the Hohenstaufen Emperors (circa 1250); the highlighted area roughly corresponds with the later Austrian Circle, which is provided for context only.
Map of the Habsburg hereditary lands around 1526. The County of Gorizia in yellow.
Status	State of the Holy Roman Empire
Capital	Gorizia Lienz
Official languages	Latin
Common languages	Italian German Friulian Slovene
Religion	Roman Catholicism
Government	County
Count
• 1122–1142	Meinhard I
• 1454–1500	Leonhard
Historical era	Middle Ages
• Meinhard, Count of Gorizia	c. 1117
• Meinhard III inherited Tyrol	1253
• Raised to principality	1365
• Bequeathed to House of Habsburg	1500
• Joined Austrian Circle	1512
• Reunited with Gradisca	1500
Currency	Gorizian Denar
Preceded by Succeeded by Patria del Friuli Princely County of Gorizia and Gradisca

In 1253 the Counts of Gorizia inherited the County of Tyrol, from 1271 onwards ruled by the Gorizia-Tyrol branch which became extinct in the male line in 1335. The younger line ruled the comital lands of Gorizia and Lienz until its extinction in 1500, whereafter the estates were finally acquired by the Austrian House of Habsburg.

History

Bruck Castle, Lienz

Gorizia (House of Meinhardin)

Count Meinhard I, a descendant of the Meinhardiner noble family with possessions around Lienz in the Duchy of Bavaria, is mentioned as a count as early as 1117. As a vogt official of the Patriarchs of Aquileia, he was enfeoffed with large estates in the former March of Friuli, including the town of Gorizia.

The borders of the county changed frequently in the following four centuries, due to frequent wars with Aquileia and other counties, but also to the subdivision of the territory in two main nuclei: one around the Bavarian ancestral seat of Lienz on the upper Drava River up to Innichen in the Puster Valley, the other centered on Gorizia in Friuli itself.

Gorizia-Tyrol (House of Meinhardin)

Meinhard's descendant Count Meinhard III of Gorizia, a follower of the Hohenstaufen emperor Frederick II, upon the extinction of the ducal House of Babenberg was appointed administrator of Styria in 1248. He campaigned the adjacent Duchy of Carinthia but was defeated by the troops of Duke Bernhard von Spanheim and his son Archbishop Philip of Salzburg at Greifenburg in 1252. Nevertheless, the county reached the apex of its power, when Meinhard III inherited County of Tyrol (as Meinhard I) from his father-in-law Count Albert IV one year later.

Gorizia Castle

After Count Meinhard III had died in 1258, his sons at first ruled jointly until in 1271 they divided their heritage: While the elder Meinhard IV took the comital Tyrolean lands west of the Puster Valley, his brother Albert retained the Meinhardiner ancestral lands around Lienz and Gorizia. After his death, the County of Gorizia was again partitioned among his sons into the "inner county" at Gorizia, ruled by Henry III, and the "outer county" around Lienz und Albert II. When Count Henry III was assassinated in 1323, the Gorizia lands were shattered into four countries. The Counts of Gorizia temporarily controlled the Italian March of Treviso (Marca Trevigiana) and the remains of the Istrian march around Pazin (Mitterburg), which Count Albert III of Görz bequeathed to the House of Habsburg in 1365.

In 1365 Count Meinhard VI of Görz was granted the princely title by the Luxembourg emperor Charles IV, the county was thereon called Gefürstete Grafschaft Görz. The Meinhardiner nevertheless suffered a steep decline under their powerful neighbours, the Austrian lands of the Habsburg dynasty and the Republic of Venice.

Gorizia (House of Meinhardin)

After the Habsburgs had acquired the Carinthian duchy with the March of Carniola in 1335 and the County of Tyrol in 1363, the remaining Gorizia lands of Lienz were a thorn in their side, separating the dynasty's "hereditary lands". Venice had conquered the former Patriarchate territories in Friuli, which were incorporated into the Domini di Terraferma by 1434. The Council of Ten strived for the adjacent "inner county" lands around Gorizia up to the Venetian Stato da Màr territories in Istria. Due to the pressure, the Gorizia counts took their residence at Bruck Castle in Lienz.

In 1429 the county was reunited under the single rule of Count Henry VI. His son, the last count Leonhard, died in 1500 and despite claims raised by Venice, according to a contract of inheritance and the active support of the Gorizia governor Virgil von Graben the county fell to the Habsburg emperor Maximilian I.

Habsburg

Inner and Outer Gorizia territories (in white), late 15th century

While the Lienz area was administered with the Tyrolean crown land, the "inner county" of Gorizia remained an Imperial State of the Holy Roman Empire ruled by the Inner Austrian Archdukes as part of the Austrian Circle, governed by a capitano. Its territory included the Isonzo Valley down to Aquileia, the area of Cormons and Duino, and the former Venetian fortress of Gradisca, which was conquered by Imperial troops in 1511. Monfalcone formed a Venetian exclave in the county from 1420 to 1797. In 1647 Emperor Ferdinand III separated the "Principality of Gradisca" from Gorizia for his courtier Johann Anton von Eggenberg, until in 1747 both were again merged to form the Princely County of Gorizia and Gradisca, a crown land of the Habsburg monarchy.

Counts

Houses of Eppenstein and Siegharding

• Marquard (E) (fl. 1060/1074), Vogt of Aquileia
• Meginhard (S) (died about 1090), from the House of Siegharding, Count in the Puster Valley
• Henry I (E) (died after 1102), Vogt of Aquileia from 1082          
  • Ulrich (E) (died 1122), brother

House of Gorizia

Ruler		Born	Reign	Death	Ruling part	Consort	Notes
Engelbert I		?	1090-1122	1122	County of Gorizia	Unknown	Also Count Palatine of Bavaria.
Meinhard I		?	1122-1142	1142	County of Gorizia	Hildegard no children Elisabeth of Schwarzenberg Four children	Brother of the predecessor.
Henry II		?	1142-1150	1150	County of Gorizia	Unknown	Left no children. The county goes to his younger brother.
Engelbert II		?	1150-1191	1 April 1191	County of Gorizia	Adelaide of Scheyern-Dachau-Valley three children	Brother of the predecessor. Also titular Margrave of Istria from 1188
Engelbert III		?	1191-1220	1220	County of Gorizia	Matilda of Pisino 1183 no children Matilda of Andechs 1190 one child	Left a child who later succeeded his brother Meinhard II.
Meinhard II the Elder		1160	1220-1231	1231	County of Gorizia	Kunigunde of Peilstein no children Adelaide no children A daughter of Henry I, Count of Tyrol no children	Brother of the predecessor. Also Vogt of the Patriarchate of Aquileia. Left no children and was succeeded by his nephew
Meinhard III & I		1200	1231-1253	22 July 1258	County of Gorizia	Adelaide of Tyrol c.1237 four children	Son of Engelbert III, inherited Gorizia from his uncle. Through his marriage he also inherited the County of Tyrol.
			1253-1258		Gorizia and Tyrol
Albert I		1240	1258-1271	1 April 1304	Gorizia and Tyrol	Euphemia of Glogow three children Euphemia of Ortenburg no children	Co-ruled with his brother Meinhard until 1271, when they divided their lands and he kept Gorizia.
			1271-1304		County of Gorizia
Meinhard IV & II		1238	1258-1271	1 November 1295	Gorizia and Tyrol	Elisabeth of Bavaria 6 October 1259 Munich six children	Co-ruled with his brother Albert until 1271. He kept Tyrol, and in 1286 was enfeoffed with the Duchy of Carinthia and the adjacent March of Carniola.
			1271-1286 1286-1295		Tyrol Tyrol, Carinthia and Carniola
Albert II		?	1271-1286 1286-1292	24 April 1292	Tyrol Tyrol, Carinthia and Carniola	Agnes of Hohenberg-Rotenburg 1281 one child	Eldest son and co-ruler of Meinhard IV/II.
Henry I & VI		1265	1295-1335	2 April 1335	Tyrol, Carinthia and Carniola	Anna of Bohemia 1306 no children Adelaide of Brunswick-Lüneburg 1313 two children Beatrice of Savoy 1327 no children	Sons of Meinhard IV/II, ruled jointly. In 1307, Henry was elected King of Bohemia, but was deposed in 1310.
Otto I & III		1265	1295-1335	25 May 1310	Tyrol, Carinthia and Carniola	Euphemia of Legnica 1297 four children
Louis		1265	1295-1305	1305	Tyrol, Carinthia and Carniola	Unmarried
Henry III		1266	1304-1323	24 April 1323	County of Gorizia	Beatrice da Camino 1297 one child Beatrice of Lower Bavaria 1322 one child
Meinhard V		c.1300	c.1314-1320?	c.1320	County of Gorizia	Unmarried	Probably co-ruled with his father
Albert II		?	1323-1325	1327	County of Gorizia	Elisabeth of Hesse 1299 at least one child Euphemia of Mätsch at least two children five more children, by Elisabeth or Euphemia	Despite being a regent, he is counted as a rightful ruler. Co-ruled as regent for John Henry IV.
(John) Henry IV		1322	1323/25-1338	17 March 1338	County of Gorizia	Anna of Austria c.1335 no children	Son of Henry III. Died childless, and was succeeded by his cousins, sons of his uncle Albert II.
Margaret		1318	1335-1363	3 October 1369	Tyrol, Carinthia and Carniola	John Henry of Luxembourg no children Louis V, Duke of Bavaria two children	In 1363, she abdicated from her domains, which were absorbed by the Habsburgs.
Meinhard VI		?	1338-1365 1365-1385	c.May 1385	County of Gorizia Princely County of Gorizia	Catherine of Pfannberg at least one child Utehild of Mätsch at least two children three more children, by Catherine or Utehild	Sons of Albert II, ruled jointly. At his death, Albert bequested his vast Istrian and Carniolan possessions to the Habsburg duke Rudolf IV of Austria. The remaining lands were kept by Meinhard VI, ascended as a Prince by Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor
Albert III		Before 1308	1338-1365 1365-1374	1374	County of Gorizia Princely County of Gorizia	Helen no children Catherine of Celje 1353 no children
Henry V		?	1338-1362	1362	County of Gorizia	Gigliola da Carrara no children
Henry VI		22 June 1376	1385-1454	18 March 1454	Princely County of Gorizia	Elisabeth of Celje 31 January 1400 two children Katalin Garai three children	Sons of Meinhard VI, ruled jointly.
(John) Meinhard VII		1378	1385-1430	22 May 1430	Princely County of Gorizia	Magdalena of Bavaria-Landshut (1388-1410) 1404 no children Agnes of Pettau-Wurmberg 1422 no children
John II		1438	1454-1462	22 May 1462	Princely County of Gorizia	Unmarried	Sons of Henry VI, ruled jointly.
Leonard		1440	1454-1500	12 April 1500	Princely County of Gorizia	Hieronyma of Ilok no children Paola Gonzaga 1478 no children

Line extinct, county inherited by the Habsburg king Maximilian I, Archduke of Austria.

See also

• House of Gorizia
• History of Gorizia
• Austrian Empire
• History of Slovenia