Gerhard I, Count of Holstein-Itzehoe

Gerhard I, Count of Holstein-Itzehoe (1232 – 21 December 1290) was the only count of Holstein-Itzehoe.

Gerhard I, Count of Holstein-Itzehoe
Seal of Gerhard I, which he used from 1254 to 1287
Born	1232
Died	(1290-12-21)21 December 1290
Noble family	House of Schauenburg
Spouse(s)	Elizabeth of Mecklenburg Adelaide of Montferrat
Issue	Gerhard II Adolph VI Henry I
Father	Adolf IV of Holstein
Mother	Heilwig of Lippe

Life

He was the second son of Count Adolf IV of Holstein and Heilwig of Lippe.

When his father retired to a monastery in 1238, he ruled the Holstein jointly with his elder brother John I, initially under the guardianship of their brother-in-law the Duke Abel of Schleswig. When they came of age, the brothers took up government and continue their joint rule. In 1255, they concluded a trade agreement with Lübeck.

When their father died in 1261, John and Gerhard divided Holstein. Gerhard took Holstein-Itzehoe, consisting of the districts of Stormarn, Plön and Schaumburg, with his residence in Itzehoe. John received Holstein-Kiel, consisting of the districts Kiel, Wagria and East Holstein, with his seat in Kiel. John later won Rendsburg back from Denmark and traded it with Gerhard for Segeberg.

Gerhard founded several villages, in order to develop Holstein and control the area. He also developed the County's administration. He fought ward with the Archdiocese of Bremen, the City of Lübeck and the landed gentry in his county. In 1262, he won the Battle of the Loh Moor. In 1263, John died and Gerhard became regent of Kiel and Segeberg for John's sons.

Gerhard I died in 1290. After his death, his sons subdivided Holstein-itzehoe into Holstein-Plön, Holstein-Pinneberg and Holstein-Rendsburg.

Seal

The inscription on his seal reads: S(IGILLUM)* GERARDI*COMITIS*HOLTSATIE*ET*DE*SCOWENB(O)RCH ("Seal of Count Gerhard of Holstein and Schauenburg").

Marriages and issue

He married around 1250 with Elizabeth (d. c. 1280), a daughter of John I of Mecklenburg and had the following children with her:

• Liutgard, (c. 1251 – Aft. 1289), married:
  1. Duke John of Brunswick-Lüneburg
  2. Prince Albert I of Anhalt-Zerbst
• John (1253 – c. 1272), Canon in Hamburg
• Gerhard II (1254–1312), Count of Holstein-Plön
• Adolph VI (1256–1315), Count of Holstein-Pinneberg and Schauenburg
• Henry I (1258–1304), Count of Holstein-Rendsburg
• Elisabeth (d. before 1284), married to Count Burchard of Wolpe
• Albrert (1272–1281)
• Bruno
• Otto
• Matilda, married to Count John of Wunstorf
• Hedwig (before 1264 – c. 1325), married to King Magnus III of Sweden

Around 1280, he married Adelaide (Alessia; c. 1237 – 1285), the widow of Albert I, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, and a daughter of Marquess Boniface II of Monferrat (c. 1203 – 1253). This marriage remained childless.

Ancestors

Ancestors of Gerhard I, Count of Holstein-Itzehoe

8. Adolf II of Holstein Count of Schauenburg, Holstein and Stormarn 4. Adolf III of Holstein Count of Schauenburg and Holstein 9. Matilda of Schwarzburg-Käfernburg 2. Adolf IV of Holstein Count of Schauenburg and Holstein 10. Burchard III of Querfurt 5. Adelheid of Querfurt 11. Matilda of Gleichen 1. Gerhard I, Count of Holstein-Itzehoe Count of Holstein-Itzehoe 12. Bernard II, Lord of Lippe 6. Herman II, Lord of Lippe 13. Heilwig of Are-Hochstaden 3. Heilwig of Lippe 14. Simon I, Count of Tecklenburg 7. Oda of Tecklenburg 15. Oda of Berg-Altena

References

• K. Jansen (1878), "Gerhard I. (Graf von Holstein und in Schauenburg)", Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (in German), vol. 8, Leipzig: Duncker & Humblot, p. 737
• Wilhelm Koppe (1964), "Gerhard I.", Neue Deutsche Biographie (in German), vol. 6, Berlin: Duncker & Humblot, pp. 265–266

External links

• Media related to Gerhard I, Count of Holstein-Itzehoe at Wikimedia Commons
• Entry at genealogie-mittelalter.de