Siegfried I, Count of Sponheim facts for kids

Siegfried I (born around 1010, died February 7, 1065) was a very important person in the history of a powerful family called the House of Sponheim. This family later became rulers of a region known as the Duchy of Carinthia. Siegfried is seen as the founder of this family line.

He was known as the Count of Sponheim starting in 1044. For a short time in 1045 and 1046, he was also a margrave (a type of ruler) of the Hungarian March. This was a border area near Hungary. From 1048 until he died, he was also a count in the Puster Valley and the Lavant Valley.

Who Was Siegfried I?

Ruins of Sponheim Castle, 19th century engraving

Siegfried was born at Sponheim Castle. This castle was located in a region called Rhenish Franconia, which is now part of Germany. He was related to another important person, Count Stephan I of Sponheim. Stephan I was the head of a different branch of the Sponheim family. His family line still exists today as the Princes of Sayn-Wittgenstein.

Siegfried's Life and Lands

In 1035, a powerful ruler named Emperor Conrad II went to fight against Duke Adalbero of Carinthia. Siegfried, who was a close friend of the Emperor, traveled with him. This is how Siegfried first came to the southeastern parts of the German kingdom. Duke Adalbero was removed from power, and Conrad the Younger took his place in 1036.

Siegfried married a woman named Richgard. She was an heiress, meaning she inherited a lot of land from her family. Her father was Count Engelbert IV, who owned large areas in the Puster Valley. Through this marriage, Siegfried gained many lands in Tyrol and Carinthia. These lands included the Lavant Valley in modern Austria. He also likely gained control of areas in modern Slovenia, like Laško and parts around Ljubljana.

In 1044, official papers show Siegfried as the ruling Count at Sponheim. The next year, in 1045, King Henry III of Germany gave Siegfried control of the Hungarian March. This was a border territory on the eastern edge of the March of Austria. Siegfried only managed this land for a short time. By 1055, the Hungarian March was taken over by Ernest of Austria from the Babenberg family.

By 1048, Siegfried was known as a Gaugraf (a type of count ruling a region) in the Tyrolean Puster Valley and the Carinthian Lavant Valley. This means he had already taken over these lands from his father-in-law, Count Engelbert IV. He also gained control of his father-in-law's lands in the Duchy of Bavaria. Soon after, he became a Vogt (a type of manager or reeve) for the church lands of Brixen and Salzburg. Siegfried also received lands in Lower Carinthia and eastern Upper Bavaria.

In 1064, Siegfried went on a long journey to Jerusalem with Archbishop Siegfried I of Mainz. On his way back home, a year later, he passed away while traveling through Bulgaria. He was first buried there. However, his wife Richgard later had his body moved. He was reburied in the parish church of Sankt Paul im Lavanttal, a church he had helped plan and build.

In 1909, a street in the Floridsdorf area of Vienna was named Siegfriedstrasse in his honor.

Siegfried's Children

Siegfried and his wife Richgard, the Countess of Lavant Valley, had several children:

• Engelbert I (died 1096): He took over his father's titles as Count of Sponheim and Gaugraf in the Puster Valley and Lavant Valley. In 1090, he was made Margrave of Istria. He married Hadwig, who might have been a daughter of Duke Bernard II of Saxony. Engelbert I was the father of Engelbert II.
• Siegfried (died 1070): He married someone whose background is not fully known. His children did not have a direct link to the later Sponheim counts.
• Hartwig (died 1102): He became the Archbishop of Magdeburg in 1079.
• Hermann (died 1118): He became the Burgrave (castle commander) of Magdeburg in 1080.

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