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 1445 - 1496 (50 years)
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| Name |
Eberhard I |
| Suffix |
Duke of Württemberg |
| Birth |
11 Dec 1445 |
Urach  |
| Gender |
Male |
| Death |
24 Feb 1496 |
Tübingen |
| Notes |
- «b»http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eberhard_I,_Duke_of_W%C3%BCrttemberg
Eberhard I«/b» (11 December 1445, «u»Urach «/u» \endash 24 February 1496, «u»Tübingen «/u»). From 1459 till 1495 he was «u»count «/u» as «i»Eberhard V«/i». From July 1495 he was the first «u»Duke «/u» of «u»Württemberg «/u». He is also known as «i»Eberhard im Bart«/i» (Eberhard the Bearded).
«b»Life
«/b»He was the son of count «u»Ludwig I «/u» and his wife Mechthild of the Palatinate, born as «u»countess palatine «/u» by the «u»Rhine «/u». He was first buried in the «u»collegiate church «/u» Saint Peter auf dem Einsiedel, later in the collegiate church of Tübingen.
Count Eberhard V officially took charge of government of Württemberg-Urach as an underage. Württemberg was divided since 1442. At first he had a legal guardian, a respected nobleman who had mentored his father as a youth, Rudolph von Ehingen of «u»Kilchberg «/u». In 1468 he travelled to «u»Jerusalem «/u» and became a knight of the «u»Order of the Holy Sepulchre «/u». To commemorate this he chose the palm as his symbol.
In «u»Urach «/u» on 12 April«u»[1]«/u» (or 4 July«u»[2]«/u») 1474 he married a prestigious bride, «u»Barbara «/u», daughter of «u»Ludovico II Gonzaga, Marquis of Mantua «/u» and member of a very rich and respected Italian family. The only daughter out of this marriage, Barbara, was born in Urach on 2 August 1475 and died on 15 October of that year«u»[3]«/u».
In 1477, count Eberhard, whose motto was "«i»attempto«/i»" (I dare), founded the «u»University of Tübingen «/u». He invited the «u»Brethren of the Common Life «/u» and the community of «u»devotia moderna «/u» to his country and founded collegiate churches in «u»Urach «/u», «u»Dettingen an der Ems «/u», «u»Herrenberg «/u», Einsiedel near Tübingen and Tachenhausen. He took interest in reforms of the church and monasteries. Despite not being able to speak Latin he held education in high esteem and had a great number of Latin texts translated into German. Parts of his large library have been preserved. Finally on December 14, 1482, he achieved the re-unification of the two parts of Württemberg, «u»Württemberg-Urach «/u» and «u»Württemberg-Stuttgart «/u», with the «u»Treaty of Münsingen «/u». He moved the capital to «u»Stuttgart «/u» and ruled the re-united country. In the same year «u»Pope Sixtus IV «/u» awarded him the «u»Golden Rose «/u». In 1492 he was awarded the «u»Order of the Golden Fleece «/u», by «u»Maximilian I «/u», then «u»King of Germany «/u». On July 21, 1495 count Eberhard V was declared duke of Württemberg Reichstag on the «u»Reichstag «/u» in «u»Worms «/u» by Maximilian I.
«u»Johannes Nauclerus «/u», a humanist and historian, served at his court.
«b»Reception
«/b»Already his contemporaries admired his intellectual strength. In the 19th and 20th century the patriotic historiography transfigured him. A bust of him was erected in «u»Walhalla «/u». In the Swabian «u»anthem «/u» «i»"Preisend mit viel schönen Reden"«/i» by «u»Justinus Kerner «/u», he is praised as: "Eberhard the one with the beard, Württembergs beloved ruler." In this so-called song of the Württembergians, he is praised as the richest prince amongst the German princes, as he is able to rest his head on the lap of every one of his subjects without having fear for his life or property. He is considered one of the greatest rulers of Württemberg.
«b»References
«u»
1. ^«/u»«/b» «u»http://www.genealogy.euweb.cz/gonzaga/gonzaga2.html#BL3 <http://www.genealogy.euweb.cz/gonzaga/gonzaga2.html>«/u»
«u»«b»2. ^«/u»«/b» «u»<http://www.genealogy.euweb.cz/wurttemb/wurtt2.html>
«/u»
«u»«b»3. ^«/u»«/b» «u»<http://www8.informatik.uni-erlangen.de/cgi-bin/stoyan/l1/LANG=span/INDEX=I691>«/u»
«tab» "The Diary of Jörg von Ehingen" / translated and edited by Malcolm Letts, F. S. A., Oxford, 1929
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| Person ID |
I61985 |
Glenn Cook Family |
| Last Modified |
2 Feb 2013 |
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| Photos |
 | Eberhard I
Monument of Eberhard I in the Altes Schloss in Stuttgart |
 | Eberhard I
Coat of arms adopted by Eberhard I in 1495 on the occasion of the exaltation of Wurttemberg to a duchy |
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