Landgrave versus Archbishop 1427: fateful battle for Hesse?

In the summer of 1427, the army of Landgrave Ludwig I succeeded in defeating the troops of Archbishop Konrad III von Dhaun near Fritzlar and Fulda. The heavy defeats forced the archbishop to conclude the Peace of Frankfurt on December 8. In Hessian historiography, these clashes were stylized as a battle of destiny, which would have resolved the centuries-long conflicts between the Landgraviate of Hesse and the Archbishopric of Mainz and permanently shifted the regional power imbalance in favour of the Landgraviate. Disputed borders, friction over fiefs, affiliations with different alliances and enclaves (such as Fritzlar in Mainz) had caused ongoing tensions and military confrontations since the early days of the landgraviate. The lecture is dedicated to the significance of these battles and their contextualization.

Academic Director: Prof. Dr. Ingrid Baumgärtner (University of Kassel)
Speaker: Privatdozent Dr. Otfried Krafft (Marburg)