PHOENIX ASCENDENS

I am looking at a map of the lower Alpine Rhine region. The year is 1417. The area striped in green has been acquired by the Habsburger already in 1375, as part of the strategy to connect their holdings in Tyrol with those further to the West. The map also shows the borders of present day Vorarlberg (the region Further to the Arlberg, the mountain placed on the frontier to Tyrol). Eventually, this whole region would become a Habsburg domain, and it constitutes at present the Federal State of Vorarlberg, the Westernmost "Land" in the Republic of Austria. 

But, back in 1415, Frederic IV (1382-1439), the Habsburger Lord of Tyrol and Further Austria (the conglomerate of holdings reaching westward all the way to Alsace) had lost all his domains except Tyrol, where he was still able to withstand King Sigismund's (1368-1437) Imperial Ban (see On the Edge). The rest of his territories were held occupied by noble friends to the King, as well as by the Eidgenossen. 

Emperor Sigismund

These domains fell back to the Empire and Sigismund made haste to re-distribute them among his faithful allies. They were not granted as Imperial liens. Rather, the recipients had to grant huge loans to Sigismund, receiving, in turn, their new domains as pledge for the loans. Thus, the Ruler could fill his coffers, which were continuously being emptied by his many military campaigns in the East and Southeast.

In Vorarlberg, Count Frederic VII of Toggenburg (ca 1370-1436) held, together with Swabian allies and the Eidgenossen, occupied Feldkirch, the center of the only recently acquired Habsburg domains on the lower Alpine Rhine. This brings us back to the map and the year 1417. The Emperor now receives a sizeable loan from the Count and in turn leaves him the domain of Feldkirch and adjacent territories as pledge lien, which allows the Count to add them to his existing vast holdings on the lower Alpine Rhine. Right in the middle of the newly acquired holdings, and completely encased by them, lies the small domain of the Emser, which leaves them in a rather precarious position.

Until recently, the Emser had been the faithful ally of the Habsburger in their efforts and battles to prevent the Eidgenossen from ever infringing on the noble domains in the Alpine Rhine region. Either in direct alliance, or indirectly through the Knightly League of St George's Shield, they fought and died in many encounters, notably Sempach (1386), Am Stoss(1405) and Bregenz (1408). As a heavy price to pay for this alliance, the Emser domains were devastated and their fortifications destroyed by the Appenzeller in their dreadful onslaught in 1407. 

The Battle of Bregenz in 1408
Schilling, Diebold (1485), Die Spiezer Chronik
Source: Burger Bibliothek Bern

In this year of 1417, none of the castles has yet been restored and huge debt weighs heavily on Emser shoulders. Like a flash from clear sky, they suddenly find themselves encircled by domains belonging to a ruler who is a declared foe of the Habsburger and friendly with the Eidgenossen! Not to forget that he enjoys the support of the King, whose pledge lien he holds. A strong reason to keep your head down and endure discretely in the quagmire of conflicts that haunt the region. 

Fortunately, this quandary did not last longer than eight more years. In 1425 already, King Sigismund made peace with Duke Frederic IV, allowing him to recuperate his lost possessions. In line with the Emperor's notorious frugality, the Duke had to buy them back, by requitting the usurper creditors who held domains of his as pledge. Fortunately, Frederic had barrels of silver to draw from, thanks to the Tyrolean silver mines (see Saehrimnir). In short time, all Habsburger domains in the West were restored to him, with the exception of the Aargau (which the Swiss refused to yield and which stayed permanently with the Eidgenossen) and the dominion of Feldkirch. The latter remained in the Toggenburger's possession for another decade, until his death, before it could be regained, with considerable difficulty, by the Tyrolean Ruler. 

Count Frederic VII of Toggenburg (ca 1370-1436) on his deathbed
Schilling, Diebold (1484), Die Amtliche Berner Chronik
Source: Burger Bibliothek Bern

This fortunate outcome enabled the Emser to revive their alliance with the Habsburger without falling out of favour with the King. They hastened to contact the latter so as to get their Imperial lien reconfirmed. Successfully so, since already in 1430, King Sigismund gave part of the Emser domains as lien to the brothers Michael (ca 1402 - ca 1450) and Marquard (ca 1403-1489) von Ems; likewise, their cousin Hans Ulrich von Ems (ca 1385-1449) received as lien the remainder of the estates. For the first time, the domains were feoffed as ordinary liens. No mention of any pledge anymore, for credits granted already to King Rudolf I. 

From then on, the House of Ems branched out into two lines, the Ems zu der Hohenems and the Ems zu der Dornbüren, to be re-united first more than a hundred years later, with the death of Christoph von Ems zu der Dornbüren (ca 1500-1549).

Now began the rise of the House of Ems, lasting two golden centuries. They cast their lot consistently with the Habsburger and rose with them. The latter had a permanent need for allies and aids in the regions West of Tyrol, mired in conflict as they were with the Eidgenossen and, further West, with neighbouring sovereigns, such as the Dukes of Burgundy and Savoy. Their own noble subjects could not always be trusted, with several uprisings that took much effort to suppress, so independent minor noble neighbours were welcomed with open arms to enter into their service. In particular the Emser, who already had a long tradition of serving their Habsburg neighbours as allies and administrators to show for it, ever since the 14th century. 

The Battle of Murten (1477)
The Eidgenossen, Lothringer and Habsburger troops in war with Duke Charles of Burgundy
Schilling, Diebold (1513), Die Eidgenössische Chronik
Source: Zentralbibliothek Luzern

One important aspect of the co-operation involved to stand guard against the Eidgenossen on the Alpine Rhine. Numerous minor conflicts with them, raids, more serious encounters and even war, broke out throughout the fifteenth century. The Emser were an ideal aid in defence against such encroachments, with their own interests tightly aligned with those of the senior partner. Be it by manning their own militia, or commanding more substantive forces in Vorarlberg on behalf of the Habsburger, they had a large part in keeping the Eidgenossen from taking over the region.

But co-operation did not stop with military actions. Sovereigns have always need for good counsels and administrators at their court, as well as for governors at their remote domains, and the Habsburger, not trusting their own noble subjects, were glad to have access to able Emser in that regard. At the outset, this was a specialty of the Dornbüren branch, with the Hohenemser being more sedate and taking care of business closer to their home base. 

Hans I von Ems zu der Dornbüren (ca 1430 - ca 1494), son of Hans Ulrich, is the prime example of an Emser holding high positions at a Sovereign Court. He must have been a formidable counsel and diplomat. As a young courtier, he assisted Duke Albrecht VI of Austria (1418-1463) in the Duke's task to arrange and supervise his brother King Frederic III's voyage to Rome. For his services, the King himself dubbed the young courtier a knight on the Tiber Bridge in 1451. Thereafter Hans served as Chamberlain and Counsel at the Duke's Court in Freiburg im Breisgau, the Duke's residence during his reign over Further Austria (1446-1458). 

Duke Albrecht VI with his consort Mechtild

Albrecht's wife, Mechtild von der Pfalz (1419-1482), took a liking to the young man, and asked him, in 1454, to become Commander and Governor at her own domains in Rotthausen am Neckar. As reward, he received several domains as lien in Further Austria, not to speak about rich stipends in specie. The service in Rotthausen brought him luck, insofar as it kept him out of the bitter feud between Albrecht and his brother, Emperor Frederic III, which lasted until the Duke's death in 1463.

Closer to home, Jakob I von Ems (ca 1435 - ca 1408), Hansen's brother, was in Duke Siegmund's (of Tyrol) service. He acted as Governor of most Habsburg possessions in Vorarlberg and held, as pledge lien, the Habsburg part of the Dornbirn domains, thus consolidating all those domains under one lord. 

Jakob's four sons, Hans II (ca 1469-1559), Jakob II (ca 1471-1513), Hans Ulrich II (ca 1473-1520) and Burckhard (ca 1575-1536) von Ems zu der Dornbüren, followed their seniors' good example. As sons and nephews of two formidable Emser, we can be certain that they benefitted from a worthy upbringing. True to their calling, they too embarked on promising careers. Hans II was shortly in the services of Maximilian I in the Duke's capacity of Ruler of Tyrol, but was otherwise mostly occupied with administering the Emser domains. Brother Jakob II also started out with a promising career; he held already at young age the position of Seneschall (Truchsess) at Maximilian I's Royal Court. 

Maximilian at the Battle of Guinegate (1479)
       Laying out battle tactics                           Fighting on foot in the midst of his first Landsknechte regiment
Treitzsauerwein (1513), Der Weisskunig (unpublished)
Source: Nationalbibliothek Wien

In the meantime, King Maximilian had reformed the way war was fought by the Habsburger. For over a century, their "old-fashioned” troops had braved the "peasant" infantry of the Eidgenossen and lost encounter after encounter. Time to emulate this dreadful adversary. Thus, the old style of cavalry, consisting of noble men-at-arms, was largely replaced by a new military force: infantry the Swiss style, the mercenary Landsknechte, to be recruited from a broad base of population and to fight for money, instead of being bound by duty to the Overlord. The first time he put such an army to good use was at Guinegate in 1479, when he defeated the forces of the French King, which were superior in number, albeit more traditionally organised. 

Jakob and Burckhard, and to a lesser degree Hans Ulrich II, early on saw the profits to be gained by recruiting and leading Landsknechte regiments in the King's service, and would play a prominent role in the Italian Wars (see Quem Dei Diligunt ...). Jakob fell already in 1513 at the Battle of Ravenna, whereas Burckhard survived and later went into service of the Bavarian Duke Albrecht IV (1493-1550). 

With these two prominent fighters gone, the era of the great Emser of Dornbüren came to an end. But this would not prevent other Emser from becoming mighty Landsknechte leaders. It was now the Hohenemser branch’s turn to take the lead. Interesting tales remain to be told. So stay tuned, Dear Readers.