Eberhard III. Graf von Württemberg

Eberhard III, known as “the Mild,” belonged to the House of Württemberg and was Count of Württemberg from 1392 until his death in 1417. He also ruled the County of Montbéliard from 1397 to 1409. He was born sometime after 1362, probably in Stuttgart, and died on 16 May 1417 in Göppingen. Eberhard III was the only son of the Württemberg count Ulrich and Elisabeth of Bavaria. His mother belonged to the House of Wittelsbach and was a daughter of Emperor Louis the Bavarian and Margaret I of Holland. Through her, Eberhard was connected to important princely families of the late medieval Holy Roman Empire. On 27 October 1380, he married Antonia Visconti in Urach. She was a daughter of Bernabò Visconti, who had ruled Milan since 1354, and Beatrice Regina della Scala. The marriage brought Eberhard an exceptionally large dowry of 70,000 gulden as well as additional lands. Several children were born from the union. The most significant was Eberhard IV, the future Count of Württemberg. Their other children included the sons Ulrich and Ludwig, who died young, and a daughter. On 15 March 1392, Eberhard III succeeded his grandfather, Count Eberhard II. His rule was marked by a relatively peaceful policy. Toward the neighboring imperial cities, he relied on alliances and a conciliatory relationship rather than intensifying tensions through continuous military conflicts. This policy helped secure Württemberg’s position in its immediate surroundings. An important expansion of his political and dynastic connections arose through the relationship between his son Eberhard IV and Henriette of Montbéliard. Henriette was the eldest daughter and heir of Count Henry of Montbéliard, who fell in the Battle of Nicopolis in 1396. After his son’s engagement on 13 November 1397, Eberhard III received the County of Montbéliard. He ruled it until 1409, then transferred it to his son. Eberhard IV eventually married Henriette in 1407, thereby linking the Württemberg and Montbéliard successions. After Antonia’s death on 26 March 1405, Eberhard III entered into a second marriage. In 1406, he married Elisabeth of Hohenzollern-Nuremberg, a daughter of Burgrave John III of Nuremberg and Margaret of Bohemia. Margaret was herself a daughter of Emperor Charles IV. The marriage contract was concluded on 27 March 1406; the couple lived together from 1412. Their marriage produced one daughter, Elisabeth of Württemberg, who later married John III of Werdenberg-Sargans. Eberhard III also had an illegitimate son named Ulrich of Württemberg of Stuttgart. He is documented in 1421 and held ecclesiastical offices. He was provost of St. Martin in Sindelfingen and was named that same year as the head of a monastery in Stuttgart. Eberhard III died in 1417 after ruling Württemberg for a quarter of a century. He was succeeded by his son Eberhard IV, who continued the dynastic connections expanded through marriage and inheritance. Eberhard III was remembered above all as a ruler who focused his policy on stability, alliances, and the consolidation of Württemberg’s possessions.