Eberhard I supported the
Bohemian estates and the Bohemian king,
Henry of Carinthia in their conflict against Emperor
Albert I of
Habsburg and his successor,
Henry VII. In 1309, charges were brought against Eberhard because of the grasping, self-serving way he discharged his duties as
Landvogt, and he was therefore summoned by Henry VII to a
Hoftag at
Speyer. Eberhard left Speyer prematurely, whereupon Henry imposed the
Imperial Ban on him. Henry now supported the
Swabian imperial cities in their confrontation with Count Eberhard of Württemberg, who had also operated an aggressive territorial policy against the cities. Because Henry was going to
Italy, he appointed the new
Reichslandvogt, , as the army commander of the Swabian imperial cities and several nobles. The principal Swabian cities involved were
Esslingen am Neckar and
Reutlingen; the nobles included von Tübingen, von Vaihingen and Herter of Dusslingen. In spring 1311 the
Reichskrieg began, the first military action presumably being the siege of enemy's family castle,
Wirtemberg, which took place at the beginning of May. After a failed
relief attempt on 26 May, the castle was captured on 13 July. After the
Hohenasperg Castle fell in August 1312, Eberhard, now a fugitive, was received by his
Baden brother-in-law, Margrave
Rudolf Hesso in one of the two
bergfrieds of
Besigheim. Only the death of Henry VII on 24 August 1313, and the political situation after the king's election in 1314, when
Louis IV was crowned king and
Frederick the Fair was declared as
counter-king, prevented Württemberg's defeat. Eberhard then cleverly manoeuvered between king and counter-king, so that he was not only able to compensate himself for his territorial losses but also gain additional territories. The Reichsheer captured or destroyed
inter alia the following castles: Wirtemberg,
Hohenasperg,
Hohenjungingen,
Ror,
Old Lichtenstein,
Haideck,
Hochbiedeck,
Greifenstein, Untergreifenstein,
Dischingen near Stuttgart (thanks to coins discovered at the site by G. Weindefenung its destruction was dated to the early 14th century). and
Marbach am Neckar. The following were not captured:
Hohenneuffen,
Hohenurach and town,
Hohenwittlingen Castle and
Seeburg. == References ==