Predecessor Berthold IV Issue Died without issue | Name Berthold Duke | |
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Reign 1186 – 18 February 1218 Successor Lands divided between Kyburg and Urach; Bern became a free imperial city. Died 18 February 1218 (aged 57–58)
Freiburg im Breisgau Burial Freiburg Minster, Freiburg im Breisgau | ||
Berthold V (1160 – 18 February 1218 in Freiburg im Breisgau), also known as Bertold V or Berchtold V, was Duke of Zähringen until his death, succeeding his father Berthold IV in 1186.
History and legacy
At the beginning of his reign, he reduced the power of the Burgundian nobles and settled the Bernese Oberland and the area of Lucerne. As a result, he enlarged Thun and founded Bern in 1191, which became the focus of his expansionism. At the battle of Ulrichen in 1211, however, he failed to gain access to the Valais.
Following the death of the Holy Roman Emperor Henry VI in 1198, he was one of the candidates in the Imperial election. He offered his nephews as hostages to the Archbishops of Cologne and Trier to gain their support. However, when he discovered that a majority had elected the Hohenstaufen Philip of Swabia (antiking to Welf Emperor Otto IV of Brunswick) he renounced his claim. In exchange for this renunciation, Berthold gained territorial concessions in what is now southern Germany and northern Switzerland, consolidating Zähringer hold over the Ortenau, the Breisgau, Schaffhausen, Breisach and All Saints' Abbey. In 1198 Philip also paid Berthold 3,000 silver Marks for renouncing his claims.
In the same year Berthold crushed an uprising of the Burgundian nobles, an event that is recorded on the gate in Freiburg.
In 1200, Berthold began rebuilding Freiburg's city-parish church in Romanesque style. Around 1240 the building was continued in Gothic style. The church was finished in 1360 except for the choir that took another 150 years to complete. The church admired for its steeple is known as Freiburg Minster.
The Zähringer dynasty ended with Berthold's death in 1218. Following his death the Zähringer lands were split among several nobles, and the city of Bern become a free imperial city (Reichsfrei, subject only to the Emperor). Egino IV, count of Urach by marriage, inherited large parts of the Duchy of Zähringen and which originally was called the county of Freiburg. The grandson of Egino IV, Henry named himself the first von Fürstenberg after his residence.
His reign is commemorated by fountains in Bern and his tomb in Freiburg Minster.