Sophia and the Devil's
Glove
Sophia von Brabant (1224 – 1275)
Sophia Holds up Her Son Before the People of Marburg
Sophia von Brabant (1224 – 1275)
Sophia Holds up Her Son Before the People of Marburg
Upon the death of Heinrich Raspe in Thuringia, St. Elizabeth's daughter, Sophia, Duchess of Brabant, widow to Henry Duke of Brabant, brought her infant son, Henry, to Marburg. There many noblemen and knights swore their loyalty to the descendent of the great and beloved Saint Elizabeth. Sophia was given control over the Wartburg Castle and its surrounding lands, and a neighboring nobleman, the Margrave Heinrich von Meissen, surnamed the Illustrious, was assigned to help the young widow and mother to protect her lands until her son came of age. But he quickly betrayed Sophia, and attempted to take the Wartburg for himself, inducing the mean-spirited emperor, Wilhelm, to claim it as a lapsed fief.
On receiving information of his treason, Sophia hastened to the city at the base of the Wartburg castle, Eisenach. But the city had already paid homage to Heinrich von Meissen, and the city gates were closed against her. Seeing this, Sophia seized an axe, and with her own hands, dealt a vigorous blow upon the gate, which was instantly opened by the astonished citizens.
Heinrich von Meissen deceitfully proposed that the matter should be left to the decision of twenty Thuringian nobles of high standing, and that Sophia should promise to see Thuringia to him, if they swore that his claim was more trust than hers. Sophia fell into the snare, and the bribed nobles took the oath. On hearing their decision the injured Duchess threw her glove into the air, exclaiming, "O thou enemy of all justice, thou devil, take this glove along with the false counselors!" And according to an ancient Chronicle, the glove vanished in the air.
Sophia now employed the aid of the warlike Duke of Brunswick (Braunschweig), Albrecht the Fat, who invaded Thuringia in 1256, and defeated Heinrich von Meissen. Unfortunately the Archbishop of Mainz, Gerhard, took advantage of Albrecht the Fat being absent from Braunschweig to invade that city and this forced Albrecht to leave Eisenach to defend his holdings back in Braunschweig. The evil Heinrich von Meissen reentered Thuringia and captured Eisenach, where he condemned the representative of Sophia in the city's affairs, the brave counselor, Heinrich von Velsbach, to be cast by an enormous catapult from the top of the Wartburg Castle into the town below.
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