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John I of Isenburg-Limburg, "The blind Lord" (died September 29, 1312) was from 1289 Count of(Isenburg-) Limburg and the head of the House of Limburg. The core territory of the Lordship of Limburg consisted of the city ofLimburg an der Lahn and several surrounding villages.
In the City Chronicle of Limburg by Tilemann Elhen von Wolfhagen, written before 1402, John was referred to as the "Blind Lord." What is this name means, however, is unclear, because no sources refer to John being physically blind. Probably John had an eye disease in his old age and was thereby visually impaired.
John’s father,Gerlach I of Limburg, had founded the House of Limburg and sought to secure dynastic connections with neighboring noble families. John’s sisterImagina was married with the Count, laterKing of Germany,Adolf of Nassau. His second sister Agnes was married to Henry of Westerburg, the brother of theSiegfried II of Westerburg, theArchbishop of Cologne.
In 1288 John participated in theBattle of Worringen on the side of Siegfried of Westerburg. After the death of his father in theBlack Forest on a military campaign of KingRudolph I of Habsburg, John inherited Lordship of Limburg.
John maintained a particularly close relationship to his brother-in-law, Adolf of Nassau. He served asgodparent for Adolf's children. After Adolf’s election as king, John was a regular and active supporter and rose to become one of his advisors. He sealed the 1292 pledge of the imperial portion of the city of Limburg to the Archbishopric of Cologne. In the following years, he repeatedly sealed deeds of the king, and sealed the document as a witness for KingEdward I of England in his agreement with Adolf. John was delegated to arrange the marriage between Adolf’s son Robert of Nassau and Agnes, the daughter of the KingWenceslaus II of Bohemia. He was also involved in concluding of the marriage contract betweenDuke Rudolph I of Upper Bavaria and Matilda (Mechtilde) of Nassau (King Adolf's daughter).
On July 2, 1298 John participated in theBattle of Göllheim on the side of Adolf of Nassau. Nevertheless, after the battle, he was able to win the favor of Adolf’s opponent, the new KingAlbert I of Habsburg. In 1303, Albert commissioned him to look for fiefs that had been wrongly taken from the empire and recover them.
The children ofOtto I of Nassau designated John to act as arbitrator in the division of Otto’s inheritance in 1308.
John also worked diligently in his town of Limburg. Near the beginning of his reign, after a great fire destroyed the entire city of Limburg on May 14, 1289, John led a successful reconstruction effort. Already by around 1300 the city had outgrown its walls. John was probably responsible for the construction of the bridge over theLahn at Limburg, the construction of the church of theFranciscan Monastery, and the founding of the Wilhelmiten monastery. Even the construction of St. Peter's Chapel in Limburg Castle goes back to him.
John died on September 29, 1312. He was buried in the Franciscan church of Limburg. His grave stone is still preserved today.
John was married twice and it is unclear which children should be assigned to each marriage. His first marriage was to Elizabeth of Geroldseck (nearStrasbourg), daughter of Henry of Geroldseck, Count of Veldenz and Elizabeth of Lichtenberg. With her he probably had the following children:
His second marriage was to Uda ofRavensberg. This marriage probably accounted for the following children:
Preceded by: | John I | Succeeded by: |
|---|---|---|
| Gerlach IV | Count of Isenburg-Limburg 1289–1312 | Gerlach V |