Ulrich V, Count of Württemberg

Ulrich V (1413 –1 September 1480), nicknamed the Much-Loved (der Vielgeliebte), was Count of Württemberg from 1419 and then count of Württemberg-Stuttgart until his death in 1480.

Life
Ulrich was born in 1413, the youngest child of Count Eberhard IV and his wife Henriette, Countess of Mömpelgard. Eberhard died unexpectedly of illness on 2 July 1419, while Ulrich and his older brother Ludwig were both minors. Consequently, Henriette became their guardian, together with a regency council of 32 Württembergers.

Ludwig reached maturity in 1426 and thereafter ruled alone until 1433 when Ulrich was admitted to the government. After some years of common government Ulrich wed Margaret of Cleves and put through the division of the county. This was confirmed 23 April 1441. Ulrich received the eastern and northern parts with the capital in Stuttgart. Ludwig the western and southern land part with the capital in Urach, as well as the territories in Alsace. The division which had been limited originally on four years was made permanent on 25 January 1442 by the Treaty of Nürtingen.

In 1444 Ulrich supported the house of Habsburg under King Friedrich III in the Old Zürich War in the fight against the Old Swiss Confederacy. Together with his allies which were margrave Albrecht Achilles of Brandenburg, the archbishop of Mainz Dietrich Schenk of Erbach as well as margrave Jakob I of Baden he formed the core of the Mergentheimer alliance which went advanced more and more against the imperial towns. These tensions found their culmination in the feud between margrave Albrecht and the imperial town of Nuremberg in 1449. Count Ulrich's main opponent under the imperial towns was Esslingen which reduced the income of the county Württemberg by rising it's his duties clearly. However, Ulrich did not succeed in winning a determining advantage in spite of winning multiple victories against Esslingen and other imperial towns.

In 1450 Ulrich gained, after the death of his brother Ludwig I, the guardianship on his nephews, the future counts of Württemberg-Urach Ludwig II and Eberhard V. This soon led to a quarrel with Frederick I, Elector Palatine, who likewise asserted claim to the guardianship. Ludwig II already died 1457. The estates of Urach passed to Count Eberhard V in 1459.

In 1458 Ulrich destroyed the castle of Widdern. This increased the tensions between him and Frederick. Two alliance blocs had developed in the German Empire. Ulrich joined the group of Frederick III, crowned emperor in 1452, and Margrave Albrecht Achilles of Brandenburg. Their main opponents were the brother of the imperial duke Albert VI of Austria, Frederick of the Palatinate and Duke Louis IX of Bavaria. In 1460 the first military encounters between the two groups occurred. After a short armistice, Frederick III once more proclaimed imperial war against Bavaria the following year. Together with Albrecht Achilles, Ulrich assumed leadership of the imperial forces against Bavaria. In the Mainz Diocesan Feud of 1461 to 1463, which broke out shortly after, he supported Archbishop Adolf II of Nassau against his deposed predecessor Diether von Isenburg and Frederick I of the Palatinate. After skirmishes, on 30 June 1462 a battle took place near Seckenheim, and Ulrich and his allies were defeated. They were taken captive by the Palatinate forces. Only on 27 April 1463 was Ulrich able to return to Stuttgart after payment of a ransom.

In 1473 went Ulrich and Eberhard V a house contract one which should regulate the common hereditary result and aspire to the reunion of both württembergian land parts.

On 8 January 1480, Ulrich ceded rule of Württemberg-Stuttgart to his oldest son Eberhard. He died the following September 1st at Leonberg during a hunting visit with his nephew Eberhard, future Duke of Württemberg. Following a funeral procession, Ulrich was buried at the Stiftskirche in Stuttgart on 8 October 1480.