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Eberhard II, called "der Greiner" (the Jarrer) (after 1315 – 15 March 1392, Stuttgart), Count of Württemberg from 1344 until 1392.

Eberhard II was a son of Count Ulrich III of Württemberg and Sofie of Pfirt. He married Countess Elizabeth von Henneberg-Schleusingen. From 1344, when their father died, until 1361 (Except that this date conflicts with the date given two sentences further on.) Eberhard II ruled jointly with his brother Ulrich IV. Eberhard forced Ulrich to sign a treaty which confirmed the indivisibility of Württemberg. Soon afterwards, on 1 May 1362, Ulrich IV renounced his position as co-ruler.

To strengthen his position and grip on power as well as to expand the territorial possessions of Württemberg Eberhard II joined several pacts and clashes with Emperor Charles IV. (Not sure what this bold text means - did Eberhard enter into a number of pacts with the emperor and then fight along side him or against him?) As a result of this relationship Eberhard and his brother were granted additional privileges, for example a sole jurisdiction (suspect this is a translation issue - not sure what it means so not sure what is right here), which gave the County of Württemberg a greater degree of autonomy. (So does this relate to a period prior to the Ulrich renouncing his position - or did he acquire these privileges even though he was no longer co-ruler?)

A sensation was created in 1367 when Count Wolf von Eberstein assaulted Eberhard II and his son Ulrich during their stay "in Wildbad" (presumably Wildbad or Teinach). Both fled and seized Neueberstein Castle immediately with a large amount of men. However this siege turned out to be unsuccessful. (''As noted on the talk page the final two sentences do not make sense - presumably it should read something like Father and son fled, returning quickly with a large body of men to lay seige to Neueberstein Castle (oh, and where did this Castle come in - is it the castle where they were staying?). The seige was unsuccessful.

During his reign Eberhard maintained a strongly anti-Free Imperial Cities policy, because he perceived the towns as standing in the way of the expansion of Württemberg's territory. He fought battles against the towns united in the Schwäbischer Städtebund (Swabian City League) in 1376, 1372 in Altheim, 1377 in Reutlingen and 1388 near Döffingen. The result of this was a stalemate which in turn served to maintain the independence of the towns. Nevertheless the territorial gains of Württemberg during his reign were substantial, for example Böblingen and Calw.

Family and legacy
Eberhard married Countess Elizabeth von Henneberg-Schleusingen on September 17, 1342. They had two children.


 * 1) Ulrich (d. 1388)
 * 2) Sophie (1343 - 1369), who married John I, Duke of Lorraine.

Ulrich predeceased his father, killed during the battle of Döffingen in 1388. He left a son who would succeed his grandfather as Eberhard III

Eberhard II in literature
Eberhard II entered literature through Schiller and Uhland. (A great shame that this is mentioned without citing the specific works. I'm not sufficiently familiar with the work of Schiller or Uhland to know which works of theirs should be referenced.)

Also should be something more along the lines of 'Eberhard appears as a (major/minor?) character in 'Title', duely referenced, by Schiller and as a (major/minor?) character in 'Title', duely referenced, by Uhland.