| Engelbert | |
|---|---|
| |
| Portrait of Engelbert, 1500 | |
| Count of Württemberg | |
| Reign | 1477-1489 |
| Predecessor | Eberhard V |
| Successor | Conrad IV (as Duke) |
| Patriarch of the Lenzburgs | |
| Reign | 1492-1519 |
| Predecessor | Eberhard I |
| Successor | Eberhard II |
| Born | 16 June 1448 Bern, Swiss Confederacy |
| Died | 3 April 1506 Urbino, Papal States |
| Spouse | Marianne of Württemberg |
| House | House of Lenzburg |
| Father | Eberhard I |
| Mother | Elisabeth of Bavaria-Landshut |
| Religion | Roman Catholicism |
Engelbert (16 June 1448 - 3 April 1506) was a Count of Württemberg jure uxoris through his wife Marianne from 1477 to 1489, and was the patriarch of the House of Lenzburg from 1492 until his death. He was the eldest son of Eberhard I, the last ruling Duke of Lenzburg in the Swiss Confederacy, and Engelbert became the first full "Duke in Exile" of the Lenzburg dynasty after Eberhard's death in 1492. Engelbert was considered a staunch lieutenant of the Lenzburg cause and therefore was vilified by Lenzburg opponents. He took over leadership of the County of Württemberg through an arranged marriage to Duchess Marianne, an unexpected heiress, leading to accusations of foul play. As such Engelbert came to personify the claims of Lenzburg connivery in the Holy Roman Empire.
During the Lenzburg-Premyslid War, Engelbert rallied Württemberg in support of the Lenzburgs. He raised the Lenzburg alliance's main army in Germany, but his campaign was defeated and Württemberg was occupied by invading forces. The war proved unpopular in Württemberg, and Engelbert fled to Switzerland to continue the war, although never again being involved in combat. In the final days of the war, when it became clear the Swiss would lose and rebellion was sparked against the Lenzburgs, Engelbert fled into the Italian peninsula. He was declared an outlaw and considered a prime target for Imperial forces, but he nonetheless managed to escape despite sustaining several injuries. During the escape Engelbert's wife Marianne was captured and she was initially sentenced to death, although Henry VIII, Holy Roman Emperor commuted her sentence to life imprisonment, which proved a future inconvenience for Engelbert's attempts to remarry. Likewise, almost all of Engelbert's children were killed or captured during the escape, most notably as orchestrated by Dolphus Thurn.
Engelbert was stripped of his titles, and rule over Württemberg instead passed to a son of the Thin White Duke, who became Conrad IV. In the Papal States, Engelbert supported the exploits of his father while in exile. Confident of the eventual Lenzburg return to power in Switzerland, Engelbert declared he would forgo facial hair until that day was realized, a tradition continued by most Lenzburg exiles. After Eberhard's death, the now destitute Engelbert attempted to reverse his family's fortunes by ending his father's lavish spending, and many of the family's possessions were pawned away. Engelbert's line effectively became subservient to a series of Italian minor families. In 1506 Engelbert died of disease at the age of 58, and his grandson declared himself Eberhard II.
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