Friedrich II von Graben


Frederick II von Graben, also called Frederick the Younger, was a Styrian noble, a member of the edelfrei Graben von Stein family. He held the titles as Lord of Kornberg and Marburg, as well as burgrave of Riegersburg.
One of the most affluent Styrian nobles, Frederick was an advisor to the Habsburg emperor Frederick III, assessor at the Reichskammergericht, and member of the duchy's Landtag assembly.

Life

Frederick's ancestors were of the Styrian branch of the Graben von Stein family, which sprang out from the princely Meinhardiner dynasty; his parents were Frederick I von Graben, progenitor of the Kornberg line, and Katharina von Summeregk. Frederick II succeeded his father in Styria, while his brother Andreas von Graben inherited the Carinthian estates of their mother.
In 1438 Frederick II married Elisabeth Steinwald von Fladnitz. Their son Ulrich III von Graben, a loyal follower of Emperor Frederick III like his father, was appointed Landeshauptmann governor of the Styrian duchy in 1462.
Frederick first appeared in a 1401 deed, when he received the burgraviate of Riegersburg serving the Walsee noble dynasty from Swabia. He soon acquired further estates from Seckau Abbey and, since 1443, owned the villages of Neudorf and Pölan as well as parts of the villages Altendorf near Wolfsberg in Carinthia and Wanofezen. From 1446 he is documented as a member of the Styrian estates and in 1456 received, together with his son Ulrich III, the pawned Lordship of Marburg from the Walsee owners. In 1461 he signed a contract in which Laibach in Carniola became the see of a diocese.

Literature