Ulrich von Liechtenstein

Ulrich von Liechtenstein (ca. 1200 – 26 January 1275) was a German minnesinger and poet of the Middle Ages. He wrote poetry in Middle High German and was author of noted works about how knights and nobles may lead more virtuous lives. Ulrich was member of a wealthy and influential ministerialis family from in Styria. He was born about 1200 at Murau in the Duchy of Styria, located in the present-day State of Austria.

Details of Ulrich's life are difficult to ascertain, for much of what scholars know relies heavily upon information gleaned from his often-fictional, self-styled autobiographical work the Frauendienst (trans. Service of Ladies). Separating fact from stylized hyperbole has proven difficult for historians.

From age 12 on, Ulrich received noble training as a page to a lady of much higher station than he then another four years as a squire to Margrave Henry of Istria, son of Duke Berthold IV of Merania, he was knighted by the Babenberg duke Leopold VI of Austria in 1222. Ulrich is documented as a Styrian Truchsess in 1244/45, from 1267–1272 Marshal and in year 1272 also a provincial judge.

When Philip of Sponheim, the Archbishop-Elect of Salzburg, was deposed by Pope Alexander IV for refusing to take holy orders, Philip raised an army to defend his title. In 1250, Ulrich agreed to fight for Philip's cause in return for Philip's arranging a beneficial marriage of Ulrich's son, Ulrich II, to Kunigunde of Goldegg and Philip added a dowry of 400 Salzburg pounds to the agreement. In return Ulrich I agreed to provide Philip with 100 fighting men for his cause. In August 1252 Philip's forces decisively defeated his enemies at the Battle of Sachsenburg on the Drava, and Ulrich was one of seven who mediated the ensuing peace.

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