Frederick of Isenberg

Count Frederick of Isenberg (Friedrich von Isenberg) (1193 – 15 November 1226) was a German noble, the younger son of Arnold of Altena (died 1209). Before the split between Arnold of Altena-Isenberg the eldest and his brother Friedrich Altena-Mark the younger son of Everhard von Berg-Altena. His family castle was the Isenberg near Hattingen, Germany. Murder According to recent research, Frederick of Isenberg was a leading figure in the opposition of Westphalian nobles to the aggressive power politics of the Archbishop of Cologne, Engelbert of Berg. In 1225 at the Nobles' Assembly in Soest, Count Frederick met his cousin Count Engelbert von Berg, Archbishop of Cologne, in order to bring about a peaceful agreement concerning the stewardship (Vogtei) of Essen Abbey, which Count Frederick, according to contemporary complaints, was abusing to his own benefit and to the detriment of the abbey. No conclusion was reached. During their return together from Soest to Cologne, Count Frederick arranged to ambush his cousin, in a defile at the foot of the Gevelsberg between Hagen and Schwelm in the late afternoon of 7 November 1225, in the course of which the Archbishop was killed.