Günther XXI von Schwarzburg (c. 1304 – 14 June 1349), disputed King of Germany, was a descendant of the counts of Schwarzburg.
Contents
Biography
Born as the younger son of Henry VII, Count of Schwarzburg-Blankenburg (c. 1267–1324) and his wife, Christine von Gleichen (c. 1268). He married Elisabeth von Honstein-Klettenberg (c. 1302–1380), daughter of Count Heinrich IV, on 9 September 1331. They had five children: Sophia von Schwarzburg-Blankenburg (c. 1331 – aft. 1351); Agnes von Schwarzburg-Blankenburg (1330–1399);
Elisabeth von Schwarzburg-Blankenburg (c. 1336–1380); Heinrich XIII de Schwarzburg-Bankenburg (c. 1338–1357), his childless heir; and Mechtild von Schwarzburg-Blankenburg (c. 1340–1370).
Günther distinguished himself as a diplomat in the service of Emperor Louis IV on whose death in 1347 he was offered the throne after it had been refused by Edward III of England. He was elected king at the Dominican monastery in Frankfurt on 30 January 1349 by the following four electors, who were partisans of the house of Wittelsbach and opponents of Charles (Karl) of Luxembourg, later the Emperor Charles IV:
Louis, Margrave of Brandenburg
The Duke of Saxe-Lauenburg
The Elector Palatine
The deposed Elector of Mainz, Heinrich III von Virneberg.