Venerable Wilhelm von der Sann

Wilhelm von der Sann (Wilhelm IV., Wilhelm II.) (died March 20, 1036) was Count of Friesach and Trixen and Margrave of Soune (Sannmark). He was the son of the Count of Friesach and Margrave in Carinthia of the same name and his wife, Leopirgis. He was first mentioned in 1016. In 1017, Duke Adalbero of Carinthia, in his capacity as Margrave of Verona, held a court session in Treviso with him and other assessors. In 1025, he received a grant from King Conrad II—who had been in office for only a year and wished to promote Wilhelm as a counterweight to Duke Adalbero—consisting of 30 royal hides in his county of Soune between the rivers Koprivnica, Hudinja, and Voglajna, as well as in Carniola between the rivers Krka and Sava, along with the associated mountains, valleys, and forests. In 1028, he was granted further imperial gifts: he received two parcels of 30 royal hides each and additional holdings in the village of Traskendorf (Kozje) and between the Sava and Savinja, Sotla, and Mirna rivers in the comitatus Sounae. These later became the episcopal Gurk lordships of Rogatec, Podčetrtek, Planina pri Sevnici, Pilštanj, Kunšperk, Podsreda, Bizeljsko, and Mokronog. Furthermore, his market rights in Friesach were confirmed. According to other sources, the Drachenburg donation was made as early as 1016 by Emperor Henry II, as was the granting of market and customs rights for a location of his choosing in his county of Friesach. Together with his father's inheritance—who had received the later Gurk lordship of Vitanje as a gift from Otto II in 980—Wilhelm now possessed significant allodial property in his march territory. Around 1030, Wilhelm is mentioned as the advocate of Archbishop Dietmar II of Salzburg. In early 1036, he was killed by his own hand by Duke Adalbero, who had been deposed in 1035.