List of counts at Sponheim

Coat of arms of the House of Sponheim

The County of Sponheim went through roughly three main phases during the course of the centuries. The first one lasted from the beginnings in the 11th century until the first divisions of the county between two Sponheimish lines around 1234. In this first period the region was ruled by a single count.

In the second phase the county was managed by two counts. The “Further” County (Vordere Grafschaft) of Sponheim was ruled by the line Sponheim-Kreuznach with residence at Castle Kauzenburg near Kreuznach. The "Hinder" County (Hintere Grafschaft) of Sponheim was ruled by the Sponheim-Starkenburg line, with residence at first at Castle Starkenburg near Enkirch and after 1350 at Castle Grevenburg near Trarbach. This phase lasted nearly to the extinction of both lines in 1437.

Finally in the third phase both parts of the county were managed by joint rulers as a condominium. The management of the “Hinder” County of Sponheim was divided between a collateral palatine line (House of Palatinate-Simmern, later House of Palatinate-Zweibrücken, later still House of Palatinate-Birkenfeld) and Baden, the management of the “Further” County of Sponheim roughly between Baden and the Electoral Palatinate. The ruling houses of the Sponheimish condominium were matrilineal descendants of the House of Sponheim and took on the title of Count at Sponheim (Graf zu Sponheim).

Counts of Sponheim

House of Sponheim

Ruler	Born	Reign	Death	Ruling part	Consort	Notes
Eberhard I	?	c.1030?-1044	1044	Sponheim	Unknown	First known count of the family.
Siegfried I	c.1010	1044-1065	7 February 1065	Sponheim	Unknown	Also Count in the Puster Valley and Margrave of the Hungarian March
Stephen I	?	1065-1080	1080	Sponheim	? of Stromberg at least one child	Cousin or brother of Siegfried.
Stephen II	?	1080-1118	1118	Sponheim	Sophia of Formbach c.1092 five children
Meginhard I	c.1085	1118-1136	1136	Sponheim	Matilda of Mörsberg-Nellenburg one child	Also Count of Winterthur.
Godfrey I	c.1115	1136-1159	1159	Sponheim	Matilda of Lorraine? two children
Godfrey II	?	1159-1183	1183	Sponheim	? of Veldenz one child
Godfrey III	c.1175	1183-1218	c.1218	Sponheim	Adelaide of Sayn 1202 five children	Died during the Fifth Crusade. After his death, his children split the Sponheim domains.
John I	c.1205	1218-1266	1266	Upper Sponheim	? of Altena Isenberg five children	Son of Godfrey III, inherited the Upper part of the county, with residence in Starkenburg.
Simon I	c.1210	1218-1264	8 April 1264	Lower Sponheim	Margaret of Hengebach c.1240 six children	Son of Godfrey III, inherited the Lower part of the county, with residence in Kreuznach.
John I the Lame	c.1245	1264-1290	28 January 1290	Lower Sponheim	Adelaide of Leiningen-Landeck c.1265 seven children
Henry I	c.1235	1266-1289	1 August 1289	Upper Sponheim	Blancheflor of Julich three/four children
John II the Lame	c.1265	1289-1324	22 February/29 March 1324	Upper Sponheim	Catherine of Ochsenstein three children	His heir predeceased him, being succeeded by his minor grandchild.
Henry II the Younger	c.1295	c.1310-1323	October 1323	Upper Sponheim	Loretta of Salm January 1315 one child	Co-ruler of his father, died five months before him.
Simon II	c.1270	1290-1336	1336	Lower Sponheim	Elisabeth of Falkenburg c.1293 nine children	Sons of John I, shared rule in the county: John ruled from Kreuznach; Simon ruled from Kastellaun.
John II	c.1270	1290-1340	11 March 1340	Lower Sponheim	Unknown/Unmarried
Regency of Loretta of Salm (1324-1331)						Loretta was regent in name of her child, John III. In spite of being engaged in a trial of strength with one of the most powerful and influential princes of her time, the Elector of Trier Baldwin of Luxembourg, she devoted herself to putting Sponheim on a firm political and economic footing.
John III The Elder	c.1315	1324-1398	30 December 1398	Upper Sponheim	Matilda of the Palatinate 1331 three children
Waleran	1305	1336/40-1380	1380	Lower Sponheim	Elisabeth of Katzenelnbogen 9 August 1330 six children	Inherited the domains of his father (Kastellaun) and uncle (Kreuznach).
Simon III	c.1330	1380-1414	30 August 1414	Lower Sponheim	Maria of Vianden c.1345 three children
John IV	c.1335	1398-1413/14	16 October 1413/12 April 1414	Upper Sponheim	Elisabeth of Sponheim-Kreuznach 1346 one child
Elisabeth	c.1360	1414-1417	31 July 1417	Lower Sponheim	Engelbert III of the Mark c.1381 no children Rupert Pepin of the Palatinate c.1390 no children	Eldest surviving daughter of Simon III. After her death, her estates were reunited with those of the Starkenberg line.
John V & III	1359	1413/14-1417	24 October 1437	Upper Sponheim	Walpurga of Leiningen c.1415 five children	In 1417, after the death of Elisabeth, Count of Sponheim-Kreuznach, he reunited Sponheim once more, but died with no descendants. The family became extinct.
John V & III	1359	1417-1437	24 October 1437	Sponheim	Walpurga of Leiningen c.1415 five children

Successors in Upper and Lower Sponheim

Upper Sponheim	Lower Sponheim
Palatinate-Veldenz Frederick III, Count at Veldenz and Sponheim (1437–1444, O.C. 1437) Palatinate-Simmern/-Birkenfeld/-Zweibrücken Frederick I, Count Palatine (1444–1480, O.C. 1453) John I (1480–1509) John II (1509–1557, O.C. 1527) Frederick II, 1559 Prince Elector Frederick III (1557–1560), as pledgeholder 1569 to 1571 Palatinate-Zweibrücken Wolfgang at Veldenz (1560–1569) John I (1569–1584 as regent to his brother Charles I) Palatinate-Birkenfeld Charles I at Birkenfeld (1584–1600, O.C. 1588) George William (1600–1669, O.C. 1600), until 1618 under custody Charles II Otto (1669–1671) (Palatinate-Birkenfeld-Bischweiler receives Birkenfeld) Christian II at Bischweiler (1671–1717, O.C. 1677) (Palatinate-Bischweiler-Birkenfeld acquires Zweibrücken) Christian III, since 1731 at Zweibrücken (1717–1735) Christian IV (1735–1775, O.C. 1761) Charles III Augustus Christian (1775–1795) Maximilian I (IV) Joseph, Prince Elector of Palatinate-Bavaria, 1806 King of Bavaria, heir 1799 also to the share of the “Further” County Baden James I (1437–1453, O.C. 1444) Charles I (1453–1475) Christoph I (1475–1527, O.C. 1480) Bernard III at Baden (1527–1536) Philibert (1536–1569, O.C. 1557) Philip II (1569–1588, O.C. 1569) Edward Fortunatus (1588–1600) (1600–1605 no Badish joint ruler) George Frederick at Durlach (1605–1622) William (1622–1677, O.C. 1669) Louis William (1677–1683), brother (Always campaigning abroad from 1683 to 1697, the Baden share was held by his uncle Leopold Wilhelm's widow, Margravine Marie Francisca b. Countess of Fürstenberg) Louis George Simpert (1697–1761, O.C. 1717) Augustus George Simpert (1761–1771) Charles Frederick (1771–1811)	Electoral Palatinate Louis IV (1437–1449) Frederick I (1449–1476), at first regent; 1451 Prince Elector Philip (1476–1508, O.C. 1480) Louis V (1508–1544) Frederick II (1544–1556) Otto Henry (1556–1559) (Succession to Palatinate-Simmern line) Palatinate-Simmern Frederick III, 1559 Prince Elector (1557–1576, O.C. 1569) Louis VI, Prince Elector (1576–1583) Frederick IV, Prince Elector (1583–1610, O.C. 1588) Louis Philip at Simmern (1610–1655), until 1622 single holder, O.C. Louis Henry at Simmern (1655–1674) Charles I Louis, Prince Elector (1674–1680, O.C. 1677) Charles II, Prince Elector (1680–1685) (Extinction of the Simmern line, succession to Palatinate-Neuburg) Palatinate-Neuburg Philip William, Prince Elector (1685–1690) John William, Prince Elector (1690–1716, O.C. 1707) Charles III Philip, Prince Elector (1716–1742) Charles Theodore, Prince Elector (1742–1799, O.C. 1761) (Rightful successor was Count Palatine Maximilian of Zweibrücken (see “Upper” County)) Baden-Baden James I (1437–1453, O.C. 1444) Charles I (1453–1463) (1463 until January 1508 pledged to Electoral Palatinate) Philipp I (1508–1533, O.C. 1509) (1533/1534 disputed, 27 March 1534 to Baden-Baden) Bernard III (1534–1536) Philibert (1536–1569, O.C. 1557) Philipp II (1569–1588, O.C. 1576) Edward Fortunatus (1588–1600) (1600 until November 1622 no Badenish joint ruler, Electoral-Palatine holding only) William (1622–1677, O.C. 1655) Louis William (1677–1707, O.C. 1680) Louis George Simpert (1707–1761, O.C. 1716) Augustus George Simpert (1761–1771) (Extinction of the Baden-Baden line, succession falls to Baden-Durlach line) Charles Frederick (1771–1811)

Notes

O.C. = Oldest Count

References

(in German) Mötsch, Johannes: Ein Kondominatsbesitz - Die Vordere und die Hintere Grafschaft Spohnheim (Website from Wolfgang Morscheck)
(in German) Genealogia Sponhemica. Archiv für rheinische Geschichte Coblenz, 1.1833 - 2.1835. Zweiter Teil 1835. http://www.dilibri.de/rlb/periodical/pageview/27862

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.