Leiningen family explained

Leiningen
Type:German noble family
Coat Of Arms:Armoiries de Leiningen.svg
Coat Of Arms Size:120px
Coat Of Arms Caption:Arms of the Leiningen family
Country:Holy Roman Empire
Origin:Leiningerland
Founded:12th century
Founder:Emich II, Count of Leiningen
Current Head:Andreas, Prince of Leiningen
Final Ruler:Emich, Prince of Leiningen
Titles:
Website:https://fuerst-leiningen.de/

The House of Leiningen is the name of an old German noble family whose lands lay principally in Alsace, Lorraine, Saarland, Rhineland, and the Palatinate. Various branches of this family developed over the centuries and ruled counties with Imperial immediacy.

Origins

The first count of Leiningen about whom anything definite is known was a certain Emich II (d. before 1138). He (and perhaps his father Emich I) built Leiningen Castle, which is now known as "Old Leiningen Castle" (German: Burg Altleiningen), around 1100 to 1110. Nearby Höningen Abbey was built around 1120 as the family's burial place.

This family became extinct in the male line when Count Frederick I died about 1220. Frederick I's sister, Liutgarde, married Simon II, Count of Saarbrücken. One of Liutgarde's sons, also named Frederick, inherited the lands of the counts of Leiningen, and he took their arms and their name as Frederick II (d. 1237). He became known as a Minnesinger, and one of his songs was included in the Codex Manesse. Before 1212, he built himself a new castle called Hardenburg, about 10 kilometers south of Altleiningen. This was outside the county of Leiningen on the territory of Limburg Abbey, of which his uncle was the overlord (Vogt), which caused some trouble.

His eldest son, Simon (c. 1204–1234), married Gertrude, heiress of the County of Dagsburg, bringing that property into the family. They had no children and Simon's two brothers inherited the county of Leiningen together: Frederick III (d. 1287) also inherited Dagsburg and Emich IV (d. c. 1276) Landeck Castle; he founded the town of Landau, but the Landeck branch extinguished with his grandson in 1290. Frederick III, who disliked sharing Leiningen castle with his brother, had a new castle built in 1238–41 about 5 kilometres northeast of Leiningen, called Neuleiningen Castle ("New Leiningen"). Frederick III's son, Frederick IV (d. 1316), had two sons, who divided the county into Leiningen-Dagsburg and Leiningen-Hardenburg.

Line of Descent

See also: County of Leiningen. Note that different sources use different sequence numbers for some of the Counts. For consistency across sources, dates of birth and death are useful.

Earliest Counts

Saarbrücken Line

Leiningen-Dagsburg (First Line)

Leiningen-Westerburg

This county was then absorbed into Leiningen-Schaumburg.

Leiningen-Leiningen

This branch ended in 1705, and this county was also absorbed into Leiningen-Schaumburg.

Leiningen-Schaumburg

Leiningen-Westerburg-Altleiningen

Leiningen-Westerburg-Neuleiningen

Leiningen-Hardenburg

Leiningen-Dagsburg (Second Line)

See also

References

Attribution

External links

49.54°N 8.14°W

Notes and References

  1. Simon, J. (1865) Die Geschichte des reichständischen Hauses Ysenburg und Büdingen, Band III Das Ysenburg und Büdingensche Urkundenbuch (Frankfurt) ("Isenburg Urkundenbuch"), III, p. 4.
  2. Stumpf, K. F. (ed.) (1863) Urkunden zur Geschichte des Erzbisthums Mainz im zwölften Jahrhundert (Acta Maguntina Seculi XII) (Innsbruck) ("Mainz Urkunden 12th Century"), 24, p. 27.
  3. Brinckmeier (1890), Vol. I, p. 20, quoting charter "im Besitz des Germanischen Museums".
  4. MGH Diplomata, Tome X, Pars IV, D F I, 993, p. 282.
  5. Brinckmeier (1890), Vol. I, p. 22, citing Fahne, A. (1866) Geschichte der Grafen zu Salm-Reifferscheidt, Band. I, 2 Abth. p. 48
  6. Würdtwein, S. A. (1788) Nova Subsidia Diplomatica (Heidelberg), Vol. X, LXXXIX, p. 246
  7. Stillfried, R. M. von (1843) Monumenta Zollerana, Quellensammlung zur Geschichte des erlauchten Hauses der Grafen von Zollern und Burggrafen von Nürnberg, Erster Theil (Halle) ("Monumenta Zollerana (1843))", XVII, p. 31
  8. Otterberg, 18 and 19, pp. 16-17
  9. Brinckmeier (1890), Vol. I, pp. 20 and 41, citing Kremer, J. M. (1779) Origines Nassoicae, Vol. II, p. 261

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