Principality of Leyen explained

Conventional Long Name:Principality of Leyen
Common Name:Leyen
Era:Napoleonic Wars
Status:Client state
Status Text:Client state of the French Empire
Member of the Confederation of the Rhine
Empire:First French Empire
Government Type:Principality
Year Start:1806
Year End:1814
Event Start:County of Adendorf raised to principality
Event End:Mediatised to Austria by Congress of Vienna
Event Post:Granted to Baden
Date Post:1819
P1:County of Adendorf
Flag P1:Shield of Leyen.svg
Border P1:no
S1:Austrian Empire
Flag S1:Flag of the Habsburg Monarchy.svg
Image Map Caption:The Principality of Leyen, as shown within the Grand Duchy of Baden
Capital:Hohengeroldseck
Leader1:Philip Francis
Title Leader:Prince

The Principality of Leyen was a Napoleonic German state which existed 1806–1814 in Hohengeroldseck, in the west of modern Baden-Württemberg. The House of Leyen had acquired many districts in western Germany, and eventually these were inherited by the Leyen line of counts at Adendorf. In 1797, France defeated the Holy Roman Empire and all lands west of the Rhine were lost. Following the defeat of Austria in December 1805, most of the smaller German princely states were mediatized, with the glaring exception of Leyen, which was spared because the ruling Count was nephew to Archchancellor Karl Theodor von Dalberg,[1] a close collaborator of Napoleon's.

In 1806, Count Philip Francis of Adendorf was raised to a Prince, and his lands were renamed to the 'Principality of Leyen'. The territory formed an enclave surrounded by Baden. Prince Philip Francis, like many other members of the Confederation of the Rhine became largely a French puppet, so following Napoleon's defeat at the Battle of Leipzig in 1813, the Congress of Vienna opted to mediatize his realm and give it to Austria. In 1819, Austria traded it to Baden.

Prince of Leyen

Heads of the House after Mediatization

Notes and References

  1. Heinrich von Treitschke, History of Germany in the Nineteenth Century, Volume 1, page 270.