The Lords of Eppstein (German : Herren von Eppstein) were a family of German nobility in the Middle Ages. [1] From the 12th century they ruled extensive territories in the Rhine Main area from their castle in Eppstein, northwest of Frankfurt, Germany.
Between 1180 and 1190, the Archbishop of Mainz enfeoffed Eppstein Castle, along with neighboring district courts and villages to Gerhard III of Hainhausen. [2] Gerhard changed his name to Eppstein and already having control of the present-day district of Offenbach, became the first in the line which was soon to become one of the most influential families in the Rhine Main area.
Four of the seven Archbishops of Mainz and Electoral Princes in the 13th century were of the house of Eppstein. [1] They raised the Electorate to considerable power and played a significant role in the politics of the Holy Roman Empire. In the struggle between the Emperor and the Pope, Archbishop Siegfried III took sides with the anti-Staufer group which played an important part in the beginnings of German federalism. The secular Eppsteiners, by purchase, marriage and enfeoffment, acquired extensive territories and rights between Middle Rhine to the Vogelsberg hills and between the Lahn River to the Odenwald.
The realm of the Lords of Eppstein was divided in 1433 between brothers Gottfried VII (Eppstein-Münzenberg) and Eberhard II (Eppstein-Königstein). The last of these branches became extinct in 1535 and Eppstein was passed mostly to the Landgraves of Hesse and the Ecclesiastical Principality of Mainz.
Adolf was the count of Nassau from about 1276 and the elected king of Germany from 1292 until his deposition by the prince-electors in 1298. He was never crowned by the pope, which would have secured him the imperial title. He was the first physically and mentally healthy ruler of the Holy Roman Empire ever to be deposed without a papal excommunication. Adolf died shortly afterwards in the Battle of Göllheim fighting against his successor Albert of Habsburg.
Hofheim is the administrative centre of Main-Taunus-Kreis district, in the south of the German state of Hesse. Its population in September 2020 was 39,946.
Heidesheim am Rhein is an Ortsbezirk (borough) of the town Ingelheim am Rhein in the Mainz-Bingen district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Before July 2019, it was a separate municipality belonging to the former Verbandsgemeinde Heidesheim am Rhein, of which it was the administrative seat. Heidesheim was one of the biggest municipalities in Rhenish Hesse.
Henry II "the Rich" of Nassau, German: Heinrich II. "der Reiche" von Nassau was Count of Nassau. He distinguished himself in particular by his chivalrous and devout spirit. He was charitable and made great donations to the church, so that the monasteries and prayer houses in the area of present-day Nassau experienced the most significant bloom in his time. The greatest favour was the Teutonic Order to enjoy, to which he donated especially for the renunciation of his brother's, upon his entry into the order. Henry participated in the Sixth Crusade. He was the builder of the castles Sonnenberg, Ginsburg and Dillenburg.
The Elector of Mainz was one of the seven Prince-electors of the Holy Roman Empire. As both the Archbishop of Mainz and the ruling prince of the Electorate of Mainz, the Elector of Mainz held a powerful position during the Middle Ages. The Archbishop-Elector was president of the electoral college, archchancellor of the empire, and the Primate of Germany as the papal legate north of the Alps, until the dissolution of the empire in 1806.
Walram I of Nassau, German: Walram I. von Nassau, also known as Walram I of Laurenburg, was Count of Nassau and is the oldest Nassau whose ancestorship is absolutely certain. He managed to expand his territory considerably during his reign. He took part in the Third Crusade.
The Principality of Lichtenberg on the Nahe River was an exclave of the Duchy of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld from 1816 to 1826 and the Duchy of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha from 1826 to 1834, when it was sold to the Kingdom of Prussia. Today its territories lie in two States of Germany: the District of St. Wendel in Saarland and the District of Birkenfeld in Rhineland-Palatinate.
Count Adolf I of Nassau-Siegen, German: Adolf I. Graf von Nassau-Siegen, was since 1384 Count of Diez, through his first marriage. With his brothers, he succeeded his father in 1416 as Count of Nassau-Siegen, and also inherited the County of Vianden in 1417. He descended from the Ottonian Line of the House of Nassau.
Count John II with the Helmet of Nassau-Siegen, German: Johann II. mit der Haube Graf von Nassau-Siegen, succeeded, with his brothers, his father in 1416 as Count of Nassau-Siegen. With his brothers, he inherited the County of Vianden in 1417, and also inherited half of the County of Diez in 1420. He descended from the Ottonian Line of the House of Nassau.
Ulrich IV, Lord of Hanau (1330/40–1380) was Lord of Hanau from 1369 or 1370 until his death. Based on the estimated year his parents married, he is assumed to have been born between 1330 and 1340. He was the son of Ulrich III of Hanau and Adelaide of Nassau.
Wetterau Association of Imperial Counts was an association of comital families in the Wetterau and surrounding areas. It originated in the late Middle Ages and was formally disbanded when the Holy Roman Empire was dissolved in 1806.
Reinhard I, Lord of Hanau is the ancestor of the House of Hanau.
Ulrich I, Lord of Hanau was the ruling Lord of Hanau from 1281 until his death.
Emicho I, Count of Nassau-Hadamar, was the second son of Count Otto I of Nassau and his wife Agnes, the daughter of Count Emich IV of Leiningen-Landeck. Emicho was the founder of the elder line of Nassau-Hadamar. He was a cousin of King Adolf of Germany. He and his brother Henry fought on Adolf's side in the Battle of Göllheim on 2 July 1298.
Elizabeth of Lorraine-Vaudémont, Countess of Nassau-Saarbrücken was a German regent and translator. She was the Countess of Nassau-Weilburg by marriage to Philipp I, Count of Nassau-Weilburg, and the regent of the County of Nassau-Weilburg during the minority of her son Philip II between 1429 and 1438.
The County of Diez was a county of the Holy Roman Empire, centred on the Grafenschloss at Diez in Lahngau. The county is first attested in 1073 and seems to have been created from the territory of the Conradine dynasty after they relocated to Swabia. The Counts rose to prominence in the second half of the twelfth century as close partisans of the Hohenstaufen dynasty. During this period, it was known as the "Golden County".
The ruins of Trutzeltz Castle, also known as Balduineltz, Baldeneltz or Neueltz, are the remains of a hill castle in the valley of the Elz in the parish of Wierschem near the town of Münstermaifeld. It was built as a counter-castle during the medieval Eltz Feud in the Moselle region.
Philip III of Falkenstein, Lord of Falkenstein, Münzenberg and Lich, Hesse was a member of the Lich line of the Falkenstein dynasty, son of Werner I of Falkenstein, Lord of Münzenberg and Falkenstein, who founded the Lich line, and his wife Mechtild of Diez.
From the Late Middle Ages the albus was a common currency in parts of the Holy Roman Empire, especially in the Rhineland. The name albus is Latin and means "white". Because of its higher silver content, this lighter coin differed in colour from the other inferior coins. This resulted in the names denarius albus, Weißpfennig or Rhenish groschen.
Rettershof is a crown domain northeast of Fischbach, a district of Kelkheim in the Vordertaunus. It goes back to a former Premonstratensian monastery. From the 12th century until 1559, nuns were resident at Retters, and later various owners used the estate and its lands as a farmstead. Today, in addition to its continued agricultural use, Rettershof is a popular regional excursion destination.