The Wormsgau (Latin : pagus wormatiensis) was a medieval county in the East Frankish (German) stem duchy of Franconia, comprising the surroundings of the city of Worms and further territories on the left bank of the Upper Rhine river. Together with the neighbouring Nahegau and Speyergau, it belonged to the central Rhenish Franconian possessions of the Imperial Salian dynasty.
The Wormsgau covered large parts of the present-day Rhenish Hesse and Palatinate regions, originally stretching northwards just before Coblenz in Lotharingia. The city of Mainz belonged likewise to it as, to the start of the 9th century, also Boppard, which in reality c. 825 was already lost again. In the 10th century the Wormsgau lost extended lands in the North, mostly to the benefit of the Nahegau, like Ingelheim in 937, Spiesheim in 960, Saulheim in 973 and Flonheim in 996, until the Selz river defined the northern border. The losses could be partially compensated through expansion up the Rhine and to the West, especially in the Palatinate Forest range.
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The Salian dynasty or Salic dynasty was a dynasty in the High Middle Ages. The dynasty provided four kings of Germany (1024–1125), all of whom went on to be crowned Holy Roman emperors (1027–1125).
The Electoral Palatinate or the Palatinate, officially the Electorate of the Palatinate, was a state that was part of the Holy Roman Empire. The electorate had its origins under the rulership of the Counts Palatine of Lotharingia from 915, it was then restructured under the Counts Palatine of the Rhine in 1085. These counts palatine of the Rhine would serve as prince-electors from "time immemorial", and were noted as such in a papal letter of 1261, they were confirmed as electors by the Golden Bull of 1356.
Conrad, called the Red, was Duke of Lorraine from 944 until 953. He became the progenitor of the Imperial Salian dynasty.
Rudolf of Rheinfelden was Duke of Swabia from 1057 to 1079. Initially a follower of his brother-in-law, the Salian emperor Henry IV, his election as German anti-king in 1077 marked the outbreak of the Great Saxon Revolt and the first phase of open conflict in the Investiture Controversy between Emperor and Papacy. After a series of armed conflicts, Rudolf succumbed to his injuries after his forces defeated Henry's in the Battle on the Elster.
Otto I, called Otto of Worms, a member of the Salian dynasty, was Duke of Carinthia from 978 to 985 and again from 1002 until his death.
Adalbero of Eppenstein was Duke of Carinthia and Margrave of Verona from 1011 or 1012 until 1035.
Conrad I, a member of the Salian dynasty, was Duke of Carinthia from 1004 until his death.
Conrad II, called the Younger, a member of the Salian dynasty, was the duke of Carinthia and margrave of Verona from 1035 until his death.
The Ezzonids were a dynasty of Lotharingian stock dating back as far as the ninth century. They attained prominence only in the eleventh century, through marriage with the Ottonian dynasty of Holy Roman Emperors. Named after Ezzo, Count Palatine of Lotharingia from 1015 to 1034, they dominated the politics of the middle and lower Rhine and usually represented the royal interests. Under the Salian Emperors, they even briefly held the dukedoms of Swabia, Carinthia, and Bavaria.
The Duchy of Franconia was one of the five stem duchies of East Francia and the medieval Kingdom of Germany emerging in the early 10th century. The word Franconia, first used in a Latin charter of 1053, was applied like the words Francia, France, and Franken, to a portion of the land occupied by the Franks.
Rhenish Franconia or Western Franconia denotes the western half of the central German stem duchy of Franconia in the 10th and 11th century, with its residence at the city of Worms. The territory located on the banks of Rhine river roughly corresponded with the present-day state of Hesse and the adjacent Palatinate region in the south.
Werner V was a Rhenish Franconian count in the Nahegau, Speyergau and Wormsgau. He is one of the earliest documented ancestors of the Salian dynasty that provided German kings and emperors of the Holy Roman Empire from 1024 to 1125.
The Lahngau was a medieval territory comprising the middle and lower Lahn River valley in the current German states of Hesse and (partially) Rhineland-Palatinate. The traditional names of the Gau are Loganahe Pagus or Pagus Logenensis.
Waldrada or Waldraith was a Frankish noblewoman who lived during the 9th century. Her father was Adrian, Count of Orléans (758–824), and her mother was also named Waldrada, daughter of Adalhelm of Autun.
Speyergau was a medieval county in the East Frankish (German) stem duchy of Franconia. It was centred around the administrative centre of Speyer and roughly covered the former Roman administrative area of Civitas Nemetum, which is today the south-eastern portion of the Palatinate region between the Rhine river, the Palatinate Forest range, and some smaller parts of northern Alsace. The Speyergau, together with the neighbouring Wormsgau and Nahegau, was part of the major possessions held by the Salian dynasty of German kings and Holy Roman Emperors.
Siegfried I is considered the progenitor of the Carinthian ducal House of Sponheim (Spanheimer) and all of its lateral branches, including the Counts of Lebenau and the Counts of Ortenburg. He is documented as Count of Sponheim from 1044 and served as margrave of the Hungarian March in 1045/46 and as count in the Puster Valley and the Lavant Valley from 1048 until his death.
The Emichones were an early medieval family in the southwestern German region. Its members were counts (Gaugrafen) in the Nahegau, perhaps as undercounts of the Salian dynasty. The conventional name Emichones is due to the prevailing first name "Emich". Several later families may trace their origins to the Emichones.
The Nahegau was in the Middle Ages a county, which covered the environs of the Nahe and large parts of present-day Rhenish Hesse, after a successful expansion of the narrow territory, which did not reach the Rhine, to the disadvantage of the Wormsgau. Among other expansions were Ingelheim in 937, Spiesheim in 960, Saulheim in 973 and Flonheim in 996, until after the end of the expansion the Selz set the southern limit and the limit to the Wormsgau.
Stauf Castle is a ruined spur castle near the village of Stauf in the borough of Eisenberg in the county of Donnersbergkreis in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate.
