Sayn was a small German county of the Holy Roman Empire which, during the Middle Ages, existed within what is today Rheinland-Pfalz. There have been two Counties of Sayn. The first emerged in 1139 and became closely associated with the

County of Sponheim The County of Sponheim (german: Grafschaft Sponheim, former spelling: Spanheim, Spanheym) was an independent territory in the Holy Roman Empire that lasted from the 11th century until the early 19th century. The name comes from the municipality ...

early in its existence. Count Henry II was notable for being accused of satanic orgies by the Church's German Grand Inquisitor, Conrad von Marburg, in 1233. Henry was acquitted by an assembly of bishops in Mainz, but Conrad refused to accept the verdict and left Mainz. It is unknown whether it was Henry's Knights who killed Conrad on his return to Thuringia, but investigation was foregone due to the cruelty of Conrad, despite Pope Gregory IX ordering his murderers to be punished. With the death of Henry in 1246, the County passed to the Counts of Sponheim-Eberstein and thence to

Sponheim-Sayn Sponheim-Sayn was a County of Rhineland-Palatinate and North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was created as a partition of Sponheim-Starkenburg in 1261, and it comprised the lands of the former County of Sayn. In 1283, it was divided into Sayn S ...

in 1261. The second County of Sayn emerged as a partition of Sponheim-Sayn in 1283 (the other partition being

Sayn-Homburg Sayn-Homburg (not to be confused with the later state of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Homburg) was a mediaeval county of Germany with its seat at Homburg Castle. It was created as a partition of Sponheim-Sayn in 1283. In 1345, Salentin, the son of Count Go ...

). It was notable for its numerous co-reigns, and it endured until 1608 when it was inherited by the Counts of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn. A lack of clear heirs of William III of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn led to the temporary annexation of the comital territories by the Archbishop of Cologne until the succession was decided. In 1648 following the Thirty Years' War, the County was divided between Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn-Altenkirchen and Sayn-Wittgenstein-Hachenburg.

Counts of Sayn (1139–1246)

* Eberhard I (1139–76) * Henry I/II (1176–1203) ''with…'' * Eberhard II (1176–1202) ''with…'' * Henry II/III (1202–46) * ''Godfrey II/III, Count of Sponheim (Regent, 1181–1220)'' * ''John I, Count of Sponheim-Starkenburg (Regent, 1226–1246)'' * Mechtilde (fl. 1278-1282)

Counts of Sayn (1283–1608)

* John I (1283–1324) * John II (1324–59) * John III (1359–1403) * Gerard I (1403–19) * Theodore (1419–52) * Gerard II (1452–93) * Gerard III (1493–1506) ''with…'' * Sebastian I (1493–98) ''with…'' * John IV (1498–1529) * John V (1529–60) ''with…'' * Sebastian II (1529–73) ''with…'' * Adolph (1560–68) ''with…'' * Henry IV (1560–1606) ''with…'' * Herman (1560–71) * Anna Elizabeth (1606–08)

References

{{Coord, 50, 26, 18, N, 7, 34, 35, E, display=title, region:DE-RP_type:city(17436)_source:dewiki 1605 disestablishments States and territories established in the 11th century History of the Rhineland Former states and territories of Rhineland-Palatinate History of the Westerwald

Counts of Sayn (1139–1246)

Counts of Sayn (1283–1608)

See also

References