The counts and princes of East Frisia from the noble
East Frisian family
Cirksena
The House of Cirksena () was the name of the ruling family of East Frisia, Ostfriesland. They descended from a line of East Frisian chieftains from Greetsiel.
East Frisia
In 1439, in the wake of clashes between different lines of chieftains, t ...
descended from a line of East Frisian chieftains from
Greetsiel
Greetsiel is a small port on the bight of Leybucht in western East Frisia, Germany that was first documented in letters from the year 1388. Since 1972, Greetsiel has been part of the municipality of Krummhörn, which has its administrative seat i ...
. The county came into existence when Emperor
Frederick III raised Ulrich I the son of a local chieftain to the status of Imperial Count in 1464.
The most important ruler from the House of Cirksena was
Edzard the Great (1462–1528), under whose leadership the
Imperial County of East Frisia reached its greatest extent. During his reign
the Reformation
The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...
spread throughout
East Frisia.
In 1654 the Cirksena were elevated to princes by the emperor.
Charles Edzard, the last ruler from the House of Cirksena, died without issue during the night of 25/26 May 1744 (reportedly from a glass of buttermilk, which is said to have drunk after a hunt). Immediately thereafter, the county passed to King
Frederick II of Prussia.
Medieval chieftains in East Frisia
Broke /
Marienhafe
Marienhafe is a municipality in the district of Aurich, in Lower Saxony, Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, a ...
Tom Brok
The tom Brok family (, also: tom Broke, tom Brook, tom Broek, ten Brok, ten Broke; equivalent to Dutch , "at the marsh") were a powerful East Frisian line of chieftains, originally from the Norderland on the North Sea coast of Germany. From the s ...
family
* 1347-1376:
Keno I tom Brok
Keno is a lottery-like gambling game often played at modern casinos, and also offered as a game in some lotteries.
Players wager by choosing numbers ranging from 1 through (usually) 80. After all players make their wagers, 20 numbers (some v ...
* 1376-1389:
Ocko I tom Brok
Ocko I tom Brok (de Broke) (about 1345–1389) followed his father Keno I tom Brok as chieftain of the Brokmerland and the Auricherland in East Frisia, a former territory on Germany's North Sea coast.
According to tradition, he lived in the 1370s ...
* 1389-1399:
Widzeld tom Brok
* 1399-1417:
Keno II tom Brok
Keno is a lottery-like gambling game often played at modern casinos, and also offered as a game in some lotteries.
Players wager by choosing numbers ranging from 1 through (usually) 80. After all players make their wagers, 20 numbers (some v ...
(under regency of his mother
Foelke Kampana
Foelke Kampana (1355 – c. 1418), also known as Foelke the Cruel, was a Frisian noble. She served as regent for the Frisian territories Oldeborg, Brokmerland, Auricherland and Emsigerland in East Frisia in 1400 during the absence of her son Keno ...
)
* 1417-1427:
Ocko II tom Brok
Ocko II tom Brok (1407–1435) was Chieftain of the Brokmerland and the Auricherland in East Frisia (initially under the guardianship of his grandmother, Foelke).
Ocko was born in 1407 to Keno II tom Brok, son of Ocko I tom Brok. He was the last ...
(under regency of his grandmother, Foelke); deposed, died 1435
Dornum
Dornum is a village and a municipality in the East Frisian district of Aurich, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated near the North Sea coast, approx. 15 km east of Norden, and 20 km north of Aurich.
Division of the municipality
The ...
/
Nesse
Attena family
* ?-1410:
Hero Attena
A hero (feminine: heroine) is a real person or a main fictional character who, in the face of danger, combats adversity through feats of ingenuity, courage, or strength. Like other formerly gender-specific terms (like ''actor''), ''hero ...
* ?-1410:
Lutet Attena (in
Norderburg)
** ?:
Eger Attena
Eger ( , ; ; also known by other #Names and etymology, alternative names) is the county seat of Heves County, and the second largest city in Northern Hungary (after Miskolc). A City with county rights, city with county rights. Eger is best know ...
(in
Westerburg
Westerburg () is a small town of roughly 6,000 inhabitants in the Westerwaldkreis in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. The town is named after the castle built on a hill above the mediaeval town centre (''Burg'' is German for “castle”)
Geograph ...
)
* ?-1433:
Sibet I Attena
* 1433-1473:
Sibet II Attena
Emden
*
Abdena family
Faldern
*Aildesna family
Greetsiel
Greetsiel is a small port on the bight of Leybucht in western East Frisia, Germany that was first documented in letters from the year 1388. Since 1972, Greetsiel has been part of the municipality of Krummhörn, which has its administrative seat i ...
/
Norden
Norden is a Scandinavian and German word, directly translated as "the North". It may refer to:
Places England
* Norden, Basingstoke, a ward of Basingstoke and Deane
* Norden, Dorset, a hamlet near Corfe Castle
* Norden, Greater Manchester, a vi ...
Cirksena
The House of Cirksena () was the name of the ruling family of East Frisia, Ostfriesland. They descended from a line of East Frisian chieftains from Greetsiel.
East Frisia
In 1439, in the wake of clashes between different lines of chieftains, t ...
family
* ?-1430: Liudward
* 1430-1450:
Enno Edzardisna
Enno Edzardisna (also known as ''Enno Cirksena'', ''Enno Attena'' and rarely ''Enno Syardsna''; – ) was a chieftain of Norden, Lower Saxony, Norden, Greetsiel, Berum and Pilsum in East Frisia. He was the son of the chieftain Edzard II of A ...
, son-in-law
* 1450-1466:
Ulrich Ulrich (), is a German given name, derived from Old High German ''Uodalrich'', ''Odalric''. It is composed of the elements '' uodal-'' meaning "(noble) heritage" and ''-rich'' meaning "rich, powerful". Attested from the 8th century as the name of Al ...
, son, in 1464 was raised to Count.
Innhausen /
Östringen
Östringen (South Franconian: ''Öschdringe'') is a town in Northern Karlsruhe district in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Östringen is a twin town with Abergavenny
Abergavenny (; cy, Y Fenni , archaically ''Abergafenni'' meaning "mouth of t ...
*
Tjarksena family
Langwarden / Innhausen / Knyphausen
*Onneken, later named
of Innhausen and Knyphausen family
Lütetsburg
Lütetsburg (East Frisian Low Saxon: ''Lütsbörg'') is a municipality in the district of Aurich, in Lower Saxony, Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most p ...
/
Pewsum
Pewsum is a village in the municipality of Krummhörn ( Aurich district) in the west of East Frisia. Pewsum is both the administrative seat as well as the trade and craft centre for the municipality. The number of inhabitants was 3,352 on 31 Decem ...
*
Manninga
Neermoor / Leer
Ukena family
* Benno
* Uko
* 1427-1436:
Focko Ukena
Focko Ukena ( Neermoor, 1360 or 1370 – 1435) was an East Frisian chieftain (''hovetling'') who played an important part in the struggle between the Vetkopers and Schieringers in the provinces of Groningen and Friesland. Aside from this h ...
and his son
Uko Fockena
Uko Fockena (also known as: "Uko of Oldersum"; , Oldersum (uncertain) – 13 June 1432 near Suurhusen) was an East Frisian chieftain of Moormerland and Emsigerland.
Life
Uko was one of the sons of the East Frisian chieftain Focko Ukena ( ...
(1427-1432)
Osterhusen
Allena family
*?-1406:
Folkmar Allena
Rüstringen / Bant
*
Wiemken (Papinga)
Wirdum
*
Beninga family
Counts of East Frisia
House of Cirksena
The House of Cirksena () was the name of the ruling family of Ostfriesland. They descended from a line of East Frisian chieftains from Greetsiel.
East Frisia
In 1439, in the wake of clashes between different lines of chieftains, the town of ...
Table of rulers
See also
*
List of Countesses of East Frisia
Literature
*Tielke, Dr. Martin (Hrsg.): ''Biographisches Lexikon für East Frisia'', Bd. 1 (1993), Bd. 2 (1997), Bd. 3 {{ISBN, 3-932206-22-3 (2001) Ostfries. Landschaftliche Verl.- u. Vertriebsges. Aurich
*Martin Jhering: ''Hofleben in East Frisia. Die Fürstenresidenz Aurich im Jahre 1728'', Hannover 2005
*Heinrich Reimers: ''East Frisia bis zum Aussterben seines Fürstenhauses'', Bremen 1925
*Ernst Esselborn: ''Das Geschlecht Cirksena'', Berlin 1945
* F. Wachter: ''Das Erbe der Cirksena. Ein Stück ostfriesischer Geschichte und des Kampfes um die Vorherrschaft in Norddeutschland.'', Aurich 1921
East Frisia
East Frisia
History of East Frisia
House of Cirksena