The County of Zweibrücken () was a territory in the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...

named for

Zweibrücken Zweibrücken (; ; , ; literally translated as "Two Bridges") is a town in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, on the Schwarzbach (Blies), Schwarzbach River. Name The name ''Zweibrücken'' means 'two bridges'; older forms of the name include Middl ...

in which is now situated in the

Rhineland-Palatinate Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; ; ; ) is a western state of Germany. It covers and has about 4.05 million residents. It is the ninth largest and sixth most populous of the sixteen states. Mainz is the capital and largest city. Other cities are ...

. It was created sometime between 1182 and 1190 from an inheritance division of the county of Saarbrücken and lasted until 1394.

Creation

The House of Saarbrücken ranked at the beginning of the 12th century amongst the most prominent families in southwestern Germany, with major landholdings in present-day

Lorraine Lorraine, also , ; ; Lorrain: ''Louréne''; Lorraine Franconian: ''Lottringe''; ; ; is a cultural and historical region in Eastern France, now located in the administrative region of Grand Est. Its name stems from the medieval kingdom of ...

Alsace Alsace (, ; ) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in the Grand Est administrative region of northeastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine, next to Germany and Switzerland. In January 2021, it had a population of 1,9 ...

Saarland Saarland (, ; ) is a state of Germany in the southwest of the country. With an area of and population of 990,509 in 2018, it is the smallest German state in area apart from the city-states of Berlin, Bremen, and Hamburg, and the smallest in ...

and

and prominent patronages. Their power is best characterized by the fact that members of the family twice in the 12th century held the powerful position of Archbishop-Elector of Mainz. Seemingly soon after 1100, they gained patronage over the

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of Monasticism, monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in Cenobitic monasticism, communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a ...

of Hornbach with large landholdings between Blies and the

Palatinate Forest The Palatinate Forest (; ), sometimes also called the Palatine Forest, is a List of landscapes in Rhineland-Palatinate, low-mountain region in southwestern Germany, located in the Palatinate (region), Palatinate in the state of Rhineland-Palatina ...

. Here, at the crossing over the Schwarzbach, and probably about 1150, the water castle of

was built. With an inheritance division in the Saarbrücken counts' family, Zweibrücken fell to the younger son Henry I, who founded the line of Counts of Zweibrücken. Around the castle, a town formed and received city rights in 1352, together with Hornbach.

Geography

The initial allowance of the County of Zweibrücken, in order to name here some relevant constituents, consisted of fiefs, i.e. from the Empire half of Landeck castle with eleven villages around Bergzabern, from the bishopric of Metz rights over their serfs, the so-called "Stephan's people", from the bishopric of Verdun half of Liebenberg castle near Namborn, in patronages the important patronage over the monastery of Hornbach, other patronages over the

nun A nun is a woman who vows to dedicate her life to religious service and contemplation, typically living under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience in the enclosure of a monastery or convent.''The Oxford English Dictionary'', vol. X, page 5 ...

s cloister Altenmünster in

Mainz Mainz (; #Names and etymology, see below) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, and with around 223,000 inhabitants, it is List of cities in Germany by population, Germany's 35th-largest city. It lies in ...

and over several holdings of the ecclesiastical foundations

saint Alban Saint Alban (; ) is venerated as the first-recorded British Christian martyr, for which reason he is considered to be the British protomartyr. Along with fellow Saints Julius and Aaron, Alban is one of three named martyrs recorded at an ea ...

in Mainz and of the Liebfrauen there, finally

allod Allod, deriving from Frankish language, Frankish ''alōd'' meaning "full ownership" (from ''al'' "full, whole" and ''ōd'' "property, possession"; Medieval Latin ''allod'' or ''allodium''), also known as allodial land or proprietary property, was ...

s between

Rhine The Rhine ( ) is one of the List of rivers of Europe, major rivers in Europe. The river begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the southeastern Swiss Alps. It forms part of the Swiss-Liechtenstein border, then part of the Austria–Swit ...

and Mosel, amongst those Zweibrücken castle, Lemberg Castle built after 1198 by count Henry I, and shares of Marimont-lès-Bénestroff, Lindre-Haute and Sarreguemines.Hans-Walter Herrmann: Die Grafschaft Zweibrücken. In: Geschichtliche Landeskunde des Saarlandes, vol. 2, Saarbrücken 1977, p. 316-322

Evolution

The system of

primogeniture Primogeniture () is the right, by law or custom, of the firstborn Legitimacy (family law), legitimate child to inheritance, inherit all or most of their parent's estate (law), estate in preference to shared inheritance among all or some childre ...

had not yet come into common use and the ongoing inheritance partitions in Southwestern Germany affected many territories leading to their decline. This held true for the County of Zweibrücken. Around 1237, Count Henry I was succeeded by his son Henry II. In 1282, Henry II was succeeded by two of his sons, Eberhard I and Walram I, who ruled the county jointly. Because they did not always agree, in 1286 they decided to divide the territory. Eberhard, I received the lordship of Lemberg and Walram I the lordship of Zweibrücken. This division was further refined in 1295 and solidified in 1333 with the division of the last shared estates, creating two independent counties.

County of Zweibrücken-Zweibrücken

The western part of the former county, consisting of the territory around Zweibrücken and some other parts, fell to Walram I and remained with his descendants. The last count of the Walramide line, Eberhard II, who had no children and was impoverished by numerous feuds, pledged it in 1385 to the Counts Palatine from the palatine line of the

House of Wittelsbach The House of Wittelsbach () is a former Bavarian dynasty, with branches that have ruled over territories including the Electorate of Bavaria, the Electoral Palatinate, the Electorate of Cologne, County of Holland, Holland, County of Zeeland, ...

. After his death in 1394 they inherited their new estates and thus ruled in the Western Palatinate for the first time. After unification with the

County of Veldenz The County Palatine of Veldenz was a principality in the contemporary States of Germany, Land Rhineland-Palatinate with full voting rights to the Reichstag. The county was located partially between Kaiserslautern, Sponheim and Zweibrücken, part ...

in the year 1444, the

Principality A principality (or sometimes princedom) is a type of monarchy, monarchical state or feudalism, feudal territory ruled by a prince or princess. It can be either a sovereign state or a constituent part of a larger political entity. The term "prin ...

Palatine Zweibrücken The Duchy of Palatinate-Zweibrücken (; ) was a duchy of the Holy Roman Empire with full voting rights to the Reichstag. Its capital was Zweibrücken. The reigning house, a branch of the Wittelsbach dynasty, was also the Royal House of Sweden fr ...

emerged.

County of Zweibrücken-Bitsch

The eastern part of the Zweibrücken lands, the Barony of Lemberg, fell to Eberhard I. In 1297, he exchanged some of his towns with

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of Royal family, royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobi ...

Frederick III of

and received in exchange the castle and lordship of Bitche as a fief. He founded the line of counts of Zweibrücken-Bitsch that reigned over the baronies of Lemberg and Bitsch until the male line became extinct in 1570.

Counts of Zweibrücken

Saarbrücken line (1182-1286)

of the line of the Counts of Saarbrücken * 1182–1237 Henry I * 1237–1282

Henry II Henry II may refer to: Kings * Saint Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor (972–1024), crowned King of Germany in 1002, of Italy in 1004 and Emperor in 1014 *Henry II of England (1133–89), reigned from 1154 *Henry II of Jerusalem and Cyprus (1271–1 ...

* 1282–1309 Walram I * 1282-1286 brothers Eberhard I and Walram I in

condominium A condominium (or condo for short) is an ownership regime in which a building (or group of buildings) is divided into multiple units that are either each separately owned, or owned in common with exclusive rights of occupation by individual own ...

Walramides (1286-1394)

after Eberhard I's death, brother Walram I continued, as first in the Walramide line * 1286-1309 Walram I * 1309–1311 Simon * 1311–1366 Walram II * 1366–1394 Eberhard II

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zweibrucken, County of 1394 disestablishments States and territories established in 1182 Counties of the Holy Roman Empire Western Palatinate 1180s establishments in the Holy Roman Empire 1182 establishments in Europe Former states and territories of Rhineland-Palatinate States and territories disestablished in the 1390s