The House of Homberg (also spelled ''Honberg'', historically '' Hochinberc, Hochenberg''; also Thierstein, ''Tierstein'') was a noble family of

medieval Switzerland The early history of Switzerland begins with the earliest settlements up to the beginning of Habsburg rule, which in 1291 gave rise to the independence movement in the central cantons of Uri, Schwyz, and Unterwalden and the growth of the Old Swi ...

; they had the title of count from late 11th to early 16th century. They ruled over much of what is now northwestern Switzerland, including parts of the cantons of Aargau,

Berne Bern () or Berne; in other Swiss languages, gsw, Bärn ; frp, Bèrna ; it, Berna ; rm, Berna is the ''de facto'' Capital city, capital of Switzerland, referred to as the "federal city" (in german: Bundesstadt, link=no, french: ville fédérale ...

Solothurn Solothurn ( , ; french: Soleure ; it, Soletta ; rm, ) is a town, a municipality, and the capital of the canton of Solothurn in Switzerland. It is located in the north-west of Switzerland on the banks of the Aare and on the foot of the Weissens ...

and

Basel-Country Basel-Landschaft or Basel-Country informally known as Baselland or Baselbiet (; german: Kanton Basel-Landschaft ; rm, Chantun Basilea-Champagna; french: Canton de Bâle-Campagne; it, Canton Basilea Campagna), is one of the 26 cantons forming ...

. The first count of Thierstein (alternatively, of Homberg) was Rudolf de Dierstein, mentioned 1082. The two names are taken from two castles in Rudolf's possession, both located near

Frick, Aargau Frick is a municipality in the district of Laufenburg in the canton of Aargau in Switzerland. History At the nearby ''Wittnauer Horn'', a prehistorical fortification was discovered, with object finds dated to the Late Bronze Age. A Roman v ...

. The Thierstein and Homberg lines separated in 1149. The Homberg line was extinct in 1223 with the death of Werner III and their territories were acquired by marriage Hermann IV of the

House of Frohburg The House of Frohburg (also ''Froburg'') was a noble family in medieval Switzerland, with possessions in what is now the canton of Solothurn. They originate in the Wigger basin, near Zofingen. In the 10th century, they built Frohburg Castle on a ...

, whose line is also known as Frohburg-Homberg. Hermann's son Friedrich took the title of count of Homberg and built the castle Neu-Homberg in what is now part of the canton of Basel-Country. One of Friedrich's sons was

Wernher von Homberg Wernher von Homberg (also ''Werner''; ''Hohenberg'', 1284 – 21 March 1320) was a knight in the service Emperor Henry VII, and later of Frederick the Fair. His Minnesang poems are recorded in the ''Codex Manesse''. Wernher's father was Ludwig o ...

, one of the minnesingers featured in ''

Codex Manesse The Codex Manesse (also Große Heidelberger Liederhandschrift or Pariser Handschrift) is a ''Liederhandschrift'' (manuscript containing songs), the single most comprehensive source of Middle High German ''Minnesang'' poetry, written and illustrat ...

''. The ancestral castles of Thierstein and Homberg were both destroyed in the earthquake of 1356, and the Thierstein branch of the family now renamed a castle of theirs near Büsserach (in what is now known as the Thierstein District of the canton of Solothurn) to Neu-Thierstein. In 1330, a branch of the Thierstein family, known as Thierstein-Farnsburg, built Farnsburg castle near

Ormalingen Ormalingen is a municipality in the district of Sissach, in the canton of Basel-Country in Switzerland. History Ormalingen is first mentioned in 1280 as ''Normendingen''. Geography Ormalingen has an area, , of . Of this area, or 51.0% is us ...

. They were given

Sisgau Veltheim is a municipality in the district of Brugg in the canton of Aargau in Switzerland. Geography Veltheim has an area, , of . Of this area, or 47.5% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 32.3% is forested. Of the rest of the l ...

as a fief from the

bishop of Basel The Diocese of Basel (german: Bistum Basel; la, Diœcesis Basileensis) is a Catholic diocese in Switzerland. Historically, the bishops of Basel were also secular rulers of the Prince-Bishopric of Basel (german: Fürstbistum Basel). The bis ...

. Count Oswald von Thierstein in 1479 received Hohkönigsburg in the

Alsace Alsace (, ; ; Low Alemannic German/ gsw-FR, Elsàss ; german: Elsass ; la, Alsatia) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in eastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine next to Germany and Switzerland. In 2020, it had ...

as fief from emperor Frederick III. The Thierstein family was extinct in 1517, after which Hohkönigsburg fell back to the

House of Habsburg The House of Habsburg (), alternatively spelled Hapsburg in Englishgerman: Haus Habsburg, ; es, Casa de Habsburgo; hu, Habsburg család, it, Casa di Asburgo, nl, Huis van Habsburg, pl, dom Habsburgów, pt, Casa de Habsburgo, la, Domus Hab ...

Counts of Thierstein and Homberg

House of Thierstein

See also

References

Bibliography