The County of Zweibrücken-Bitsch (, ) was a territory of the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a Polity, political entity in Western Europe, Western, Central Europe, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its Dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, dissolution i ...

that was created between 1286 and 1302 from the eastern part of the

County of Zweibrücken The County of Zweibrücken (german: Grafschaft Zweibrücken) was a territory in the Holy Roman Empire named for Zweibrücken in the contemporary Land Rhineland-Palatinate. It was created in between 1182 and 1190 from an inheritance division of the ...

and the Barony of

Bitche Bitche ( , ; German and Lorraine Franconian: ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Moselle (department), Moselle Departments of France, department, administrative regions of France, administrative region of Grand Est, northeastern France. It ...

(german: Bitsch) in

Lorraine Lorraine , also , , ; Lorrain: ''Louréne''; Lorraine Franconian: ''Lottringe''; german: Lothringen ; lb, Loutrengen; nl, Lotharingen is a cultural and historical region in Northeastern France, now located in the administrative region of Gr ...

. It continued to exist until 1570 and was then divided amongst its heirs when the counts died out.

History

When the land of Zweibrücken was divided amongst the sons of Count Henry II of

Zweibrücken Zweibrücken (; french: Deux-Ponts, ; Palatinate German: ''Zweebrigge'', ; literally translated as "Two Bridges") is a town in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, on the Schwarzbach river. Name The name ''Zweibrücken'' means 'two bridges'; olde ...

, the district (''Amt'') of

Lemberg Lviv ( uk, Львів) is the largest city in Western Ukraine, western Ukraine, and the List of cities in Ukraine, seventh-largest in Ukraine, with a population of . It serves as the administrative centre of Lviv Oblast and Lviv Raion, and is o ...

and

Lemberg Castle Lemberg Castle (german: Burg Lemberg) is a medieval castle on the territory of Lemberg in the county of Südwestpfalz in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate. Location The hill castle stands on the ''Schlossberg'' hill at an elevation of ...

went to the elder son, Eberhard I from 1286. His portion also included Morsberg, Linder and

Saargemünd Sarreguemines (; German: ''Saargemünd'' , Lorraine Franconian: ''Saargemìnn'') is a commune in the Moselle department of the Grand Est administrative region in north-eastern France. It is the seat of an arrondissement and a canton. As of ...

. In 1297 he swapped these three castles with Duke Frederick III of

and received in return the castle and lordship of Bitsch as a

fief A fief (; la, feudum) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an Lord, overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a for ...

. This exchange of territory was further defined in 1302. From then on, Eberhard called himself the Count of Zweibrücken and Lord of Bitsch. Because he and his descendants bore the comital title, the new territory was called the County of Zweibrücken-Bitsch. Other lands were initially managed jointly by Eberhard I and his younger brother, Walram I, who had been given the ''Amt'' of Zweibrücken. These were not finally apportioned until 1333. Walram inherited Stauf Castle,

Bergzabern Bad Bergzabern () is a municipality in the Südliche Weinstraße district, on the German Wine Route in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is situated near the border with France, on the south-eastern edge of the Palatinate forest, approximately ...

and the town and abbey of Hornbach. Eberhard received Thaleischweiler,

Pirmasens Pirmasens (; pfl, Bärmesens (also ''Bermesens'' or ''Bärmasens'')) is an independent town in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, near the border with France. It was famous for the manufacture of shoes. The surrounding rural district was called ''Lan ...

and part-ownership of the castles of

Landeck Landeck () is a city in the Austrian state of Tyrol, the capital of the district of Landeck. Geography Landeck is located in the Tyrolean Oberland in the west of the state at an elevation of about . The town is situated in the valley of the Inn Ri ...

and

Lindelbronn Lindelbrunn Castle (german: Burg Lindelbrunn) (also called Lindelbol, Lindelbronn or Lindelborn) is the medieval ruin of a rock castle near the village of Vorderweidenthal in the county of Südliche Weinstraße in the German state of Rhineland-P ...

. In the period that followed the counts of Bitsch succeeded in acquiring a few other properties, but only in the immediate vicinity. When their Zweibrücken cousins died out in 1394, they did receive parts of the inheritance, but not the County of Zweibrücken because the last count had sold his county in 1385 to

Electoral Palatinate The Electoral Palatinate (german: Kurpfalz) 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 ...

. In the 16th century, Count James succeeded for the last time in establishing a clear concentration of power in northern

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 ...

and southern Palatinate: in 1559 he obtained the

Barony of Ochsenstein Barony may refer to: * Barony, the peerage, office of, or territory held by a baron * Barony, the title and land held in fealty by a feudal baron * Barony (county division), a type of administrative or geographical division in parts of the British ...

because the side line of Zweibrücken-Bitsch-Ochsenstein, that had existed since 1485, had died out. Because, however, James as well as his brother Simon V Wecker (died 1540) had each only produced a daughter, a dispute broke out in 1570 after James' death between the husbands of the two cousins, Count Philip I of

Leiningen-Westerburg Leiningen-Westerburg was a historic state of the Holy Roman Empire, located in the vicinity of Leiningen and Westerburg in what is now the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate. Leiningen-Westerburg was formed in 1467, when the last Landgrave ...

and Count

Philip V of Hanau-Lichtenberg Philipp V of Hanau-Lichtenberg (21 February 1541, Bouxwiller – 2 June 1599, Niederbronn) was Count of Hanau-Lichtenberg from 1590 until his death. Life Philipp V was the eldest son, heir and successor of Count Philipp IV of Hanau-Lichten ...

. Whilst Philip V of Hanau-Lichtenberg was able to overpower Philip I, his immediate introduction of

Lutheranism Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Cathol ...

in the course of

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 ...

made himself an enemy of the powerful,

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

Duchy of Lorraine under Duke

Charles III Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person to ...

, who had the

suzerainty Suzerainty () is the rights and obligations of a person, state or other polity who controls the foreign policy and relations of a tributary state, while allowing the tributary state to have internal autonomy. While the subordinate party is cal ...

of Bitsch. In July 1572 troops of Lorraine occupied the county. Because Philip V could not match Lorraine's military might, he sought legal redress. Zimmerische Chronik, Vol. 2, p. 25

During the subsequent trial before the ''

Reichskammergericht The ''Reichskammergericht'' (; ; la, Iudicium imperii) was one of the two highest judicial institutions in the Holy Roman Empire, the other one being the Aulic Council in Vienna. It was founded in 1495 by the Imperial Diet in Worms. All legal ...

'', Lorraine was able to point both to the exchange agreement of 1302 as well as the fact that, in 1573, it had purchased the hereditary rights of the counts of Leiningen. In 1604 there was a contractual agreement between Hanau-Lichtenberg and Lorraine. This saw the ''Amt'' of Lemberg going to the

County of Hanau-Lichtenberg The County of Hanau-Lichtenberg was a territory in the Holy Roman Empire. It emerged between 1456 and 1480 from a part of the County of Hanau and one half of the Barony of Lichtenberg. Following the extinction of the counts of Hanau-Lichtenberg i ...

and the ''Amt'' of Bitsch to the Duchy of Lorraine.

List of the counts of Zweibrücken-Bitsch

* 13 May 1297 – 1321: Eberhard I ::his grandparents were Count

Henry I Henry I may refer to: 876–1366 * Henry I the Fowler, King of Germany (876–936) * Henry I, Duke of Bavaria (died 955) * Henry I of Austria, Margrave of Austria (died 1018) * Henry I of France (1008–1060) * Henry I the Long, Margrave of the No ...

and his wife, Hedwig of Lorraine, a daughter of Frederick of Bitsch. * 1321–1355: Simon I m Agnes of

Lichtenberg Lichtenberg () is the eleventh borough of Berlin, Germany. In Berlin's 2001 administrative reform it absorbed the former borough of Hohenschönhausen. Overview The district contains the Tierpark Berlin in Friedrichsfelde, the larger of Berlin's ...

* 1355–1400: John (Hanemann) I * 1400–1418: John (Hanemann) II ::initially ruled jointly with his brother, Simon III Wecker (d 1407) * 1418–1474: Frederick ::his brother, Henry I, married Cunigunde of Ochsenstein and founded the side line of Zweibrücken-Bitsch-Ochsenstein * 1474–1499: Simon IV Wecker m Elisabeth of

: b 1444, d 1495, daughter-heir * 1499–1532: Reinhard, Lord of Lichtenberg and Bitsch, Count of Zweibrücken m Anna of Dhaun, daughter of John VI, Wild-Rhine Count of Dhaun and Kirburg (b 1470; d 25 December 1499) and Joanna of Salm; they had four children: ** William (b 8 December 1507) ** Elizabeth m John Louis I of Sulz ** James (b 19 July 1510) m Catharine of Honstein-Klettenberg ** Joanna (b 10 June 1517) m Conrad V of Tübingen-Lichteneck * 1532–1540: Simon V Wecker ::only had a daughter, Amalia (b 1537; d 1577, m 1551 Philip I of

); as a result followed by his brother * 1540–1570: James (b 19 July 1510, d 24 March 1570 in Stürzelbronn) ::also had only a daughter,

Ludovica Margareta of Zweibrücken-Bitsch Ludovica or Ludovika or Ludowika is a feminine given name, a counterpart of the masculine names Ludovic or Ludovico and the related Louis or Ludwig. As of 2021, it was among the ten most popular names for newborn girls in Italy. https://www.ista ...

(b 1540; d 1569), m Count

Coat of arms

Blazon In heraldry and heraldic vexillology, a blazon is a formal description of a coat of arms, flag or similar emblem, from which the reader can reconstruct the appropriate image. The verb ''to blazon'' means to create such a description. The vis ...

: Or, a lion rampant gules, armed and langued azure.

References

Literature

* Hans-Walter Herrmann: ''Die Grafschaft Zweibrücken-Bitsch''. In: Kurt Hoppstädter, Hans-Walter Herrmann (ed.): ''Geschichtliche Landeskunde des Saarlandes''. Vol. 2: Von der fränkischen Landnahme bis zum Ausbruch der französischen Revolution. Saarbrücken, 1977, pp. 323–332. * Johann Georg Lehmann: ''Urkundliche Geschichte der Grafschaft Hanau-Lichtenberg''. Mannheim, 1862. * Detlev Schwennicke: ''Europäische Stammtafeln, Vol. XVII – Zwischen Maas und Rhein''. Frankfurt, 1998, pp. 148–149. {{DEFAULTSORT:Zweibruckenbitsch Lists of counts Counties of the Holy Roman Empire History of Lorraine Electoral Palatinate Western Palatinate Former states and territories of Rhineland-Palatinate 1570 disestablishments in the Holy Roman Empire