The County of Rieneck was a comital domain within the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars. From the accession of Otto I in 962 unt ...

that lay in what is now northwestern Bavaria (in the west of

Lower Franconia Lower Franconia (german: Unterfranken) is one of seven districts of Bavaria, Germany. The districts of Lower, Middle and Upper Franconia make up the region of Franconia. History After the founding of the Kingdom of Bavaria the state was totally ...

). It bore the same name as its original ruling family, the Counts of Rieneck, from whom the county and its main seat, the town of Rieneck, got their names.

History

The first documentary evidence of what is now the town of Rieneck surfaces in AD 790. Rieneck gained its name from the Counts of Rieneck, who founded the line of Burgraves of Gerhart at the end of the 11th century from the ''

Vogt During the Middle Ages, an (sometimes given as modern English: advocate; German: ; French: ) was an office-holder who was legally delegated to perform some of the secular responsibilities of a major feudal lord, or for an institution such as ...

ei'' over the

Archbishopric of Mainz The Electorate of Mainz (german: Kurfürstentum Mainz or ', la, Electoratus Moguntinus), previously known in English as Mentz and by its French name Mayence, was one of the most prestigious and influential states of the Holy Roman Empire. In t ...

between Neustadt am Main,

Lohr am Main Lohr am Main (officially: ''Lohr a. Main'') is a town in the Main-Spessart district in the ''Regierungsbezirk'' of Lower Franconia (''Unterfranken'') in Bavaria, Germany and the seat (but not a member) of the ''Verwaltungsgemeinschaft'' (muni ...

and

Karlstadt am Main Karlstadt is a town in the Main-Spessart in the ''Regierungsbezirk'' of Lower Franconia (''Unterfranken'') in Bavaria, Germany. It is the administrative centre of Main-Spessart (''Kreisstadt''), and has a population of around 15,000. Geography ...

. The family line died out with Gerhard I, Count of Rieneck in 1108. His only daughter married Arnold, Count of Loon (1101–39), inheriting Rienecker territory and, around 1156/7 by

Louis I, Count of Loon Louis I (Latin ''Ludovicus'', German ''Ludwig'', Dutch ''Lodewijk''; died 11 August 1171) was the Count of Loon, now in modern Belgium, and Burgrave of Mainz, in Germany. He inherited these offices from his father. He also established the County ...

, the family name,Grafschaft Rieneck
from Thomas Höckmann's ''Historical Atlas of Germany'' possibly as a result of an unsuccessful claim to the Rhineland castle Burg Rhieneck. As soon as the name was acquired, his family built the castle on the banks of the river Sinn. With the 1168 expansion of the castle, Louis I chose Burg Rieneck as his court. From 1295, Lohr am Main became the seat of the burgraviate and border posts were set up to shelter the local castle from the domains of the archbishopric. In 1333, the county was granted

city rights Town privileges or borough rights were important features of European towns during most of the second millennium. The city law customary in Central Europe probably dates back to Italian models, which in turn were oriented towards the traditio ...

by Louis IV the Bavarian,

Holy Roman Emperor The Holy Roman Emperor, originally and officially the Emperor of the Romans ( la, Imperator Romanorum, german: Kaiser der Römer) during the Middle Ages, and also known as the Roman-German Emperor since the early modern period ( la, Imperat ...

, as thanks for support during his struggle for the kingdom. Skillful dynastic marriages allowed for the gradual expansion of their domain; conflict often resulted between Rieneck and their neighbours, the Archbishopric of Mainz and the

Bishopric of Würzburg In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associat ...

. When, in 1333, the male comital line died out, the Bishopric of Würzburg tried to acquire the Lordship. After the 1366 death of Count Johann von Rieneck, the Archbishopric of Mainz claimed

feudal Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was the combination of the legal, economic, military, cultural and political customs that flourished in medieval Europe between the 9th and 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a way of structur ...

sovereignty Sovereignty is the defining authority within individual consciousness, social construct, or territory. Sovereignty entails hierarchy within the state, as well as external autonomy for states. In any state, sovereignty is assigned to the perso ...

over the whole county, a claim reaffirmed after the 1408 death of Count Ludwig XI of Riencek. In 1544, the

Protestant 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 i ...

was introduced to the county by the Schaffhauser Johann Konrad Ulmer. The comital line died out again with Philip III, Count of Rieneck on 3 September 1559, reigniting the feud over the succession between the sees of Mainz and Würzburg; Lohr became the administrative seat of the Lordship of Rieneck under the Archbishop-Elector of Mainz. In 1673, the county was purchased by Count Johann Hartwig of Nostitz-Rieneck. In 1803 Counts of Nostitz sold it to the Princes of Colloredo-Mansfeld. The

French Revolutionary War The French Revolutionary Wars (french: Guerres de la Révolution française) were a series of sweeping military conflicts lasting from 1792 until 1802 and resulting from the French Revolution. They pitted France against Britain, Austria, Pruss ...

and the

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader wh ...

ic abolition of the

Empire An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...

led to the county being mediatised to the

Principality of Aschaffenburg The Principality of Aschaffenburg (german: Fürstentum Aschaffenburg) was a principality of the Holy Roman Empire created in 1803 and, following the dissolution of the Empire in 1806, of the Confederation of the Rhine, which existed from 1806 to ...

in 1806. In 1815, the county — then a part of the

Grand Duchy of Frankfurt The Grand Duchy of Frankfurt was a German satellite state of Napoleonic creation. It came into existence in 1810 through the combination of the former territories of the Archbishopric of Mainz along with the Free City of Frankfurt itself. Histo ...

— was granted to the

Kingdom of Bavaria The Kingdom of Bavaria (german: Königreich Bayern; ; spelled ''Baiern'' until 1825) was a German state that succeeded the former Electorate of Bavaria in 1805 and continued to exist until 1918. With the unification of Germany into the German ...

. File:Rieneck-Scheibler131ps.jpg ,

Coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in its ...

of the Counts of Rieneck, from the '' Scheiblersches Wappenbuch''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rieneck, County States and territories established in the 11th century 1559 disestablishments States and territories established in 1673 1806 disestablishments Main-Spessart Franconian Circle 1673 establishments in the Holy Roman Empire Counties of the Holy Roman Empire