Simon II of Sponheim ( – 1336 in

Kastellaun Kastellaun is a town in the Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis (Districts of Germany, district) in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is the seat of the Kastellaun (Verbandsgemeinde), like-named ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality. Geography ...

) was a German nobleman. He was a member of the

House of Sponheim The House of Sponheim or Spanheim was a medieval German noble family, which originated in Rhenish Franconia. They were immediate Counts of Sponheim until 1437 and Dukes of Carinthia from 1122 until 1269. Its cadet branches ruled in the Imperial ...

and a ruling Count of the County of Sponheim.

Life

Simon II was born around the year 1270 as a son of Count John I, Count of Sponheim-Kreuznach and his wife Adelaide of Leiningen-Landeck. After his father died in 1290, Simon II ruled the county jointly with his brother John II, Count of Sponheim-Kreuznach. He married Elisabeth II of Valkenburg in 1300. Around this time, the brothers divided the county. The dividing line was Soonwald Forest; Simon II ruled the part north of the forest, including Kirchberg and

. Simon chose Kastellaun Castle as his residence. He expanded the castle and the town, giving it city rights in 1305 and market rights in 1309. Later, he built city walls and a new church, which today serves as the

evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being " born again", in which an individual expe ...

(i.e. Protestant) church. In

Kreuznach Bad Kreuznach () is a town in the Bad Kreuznach district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is a spa town, most well known for its medieval bridge dating from around 1300, the Alte Nahebrücke, which is one of the few remaining bridges in th ...

he built the Alte Nahebrücke (Old Nahe Bridge) in about 1300.Zaschel, Anne (Universität Koblenz-Landau) (2014
Brückenhäuser auf der Alten Nahebrücke in Bad Kreuznach
o
www.kuladig.de
Retrieved 17 June 2018 The first recorded mention of the stone bridge was in 1332. It not only provided an important link on the road between

Mainz Mainz () is the capital and largest city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Mainz is on the left bank of the Rhine, opposite to the place that the Main joins the Rhine. Downstream of the confluence, the Rhine flows to the north-west, with Ma ...

and

Trier Trier ( , ; lb, Tréier ), formerly known in English as Trèves ( ;) and Triers (see also names in other languages), is a city on the banks of the Moselle in Germany. It lies in a valley between low vine-covered hills of red sandstone in the ...

, but also formed part of the Kreuznach's town fortifications. It still stands today and is one of oldest stone bridges in Germany.Vogt, Werner (1988) ''Nahebrücke Bad Kreuznach''. In: ''Steinbrücken in Deutschland''. Düsseldorf: Beton-Verlag, pp. 394–398 Simon II's younger brother Emerich made two failed attempts to be elected Archbishop. Both attempts were blocked by the powerful Luxembourg family. After this blockade, Simon II and his brothers opposed Archbishop Baldwin of Archbishopric of Trier and supported his opponent, anti-king

Frederick the Fair Frederick the Fair (german: Friedrich der Schöne) or the Handsome (c. 1289 – 13 January 1330), from the House of Habsburg, was the duke of Austria and Styria from 1308 as well as the anti-king of Germany from 1314 until 1325 and then co-king ...

, the opponent of Emperor Louis IV. Their opposition to the Luxembourg dynasty formed the basis of their policies, and led to numerous feuds. In 1320, Baldwin captured the Sponheim city of

Sprendlingen Sprendlingen is an ''Ortsgemeinde'' – a municipality belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality – in the Mainz-Bingen district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Geography Location Sprendlingen lies in Rhenish H ...

and besieged

and

. A year later, Simon II gave up and signed a peace treaty with Baldwin. In 1325, Baldwin constructed Balduinseck Castle, to weaken the position of Kastellaun Castle. Three years later, Simon II supported the wildgraves of

Nahegau The Nahegau was in the Middle Ages a county, which covered the environs of the Nahe and large parts of present-day Rhenish Hesse, after a successful expansion of the narrow territory, which did not reach the Rhine, to the disadvantage of the Worms ...

, who fought Archbishop Baldwin over Schmidtburg Castle. Simon II died in 1336 and was buried in the church he had built in Kastellaun. A double grave monument for Simon II and his wife can still be found in the church. His heir was his son

Walram Waleran, Galeran, or Walram is a Germanic first name, common in the Middle Ages, that may refer to: People *Waleran I of Limburg (died 1082) * Waleran the Hunter (fl. 1086) *Walram (bishop of Naumburg) (r. 1091–1111) * Waleran of Le Puiset (died ...

Marriage and issue

He married Elisabeth II of Valkenburg in 1300. Together, they had the following children: *

(d. 1380), Count of Sponheim, married on 9 August 1330 to Elisabeth of Katzenelnbogen (d. 1383) * Simon * John II (1312-1348), Count of Sponheim * Reinhard (d. 1352),

canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the conceptual material accepted as official in a fictional universe by its fan base * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western ca ...

in Mainz and Trier * Imagina (d. after 21 December 1352), married in 1322 to Count Philip of

Solms Geography Location Solms lies right in the Lahn valley at the mouth of the eponymous little river Solmsbach and is nestled between the foothills of both the Taunus and Westerwald at heights from 140 to 400 m above sea level. It is about 7& ...

(d. 1364 or 1365) * Margaret, married in 1330 to a Wildgrave of Dhaun and Grumbach (d. 1350) * Anna (d. 1330), married Count John I of Katzenelnbogen (d. 1357) * Elisabeth, married: *# before 1331 to Count Rudolph I of Hohenberg (d. 1336) *# before 15 October 1340 to Louis the Junker of Hesse (d. 1345)

Bibliography

* Johannes Mötsch: ''Die Burg Kastellaun bis 1437'', in: Stadt Kastellaun (eds.): ''Das Wahrzeichen Kastellauns — Seine Burg'', in the series ''Kastellaun in der Geschichte'', vol. 3, Kastellaun, 1994, p. 19-58 * Johannes Mötsch: ''Trier und Sponheim'', in: Johannes Mötsch and Franz-Josef Heyen (eds.): ''Balduin von Luxemburg. Erzbischof von Trier — Kurfürst des Reiches. Festschrift aus Anlaß des 700. Geburtsjahres'', Mainz, 1985, p. 357 - 389

References

External links

Genealogy of the Counts of Sponheim from Godfried III
{{DEFAULTSORT:Simon 02 Sponheim Kreuznach Counts of Germany House of Sponheim Bad Kreuznach People from Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis 1270s births 1336 deaths Year of birth uncertain 13th-century German nobility 14th-century German nobility