Stephen I, Count of Sponheim (d. ca. 1080) is the patriarch of the

Rhenish The Rhineland (german: Rheinland; french: Rhénanie; nl, Rijnland; ksh, Rhingland; Latinised name: ''Rhenania'') is a loosely defined area of Western Germany along the Rhine, chiefly its middle section. Term Historically, the Rhinelands ...

branch 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 ...

, which ruled over the County of Sponheim. He was closely related to

Siegfried I, Count of Sponheim Siegfried I (c. 1010 – 7 February 1065) is considered the progenitor of the Duchy of Carinthia, Carinthian ducal House of Sponheim (''Spanheimer'') and all of its lateral branches, including the Counts of Laufen, Germany, Lebenau and the Counts ...

, patriarch of the

Carinthian Carinthia (german: Kärnten ; sl, Koroška ) is the southernmost Austrian state, in the Eastern Alps, and is noted for its mountains and lakes. The main language is German. Its regional dialects belong to the Southern Bavarian group. Carint ...

Sponheimish branch, but the exact relationship between the two dynasts is disputed. Johannes Trithemius credits a Count Eberhard of Sponheim as founder of the Abbey of

Sponheim Sponheim is a municipality in the district of Bad Kreuznach in Rhineland-Palatinate in western Germany. History Sponheim was the capital of the County of Sponheim. Sponheim Abbey There was a Benedictine abbey which was founded in 1101 by Step ...

and dates the founding to 1044, a position questioned by Johannes Mötsch. The '' Genealogia Sponhemica'' presents Count Eberhardus as son of Countess Hedwig and father of a single Count Stephenus I/II of Sponheim

.

Donald C. Jackman Donald Charles Jackman (born London, 15 January 1954, died State College, 14 January 2023) was an American medievalist and linguist of Australian background. Donald C. Jackman received the Ph.D. in 1987 from Columbia University with the dissertati ...

considers Stephen I a son of Siegfried I. Both Jackman and

Josef Heinzelmann Josef may refer to *Josef (given name) *Josef (surname) Josef is the surname of the following people: * Jens Josef (born 1967), German composer of classical music, a flutist and academic teacher * Michelle Josef (born 1954), Canadian musician and tr ...

consider Stephen as being identical to Stephen,

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 ...

Worms Worms may refer to: *Worm, an invertebrate animal with a tube-like body and no limbs Places *Worms, Germany Worms () is a city in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, situated on the Upper Rhine about south-southwest of Frankfurt am Main. It had ...

documented with his brother Markward in 1068. Heinzelmann however casts doubt on a male lineage relationship of Stephen and Siegfried and sees Stephen I of Sponheim as being Lord of Sponheim but not a

Count Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...

, notices that Stephen I of Sponheim is documented in 1075 as "S(igna) Stepheni de Spanheim" with his

seal Seal may refer to any of the following: Common uses * Pinniped, a diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals, many of which are commonly called seals, particularly: ** Earless seal, or "true seal" ** Fur seal * Seal (emblem), a device to imp ...

in a document of Udo, Archbishop of Trier, and proposes Stephen to have married into the House of Sponheim. In another work Heinzelmann considers the Stephen mentioned in 1075 to be Stephen II, or maybe a single Stephen, mentions a

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 ...

er '' ministerialis'' Stephen, the son of Embricho (Emich) and nephew of Archbishop Ruthard, who lived later, as a possible relation, and puts forward that the documented Stephen and Markward belong to the House of the Counts of Metz/Lunéville, which later provided the Vogts of Worms:

"Identisch kann er sein mit einem Wormser Vogt Stephen (1068) 39 UB Stadt Worms I, Nr. 55 der mit seinem Bruder Markwart zu den Grafen von Lunéville/Metz zu gehören scheint, die mit den de Meti später die Wormser Vögte stellen."

Stephen I's wife is supposed to have been a sister of Count Berthold IV of Stromberg. The Berthold-Bezelin dynasty in Stromberg and its relation to the original Berthold-Bezelin dynasty of

Trechirgau The Trechirgau was a mediaeval administrative district, a gau. It belonged to the Duchy of Lorraine. Its exact extent is only roughly known and it lay in the triangle formed by Enkirch, Koblenz and Oberwesel. History The Trechirgau was clos ...

is discussed by Heinzelmann, Heinzelmann, Josef. Ludwig von Arnstein und seine Verwandtschaft -- Zur mitteleuropäischen Adelsgeschichte um 1100. http://www.genealogie-mittelalter.de/heinzelmann_josef/ludwig_von_arnstein.html which proposes Berthold of Stromberg to be an Emichone with a maternal heritage of the Bertholde/Bezeline from Trechirgau. He was succeeded by his son,

Stephan II, Count of Sponheim Stephen II (died 1096) was a German nobleman and an early member of the House of Sponheim. He succeeded his father, Stephen I, as count of Sponheim around 1080. Around 1092 Stephen married Sophia of Formbach.Hlawitschka, ‘Verwandtenehe’. Step ...

Literature

* Trithemius, Johannes. Chronicon Sponheimense, ca. 1495-1509 - Chronik des Klosters Sponheim, 1024-1509; Eigenverlag Carl Velten, Bad Kreuznach 1969 (German) * Genealogia Sponhemica. Archiv für rheinische Geschichte Coblenz, 1.1833 - 2.1835. Zweiter Teil 1835. http://www.dilibri.de/rlb/periodical/pageview/27862 * Jackman, Donald C. Sponheim. Medieval German Counties. Medieval Prosopography. https://web.archive.org/web/20040205173219/http://www.personal.psu.edu/users/d/c/dcj121/prosop/counts/countyA/county11.htm * Jackman, Donald C.. Stromburg. Medieval German Counties. Medieval Prosopography. http://www.enlaplage.com/prosop/counts/countyA/county85.htm * Urkundenbuch der Grafschaft Sponheim. Archiv für rheinische Geschichte Coblenz, 1.1833 - 2.1835. Zweiter Teil 1835. http://www.dilibri.de/rlb/periodical/pageview/27863 * Mitteilungen der Residenzen-Kommission der Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Göttingen, Heft 16/1, 2006. http://resikom.adw-goettingen.gwdg.de/MRK/MRK16-1.htm * Heinzelmann, Josef. Spanheimer-Späne—Schachwappen und Konradinererbe. http://www.genealogie-mittelalter.de/heinzelmann_josef/spanheimer_spaene.html * Heinzelmann, Josef. Hildegard von Bingen und ihre Verwandten—Genealogische Anmerkungen. http://www.genealogie-mittelalter.de/heinzelmann_josef/hildegard_von_bingen.html * Heinzelmann, Josef. Die Spanheimer als Besitznachfolger des Dux Cuno de Beckilinheim. http://www.regionalgeschichte.net/fileadmin/Mittelrheinportal/Teilnehmer/burckhardt/Spanheimer_Besitz.pdf

References

External links

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genealogie-mittelalter.de
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stephen 01, Count of Sponheim Counts of the Holy Roman Empire House of Sponheim 11th-century births 1080s deaths Year of birth unknown Year of death uncertain