Bentheim-Steinfurt was a historical

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

located in northwestern

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia or North-Rhine/Westphalia, commonly shortened to NRW, is a States of Germany, state () in Old states of Germany, Western Germany. With more than 18 million inhabitants, it is the List of German states by population, most ...

in the region surrounding

Steinfurt Steinfurt (; ) is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is the capital of the district of Steinfurt. From –1806, it was the capital of the County of Steinfurt. Geography Steinfurt is situated north-west of Münster, North Rhine-Westp ...

, Germany. Bentheim-Steinfurt was a partition of

Bentheim-Bentheim Bentheim-Bentheim was a county in southeastern Lower Saxony, Germany. By 1806, the borders were the modern borders of the District of Bentheim. The last Count of Bentheim-Bentheim died on 19 February 1803. This county was formed from the county ...

, itself a partition of the

County of Bentheim The County of Bentheim (, Low German ''Benthem'') was a state of the Holy Roman Empire, located in the south-west corner of today's Lower Saxony, Germany. The county's borders corresponded largely to those of the modern administrative district ...

. Bentheim-Steinfurt was partitioned: between itself and Bentheim-Tecklenburg-Rheda in 1606; and between itself and

in 1643.

History

Bentheim-Steinfurt and its territories were converted to

Lutheranism Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

in 1544 by Count Arnold II. He was succeeded by his less-religious son, Eberwin III. After the latter's early death at age 26, he was succeeded by his infant child, Arnold III, under the regency of Anna of

Tecklenburg Tecklenburg () is a town in the district of Steinfurt, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Its name comes from the ruined castle around which it was built. The town is situated on the Hermannsweg hiking trail. The coat of arms shows an anchor ...

. Arnold III married Magdalena of Neuenahr in 1576, and he began attempts to properly convert the county to

Protestantism Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

. In the autumn of 1587, Lutheran preachers from across Germany were invited to help reform the Counties of Bentheim, Steinfurt, Lingen and Tecklenburg. The new laws were largely modelled on those of Mörs, and were introduced in Bentheim and Tecklenburg, in the following year, and finally Steinfurt in 1591. Arnold also founded a successful school in

Schüttorf Schüttorf (; ) is a town in the district of Grafschaft Bentheim in southwesternmost Lower Saxony near the Netherlands, Dutch border and the boundary with Westphalia (North Rhine-Westphalia). The town of Schüttorf forms with the surrounding commun ...

during 1588, which was relocated to Steinfurt in 1591 and taught Latin, law, theology, philosophy and (from 1607) medicine. Arnold died in 1606, and was succeeded by his sons Arnold Jobst, William Henry, Frederick Liudolph and Conrad Gumbert. Arnold Jobst created the Higher Church Council 1613 in the Bentheim territory as the supreme spiritual authority below the counts, and also in that year the Reformed Church of Bentheim was created, comprising also the Twelve Articles. In 1643, Arnold Jobst died and was succeeded by his son Ernest William. He was greatly influenced by

Bernhard von Galen Christoph Bernhard Freiherr von Galen (12 October 1606, in Drensteinfurt – 19 September 1678) was Prince-bishop of Münster. He was born into a noble Westphalian family. Background, education and conversion to Roman Catholicism Christoph Ber ...

, the

Prince-Bishop of Münster A prince-bishop is a bishop who is also the civil ruler of some Secularity, secular principality and sovereignty, as opposed to ''Prince of the Church'' itself, a title associated with cardinal (Catholic Church), cardinals. Since 1951, the sol ...

, and in 1688 he converted to

Roman Catholicism The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

. A fierce crisis ensued in which the Protestant preachers were expelled. Ernest William died in 1693, and it was left to his son and heir, Count Ernest, to resolve the troubles, doing so by converting to Lutheranism in 1701. A new reformed Church constitution was released, modelled on the 1678 Church Constitution of

Lingen Lingen (), officially Lingen (Ems), is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany. In 2024, its population was 59,896 with 2,262 people who had registered the city as their secondary residence. Lingen, specifically "Lingen (Ems)" is located on the river Ems ...

(it would continue in use until 1971). Bentheim-Steinfurt obtained the Castle Batenburg in 1700, although by that time it had ceased to be permanently garrisoned, and it was destroyed by the French in 1795. Count Louis obtained the County of Bentheim-Bentheim in 1803. Bentheim-Steinfurt was mediatised to

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

in 1806, ceded to

Berg Berg may refer to: People *Berg (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name) * General Berg (disambiguation) * Berg Ng (born 1960), Hong Kong actor * Berg (footballer, born 1963), Ninimbergue dos Santos Guerra, Brazilian footba ...

in 1809, restored to Prussia in 1813 and ceded to the

Kingdom of Hanover The Kingdom of Hanover () was established in October 1814 by the Congress of Vienna, with the restoration of George III to his Hanoverian territories after the Napoleonic Wars, Napoleonic era. It succeeded the former Electorate of Hanover, and j ...

in 1815. On 21 January 1817, the family was raised to the rank of

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The ...

.https://genealogy.euweb.cz/titles/princes.html Today, the still existing branches of the House of Bentheim are the Princes of Bentheim-Steinfurt with their seat at

Castle (also still owners of the ancestral seat Burg Bentheim) and the Princes of Bentheim-Tecklenburg-Rheda with their seat at Rheda Castle (also still owners of Hohenlimburg Castle) and the Counts Bentheim-Tecklenburg-Rheda.

Counts of Bentheim-Steinfurt (1454–1806)

* Arnold I (1454–1466) * Eberwin II (1466–1498) * Arnold II (1498–1544) * Eberwin III (1544–1562) * Arnold III (1562–1606) *''Anna of Tecklenburg (1562–1577) (regent)'' *Arnold Jobst (1606–1643) ''with'' **William Henry (1606–1632) ''and'' **Frederick Ludolph (1606–1629) ''and'' **Conrad Gumbert (1606–1618) *Ernest William (1643–1693) *Ernest (1693–1713) *Charles Frederick (1713–1733) * Charles Paul Ernest (1733–1780) *

Louis Louis may refer to: People * Louis (given name), origin and several individuals with this name * Louis (surname) * Louis (singer), Serbian singer Other uses * Louis (coin), a French coin * HMS ''Louis'', two ships of the Royal Navy See also ...

(Count of

) (1780–1806) raised to Prince 1817

(Mediatized) Princes of Bentheim and Steinfurt (1866–)

* Ludwig Wilhelm, 1st Prince 1866–1890 (1812–1890) **

Alexis Alexis may refer to: People Mononym * Alexis (poet) ( – ), a Greek comic poet * Alexis (sculptor), an ancient Greek artist who lived around the 3rd or 4th century BC * Alexis (singer) (born 1968), German pop singer * Alexis (comics) (1946– ...

, 2nd Prince 1890–1919 (1845–1919) *** Viktor Adolf, 3rd Prince 1919–1961 (1883–1961) **** Christian, 4th Prince 1961–2023 (1923–2023) **** ''Prince Reinhard Georg (1934–2021)'' ***** Carl Ferdinand (1977–), 5th Prince 2023–, adopted by his uncle Prince Christian ****** Prince Jonathan (2008–) ***** Prince Christoph Peter (1978–) *** ''Prince Karl Georg (1884–1951)'' **** ''Prince Hubertus (1919–2010)'' ***** Prince Alexander (1959–) ***** Prince Nikolaus (1962–) ****** Prince Leopold (2000–) ****** Prince Xavier (2004–) ****** Prince Lorenz (2006–) **** ''Prince Botho (1924–2001)'' ***** Prince George Victor (1950–) ****** Prince Maximilian (1986–) ***** ''Prince Wolfgang (1952–2022)'' ****** Prince Benedikt (1995–)

References

{{Authority control Counties of the Holy Roman Empire States and territories established in 1454