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 Imperia ...

, which ruled over the

County of Sponheim The County of Sponheim (german: Grafschaft Sponheim, former spelling: Spanheim, Spanheym) was an independent territory in the Holy Roman Empire that lasted from the 11th century until the early 19th century. The name comes from the municipality ...

. He was closely related to

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

, patriarch of the Carinthian Sponheimish branch, but the exact relationship between the two dynasts is disputed.

Johannes Trithemius Johannes Trithemius (; 1 February 1462 – 13 December 1516), born Johann Heidenberg, was a German Benedictine abbot and a polymath who was active in the German Renaissance as a lexicographer, chronicler, cryptographer, and occultist. He is cons ...

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 Johannes Mötsch (born 8 July 1949 in Bonn) is a German archivist and historian. Life Johannes Mötsch studied History and Latin Philology from 1970 to 1978 at the Universität Bonn and graduated in 1979. In 1978 he started, as trainee teacher, ...

. 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 considers Stephen I a son of Siegfried I. Both Jackman and Josef Heinzelmann 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, a city ** Worms (electoral district) * Worms, Nebraska, U.S. *Worms im Veltlintal, the German name for Bormio, Italy Arts and entertai ...

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 Yor ...

, 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 impr ...

in a document of

Udo, Archbishop of Trier Udo of Nellenburg (c. 1030 – 11 November 1078) was the Archbishop of Trier from 1066 until his death. He was an important mediator during the height of the Investiture Controversy. Biography Udo was born in Tübingen, Swabia, as the elde ...

, 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 The ''ministeriales'' (singular: ''ministerialis'') were a class of people raised up from serfdom and placed in positions of power and responsibility in the High Middle Ages in the Holy Roman Empire. The word and its German translations, ''Minist ...

'' Stephen, the son of Embricho (Emich) and nephew of Archbishop

Ruthard Ruthard (died 1109) was Archbishop of Mainz from 1089 to 1109, and a leading opponent of the Emperor Henry IV and his antipope Clement III (Wibert of Ravenna). He spent nearly eight years in exile because of his opposition, and played a part in th ...

, 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 39 may refer to: * 39 (number), the natural number following 38 and preceding 40 * one of the years: ** 39 BC ** AD 39 ** 1939 ** 2039 * ''39'' (album), a 2000 studio album by Mikuni Shimokawa * "'39", a 1975 song by Queen * "Thirty Nine", a son ...
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 Middle Ages, mediaeval administrative district, a gau (country subdivision), gau. It belonged to the Lorraine (duchy), Duchy of Lorraine. Its exact extent is only roughly known and it lay in the triangle formed by Enkirch, Kobl ...

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.

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

* *
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