The counts and princes of East Frisia from the noble East Frisian family

Cirksena The House of Cirksena () was the name of the ruling family of East Frisia, Ostfriesland. They descended from a line of East Frisian chieftains from Greetsiel. East Frisia In 1439, in the wake of clashes between different lines of chieftains, t ...

descended from a line of East Frisian chieftains from Greetsiel. The county came into existence when Emperor Frederick III raised Ulrich I the son of a local chieftain to the status of Imperial Count in 1464. The most important ruler from the House of Cirksena was

Edzard the Great Edzard I, also Edzard the Great (15 January 1462 in Greetsiel – 14 February 1528 in Emden) was count of East Frisia from 1491 until his death in 1528. Edzard succeeded his brother Enno in 1492. He fought with George, Duke of Saxony over ...

(1462–1528), under whose leadership the

Imperial County of East Frisia The County of East-Frisia ( Frisian: Greefskip Eastfryslân; Dutch: Graafschap Oost-Friesland) was a county (though ruled by a prince after 1662) in the region of East Frisia in the northwest of the present-day German state of Lower Saxony. Coun ...

reached its greatest extent. During his reign

the 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 in ...

spread throughout

East Frisia East Frisia or East Friesland (german: Ostfriesland; ; stq, Aastfräislound) is a historic region in the northwest of Lower Saxony, Germany. It is primarily located on the western half of the East Frisian peninsula, to the east of West Frisia ...

. In 1654 the Cirksena were elevated to princes by the emperor. Charles Edzard, the last ruler from the House of Cirksena, died without issue during the night of 25/26 May 1744 (reportedly from a glass of buttermilk, which is said to have drunk after a hunt). Immediately thereafter, the county passed to King

Frederick II of Prussia Frederick II (german: Friedrich II.; 24 January 171217 August 1786) was King in Prussia from 1740 until 1772, and King of Prussia from 1772 until his death in 1786. His most significant accomplishments include his military successes in the S ...

Medieval chieftains in East Frisia

Broke /
Marienhafe Marienhafe is a municipality in the district of Aurich, in Lower Saxony Lower Saxony (german: Niedersachsen ; nds, Neddersassen; stq, Läichsaksen) is a German state (') in northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area ...

Tom Brok The tom Brok family (, also: tom Broke, tom Brook, tom Broek, ten Brok, ten Broke; equivalent to Dutch , "at the marsh") were a powerful East Frisian line of chieftains, originally from the Norderland on the North Sea coast of Germany. From the s ...
family

* 1347-1376: Keno I tom Brok * 1376-1389: Ocko I tom Brok * 1389-1399: Widzeld tom Brok * 1399-1417:

Keno II tom Brok Keno is a lottery-like gambling game often played at modern casinos, and also offered as a game in some lotteries. Players wager by choosing numbers ranging from 1 through (usually) 80. After all players make their wagers, 20 numbers (some va ...

(under regency of his mother

Foelke Kampana Foelke Kampana (1355 – c. 1418), also known as Foelke the Cruel, was a Frisian noble. She served as regent for the Frisian territories Oldeborg, Brokmerland, Auricherland and Emsigerland in East Frisia in 1400 during the absence of her son Ken ...

) * 1417-1427: Ocko II tom Brok (under regency of his grandmother, Foelke); deposed, died 1435

Dornum Dornum is a village and a municipality in the East Frisian district of Aurich, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated near the North Sea coast, approx. 15 km east of Norden, and 20 km north of Aurich. Division of the municipality The ...
/ Nesse

Attena family

* ?-1410:

Hero Attena A hero (feminine: heroine) is a real person or a main fictional character who, in the face of danger, combats adversity through feats of ingenuity, courage, or strength. Like other formerly gender-specific terms (like ''actor''), ''hero ...

* ?-1410: Lutet Attena (in Norderburg) ** ?:

Eger Attena Eger ( , ; ; also known by other #Names and etymology, alternative names) is the county seat of Heves County, and the second largest city in Northern Hungary (after Miskolc). A City with county rights, city with county rights. Eger is best know ...

(in

Westerburg Westerburg () is a small town of roughly 6,000 inhabitants in the Westerwaldkreis in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. The town is named after the castle built on a hill above the mediaeval town centre (''Burg'' is German for “castle”) Geograph ...

) * ?-1433: Sibet I Attena * 1433-1473: Sibet II Attena

Emden Emden () is an independent city and seaport in Lower Saxony in the northwest of Germany, on the river Ems. It is the main city of the region of East Frisia and, in 2011, had a total population of 51,528. History The exact founding date of ...

* Abdena family

Faldern

*Aildesna family

Greetsiel /
Norden Norden is a Scandinavian and German word, directly translated as "the North". It may refer to: Places England * Norden, Basingstoke, a ward of Basingstoke and Deane * Norden, Dorset, a hamlet near Corfe Castle * Norden, Greater Manchester, a vil ...

Cirksena The House of Cirksena () was the name of the ruling family of East Frisia, Ostfriesland. They descended from a line of East Frisian chieftains from Greetsiel. East Frisia In 1439, in the wake of clashes between different lines of chieftains, t ...
family

* ?-1430: Liudward * 1430-1450:

Enno Edzardisna Enno Edzardisna (also known as ''Enno Cirksena'', ''Enno Attena'' and rarely ''Enno Syardsna''; – ) was a chieftain of Norden, Greetsiel, Berum and Pilsum in East Frisia. He was the son of the chieftain Edzard II of Appingen-Greetsiel and ...

, son-in-law * 1450-1466:

Ulrich Ulrich (), is a German given name, derived from Old High German ''Uodalrich'', ''Odalric''. It is composed of the elements '' uodal-'' meaning "(noble) heritage" and ''-rich'' meaning "rich, powerful". Attested from the 8th century as the name of Al ...

, son, in 1464 was raised to Count.

Innhausen /
Östringen Östringen (South Franconian: ''Öschdringe'') is a town in Northern Karlsruhe district in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Östringen is a twin town with Abergavenny Abergavenny (; cy, Y Fenni , archaically ''Abergafenni'' meaning "mouth of t ...

* Tjarksena family

Langwarden / Innhausen / Knyphausen

*Onneken, later named of Innhausen and Knyphausen family

Lütetsburg / Pewsum

* Manninga

Neermoor / Leer

Ukena family

* Benno * Uko * 1427-1436:

Focko Ukena Focko Ukena ( Neermoor, 1360 or 1370 – 1435) was an East Frisian chieftain (''hovetling'') who played an important part in the struggle between the Vetkopers and Schieringers in the provinces of Groningen and Friesland. Aside from this he ...

and his son

Uko Fockena Uko Fockena (also known as: "Uko of Oldersum"; , Oldersum (uncertain) – 13 June 1432 near Suurhusen) was an East Frisian chieftain of Moormerland and Emsigerland. Life Uko was one of the sons of the East Frisian chieftain Focko Ukena (b ...

(1427-1432)

Osterhusen

Allena family

*?-1406: Folkmar Allena

Rüstringen Rüstringen or Rustringen was an old Frisian gau, which lies between the modern district Friesland and the Weser river in modern Lower Saxony. Nowadays, only a small part of the original territory remains, namely the Butjadingen peninsula. The lar ...
/
Bant Bant is one of the so-called green villages ''(Dutch: groendorpen)'' in the Dutch province of Flevoland. It is a part of the municipality of Noordoostpolder, and lies about 7 km north of Emmeloord. Name The name Bant is derived from the ...

* Wiemken (Papinga)

Wirdum

* Beninga family

Counts of East Frisia

House of Cirksena The House of Cirksena () was the name of the ruling family of Ostfriesland. They descended from a line of East Frisian chieftains from Greetsiel. East Frisia In 1439, in the wake of clashes between different lines of chieftains, the town of E ...

Table of rulers

Literature

*Tielke, Dr. Martin (Hrsg.): ''Biographisches Lexikon für East Frisia'', Bd. 1 (1993), Bd. 2 (1997), Bd. 3 {{ISBN, 3-932206-22-3 (2001) Ostfries. Landschaftliche Verl.- u. Vertriebsges. Aurich *Martin Jhering: ''Hofleben in East Frisia. Die Fürstenresidenz Aurich im Jahre 1728'', Hannover 2005 *Heinrich Reimers: ''East Frisia bis zum Aussterben seines Fürstenhauses'', Bremen 1925 *Ernst Esselborn: ''Das Geschlecht Cirksena'', Berlin 1945 * F. Wachter: ''Das Erbe der Cirksena. Ein Stück ostfriesischer Geschichte und des Kampfes um die Vorherrschaft in Norddeutschland.'', Aurich 1921

History of East Frisia House of Cirksena