The Lords of Eppstein () were a family of German nobility in the Middle Ages.
From the 12th century they ruled extensive territories in the Rhine Main area from their
castle
A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...
in
Eppstein, northwest of Frankfurt, Germany.
History
Between 1180 and 1190, the
Archbishop of Mainz enfeoffed Eppstein Castle, along with neighboring district courts and villages to Gerhard III of
Hainhausen.
Gerhard changed his name to Eppstein and already having control of the present-day
district of Offenbach, became the first in the line which was soon to become one of the most influential families in the Rhine Main area.
Four of the seven
Archbishops of Mainz and Electoral Princes in the 13th century were of the house of Eppstein.
They raised the Electorate to considerable power and played a significant role in the politics of the
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...
. In the struggle between the Emperor and the Pope, Archbishop
Siegfried III took sides with the anti-
Staufer group which played an important part in the beginnings of German federalism. The secular Eppsteiners, by purchase, marriage and enfeoffment, acquired extensive territories and rights between
Middle Rhine
Middle Rhine (, ; kilometres 529 to 660 of the Rhine) is the section of the Rhine between Bingen and Bonn in Germany. It flows through the Rhine Gorge (), a formation created by erosion, which happened at about the same rate as an uplift i ...
to the
Vogelsberg
The Vogelsberg () is a large volcanic mountain range in the German Central Uplands in the state of Hesse, separated from the Rhön Mountains by the Fulda (river), Fulda river valley.
Emerging approximately 19 million years ago, the Vogelsber ...
hills and between the
Lahn
The Lahn () is a , right (or eastern) tributary of the Rhine in Germany. Its course passes through the States of Germany, federal states of North Rhine-Westphalia (23.0 km), Hesse (165.6 km), and Rhineland-Palatinate (57.0 km).
...
River to the
Odenwald
The Odenwald () is a low mountain range in the Germany, German states of Hesse, Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg.
Location
The Odenwald is located between the Upper Rhine Plain with the Bergstraße Route, Bergstraße and the ''Hessisches Ried' ...
.
The realm of the Lords of Eppstein was divided in 1433 between brothers Gottfried VII (Eppstein-Münzenberg) and Eberhard II (Eppstein-Königstein). The last of these branches became extinct in 1535 and Eppstein was passed mostly to the
Landgraves of Hesse
The Landgraviate of Hesse () was a Princes of the Holy Roman Empire, principality of the Holy Roman Empire. It existed as a single entity from 1264 to 1567, when it was divided among the sons of Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse.
History
In the early ...
and the
Ecclesiastical Principality of Mainz.
See also
*
Bad Homburg vor der Höhe
Further reading
* Walter Pietsch: ''Die Entwicklung des Territoriums der Herren von Eppstein im 12. und 13. Jahrhundert, vornehmlich aufgrund ihrer Lehensverzeichnisse''. In: ''HJL''. 12, 1962, S. 15–50.
* Regina Schäfer: ''Die Herren von Eppstein. Herrschaftsausübung, Verwaltung und Besitz eines Hochadelsgeschlechts im Spätmittelalter''. Historische Kommission für Nassau, Wiesbaden 2000, (''Veröffentlichungen der Historischen Kommission für Nassau''. Band 68).
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eppstein
Lordships of the Holy Roman Empire
Taunus