Speyergau was a medieval
county in the
East Frankish (
German) stem duchy of
Franconia. It was centred around the administrative centre of
Speyer
Speyer (, older spelling ; ; ), historically known in English as Spires, is a city in Rhineland-Palatinate in the western part of the Germany, Federal Republic of Germany with approximately 50,000 inhabitants. Located on the left bank of the r ...
and roughly covered the former
Roman administrative area of Civitas Nemetum, which is today the south-eastern portion of the
Palatinate region between the
Rhine
The Rhine ( ) is one of the List of rivers of Europe, major rivers in Europe. The river begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the southeastern Swiss Alps. It forms part of the Swiss-Liechtenstein border, then part of the Austria–Swit ...
river, the
Palatinate Forest range, and some smaller parts of northern
Alsace
Alsace (, ; ) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in the Grand Est administrative region of northeastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine, next to Germany and Switzerland. In January 2021, it had a population of 1,9 ...
. The Speyergau, together with the neighbouring
Wormsgau and
Nahegau, was part of the major possessions held by the
Salian dynasty of German kings and
Holy Roman Emperors.
[Geschichte der Stadt Speyer, Vol. 1, 1982, Kohlhammer Verlag, Stuttgart, ]
Counts of Speyergau
Some renowned counts of Speyergau were:
#
Werner V (c. 899 - c. 935), the first definite progenitor of the Salian Dynasty, also count of
Nahegau and
Wormsgau, member of the house of
Conradines.
#
Conrad the Red (X 955), son of Werner V, also count of Nahegau, Wormsgau and
Niddagau, count in Franconia,
duke of
Lorraine, ∞ around 947 Liutgard of
Saxony (born 931, died 953), daughter of
Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor
Otto I (23 November 912 – 7 May 973), known as Otto the Great ( ) or Otto of Saxony ( ), was East Francia, East Frankish (Kingdom of Germany, German) king from 936 and Holy Roman Emperor from 962 until his death in 973. He was the eldest son o ...
#
Otto of
Worms (died 1004), only son of Conrad the Red, also count of Nahegau, Wormsgau,
Elsenzgau,
Kraichgau,
Enggau,
Pfinzgau and
Ufgau, duke of
Carinthia
#
Conrad II the younger, (born probably 1003, died 1039), grandson of Otto I, also count of Nahegau, Wormsgau, duke of Carinthia (1036-1039)
Rural reeves (Landvogt) of Speyergau
* Georg I. von Geroldseck,
count of Veldenz, 1310/15
* Otto V. von Ochsenstein, died 1327, 1291/1302 Landvogt of
Ortenau, 1315/27 Landvogt of Alsace, 1318 Landvogt of Speyergau
* Otto VI. von Ochsenstein, Landvogt of Alsace and Speyergau, died before 1377
References
{{coord missing, Rhineland-Palatinate
Speyer
Carolingian counties
Former states and territories of Rhineland-Palatinate