Counts of Montfort

Arms of the Counts of Montfort

The Counts of Montfort were a German noble dynasty from Swabia. They belonged to high nobility of the Holy Roman Empire and enjoyed the privileged status of imperial immediacy.

The influential and wealthy Counts of Montfort took their name from an ancestral castle named , which was situated close to today's Swiss border near Weiler, in the present-day Austrian state of Vorarlberg.

As the lords of Feldkirch (until 1390), Bregenz (until 1523), and Tettnang (until 1779), they would have a decisive influence on the development of not just Voralberg, but also Upper Swabia and Eastern Switzerland.

History[]

Montfort Castle at Langenargen

The counts held the lordships of the County of Feldkirch (until 1390), County of Bregenz (until 1523) and Tettnang (until 1779). They had territories in Upper Swabia and particularly in Vorarlberg, most of which they ruled. Until the 18th century, the counts were a remarkable family of the high nobility, the most important in the region of Lake Constance, but the line eventually became extinct. In a number of places, including Feldkirch, Bregenz and Langenargen, there are still signs of their history.

The Counts of Montfort were originally a branch of another Swabian noble family, the Counts Palatine of Tübingen. (d. 1182) married , and through her, Hugo would take ownership over the former territories of the Counts of Bregenz, including Bregenz itself, Montfort, and Sigmaringen, making him a dominant power in the region. His marriage to Elizabeth would also provide him with close family ties to Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa and the Welfs (like Barbarossa and Henry the Lion, Elizabeth was a grandchild of the Welf duke Henry IX "the Black" of Bavaria).

Upon the death of Hugo II, the majority of the former Bregenz territories would go to his second son, (d.1228/1230), who after about 1200 would style himself "Hugo of Montfort". His territories as count included Raetia Curiensis, Tettnang, Bregenz, Feldkirch, Sonnenberg, Werdenberg, and Sargans. The new House of Montfort would adopt the arms of the County Palatine of Tübingen, but the Montfort arms would feature a red gonfalon on a silver shield instead of a gold one.

Hugo's older brother Rudolph I (1160-1219) continued the original line of the counts palatine; nevertheless, five generations later (d.1369) would be forced to sell Tübingen to the County of Württemberg and drop the title of count palatine in favor of the ordinary Count of Tübingen. He did, however, inherit via his wife , and thenceforth his descendants would bear the title Count of Tübingen-Lichteneck. Next to Montfort-Tettang, this line would be the longest-lasting branch of the family, lasting until 1664.

Around 1779, Tettnang was sold to the Austrian House of Habsburg in order to pay debts. Several years later, the line became extinct upon the death of Count Anton IV in 1787. The Habsburgs added the Montfort lands to their Further Austrian possessions.

Montfort-Feldkirch[]

Hugo I of Montfort founded Feldkirch in the early years of the 13th century, building his castle (called "Schattenburg") on a hill overlooking the town. The town and castle would become the focal point of the Montfort-Feldkirch territories, with Schattenburg taking the place of the original Montfort castle. In 1375, burgrave Rudolph IV of Montfort sold the fiefdom to the Habsburg Duke Leopold III of Austria.

Montfort-Bregenz[]

(†1182) inherited the County of Bregenz via his wife, . The Montfort-Bregenz branch of the dynasty continued until the middle of the 14th century, when its lands fell to Montfort-Tettnang, which starting in 1354 would be known as Montfort-Tettnang-Bregenz. This house would produce at least one figure of historical significance, the minstrel (Minnesänger) and statesman Hugo of Montfort (1357–1423).

In 1362 Hugo inherited the lands of the counts of Pfannberg via his wife Margaret. Hugo took residence at Pfannberg Castle in 1401, joining the Styrian nobility. The family would sell Pfannberg Castle in 1524 and move their residence to , renaming themselves Montfort-Bregenz-Beckach (the contemporary form of Peggau).

In 1451, a portion of the Montfort-Bregenz territory was sold to the Habsburgs by Elizabeth of Hochberg, heir of Count William VII (†1422) of Montfort. The rest of the original Bregenz territories would be sold in 1523, though the Styrian branch of the family retained the Montfort-Tettnang lands until the extinction of the dynasty in 1787.

Counts of Montfort[]

Below, a list of the counts of Montfort,^[1] numbered by order of ascension:

House of Tübingen[]

Partitions of Montfort under Tübingen rule[]

Table of rulers[]

(Note: Here the numbering of the counts is the same for all counties, as all were titled Counts of Montfort, despite of the different parts of land or particular numbering of the rulers. The counts are numbered by the year of their succession.)

Ruler		Born	Reign	Death	Ruling part	Consort	Notes
Hugo I		c.1160	1208-1228	1228 or 12 March 1230/4 [2]	Montfort	two children five children	Son of Count Palatine Hugo of Tubingen, was the first count of Montfort, and the founder of the Montfort branch.
		c.1195	1228-1257/60	11/15 August 1257/60[2]	Montfort	eight children	Sons of Hugo I, ruled together until 1230, when Rudolph inherited Werdenberg. Henry became bishop at Chur in 1251. For Rudolph I's descendants see Counts of Werdenberg. After Hugo's death the county was divided.
		c.1190	1228-1251	14 November 1272[2]	Montfort	Unmarried
		c.1190	1228-1230	September 1244,[2] 7 October 1247 or 19 May 1248[2]	Montfort	c.1230 six children
		?	1260-1287	7 April 1287[2]	Montfort-Bregenz	c.1272 two children	Son of Hugo II, inherited Bregenz.
[3]		?	1260-c.1280?	17 January 1307[2]	Montfort-Bregenz	Unmarried	Son of Hugo II, possibly co-ruled with Ulrich in Bregenz, which was probably the part which retained the main of the original county. As he was already cited as canon at Chur in 1282, he probably left the rule of the county earlier.
		?	1260-1302	19 October 1302[2]	Montfort-Feldkirch	c.1265 seven children	Son of Hugo II, inherited Feldkirch.
		?	1260-1309	21 May or 5 December 1309[2]	Montfort-Tettnang	Elisabeth two children	Son of Hugo II, inherited Tettnang.
		?	1287-1338	26 July 1338	Montfort-Bregenz	Unmarried	Sold half of Bregenz to Austria. Left no descendants and Bregenz was annexed to Tettnang.
		1266	1302-1343	17 February 1350[2]	Montfort-Feldkirch	Unmarried	Sons of Rudolph III, ruled jointly. Rudolph became, in 1322, Bishop of Constance, and probably had to abdicate form the county. During the co-rulership, the brothers favored the settlement of Jews in Feldkirch.[4] In 1343 his nephews forced Ulrich to abdicate.
		?	1302-1322	27/8 March 1334[2]	Montfort-Feldkirch	Unmarried
		?	1302-1310	11 August 1310[2]	Montfort-Feldkirch	eight children
		?	1310-1321	25 March 1321	Montfort-Feldkirch	Unmarried	Sons of Hugo V, co-ruled with their uncle.
		?	1310-1318	18 January 1318	Montfort-Feldkirch
		?	1309-1338	6 February 1348 or 3 November 1350[2]	Montfort-Tettnang	one child no children A woman from the four children Unknown no children	Inherited Bregenz in 1338. After his death his sons divided the land.
			1338-1348/50		Montfort-Tettnang and Montfort-Bregenz
		?	1343-1375	1375[2]	Montfort-Feldkirch	Unmarried	Sons of Hugo V, were ruling jointly with their uncle (Ulrich II) and brothers (Berthold and Frederick) since 1310. However, they gained more independence after deposing their uncle in 1343.
		?	1343-1357/9	1357[2] or 29 March 1359	Montfort-Feldkirch	no children c.1341 two children
		?	1359-c.1362	c.1362[2]	Montfort-Feldkirch	Unmarried	Eldest son of Rudolph IV, probably co-ruled with his father after his uncle Hugo's death.
		?	1348/50 - 1354	3 November 1354	Montfort-Tettnang	Unmarried	Son of William I, inherited Tettnang. Had no descendants and the comital throne passed to his brother Henry.
		?	1348/50 - 1373/4	18 May 1373 or 14 June 1374[2]	Montfort-Bregenz	Unknown one child 1354[2] no children 26 March 1369 or 16 June 1373[2] no children	Son of William I, inherited Bregenz. After his death his grandchildren divided the land.
		?	1348/50 - 1368	19 October 1368[2]	Montfort-Bregenz	c.1367[2] two children	Son of William II, co-ruled with his father, predeceasing him.
		?	1354-1407/8	1 June 1407 or 18 October 1408[2]	Montfort-Tettnang	before 1370 four children one child
		?	c.1380?-1395	c.1395[2]	Montfort-Tettnang	one child	Son of Henry I, co-ruled with his father, predeceasing him.
		?	1373/4-1393	1393	Montfort-Bregenz	two children	Son of William II, co-ruled with his father, predeceasing him. Through his marriage became son-in-law of Hugo VI.
Hugo VIII		1357	1373/4-1423	4 April 1423	Montfort-Pfannberg	c.1373 one child before 1401 no children before 1426 one child	Son of William III, inherited Montfort. He was also a minnesinger (troubadour).
		?	c.1390-1410?	c.1410?	Montfort-Pfannberg	before 1410 two children	Son of Hugo VIII, co-ruled with his father, predeceasing him.
		?	1375	16 November 1390[2]	Montfort-Feldkirch	Unmarried	In 1375 sold the county to the Habsburgs.
In 1375, Feldkirch was sold to the Archduchy of Austria
		?	1393-1422	1422[2]	Montfort-Bregenz	September/October 1387[2] one child	Son of William II, co-ruled with his father, predeceasing him.
		?	1408-1439	1439[2]	Montfort-Tettnang	one child	Sons of Henry I, ruled jointly. After William's death, his sons divided the land into Tettnang, Werdenberg and Rothenfels.
		?	1408-1425	8 December 1425[2]	Montfort-Tettnang	Unmarried
		?	1425-c.1431	c.1431[2]	Montfort-Tettnang		Probably co-ruled with his father after the death of his uncle Rudolph.
		?	1422-1443	4 June 1458[2]	Montfort-Bregenz	c.1413 one child William, Margrave of Hachberg-Sausenberg 17 August 1422 or 23 February 1424[2] (annulled 1436) two children	Son of William II, co-ruled with his father, predeceasing him.
In 1443 Bregenz was sold to the Archduchy of Austria
		After 1401[2]	1423-1437	14/27 August 1437[2]	Montfort-Pfannberg	Unmarried	Ruled jointly. Stephen was an uncle of Herman I, who was son of Ulrich II.
		?	1423-1434/5	22 January 1434 or 24 July 1435[2]	Montfort-Pfannberg	Margareta of Celje 15 March 1430 four children[5]
		?	1437-1482	1482	Montfort-Pfannberg	1462 five children	Sons of Herman I, ruled jointly.
		?	1437-1469	April 1469	Montfort-Pfannberg	A woman from the no children
		?	1437-1447	1447	Montfort-Pfannberg	Unmarried
		?	1439-1495	29 September 1495[2]	Montfort-Tettnang	1467 one child	Sons of William V, ruled jointly.
		?	1439-1445	11 December 1445[2]	Montfort-Tettnang	no children
			1439-1444	23 November 1444[2]	Montfort-Werdenberg	Unknown one child	Son of William V, inherited Werdenberg.
			1439-1491	16 October 1491[2]	Montfort-Rothenfels	before 1462 one child before 1488 one child	Son of William V, inherited Rothenfels.
		?	1444-1483	5 February 1483[2]	Montfort-Werdenberg	two children	Left no descendants. Werdenberg merged in Rothenfels.
In 1483 Werdenberg was annexed by Rothenfels.
In 1482 half of Bregenz was recovered by Hugo, son of Herman II.
		?	1482-1525	1550[2]	Montfort-Bregenz	no children	Son of Herman II, bought half of Bregenz for himself, just to sell it once more in 1525.
In 1525 the half of Bregenz was sold again to the Archduchy of Austria.
		?	1482-1544	March/30 May 1544[2]	Montfort-Pfannberg (1482-1524) Montfort-Peggau (1524-1544)	after 1522 one child	Sons of Herman II, ruled jointly. John was a canon in Salzburg.[2]
		?	1482-1515	1515	Montfort-Pfannberg	Unmarried
		?	1482-1483	c.1483	Montfort-Pfannberg
		?	1491-1529	19 September 1529[2]	Montfort-Rothenfels	before 1518 no children 23 June 1524 no children	Half-brothers, ruled jointly. John and his full brothers, Ulrich (who became Knight Hospitaller) and Henry (who became canon at Augsburg and Strasbourg) left no descendants and were succeeded by his nephews, sons of Hugo XI, their half-brother.[2]
		?	1491-1520	16 April 1520[2]	Montfort-Rothenfels	Unmarried
		?	1491-1512	12 January 1512[2]	Montfort-Rothenfels	Unmarried
		?	1491-1519	24 April 1519[2]	Montfort-Rothenfels	four children
		Before 1439	1495-1520	23 April 1520[2]	Montfort-Tettnang	24 February 1485 no children	Left no surviving descendants. Tettnang merged in Rothenfels.
		c.1485	1495-1509	8 January 1509[2]	Montfort-Tettnang	Unmarried	Co-ruled with his father, but predecesed him.[2]
In 1520 Tettnang was annexed by Rothenfels.
		c.1500	1529-1564	21 November 1564[2]	Montfort-Rothenfels	before 1543 six children	Sons of Hugo XI, ruled jointly.
(II)[6]		c.1490	1529-1547	1547	Montfort-Rothenfels	c.1535 no children
		?	1529-1541	21 March 1541	Montfort-Rothenfels	before 1523 no children
		c.1530	1544-1573	3 May 1572[7]	Montfort-Peggau	9 February 1553 five children[7]
			1564-1575	6 April 1575	Montfort-Rothenfels	1559 two children	After his death, the county was annexed by the Barony of Konigsegg, depriving Ulrich's sons from succession.
In 1575 Rothenfels was annexed by the Barony of Königsegg.
[8]		c.1557	1573-1619	21 February 1619[8]	Montfort-Peggau	4 October 1587 Augsburg three children[8]	Sons of Jacob, ruled jointly. [9]
		?	1573-1596	1596	Montfort-Peggau	Unmarried
		?	1573-1590	1590	Montfort-Peggau	1584 no children[10]
		?	1573-1592?	1595[11]	Montfort-Peggau	Unmarried?
		1 April 1599[12]	1619-1662	2 July 1662	Montfort-Peggau	7 October 1618 Wolfegg four children[12]	Sons of John VI, ruled jointly.
		?	1619-1641	1641	Montfort-Peggau	Unmarried
[13]		?	1619-1623	1623	Montfort-Peggau
		14 October 1635[14]	1662-1706	15 June 1706[14]	Montfort-Peggau	1670 two children[14]	Sons of Hugo XIII, ruled jointly.
[15]		25 November 1627[15]	1662-1686	12 September 1686[15]	Montfort-Peggau	1655 one child 12 August 1658 two children[16]
		26 November 1670[17]	1706-1733	17 December 1733[17]	Montfort-Peggau	16 May 1693 two children[17]	Anton III, son of John VIII, shared rule with his cousin Sebastian, son of Anton II.
		7 October 1684[18]	1706-1728	6 February 1728[18]	Montfort-Peggau	Unmarried
		20 January 1700[19]	1733-1759	17 March 1759[19]	Montfort-Peggau	26 January 1722 one child[19]	Son of Anton II.
		3 November 1722[20]	1759-1780	24 March 1780[20]	Montfort-Peggau	1 December 1758 no children[20]	After his death the county was sold to Austria.
In 1780, Pfannberg was sold to the Archduchy of Austria

Prince of Montfort[]

Arms of Jérôme Bonaparte as Prince of Montfort

In 1810, the Tettnang territory was adjudicated to the Kingdom of Württemberg. In 1816, King Frederick I vested his daughter Catharina and her husband Jérôme Bonaparte with the titles of Princess and Prince of Montfort (French: prince de Montfort).^[21] This princely title continued in the family by descent.^[22]

See also[]

• Tettnang Castle
• Werdenberg

Sources[]

• Burmeister, Karl Heinz: Montfort, von (Grafen von Montfort), Familienartikel in: Neue Deutsche Biographie, Bd. 18, S. 51-54
• Burmeister, Karl Heinz: Die Grafen von Montfort. Geschichte, Recht, Kultur. Festgabe zum 60. Geburtstag, hrsg. von Alois Niederstätter (= Forschungen zur Geschichte Vorarlbergs; NF 2). Universitätsverlag Konstanz, Konstanz 1996, ISBN 3-87940-560-3
• Burmeister, Karl Heinz; Kuhn, Elmar L., Moser, Eva u.a.: Die Grafen von Montfort. Geschichte und Kultur. (= Kunst am See; Band 8). Gessler, Friedrichshafen 1982, ISBN 3-922137-16-4
• Cawley, Charles (2001), Medieval Lands - Foundation for Medieval Genealogy, Grafen von Montfort, fmg.ac

References[]

External links[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to House of Montfort.

• Genealogy of the counts of Montfort