County of Werdenberg

Territories of the counts of Werdenberg, Werdenberg-Sargans and Montfort in the 14th century

Coat of arms from the Zürich armorial. The heraldic charge is a Gonfanon, derived from that of the Tübingen and Montfort coats of arms.

Werdenberg was a county of the Holy Roman Empire, within the Duchy of Swabia, situated on either side of the Alpine Rhine, including parts of what is now St. Gallen (Switzerland), Liechtenstein, and Vorarlberg (Austria). It was partitioned from Montfort in 1230. In 1260, it was divided into Werdenberg and Sargans.

History[]

It is named for Werdenberg Castle, today located in the municipality of Grabs in the Swiss canton of St. Gallen, seat of the counts of Werdenberg (Werdenberger), The family was descended from count Hugo II of Tübingen (d. 1180), who married Elisabeth, daughter of the last count of Bregenz, thus inheriting substantial territory along the Alpine Rhine. His son was Hugo I of Montfort (d. 1228), whose son Rudolf I is considered the founder of the Werdenberg line. Rudolf's sons Hugo I of Werdenberg-Heiligenberg and Hartmann I of Werdenberg divided the southern territory of the Montfort inheritance, establishing the two lines of Werdenberg-Heiligenberg and Werdenberg-Sargans.

In 1308 Werdenberg was further divided into Werdenberg-Heiligenberg (Linzgau) and Werdenberg-Werdenberg. The Vaduz line of Counts of Werdenberg died out in 1406 and Vaduz passed to the Barons of Brandis.

The family fractured further into a number of cadet branches. The line of Werdenberg-Heiligenberg-Sigmaringen-Trochtelfingen remained influential in the early 16th century in the context of the Swabian League but was extinct in 1534.

The Werdenberg feud (Werdenbergfehde) was a major series of feuds between the Werdenberg and their neighbours in the late 15th century, most notably their conflict with the von Zimmern family of Swabia. The feud between the lords of Werdenberg and of Zimmern escalated in 1488, rising to an importance above merely regional concerns, influencing the imperial policy of Frederick III and Maximilian I regarding the formation of the Swabian League, the Imperial Reforms and the history of the Old Swiss Confederacy.

Counts of Werdenberg[]

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

House of Tübingen[]

Partitions of Werdenberg 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 Werdenberg, 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
		c.1190	1230-1244/7/8	September 1244,[2] 7 October 1247 or 19 May 1248[2]	Montfort	c.1230 six children	Abdicated from Montfort to inherit Werdenberg. For his brother's descendants see Counts of Montfort. After his death Werdenberg was divided.
		c.1230	1244/7/8-1271	3 April 1271	Werdenberg-Sargans	26 June 1256 or 11 July 1258 three children	Son of Rudolph I, inherited Sargans.
		1231	1247-1280	7 December 1280[2]	Werdenberg-Heiligenberg	11 February 1263 six children	Son of Rudolph I, inherited Heiligenberg.
		c.1265	1280-1307	25 March 1305/7[2]	Werdenberg-Heiligenberg	3 June 1281 eleven children
		c.1257	1271-1323	18 March 1323	Werdenberg-Sargans	1282 five children	Sons of Hartmann I, probably ruled jointly. Hugo became Knight Hospitaller, and Hartmann a canon at Bamberg.
		c.1260		After 1332[2]	Werdenberg-Sargans	Unmarried
		c.1260	1271-c.1282?	After 1282[2]	Werdenberg-Sargans
		c.1283	1307-1365	16 May 1364 or 1 October 1367[2]	Werdenberg-Heiligenberg	c.1330 three children	Sons of Hugo II, ruled jointly.[2]
		c.1280	1307-1329/34	16 August 1329 or 16 October 1334[2]	Werdenberg-Heiligenberg	c.1320[2] no children
		c.1280	1307-1323	16 October 1323[2]	Werdenberg-Heiligenberg	Unmarried
		c.1293	1323-1325	1325	Werdenberg-Sargans	Unmarried	Sons of Rudolph II, ruled jointly. Rudolph IV assume alone the rulership of Sargans after the death of his older brother and namesake. In 1338, after the death of Count Donat of Vaz, he could inherit a part of his domains, as husband of Ursula.
		c.1310	1323-1361	21 January or 15 March 1361[2]	Werdenberg-Sargans	15 August 1337 one child
		c.1300	1323-1353/55	15 July 1353 or 21 May 1355[2]	Werdenberg-Vaduz	before 1354 three children	Son of Rudolph II, inherited Vaduz.
		c.1300	1323-1332/34	2 March 1332 or 27 June 1334[2]		c.1317 six children	Son of Rudolph II, inherited Alpeck. After his death, the county was once more divided.
		c.1315?	1332/34-1383	27/8 May 1383[2]	Werdenberg-Trochtelfingen	c.1335 no children after 1344 one child	Sons of Henry II, inherited Trochtelfingen, where they ruled together.[2] Hugo became Knight Hospitaller.
		c.1315?	1332/4-1373	16 February 1373[2]	Werdenberg-Trochtelfingen	Unmarried
		c.1315?	1332/4-1342/9	18 December 1342 or 27 March 1349[2]	Werdenberg-Trochtelfingen
		c.1315?	1332/34-1366/70	14 March 1366/70[2]		I before 1352 two children	Son of Henry II, kept Alpeck.
		c.1320	1353/5-1397	23 January 1397	Werdenberg-Vaduz	before 1395 no children	Sons of Hartmann III, probably ruled jointly. In 1389 Hartmann IV became Bishop at Chur.
		c.1320	1353/5-1365/7	7 July 1365/7[2]	Werdenberg-Vaduz	Unmarried
		c.1320	1353/5-1389	6 September 1416[2]	Werdenberg-Vaduz	Unmarried
		c.1340	1361-1396	16 October 1400	Werdenberg-Sargans	(I) 5 April 1367 one child	In 1396, highly endebted, John pawned Sargans to the Habsburgs, who resold it to the Counts of Toggenburg.
In 1396 Sargans was annexed to the County of Toggenburg[3]
		c.1330	1365-1371/3	22 July 1371 or 6 January 1373	Werdenberg-Heiligenberg	c.1322 one child 3 August 1343 or 5 July 1344 five children	Son of Albert I. After his death, the county was once more divided.
		c.1350	1366-1383	c.1390		two children no children	In 1383 sold his county to the city of Ulm.
In 1383 Alpeck was annexed to Ulm[4]
		c.1360	1371/3-1394	23 February 1418/20	Werdenberg-Heiligenberg-Bludenz	c.1383 six children	Son of Albert II, received Bludenz. In 1394 he sold his lands to the Habsburgs.
In 1394 Bludenz was annexed to Austria
		c.1364	1371/3-1392/3	24 December 1392 or 24 July 1393[2]	Werdenberg-Heiligenberg-Rheineck	c.1375 four children	Sons of Albert II, ruled jointly in Rheineck.[2]
		c.1360	1371/3-1387/90	1 November 1387 or 15 March 1390[2]	Werdenberg-Heiligenberg-Rheineck	II c.1375 four children
		c.1360	1371/3-1402	30 July 1416 or 4 May 1418	Werdenberg-Heiligenberg	c.1380 no children	Son of Albert II, kept Heiligenberg. In 1402 his lands were pawned to his cousins, the Counts of Montfort.
In 1402 Heiligenberg was annexed to Montfort, and in 1485 to Switzerland
		c.1360?	1383-1393	1393	Werdenberg-Trochtelfingen	1370 one child Ida of Toggenburg before 1392 no children	Sons of Eberhard I, ruled jointly.
		c.1360?	1383	1383	Werdenberg-Trochtelfingen	Unmarried
		c.1380	1392-1395	c.1428	Werdenberg-Heiligenberg-Rheineck	c.1399 no children	Son of Henry VI, ruled jointly with his brothers Rudolph and Henry, but the trio lost their lands to the Habsburgs in 1395. However, Hugo was able to recover power by inheriting his cousins county of Vaduz, losing it, however, in 1416, to the Lords of Brandis.
			1397-1416		Werdenberg-Heiligenberg-Vaduz
In 1416 Vaduz was annexed to the Lordship of Brandis, and, after many inheritances, eventually became part of Liechtenstein in 1699.
		c.1388	1392-1395	c.1419	Werdenberg-Heiligenberg-Rheineck	c.1399 no children	Brothers of Hugo VII, co-ruled with him in Rheineck.
		?		1401	Werdenberg-Heiligenberg-Rheineck	Unmarried
In 1395 Rheineck was annexed to Austria
		c.1380?	1393-1416	1416	Werdenberg-Trochtelfingen	six children
		c.1400?	1416-1475	1475	Werdenberg-Trochtelfingen	Unmarried	Sons of Eberhard III, ruled jointly.
[5]		c.1400?	1416-1465	27 April 1465[2]	Werdenberg-Trochtelfingen	1430 seven children
		c.1400?	1416-1439	1439	Werdenberg-Trochtelfingen	Unmarried
In 1436, with the extinction of the Toggenburgs, Sargans returned to Werdenberg family.
		c.1385	1436-1447	1447	Werdenberg-Sargans	before or c.1440 four children	Son of John I, he was restored to the county.
		before or c.1440?	1447-1467	1467	Werdenberg-Sargans	no children	Left no descendants. He was succeeded by his brother.
		c.1442	1467-1483	23 February 1504	Werdenberg-Sargans	(II) before 1461 no children 1463 (June-September) no children	Left no descendants. Highly endebted, sold the county to the Swiss Confederation.
In 1483 Sargans was definitely annexed to Switzerland
[6]		c.1450?	1475-1508	8 August 1508	Werdenberg-Trochtelfingen	Unmarried	Sons of John IV, ruled jointly. John V became Bishop at Augsburg.[2]
		c.1450?	1475-1500	12 March 1500	Werdenberg-Trochtelfingen	1464 seven children
		c.1450?	1475-1503	17 July 1503	Werdenberg-Trochtelfingen	Unmarried
[7]		c.1450?	1475-1505	2 September 1505	Werdenberg-Trochtelfingen
		c.1450?		1505	Werdenberg-Trochtelfingen
John V		c.1450?	1475-1486	1486	Werdenberg-Trochtelfingen
		1494	1508-1534	29 January 1534[2]	Werdenberg-Trochtelfingen	1500 one child no children	Sons of George II, ruled jointly.
		c.1495	1508-1530	12 July 1530[2]	Werdenberg-Trochtelfingen	no children
		c.1495	1508-1522	8 July 1522[2]	Werdenberg-Trochtelfingen	no children
In 1534 Trochtelfingen became divided between Fürstenberg and Austria, but was annexed to Hohenzollern in the following year.

Successor houses in Werdenberg-Vaduz[]

(Note: Numbering restarts)

House of Brandis[]

Werdenberg Castle

• 1416-1456: Wolfhard, son-in-law of Albert III the Elder;
• 1456-1486: Ulrich;
• 1486-1507: Ludwig and Sigismund, brothers.

House of Sulz[]

• 1507-1535: Rudolf I, maternal grandson of Ulrich of Brandis;
• 1535-1556: John Louis;
• 1556-1569: William and Alwig, brothers;
• 1569-1572: Alwig;
• 1572-1611: Rudolf II;
• 1611-1613: John, sold Vaduz to the House of Hohenems.

House of Hohenems[]

• 1613-1640: Kaspar;
• 1640-1646: Jacob Hannibal;
• 1646-1662: Franz Wilhelm I;
• 1662-1686: Ferdinand Carl;
• 1686-1691: Jacob Hannibal Frederick and Franz Wilhelm II, brothers;
• 1691-1712: Jacob Hannibal Frederick, with Franz Wilhelm III (son of Franz Wilhelm I);
• 1712: To the Prince of Liechtenstein.

See also[]

• County of Vaduz
• Lordship of Schellenberg

Footnotes[]

References[]

• Gerhard Köbler, 'Werdenberg (Grafschaft)', in: Historisches Lexikon der deutschen Länder. Die deutschen Territorien vom Mittelalter bis zur Gegenwart 2nd edition Munich 1989, p. 605.
• Fritz Rigendinger: Das Sarganserland im Spätmittelalter. Lokale Herrschaften, die Grafschaft Sargans und die Grafen von Werdenberg-Sargans. Chronos, Zürich 2007.
• Carl Borromäus Alois Fickler: Heiligenberg in Schwaben. Mit einer Geschichte seiner alten Grafen und des von ihnen beherrschten Linzgaues. Macklot, Karlsruhe 1853 [1]
• Gerhard Köbler: Werdenberg (Grafschaft), in: Historisches Lexikon der deutschen Länder. Die deutschen Territorien vom Mittelalter bis zur Gegenwart. 2. verbesserte Auflage, München 1989, S. 605
• Martin Leonhard: Werdenberg, von in German, French and Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland.
• Johann Nepomuk von Vanotti: Geschichte der Grafen von Montfort und von Werdenberg. Belle-Vue bei Konstanz 1845 [2] 209ff.
• Hermann Wartmann (1896), "Werdenberg, Grafen von", Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB) (in German), 41, Leipzig: Duncker & Humblot, pp. 749–759

External links[]

• Media related to House of Werdenberg at Wikimedia Commons