Limburg Stirum

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The house of Limburg Stirum, which adopted its name in the 12th century from the castle of Limburg an der Lenne in what is now Germany, descends from the Ezzonen dynasty in the 9th century.

Current Arms of the Counts of Limburg Stirum

The surviving line of the Ezzonen descends from Adolf I of Lotharingia, son of Hermann I "Pusillus", count palatine of Lotharingia. Its members became Counts of Berg with Adolf I of Berg, Vogt of Werden Abbey in 1050. The oldest line of Counts of Berg, from which also descend the dukes of Cleves, Jülich and Berg, the dukes of Nevers and Bouillon, the counts von der Marck and Schleiden, etc., takes from 1166 the name of Altena (on the Lenne, Westphalia), from 1216 Isenberg (on the Rhine, Hattingen) and from 1246 Limburg, from the name of the Castle on the Lenne the Duke Henry III of Limburg had built for his nephew Dietrich of Isenberg. The line 'Stirum' still alive today descends from Dietrich's second son Johann.

Since the 9th Century, without counting the side lines of Cleves, Marck, Berg, Jülich, etc. mentioned above, the family counted five Counts Palatine of Lotharingia, several Dukes of Westphalia, Bavaria, Carinthia and Swabia , seven Archbishops of Cologne, one Prince-Bishop of Speyer, more than ten Bishops in the Holy Roman Empire, and at least two Saints of the Catholic Church (Saint Richenza, celebrated on 21 March, and Saint Engelbert of Cologne, celebrated on 7th November).

They held a seat in the Holy Roman Empire's Imperial Diet until 1800. The family divided in three lines in 1644; the oldest, still alive, obtained Bronkhorst and Borculo, the second, extinct in 1800, obtained the immediate lordship of Gemen and Illereichen, and the third, extinct in 1809, obtained the immediate lordships of Styrum and later Oberstein.

Today's members are mostly found in Belgium and The Netherlands.

[edit] Literature

Genealogische Handbuch des Adels, Gräfliche Häuser A Band II, 1955;
W. Gf v. Limburg Stirum, "Stamtafel der Graven van Limburg Stirum", 's Gravenhage 1878;
A.M.H.J. Stokvis, "Manuel d'Histoire, de Genealogie et de Chronologie de tous les Etats du Globe", Tome III, Leiden 1890-93;
W. K. Prins v. Isenburg, "Stammtafeln zur Geschichte der Europaischen Staaten", 2. Aufl., Marburg/Lahn, 1953.