County of Regenstein

County of Regenstein
Grafschaft Regenstein
State of the Holy Roman Empire
← 1160–1599 →
Coat of arms
Capital		Derenburg
Government		County
Historical era		Middle Ages
•	Partitioned from     County of Blankenburg	1160 1160
•	County of     Regenstein-Heimburg	1366
•	Personal union     with Blankenburg	1368
•	Joined     Lower Saxon Circle	1500
•	Fell to     Bishopric of Halberstadt	1599 1599
•	Acquired by     Brandenburg-Prussia	1648

The County of Regenstein was a mediaeval statelet of the Holy Roman Empire.

History

Ruins of Regenstein Castle

The counts of Regenstein Castle near Heimburg were first mentioned in an 1169 deed, with Count Conrad of Regenstein, son of Poppo I, Count of Blankenburg (1095–1164), himself a nephew of Count Reinhard, Bishop of Halberstadt from the Ripuarian House of Reginbodo.^[1]

The most renowned Count of Regenstein was Albert II (1310–49),^[2] who in the 1330s was frequently in dispute with the leaders of the surrounding estates like the Halberstadt bishops and the abbess of Quedlinburg. These tales were romanticised in the ballad The Robber Count (German: Der Raubgraf) by Gottfried August Bürger, melodized by Johann Philipp Kirnberger and the novel of the same name by Julius Wolff.^[3]

In the 15th century the comital family relocated its seat to Blankenburg; Regenstein Castle lapsed and was left to ruin. The last scion of the comital family, Count John Ernest, died in 1599. With Blankenburg it fell back to the Bishopric of Halberstadt. Shortly thereafter Blankenburg and Regenstein were separated. Regenstein remained with Halberstadt, while Blankenburg was annexed and held by the Dukes of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel.

Counts of Regenstein

• Siegfried (-1073), brother of Konrad, Count of Blankenburg-Regenstein
• Henry (-1235), son
• Siegfried II (-1251), son
• Ulric, Count of Regenstein-Heimburg (-1267), brother

• Ulric III (1287–1322)
• Albert II (1310–1349), son
• Albert III (1341–1365), son

• John Ernest, Count of Blankenburg and Regenstein (-1599)

Notes

References

Lower Saxon Circle (1500–1806) of the Holy Roman Empire Ecclesiastical Bremen1 Halberstadt1 Hildesheim Lübeck Magdeburg1 Ratzeburg2 Schwerin1 Secular Bremen3 Brunswick and Lunenburg Blankenburg4 Calenberg5 Celle5 Grubenhagen6 Hanover7 Wolfenbüttel Holstein Glückstadt Gottorp8 Pinneberg9 Mecklenburg Güstrow10 Schwerin Strelitz11 Rantzau12 Regenstein Saxe-Lauenburg5 Cities Bremen Goslar Hamburg Lübeck Mühlhausen Nordhausen 1 until 1648.   2 until 1701.   3 from 1648.   4 until 1731.   5 until 1705.   6 until 1596.   7 from 1708.   8 until 1773.   9 until 1640.   10 until 1695.   11 from 1701.   12 until 1734. Circles est. 1500: Bavarian, Swabian, Upper Rhenish, Lower Rhenish–Westphalian, Franconian, (Lower) Saxon Circles est. 1512: Austrian, Burgundian, Upper Saxon, Electoral Rhenish     ·     Unencircled territories

Coordinates: 51°48′54″N 10°57′36″E / 51.815°N 10.960°E / 51.815; 10.960