County of Ravensberg

County of Ravensberg
Grafschaft Ravensberg
State of the Holy Roman Empire (until 1806)
1140s – 1807
Coat of arms
Map of part of the Lower Rhenish–Westphalian Circle in
1560, County of Ravensberg highlighted in red
Capital Bielefeld
Government Principality
Historical era Middle Ages
   Otto I, Count of
    Ravensberg
 
1140s 1140s
  Gerhard I, Count of Berg
    and Ravensberg
 
1338
  Joined Westphalian
    Imperial Circle
 
1500
  John III, Duke of
    Jülich-Cleves-Berg
 
1521
  To Brandenburg-Prussia
    by Treaty of Xanten
 
1614
   Disestablished 1807
Preceded by
Succeeded by
County of Calvelage
Minden-Ravensberg

The County of Ravensberg (German: Grafschaft Ravensberg) was a historical county of the Holy Roman Empire. Its territory was in present-day eastern Westphalia, Germany at the foot of the Osning or Teutoburg Forest.

History

Sparrenburg Castle
Historic map of the County of Ravensberg (1798)

Ravensberg was first mentioned in the 12th century; its first capital was Burg Ravensberg. The Counts of Ravensberg then had Sparrenberg Castle built in Bielefeld c. 1240–50, which they made their seat.

The county was later inherited by the Duchy of Berg in 1346, which in turn became part of the Duchy of Jülich-Berg in 1423, and ultimately the United Duchies of Jülich-Cleves-Berg in 1521.

After the War of the Jülich succession, in the Treaty of Xanten in 1614, the County of Ravensberg came to the Margraviate of Brandenburg, which became the Kingdom of Prussia in 1701, and was administered within Minden-Ravensberg from 1719–1807, when it was dissolved during the Napoleonic Wars.

Aside from Bielefeld, other communities in the County of Ravensberg were Borgholzhausen, Halle, Steinhagen, Versmold, Werther, Isselhorst (now part of Gütersloh), Enger, Hiddenhausen, Rödinghausen, Spenge, Herford (except for Falkendiek), Bünde (except for Dünne and Spradow), Vlotho (except for Uffeln), Kirchlengern south of the Werre, Preußisch Oldendorf (except for Hedem and Lashorst) and Bad Oeynhausen south of the Werre.

Rulers

House Calvelage-Ravensberg

House of Jülich

1348-1395 in Personal union with Berg, since 1437 with Jülich-Berg

House of La Marck, Dukes

from 1521 a part of the United Duchies of Jülich-Cleves-Berg

House of Hohenzollern

- from 1614 Margraves of Brandenburg and Kings of Prussia -

To France by the 1807 Treaty of Tilsit, incorporated into the Kingdom of Westphalia

See also

Media related to County of Ravensberg at Wikimedia Commons

Coordinates: 52°05′31.79″N 8°34′14.55″E / 52.0921639°N 8.5707083°E / 52.0921639; 8.5707083

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