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50-448: Palatinate-Sulzbach was partitioned from Palatinate-Zweibrücken upon the death of Wolfgang, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken in 1569. His will provided that Palatinate-Sulzbach should be created out of Palatinate-Zweibrücken and ruled by his younger son Otto Henry . Otto Henry died in 1604 without any heirs so Palatinate-Sulzbach passed to Palatinate-Neuburg . In 1614, Palatinate-Sulzbach was partitioned from Palatinate-Neuburg following

100-593: A Prince exercising the head of state's authority on behalf of Charles XII in 1714 was forced to leave a year after his death in 1719. From 1725 to 1778, the counts palatine resided in Zweibrücken Castle ; they then moved to Karlsberg Castle near Homburg , to emphasize their claim to inherit the Duchy of Bavaria . Members of the ruling family were buried in the castle church in Meisenheim and later in

150-538: A national church council was created; its membership consisting of secular councillors. From the beginning, the lay element played a special role in the church in Zweibrücken. The Reformation revived the ancient office of the Elder , a layman chosen by the community, who would supervise the lifestyle of the congregation, the pastor, the funds and the property of the parish. Around 1720, Palatinate-Zweibrücken added

200-551: Is the oldest church in Zweibrücken, a late-Gothic Protestant hall church built from 1493 to 1514 as a gift from Alexander, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken after his return from a pilgrimage to the Holy Land ; descendant counts and dukes of the line are buried in its crypt . After Louis' death, the duchy was not divided. His testament required dukes Alexander and Kaspar to rule the duchy jointly. However, Alexander declared his older brother mentally ill, locked him up and ruled

250-528: The Rheinkreis , known after 1837 simply as Pfalz (Palatinate) and sometimes called Rheinpfalz (Rhenish Palatinate). This area largely corresponds with the modern Palatinate region and Saarpfalz-Kreis . In the duchy, there was no authority that would have limited the power of the Duke. Even the urban population were legally serfs until that status was repealed by John I on 21 April 1571 (although

300-755: The Counts Palatine of the Rhine through the union of the heiress Anna of Veldenz with Stephen, Count Palatine of Simmern-Zweibrücken . The rule of the Upper County of Sponheim was thus shared between Baden and Palatinate-Simmern - Zweibrücken or Palatinate-Birkenfeld ; the rule of the Lower County of Sponheim roughly between Baden and the Electorate of the Palatinate . The Reformation

350-717: The County of Zweibrücken and the County of Veldenz . Palatine Zweibrücken ceased to exist in 1797 when it was annexed by France. After the Congress of Vienna in 1815, some parts of it were returned to the last Duke, King Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria , who joined them with other former territories on the left bank of the Rhine to form the Rheinkreis , later the Rhenish Palatinate . The County Palatine of Simmern-Zweibrücken had been created in 1410 for Stephen ,

400-533: The Fifth Crusade . Gottfried had married Adelheid of Sayn , sister of the last Count of Sayn, Henry III . His estate was divided between their three sons John I, Henry, and Simon I. Simon, the youngest brother, received the Lower County of Sponheim and took up his residence in the castle of Kauzenburg near Kreuznach. Henry married the heiress of Heinsberg , received a portion of the Sayn inheritance, and founded

450-693: The French First Republic occupied the Left Bank of the Rhine , including the territory of Zweibrücken. The French annexation of this territory was recognised by the Holy Roman Emperor in a secret clause of the Treaty of Campo Formio signed on 17 October 1797. On 4 November 1797, the occupied territory was incorporated into the newly founded French département of Mont-Tonnerre , with its capital at Mainz. The 1799 extinction of

500-536: The Holy Roman Empire that lasted from the 11th century until the early 19th century. The name comes from the municipality of Sponheim , where the counts had their original residence . The territory was located roughly between the rivers Rhine , Moselle , and Nahe , in the present state of Rhineland-Palatinate , around the Hunsrück region. It bordered the Electorate of Trier to the north and west,

550-657: The House of Sponheim . The Sponheim- Starkenburg line ruled over the Upper, Hither, or Farther County of Sponheim ( Hintere Grafschaft Sponheim ), based on Starkenburg , and the Sponheim-Kreuznach line over the Lower, Anterior, or Fore County of Sponheim ( Vordere Grafschaft Sponheim ), based on Kreuznach . This partition took place among the sons of Count Gottfried III of Sponheim , who died abroad while participating in

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600-610: The Raugraviate , the Electorate of Mainz and the Electorate of the Palatinate to the east and the County of Veldenz to the south and west, among other states. The family of Sponheim, or Spanheim (German: Spanheimer ), has been documented since the 11th century. There are two main branches which are certainly related, but whose exact relationship is still debated. The branch of the Dukes of Carinthia descends from Siegfried I, Count of Sponheim . The Rhenish branch, which retained

650-700: The Reformed confession in 1588. In dies decretorius of 1624, Zweibrücken was still ruled by a Reformed prince, so under the Cuius regio, eius religio rule of the 1648 Peace of Westphalia , this became the established religion. In the period of the French Reunion (1680–1697), Catholic churches were again permitted and in 1697 under the Swedish administration after the Treaty of Ryswick , Lutheran congregations were re-established as well. Administratively,

700-775: The Thirty Years' War , the duchy was occupied by imperial forces and Count Palatine John II of Zweibrücken had to flee to Metz . His son and successor Frederick returned in 1645. When Frederick died without a male heir in 1661, he was succeeded by his cousin Frederick Louis . During his reign, the land was occupied by France in 1676. Zweibrücken was a fief of the Bishopric of Metz , which had been annexed by France. In 1680, France, therefore, annexed Zweibrücken as well. In 1681, Frederick Louis died in exile, without male descendants. The 1697 Treaty of Ryswick returned

750-656: The Thirty Years' War . After the Napoleonic Wars , most of the county became a part of Prussia , and the region around Birkenfeld became part of Oldenburg (as the Principality of Birkenfeld ). Some small formerly-Sponheim-areas became parts of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (the Principality of Lichtenberg ; from 1826 part of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha ) and Hesse-Homburg ; these areas passed to Prussia in 1834 and 1866 respectively. The ruling dynasties of Baden and Wittelsbach received extensive territories in exchange for

800-746: The simultaneum , allowed Jews to live in Sulzbach in 1666, and established an important printing industry. It became clear during the reigns of his successors that Palatinate-Sulzbach would inherit the Electorate of the Palatinate following the death of Charles III Philip , but this would only occur in 1742 for Charles Theodore . This German history article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Palatinate-Zweibr%C3%BCcken The Duchy of Palatinate-Zweibrücken ( German : Herzogtum Pfalz-Zweibrücken ; French : Duché de Palatinat-Deux-Ponts or Comté palatin de Deux-Ponts )

850-759: The Alexander Church in Zweibrücken (badly damaged in World War II ). Gustav was the last Count Palatine of the Kleeburg line; when he died in 1731 without a male heir, the duchy was seized by the Empire. In 1734, the Emperor invested Count Palatine Christian III of Birkenfeld with Zweibrücken. Birkenfeld had been split off from Zweibrücken for a cadet line in 1584. His son Christian IV converted to Catholicism in 1758. During Christian IV's reign,

900-454: The Counts of Sponheim founded the monastery of Sponheim in the 12th century, where in the 11th century a church had already been built. The Benedictine abbot from Sponheim, Johannes Trithemius , chronicled the counts of Sponheim and accumulated a large collection of documents on the history of the area. Around 1225, the county was divided in two, with each portion ruled by a different branch of

950-607: The County of Molsheim. In 1559, the Electoral line died out and Wolfgang inherited a share in the Further County of Sponheim. He used these large gains to give each of his five sons some territory: the independent Palatine Neuburg and Palatine Zweibrücken, which fell to John I's second son in 1569, and the non-sovereign collateral lines Palatine Sulzbach , Palatine Vohenstrauß-Parkstein and Palatine Birkenfeld . During

1000-528: The County of Sponheim, descends from Stephan I, Count of Sponheim . The county originated from various inheritances which were united in the family's hands, including possessions from the Counties of Nellenburg and Stromberg and jurisdiction of the Gaugrafen of Trechirgau (Berthold-Bezelin dynasty). The Sponheim comital office is supposedly derived from the comital office of Trechirgau. The family of

1050-620: The County of Veldenz from his grandfather's inheritance and the southern half of Palatinate-Zweibrücken-Simmern, which included the former County of Zweibrücken , acquired by the Palatinate in 1385. Among Stephen's titles were Count Palatine of the Rhine and Duke in Bavaria . Both sons inherited the right to use these titles, which is why the two newly formed principalities of Palatine-Simmern and Palatine-Zweibrücken were usually described as Counties Palatine . When Palatine Zweibrücken

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1100-614: The Court Judicial Order of 1605, the Lower Court Order of 1657, and later the Criminal Procedure of 1724, and Marriage and Guardianship Regulations. In areas where no state law was available, imperial law applied. Administratively, the country was divided into eight districts: Zweibrücken, Homburg, Lichtenberg, Meisenheim, Trarbach, Kastellaun, Bergzabern and Guttenberg. In the 1520s, Reformation

1150-611: The French acquisitions laid out in the Treaty of Campo Formio. In 1806, Maximilian Joseph became King of Bavaria, as Maximilian I Joseph, and the role of Elector ceased to exist. After the Congress of Vienna in 1815, some parts of the former County Palatine were returned to Maximilian Joseph, now King Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria, together with parts of the former Electorate and territories formerly owned by different families. Maximilian Joseph merged these left-bank territories to form

1200-602: The Palatinate , who died of disease after returning from the Battle of Nicopolis at the age of 21. The marriage was childless, but nevertheless a small portion of the Lower County (less than 1/5) was granted as dowry to the Electors Palatine. In 1437 the Sponheim-Starkenburg family became extinct in the male line, and the counties were jointly ruled as a condominium by female-line heirs from then until

1250-490: The Reformed Church was organized similarly to the secular authorities: each secular district corresponded to a church district headed by a superintendent or an inspector. Priests were state officials and were regularly visited by a commission consisting of the district superintendent, the secular bailiff and a representative of the central administration in Zweibrücken. There was no bishop or church president, although

1300-535: The Sponheim line of the lords of Heinsberg . John became heir to Sayn and to the Upper County of Sponheim, residing first in Starkenburg Castle, and from 1350 at Grevenburg castle at Trarbach . John I's sons divided their father's estate in 1265. Gottfried received the County of Sayn, whose direct heirs are today the counts of Sayn-Wittgenstein . Henry I, Count of Sponheim-Starkenburg became heir to

1350-489: The Upper County of Sponheim. Both territories were extensively fortified throughout the centuries, as evidenced by the existence of around 21 castles or castle ruins, many of which can still be visited today. Feuds with the neighbouring Electorates of Mainz and Trier were common, giving birth to southwestern German legends such as the tale of Michel Mort . The Upper and Lower Counties were also not always on good terms with each other regarding political affiliation. During

1400-411: The boundary. Count Walram of Sponheim-Kreuznach reunited the Lower County. Walram became known as an active military leader involved in many actions, including inter-Sponheim ones. In 1417, the Sponheim-Kreuznach line became extinct and the Sponheim-Starkenburg line ruled alone for about 20 years over most of the whole county. Count Walram's granddaughter married Ruprecht Pipan, heir to the Electorate of

1450-526: The death of Count Palatine Philip Louis for his son Augustus . It consisted of two noncontiguous areas separated by the Electorate of Bavaria . It was bordered on the west by the territory of the Imperial city of Nuremberg and on the east by the Kingdom of Bohemia . Augustus' successor Christian Augustus was a tolerant ruler who allowed his subjects to choose their religious denomination, introduced

1500-589: The dispute between the German kings Frederick the Fair and Louis the Bavarian , the Upper County supported Louis, while Lower Sponheim advocated for Frederick. Louis's victory resulted in political strengthening of Upper Sponheim. Around that time, the Lower County had itself been administratively divided between the brothers John II of Sponheim-Kreuznach and Simon II of Sponheim-Kreuznach, with Soonwald forest defining

1550-537: The duchy alone. Alexander also waged war on the Electoral Palatinate; his troops looted the Palatinate during the Landshut War of Succession . In 1505, when the war ended with an imperial decision, some territory was transferred from the Electoral Palatinate to Palatine Zweibrücken. Alexander concluded an inheritance treaty with the new Elector Philip , which considerably improved relations between

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1600-605: The duchy to its rightful owner, who was a cousin-once-removed of Frederick Louis, Count Palatine Charles II of Kleeburg , who was also king of Sweden as Charles XI . The personal union with Sweden lasted until the death of Charles XII of Sweden in 1718. When Charles XII died without children, the Swedish crown was inherited by his sister Ulrika Eleonora , while Zweibrücken went to his cousin Gustav, Duke of Zweibrücken . Because of this, exiled Polish King Stanisław Leszczyński who had been named Count Palatine of Zweibrücken as

1650-512: The early 19th century. These rightful successors, who took the title of Count at Sponheim ( Graf zu Sponheim ), were the Margraves of Baden , who descended from Mechtild of Sponheim, and the Counts of Veldenz , who descended from Loretta of Sponheim; both Mechtild and Loretta were daughters of Count John III of Sponheim-Starkenburg . The County of Veldenz was soon inherited by a collateral line of

1700-572: The fragmentation of the area was reduced by exchange of territories. For example, in 1768, Odernheim and half of Molsheim where transferred to the Electoral Palatinate , in exchange for Neuburg, the district of Hagenbach, district of Selz and Selz Abbey . In 1776, the "Hinder" County of Sponheim was divided between Zweibrücken and Baden, with Zweibrücken receiving Kastellaun, Traben-Trarbach with Starkenburg and Allenbach, and Baden receiving Birkenfeld, Frauenburg and Herrstein. In 1793

1750-421: The lion of Jülich, the escarbuncle of Cleves, the lion of Berg, the red and silver chequy fess of Mark, the triple chevrons of Ravensberg and the bar of Moers. 49°15′N 7°22′E  /  49.250°N 7.367°E  / 49.250; 7.367 County of Sponheim The County of Sponheim ( German : Grafschaft Sponheim , former spelling: Spanheim, Spanheym) was an independent territory in

1800-528: The senior Wittelsbach branches made the last Count Palatine of Zweibrücken, Maximilian Joseph , Elector of Bavaria , as Maximilian IV Joseph, as well as Elector Palatine , as Maximilian II Joseph. Christian IV Reign, Regiment Royal Deux-Ponts (Zweibrücken) French Expeditionary Regiments in the American Revolution. Palatine Zweibrücken formally ceased to exist by the Treaty of Lunéville in 1801, which reaffirmed and recognised internationally

1850-410: The situation in the city of Zweibrücken had already been somewhat eased by decrees from the years 1352 and 1483). Young men were required to serve six years in the militia. The highest administrative body was the cabinet ; in whose meetings the Duke participated. The treasury was responsible for finance, mining and forestry. There was no separation between the judiciary and the administration. Justice

1900-421: The superintendent of Zweibrücken had a more prominent position than his colleagues. The parish churches of the individual districts convened regularly; sometimes all clergy in the duchy convened in a national synod. There was no institutionalized national church council; initially, this function was exercised by the secular cabinet college, assisted by the superintendent of Zweibrücken. In the 18th century, however,

1950-536: The symbols of the United Duchies of Jülich-Cleves-Berg to its coat of arms. It was parted per pale. The dexter side was quartered, in the first and fourth quarter the Palatine Lion , in second and third the Bavarian silver and blue "bendy lozengy" pattern, and overall a silver shield with a crowned blue lion for Zweibrücken itself. The sinister side was quarterly of six (in two rows of three), combining

2000-532: The third surviving son of prince-elector King Rupert . In 1444, Stephen inherited the County of Veldenz from his father-in-law, Frederick III, Count of Veldenz . In 1444, Stephen decided to divide his possessions between his sons, Frederick I and Louis I . When Stephen abdicated in 1453, the elder son Frederick I received the County of Sponheim and the northern half of the County Palatine of Simmern-Zweibrücken . The younger son, Louis I, received

2050-451: The two countries. Alexander and Louis II introduced primogeniture , the rule that the whole of the principality would henceforth be inherited by the eldest son. Bischweiler was acquired in 1542, during the regency of Count Palatine Rupert of Veldenz. In 1544, the cadet branch of Palatine Veldenz split off. In 1553, the County of Lützelstein (now La Petite-Pierre in Alsace )

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2100-575: Was Rupert, Count Palatine of Veldenz , who ruled in behalf of his nephew Wolfgang , who was still a minor. Theologically, Schwebel followed the lead of Martin Bucer in Strasbourg . After Schwebel died in 1540, Wolfgang took over in 1544. While chancellor Ulrich Sitzinger and his 1557 extensive Church Order were influenced by Philipp Melanchthon , Wolfgang later adopted a stricter Gnesio-Lutheran policy. After Wolfgang's death, his son John I joined

2150-656: Was a duchy of the Holy Roman Empire with full voting rights to the Reichstag . Its capital was Zweibrücken . The reigning house , a branch of the Wittelsbach dynasty, was also the Royal House of Sweden from 1654 to 1720. Palatine Zweibrücken was established as a separate principality in 1459, when Stephen, Count Palatine of Simmern-Zweibrücken divided his territory, Palatinate-Simmern and Zweibrücken , between his two sons. The younger son, Louis I , received

2200-468: Was a larger district, subdivided into Unterämter . Guttenberg, Seltz and Hagenbach and Bischwiller were French fiefs, the others were German. During the reign of Louis I, who conducted four unsuccessful feuds against his cousin Frederick I, Elector Palatine , the districts of Lambsheim, Wachenheim and Waldböckelheim were lost to the Electoral Palatinate . Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor , who

2250-461: Was also in conflict with the Electoral Palatinate, appointed Louis I as his field marshal and recognized Palatine Zweibrücken as a duchy. Louis I stimulated mining and simplified the administration of the duchy. Initially, Meisenheim was the capital . In 1477, the Electoral Palatinate threatened Meisenheim and the capital had to be moved to Zweibrücken , where it remained until 1793. Alexander's Church ( Alexanderskirche  [ de ] )

2300-409: Was created in 1444, it consisted of the districts of Armsheim , Landsburg, Lauterecken , Burg Lichtenberg , Meisenheim and Veldenz from the County of Veldenz. In 1459, the districts Falkenburg Castle , Guttenberg, Haßloch , Kirkel , Lambsheim , Oggersheim , Wachenheim , Wegelnburg and Zweibrücken from Palatine Simmern were added. An Amt was an administrative district; an Oberamt

2350-546: Was instituted in the County of Sponheim in the year 1557, led by Friedrich II, Count Palatine of Simmern . The county became an important outpost of Protestant territory, with exclaves on the Moselle such as Enkirch , Trarbach , or Winningen , bordering as it did the Catholic Electorate of Trier . Warfare with neighbouring Catholic states would take place intermittently through the centuries, notably including

2400-543: Was introduced in several towns in Palatine Zweibrücken, including Zweibrücken itself, where Johann Schwebel was the duke's chaplain and later parson. Schwebel was also a leading figure when several pastors of the duchy signed the Wittenberg Concord and when the first attempts were made to form a uniform territorial church with the two small Church Orders from 1533 and 1539. Regent at that time

2450-752: Was meted out by officials with the rank of Schultheiß . The highest court in the land was the Court of Appeals in Zweibrücken; its traditions are continued today by Zweibrücken's Oberlandesgericht . After 1774, appeals from the court in Zweibrücken to the Reichskammergericht were no longer possible. In the Alsatian parts of the country, however, appeals to the Conseil souverain d’Alsace in Colmar were possible from about 1680. Important statutes were

2500-677: Was purchased from the Electoral Palatinate. Count Palatine Wolfgang dissolved the monasteries in his territory, thereby augmenting his revenues, and acquired the territory of the Disibodenberg Abbey. In 1557, he inherited Palatine Neuburg , half of the Hinder ("Further") County of Sponheim and half of the Lordship of Guttenberg from the Palatinate under the Treaty of Heidelberg; this more than doubled his territory. In 1558, he dissolved Hornbach Abbey and took its territory and half

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