Pappenheim-Treuchtlingen

Pappenheim-Treuchtlingen was a statelet in the Holy Roman Empire that existed from 1444 until 1647.

Pappenheim-Treuchtlingen
Pappenheim-Treuchtlingen
1444–1647
Coat of arms of Pappenheim-Treuchtlingen
Coat of arms
StatusState of the Holy Roman Empire
CapitalTreuchtlingen
Common languagesGerman
Religion
Roman Catholic
Lutheran 1559
Roman Catholic 1614
GovernmentFeudal monarchy
Lord 
Historical eraMiddle Ages
• Partitioned from Pappenheim
1444
• Side line Pappenheim-Schwindegg established
1518
• Extinct; inherited by Pappenheim-Schwindegg
1568
• Imperial County
1628
• Extinct
1647
Preceded by
Succeeded by
Pappenheim
Brandenburg-Ansbach
Today part ofGermany

History edit

Treuchtlingen was first mentioned in 1095. By the 13th Century a local line of lords rose in the region, as fiefs of the Burgraves of Nuremberg and later the Margraves of Brandenburg-Ansbach. The Treuchtlingen family died in 1422, and so the fiefs were divided between their heirs: the Seckendorff and Geyern families.

In 1444 the heirs of Haupt II, Marshall of Pappenheim partitioned the family's holdings between themselves. The surroundings of Treuchtlingen, some of them held as fiefs of the Teutonic Order at Ellingen, owned by the Pappenheims passed to George I, Haupt's sixth son. The core hereditary lands of the family were ruled jointly by all branches, and the office of the Imperial Marshal of the Holy Roman Empire was held by the family's most senior agnate. In 1447 George purchased Treuchtlingen castle from the Seckendorffs and made it his seat.

Pappenheim-Treuchtlingen converted to the Lutheran faith in 1559.

In 1518 Ulrich, the younger son of George II, inherited Schwindegg by marriage after the death of Jacob I of Fraunhofen, founding the line of Pappenheim-Schwindegg. The Schwindegg line inherited Treuchtlingen following the death of John George in 1568.

The most notable member of the Treuchtlingen line was Geoffrey Henry, who reigned 1600 – 1632.[1] In 1614 he converted to Roman Catholicism. After the outbreak of the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648), he abandoned his diplomatic career and entered the army, serving as a lieutenant-colonel at Battle of White Mountain in 1620. After being promoted to a colonel and serving with the Spanish forces in Italy and the Grey Leagues, he was sent to suppress a rebellion in Upper Austria in 1626. He later served with Tilly against Denmark and Brunswick, but his attempts to obtain the Principality of Wolfenbüttel failed. In 1628 he was awarded the title of Imperial Count alongside his distant cousin Philip of the Pappenheim-Alesheim line. In 1631 he took part in the notorious Sack of Magdeburg. He died at the Battle of Lützen in 1632.

Geoffrey Henry was succeeded by his only child Wolfgang Adam. After his death in 1647, Treuchtlingen was reclaimed by the margraves of Brandenburg-Ansbach.

Heads of state edit

Lords of Pappenheim-Treuchtlingen (1444 – 1628) edit

Counts of Pappenheim-Treuchtlingen (1628 – 1647) edit

References edit

  1. ^ Barbara Stadtler (1991). Pappenheim und die Zeit des Dreissigjährigen Krieges [Pappenheim and the Era of the Thirty Years' War] (in German).

External links edit

49°03′N 10°52′E / 49.050°N 10.867°E / 49.050; 10.867