The House of Henneberg was a medieval German comital family (Grafen) which from the 11th century onwards held large territories in the Duchy of Franconia. Their county was raised to a princely county (Gefürstete Grafschaft) in 1310.
Upon the extinction of the line in the late 16th century, most of the territory was inherited by the Saxon House of Wettin and subsequently incorporated into the Thuringian estates of its Ernestine branch.
Origins
The distant origins of this family are speculative yet seem to originate in the Middle Rhine Valley, east of modern-day France. Charibert, a nobleman in Neustria is the earliest recorded ancestor of the family, dating before 636. Five generations pass between Charibert and the next descendant of note, Robert III of Worms. Both the Capetian dynasty and the Popponids (Elder House of Babenberg) are direct male lineal descendants of Count Robert I and therefore referred to as Robertians. Of the Popponids, the Henneberg are most likely to descend from Poppo, Duke of Thuringia.
The designation Babenberger, from the castle of Bamberg(Babenberch), was established in the 12th century by the chronicler Otto of Freising, himself a member of the Babenberg family. The later Younger or Austrian House of Babenberg, which ruled what became the Duchy of Austria, claimed to come of the Elder Babenberg dynasty. However, the descent of the first margrave Leopold I of Austria († 994) from the Elder Babenberger remains uncertain.
County of Henneberg
Henneberg map dated 1594 but probably reflecting an earlier time
In the 11th century, the dynasty's estates around the ancestral seat Henneberg Castle near Meiningen belonged to the German stem duchy of Franconia. They were located southwest of the Rennsteig ridge in the Thuringian Forest, then forming the border with the possessions held by the Landgraves of Thuringia in the north. In 1096 one Count Godebold II of Henneberg served as a burgrave of the Würzburg bishops, his father Poppo had been killed in battle in 1078. In 1137 he established Vessra Abbey near Hildburghausen as the family's house monastery.
The counts lost their position as the bishops were raised to "Dukes of Franconia" in the 12th century. Nevertheless, in the course of the War of the Thuringian Succession upon the death of Landgrave Henry Raspe, Count Herman I of Henneberg (1224–1290) in 1247 received the Thuringian lordship of Schmalkalden from the Wettin margrave Henry III of Meissen. After the extinction of the Bavarian House of Andechs upon the death of Duke Otto II of Merania in 1248, the Counts of Henneberg also inherited their Franconian lordship of Coburg (then called the "new lordship", later Saxe-Coburg).
In 1274 the Henneberg estates were divided into the Schleusingen, Aschach-Römhild and Hartenberg branches. Count Berthold VII of Henneberg-Schleusingen (1272–1340) was elevated to princely status in 1310, his estates comprised the towns of Schmalkalden, Suhl and Coburg. In 1343 the Counts of Hennberg also purchased the Thuringian town of Ilmenau. The Coburg lands passed to the Saxon House of Wettin upon the marriage of Countess Catherine of Henneberg to Margrave Frederick III of Meissen in 1347.
After the Imperial Reform of 1500, the County of Henneberg formed the northernmost part of the Franconian Circle, bordering on the Upper Saxon Ernestine duchies and the lands of the Upper Rhenish prince-abbacy of Fulda in the northwest. A thorn in the side remained the enclave of Meiningen, a fief held by the Bishops of Würzburg, which was not acquired by the counts until 1542.
(Note: There are two manners for numbering the rulers of this noble family: birth numbers or regnal numbers. Albeit the birth number is more commonly used, the table uses the sequential regnal numbers presented in Stammliste von Henneberg, to avoid confusion or holes in the counting. According to this alternative numbering, there's a different counting for Frankenstein and Lichtenberg (from 1190 onwards). All the other members of the family use one only counting. However, even this alternative counting is not perfect: it counts only the ruling members, but by birth order, which means that people with higher count may start to rule first than others. These cases will be pointed out in the table.)
Children of Poppo VI, divided their inheritance. In 1218, Poppo VII inherited Wurzburg from his nephew. In 1234, Otto sold Botenlauben to the Diocese of Würzburg.
After her husband's premature death, and without descendants herself, her county went, after her own death, to her brother-in-law, the Count of Frankenstein.
Between 26 April 1326 and 25 March 1327 aged 55–57
In 1312 inherited, from his sister-in-law, the county of Irmelshausen. Despite having children, his descendants were displaced from Frankenstein in favor of his younger brother Louis.
Children of Henry VI, divided their inheritance. In 1360, Sophia sold Schmalkalden to her uncle, John II. All the rest of the inheritances passed to the heiresses' descendants.
After his brother's death, he abandoned clergy and asserted his claim to the region of Kaltennordheim. After his death, the region returned to Schleusingen.
Children of William II, divided their inheritance between them, and also, by force, with their uncle, Henry the Restless. Already part of the clergy, John eventually resigned his portion of the inheritance at Osterburg in 1473.
Sons of William IV, co-ruled, and neither of them left descendants. After their death, the county was divided between the Electorate of Hesse and the Electorate of Saxony.
Evolution of the seals of the coat of arms of the Counts of Henneberg, 1202-1237[27]
The original arms of the Counts of Henneberg was a plain eagle. It was shown on the seal of Count Poppo VI in 1185 and his sons Berthold II and Poppo VII in 1202. The latter also used another coat of arms, first appearing around 1212, displaying a shield Partedper fess, above a double-headed eagle wings displayed and expanded, below chequy in three horizontal rows. The addition of the chequy may refer to the walls of Castle Botenlauben. A later depiction of the same arms, in the Weingarten Manuscript, depicting Count Otto of Bottenloube, adds the tintures; Parted per fess, above Or a double-headed eagle sable displayed and expanded, below chequy in gules and silver in five horizontal rows. This coat of arms continued to be used until at least 1280.[27]
A new coat of arms seems to have been introduced by Poppo VII and first appears in 1237, and depicts the more familiar arms of a Hen standing on a mountain, where the hen and the mountain (Berg) are canting arms for the name Henneberg.[27]
^Irmelshausen separated from Lichtenberg in 1167, was annexed to Botenlauben/Hildenburg, and then sold to Coburg in 1251
^Botenlauben was sold to the Diocese of Wurzburg in 1234; Hildenburg was sold in 1251.
^After the sell of Aschach in 1390, the seat of the branch was changed again to Hartenberg.
^Despite ascending first than Poppo V, Poppo VI was younger than him. That may be the reason he is numbered higher.
^Despite ascending later than Poppo VI, Poppo V was older than him. That may be the reason he is numbered lower. Also, from this point on, the rulers of Frankenstein and Lichtenberg have a separate counting from the rest of the Henneberg lands.
^The rulers' counting includes Henry I of Irmelshausen. Alternatively counted Henry III.
^ abcdefDetlev Schwennicke: Europäische Stammtafeln, Neue Folge, Band XVI., Tafel 146, Verlag: Vittorio Klostermann, Frankfurt a. M. 1995, ISBN3-465-02741-8
Schwennicke, Detlev. Europäische Stammtafeln: Stammtafeln zur Geschichte der Europäischen Staaten, Neue Folge. [European Family Trees: Family Trees for the History of European States, New Series.] BAND II, Tafel 10:Die Robertiner I und die Anfänge des Hauses Capet, 922-923 König der Westfranken, Marburg, Verlag von J.A. Stargardt (1984)
Historische Landkarte: Grafschaft Henneberg 1755 mit den Ämtern Schleusingen, Suhl, Kühndorf mit Bennshausen, Reprint 2003, Verlag Rockstuhl, ISBN3-936030-15-4
Johannes Mötsch: Regesten des Archivs der Grafen von Henneberg-Römhild. Volumes 1 und 2. Böhlau, Köln etc. 2006, ISBN978-3-412-35905-8
