County of Werdenberg



Werdenberg was a county of the Holy Roman Empire, within the Duchy of Swabia, situated on either side of the Alpine Rhine, including parts of what is now  St. Gallen (Switzerland), Liechtenstein, and Vorarlberg (Austria). It was partitioned from Montfort in 1230. In 1260, it was divided into Werdenberg and Sargans.

History
It is named for Werdenberg Castle, today located in the municipality of Grabs in the Swiss canton of St. Gallen, seat of the counts of Werdenberg (Werdenberger), The family was descended from count Hugo II of Tübingen (d. 1180), who married Elisabeth, daughter of the last count of Bregenz, thus inheriting substantial territory along the Alpine Rhine. His son was Hugo I of Montfort (d. 1228), whose son Rudolf I is considered the founder of the Werdenberg line. Rudolf's sons Hugo I of Werdenberg-Heiligenberg and Hartmann I of Werdenberg divided the southern territory of the Montfort inheritance, establishing the two lines of Werdenberg-Heiligenberg and Werdenberg-Sargans.

In 1308 Werdenberg was further divided into Werdenberg-Heiligenberg (Linzgau) and Werdenberg-Werdenberg. The Vaduz line of Counts of Werdenberg died out in 1406 and Vaduz passed to the Barons of Brandis.

The family fractured further into a number of cadet branches. The line of Werdenberg-Heiligenberg-Sigmaringen-Trochtelfingen remained influential in the early 16th century in the context of the Swabian League but was extinct in 1534.

The Werdenberg feud (Werdenbergfehde) was a major series of feuds between the Werdenberg and their neighbours in the late 15th century, most notably their conflict with the von Zimmern family of Swabia. The feud between the lords of Werdenberg and of Zimmern escalated in 1488, rising to an importance above merely regional concerns, influencing the imperial policy of Frederick III and Maximilian I regarding the formation of the Swabian League, the Imperial Reforms and the history of the Old Swiss Confederacy.

Counts of Werdenberg
Below, a list of the counts of Werdenberg, numbered by order of ascension:

Table of rulers
(Note: Here the numbering of the counts is the same for all counties, as all were titled Counts of Werdenberg, despite the different parts of land or particular numbering of the rulers. The counts are numbered by the year of their succession.)

Successor houses in Werdenberg-Vaduz
(Note: Numbering restarts)

House of Brandis

 * 1416-1456: Wolfhard, son-in-law of Albert III the Elder;
 * 1456-1486: Ulrich;
 * 1486-1507: Ludwig and Sigismund, brothers.

House of Sulz

 * 1507-1535: Rudolf I, maternal grandson of Ulrich of Brandis;
 * 1535-1556: John Louis;
 * 1556-1569: William and Alwig, brothers;
 * 1569-1572: Alwig;
 * 1572-1611: Rudolf II;
 * 1611-1613: John, sold Vaduz to the House of Hohenems.

House of Hohenems

 * 1613-1640: Kaspar;
 * 1640-1646: Jacob Hannibal;
 * 1646-1662: Franz Wilhelm I;
 * 1662-1686: Ferdinand Carl;
 * 1686-1691: Jacob Hannibal Frederick and Franz Wilhelm II, brothers;
 * 1691-1712: Jacob Hannibal Frederick, with Franz Wilhelm III (son of Franz Wilhelm I);
 * 1712: To the Prince of Liechtenstein.