Sponheim
Sponheim was an imperial county in the Hunsrück between the Rhine, Moselle and Nahe. Divided into Upper and Lower counties, its Lower County was ruled in 1337 by Count John II of the Kreuznach line.
The Kreuznach line died out in 1417 and the Starkenburg line in 1437; female-line heirs from Baden and the Palatinate then governed jointly. The Reformation reached Sponheim in 1557, and the Thirty Years' War brought heavy fighting. After the Napoleonic Wars most went to Prussia, while Birkenfeld passed to Oldenburg.
Characters
- Mechthild of Bavaria
- Elisabeth of Katzenelnbogen
- John I of Sponheim-Kreuznach
- John II of Sponheim-Kreuznach
- John of Sponheim-Kreuznach
- Simon II of Sponheim-Kreuznach
- Simon III of Sponheim-Kreuznach
- Walram of Sponheim-Kreuznach