Montfort-Feldkirch

The Montfort-Feldkirch were the Feldkirch branch of the counts of Montfort, a Swabian dynasty descended from the counts palatine of Tübingen. Hugo II of Tübingen, who died in 1182, inherited the old counts of Bregenz's lands through his wife Elizabeth; his son Hugo III styled himself Hugo of Montfort from about 1200 and founded Feldkirch and the Schattenburg castle.

The Schattenburg became the centre of the lordship, joined by Burg Neu-Montfort around 1311. The counts gave their town a city law modelled on Lindau's, and medieval Feldkirch outgrew Bregenz in population and wealth.

A feud involving Count Rudolf III began the line's decline and opened the door to Habsburg influence in Vorarlberg. In 1375 Burgrave Rudolf IV sold the Feldkirch lordship to Duke Leopold III of Austria; by 1390 the territory had passed entirely to the Habsburgs.