Sayn

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German county of the Holy Roman Empire

title: "Sayn" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1605-disestablishments", "states-and-territories-established-in-the-11th-century", "history-of-the-rhineland", "former-states-and-territories-of-rhineland-palatinate", "history-of-the-westerwald", "states-and-territories-disestablished-in-the-1600s"] description: "German county of the Holy Roman Empire" topic_path: "history" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sayn" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary German county of the Holy Roman Empire ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox country"]

Field	Value
native_name	Grafschaft Sayn
conventional_long_name	County of Sayn
common_name	Sayn
era	Middle Ages
status	Vassal
empire	Holy Roman Empire
government_type	Principality
year_start	11th century
year_end	1605
event_start
date_start	before 1139
event1	To Counts of Sponheim
date_event1	1247
event2	Partitioned into S-Sayn
and S-Vallendar
date_event2
1294
event_end	Partitioned into S-Sayn,
S-Berleburg and
S-Wittgenstein
event_post	S-Wittgenstein partitioned into
S-W-Sayn-Altenkirchen
and S-W-Hachenburg
date_post

Sayn was a small German county of the Holy Roman Empire which, during the Middle Ages, existed within what is today Rheinland-Pfalz.

There have been two Counties of Sayn. The first emerged in 1139 and became closely associated with the County of Sponheim early in its existence. Count Henry II was notable for being accused of satanic orgies by the Church's German Grand Inquisitor, Conrad von Marburg, in 1233. Henry was acquitted by an assembly of bishops in Mainz, but Conrad refused to accept the verdict and left Mainz. It is unknown whether it was Henry's Knights who killed Conrad on his return to Thuringia, but investigation was foregone due to the cruelty of Conrad, despite Pope Gregory IX ordering his murderers to be punished. With the death of Henry in 1246, the County passed to the Counts of Sponheim-Eberstein and thence to Sponheim-Sayn in 1261.

The second County of Sayn emerged as a partition of Sponheim-Sayn in 1283 (the other partition being Sayn-Homburg). It was notable for its numerous co-reigns, and it endured until 1608 when it was inherited by the Counts of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn. A lack of clear heirs of William III of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn led to the temporary annexation of the comital territories by the Archbishop of Cologne until the succession was decided. In 1648 following the Thirty Years' War, the County was divided between Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn-Altenkirchen and Sayn-Wittgenstein-Hachenburg.

Territory and possessions

The county of Sayn was located in the area of today's state of Rhineland-Palatinate. The ancestral land, lost in 1605, was on the right bank of the Middle Rhine around Sayn Castle, now part of the town of Bendorf. The much larger territories were in the northern Westerwald and in the middle Sieg Valley. The county had as neighbours:

in the north, the Lordship of Humburg
in the east, the County of Nassau-Dillenburg,
in the south, the County of Wied,
south of the exclave of Bendorf, the Electorate of Trier,
north of the exclave of Bendorf, the County of Isenburg
in the west, the Electorate of Cologne.

Bendorf Sayn, Burg Sayn.jpg|Ruins of the Sayn Castle Bendorf abbey rectory.JPG|Former Premonstratensian Abbey of Sayn, Hauskloster und Grablege Schloss Hachenburg 002.jpg|Hachenburg Castle Abteikirche Marienstatt NW.JPG|Marienstatt Abbey

Rulers of Sayn

House of Sayn

|title = Partitions of Sayn under Sayn rule |titlestyle = background: #ccf; text-align:center;

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Monarch	Born	Reign	Ruling part
First House of Sayn
		c.1110
First son of and Diemut of Laurenburg	1139 – 1176	County of Sayn	Kunigunde of Isenburg
five children	1176
aged 65–66
Henry I		c.1110
Second son of and Diemut of Laurenburg	1139 – 1159	Unmarried	1159
aged 48–49
		c.1140
First son of and Kunigunde of Isenburg	1176 – April 1203	County of Sayn	Agnes of Saffenberg
(1173-27 May 1201)
five children	April 1203
aged 62–63
		c.1140
Second son of and Kunigunde of Isenburg	1176 – 1202	Unmarried	1202
aged 61–62
Henry III the Great	[[File:Grabfigur des Grafen Heinrich der III. von Sayn, um 1247-48 GNM Nuernberg-3.jpg	100px]]	c.1185
Son of and Agnes of Saffenberg	April 1203 – 1 January 1247	County of Sayn	1215
one child	1 January 1247

Metza (d.1330) 1313 no children

County of Wittgenstein (from 1384) | c.1350 two children

aged 81–82 | | | | 1489

Second son of and Margaret of Rodemachern | 1494 – 2 April 1551 | County of Wittgenstein (Northern part) | Agnes von Eza no children

Margaret of Henneberg 1534 three children | 2 April 1551

Ottilie of Nassau-Saarbrücken (26 December 1492 - 1 March 1554) 1 January 1516 three children | 1529 aged 37–38 | | | | 1518 First son of and Ottilie of Nassau-Saarbrücken | 1529 – 20 March 1560 | County of Sayn (half 1) | Elisabeth of Holstein-Schauenburg (1520-19 January 1545) 1538 five children

Son of and Johannetta, Countess of Isenburg-Neumagen | 18 April 1570 – 2 July 1605 | County of Wittgenstein | 14 August 1559 Dillenburg Castle three children

Son of Louis I and | 18 April 1570 – 2 July 1605 | County of Berleburg | 26 August 1627

First son of Louis I and | 17 January 1606 – 29 October 1623 | County of Sayn (jure uxoris) | Anna Elisabeth 1 June 1591 two children

Son of and | 14 December 1634 – 2 April 1657 | County of Wittgenstein (until 1647)

County of Hohenstein (from 1647) | 30 June 1627

fifteen children | 2 April 1657 aged 56 | | Regency of Louise Juliane of Erbach (1636-1652) | Louis Juliane had a harder regency this second time, as she faced her in-laws for possession of the main county of Sayn. However, she was skillful enough to keep it to her daughters, sisters of Louis III. Ernestine and Johannetta divided the county, and each part was inherited by their respective descendants. | | | | | | | Ernestine Salentine | | 23 April 1626 Hachenburg First daughter of and Louise Juliane of Erbach | 16 July 1636 – 13 October 1661 | County of Sayn (at Hachenburg) | 21 October 1651 seven children | 13 October 1661 aged 35 | | Johannetta | | 27 August 1632 Wittgenstein Castle Second daughter of and Louise Juliane of Erbach | 16 July 1636 – 28 September 1701 | County of Sayn (at Altenkirchen) | John of Hesse-Braubach 30 September 1647 no children

John George I, Duke of Saxe-Eisenach 29 May 1661 Wallau eight children | 28 September 1701 Jena aged 69 | | Hachenburg inherited by Manderscheid family; Altenkirchen inherited by the House of Wettin For their successors see, respectively Sayn-Wittgenstein-Hachenburg and Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn-Altenkirchen | | | | | | | | Regency of (1649-1658) | | | | | | | | | | 16 August 1640 Son of and | 20 March 1649 – 25 October 1698 | County of Homburg | 8 September 1673 four children | 25 October 1698 aged 58 | | | [[File:Ludwig Christian zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Hohenstein Taler.jpg|100px]] | 17 January 1629

First son of and | 2 April 1657 – 25 January 1683 | County of Hohenstein | 27 May 1656 Greifenstein no children

Anna Elisabeth Wieg 1682 no children | 25 January 1683

13 November 1669 three children

Esther Maria Polyxena of Wurmbrand-Stupach (17 December 1696 - 14 March 1755) 6 May 1717 Saalburg-Ebersdorf five children | 5 June 1741 Bad Berleburg aged 54 | | | | 4 April 1693 Bad Berleburg Second son of and | 25 November 1694 – 18 January 1749 | County of Karlsburg | Johanna Louise of Bentheim-Tecklenburg (8 June 1696 - 1 November 1735) 28 December 1727 two children

Charlotte Louise Henkel von Donnersmark (3 April 1709 - 25 March 1784) 21 November 1737 Pölzig six children | 18 January 1749 Rheda aged 55 | | | | 31 January 1687 Bad Berleburg Third son of and | 25 November 1694 – 24 February 1750 | County of Ludwigsburg | 17 March 1722 Baruth ten children | 24 February 1750 Bad Berleburg aged 54 | | | | 1674 Son of and | 25 October 1698 – 27 March 1723 | County of Homburg | Maria Wilhelmina Elisabeth von Schönburg-Mertola (1700-1762) 1723 four children

aged 30 | | Kirschgarthausen annexed to Neumagen | | | | | | | | | | 6 December 1658 The Hague First son of and Anne Hélène de La Place | 15 October 1701 – 23 November 1723 | County of Hohenstein | Sophia Juliana of Lippe-Biesterfeld (6 December 1676 - 2 June 1705) 23 October 1694 no children

Sophia Elisabeth of Sayn-Homburg (20 August 1675 - 27 August 1712) 8 December 1705 no children

Sophia Florentina of Sayn-Berleburg (4 April 1688 - 16 June 1745) 19 November 1712 no children | 23 November 1723

Third son of and Anne Hélène de La Place | 23 November 1723 – 27 August 1745 | County of Hohenstein | Concordia Friederike of Sayn-Vallendar (1679 - 6 June 1709) 1703 Weilburg two children

Albertina Amalia of Leiningen-Schaumburg (12 October 1686 - 26 March 1723) 3 January 1715 four children | 27 August 1745

aged 82 | | | | 26 December 1694 Third son of and | 16 September 1724 – 22 May 1768 | County of Neumagen | Friederika Wilhelmina von Wendesen (25 October 1700-1780) 1 January 1724 eight children | 22 May 1768 aged 73 | | | | 1 January 1712 Bad Berleburg Son of and | 5 June 1741 – 12 February 1773 | County of Berleburg | Friederike Christine of Isenburg-Philippseich (22 July 1721 - 16 August 1772) 26 July 1744 Dreieich four children | 12 February 1773 Bad Berleburg aged 61 | | | | 19 January 1708 Berlin Son of and Concordia Friederike of Sayn-Vallendar | 27 August 1745 – 9 June 1756 | County of Hohenstein | Auguste Amalie Albertine of Nassau-Siegen (5 September 1712 - 22 February 1742) 6 May 1738 Siegen two children

Elisabeth Hedwig of Nassau-Siegen (19 April 1719; † 10 January 1789) 12 June 1743 Siegen no children | 9 June 1756

aged 82 | | Adolph William Louis | | 30 June 1740 Son of and Charlotte Louise Henkel von Donnersmark | 18 January 1749 – 12 July 1806 | County of Karlsburg | Sarah Tamminga du Tour (10 August 1751 - 16 February 1811) 27 September 1778 no children | 13 November 1814 aged 74 | | Karlsburg was annexed to the Electorate of Hesse | | | | | | | | Christian Louis Casimir | [[File:Count Christian Louis Casimir of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Ludwigsburg, by German School of the 19th Century.jpg|100px]] | 13 July 1725 Bad Berleburg Son of and | 24 February 1750 – 6 May 1797 | County of Ludwigsburg | Amalie Ludowika Finck von Finckenstein (3 February 1740 - 15 December 1771) 13 July 1763 no children

Son of and Auguste Amalie Albertine of Nassau-Siegen | 9 June 1756 – 27 March 1796 | County of Hohenstein | Friederika Carolina Louise von Pückler-Limpurg (9 June 1738 - 27 July 1772) 21 March 1761 Burgfarnbach eight children

Wilhelmina Henrietta Carolina von Pückler-Limpurg (30 August 1746 - 20 March 1800) 9 November 1772 Burgfarnbach four children | 27 March 1796

Principality of Berleburg(from 1792) | Charlotte Friederike Franziska of Leiningen-Altleiningen (19 August 1759 - 22 January 1831) 17 April 1775 Grünstadt twelve children | 4 October 1800

Son of and Friederika Carolina Louise von Pückler-Limpurg | 27 March 1796 – 12 July 1806 | County of Hohenstein (until 1801)

Principality of Hohenstein (from 1801) | Friederika Albertina of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen (15 July 1773 - 25 July 1806) 31 May 1796 Coswig five children

Louisa Langenbach (23 November 1790 - 18 June 1864) 4 April 1807 (morganatic) four children | 8 April 1837

aged 71 | | Hohenstein was annexed to the Electorate of Hesse | | | | | | | | Louis Adolph Peter | | 17 January 1769 Pereiaslav Son of Christian Louis Casimir and Amalie Ludowika Finck von Finckenstein | 6 May 1797 – 12 July 1806 | County of Ludwigsburg | Antonia Cäcilie Snarska (1779-1855) 27 June 1798 eleven children | 11 June 1843 Lviv aged 74 | | Berleburg was annexed to the Electorate of Hesse | | | | | | | | | | 12 May 1777 Bad Berleburg Son of and Charlotte Friederike Franziska of Leiningen-Altleiningen | 4 October 1800 – 12 July 1806 | Principality of Berleburg | Christiana Charlotte Wilhelmina of Ortenburg 18 August 1830 Ortenburg four children | 11 November 1851 Bad Berleburg aged 74 | | Berleburg was annexed to the Electorate of Hesse | | | | | | | ::

References

{{Webarchiv. link
Hennes, Johann Heinrich. (1845). "Codex Diplomaticus Ordinis Sanctae Mariae Theutonicorum: Urkundenbuch zur Geschichte des Deutschen Ordens, insbesondre der Ballei Coblenz". Franz Kirchheim.

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