{{Short description|Statelet of the Holy Roman Empire}} {{Infobox country |native_name = ''Grafschaft Regenstein'' |conventional_long_name = County of Regenstein |common_name = Regenstein |era = Middle Ages |status = County |empire = Holy Roman Empire |year_start = 1162 |year_end = 1599 |life_span = 1162–1599 |event_start = Partitioned from <br>{{spaces|4}}[[County of Blankenburg]] |date_start = |event1 = County of Regenstein-[[Heimburg]] |date_event1 =&nbsp;<br>1366 |event2 = Personal union with [[County of Blankenburg|Blankenburg]] |date_event2 =&nbsp;<br>1368 |event3 = Joined [[Lower Saxon Circle]] |date_event3 = 1500 |event_end = Fell to [[Bishopric of Halberstadt]] |date_end =&nbsp;<br>1599 |event_post = Acquired by [[Brandenburg-Prussia]] |date_post = 1648 |p1 = County of Blankenburg |s1 = Bishopric of Halberstadt |image_coat = Arms of the house of Regenstein (2).svg |image_map = |image_map_caption = |capital = Derenburg |footnotes = }} The '''County of Regenstein''' was a mediaeval [[State of the Holy Roman Empire|statelet]] of the [[Holy Roman Empire]]. It was ruled by the [[Duchy of Saxony|Saxon]] comital [[House of Regenstein]], named after their residence at [[Regenstein Castle]] near [[Blankenburg (Harz)|Blankenburg]] north of the [[Harz]] mountain range.

== History == [[File:Burgruine Regenstein neu.jpg|thumb|left|Ruins of Regenstein Castle]] The progenitor of the family, Count [[Poppo I of Blankenburg]] (c. 1095 – 1161 or 1164) probably was related to the [[Rhenish Franconia|Rhenish]] Reginbodonid<ref>[[:de:Reginbodonen|Reginbodonen]] {{in lang|de}}</ref> dynasty of Archbishop [[Siegfried I (archbishop of Mainz)|Siegfried of Mainz]] (d. 1084), a cadet branch of the Franconian [[Conradines]]. His uncle [[Reinhard of Blankenburg]] was [[Bishopric of Halberstadt|Bishop of Halberstadt]] from 1107 onwards and provided him with large estates in the Eastphalian [[Harzgau]] region between the [[Ilse (Oker)|Ilse]] and [[Bode (river)|Bode]] rivers. Poppo was first documented as ''[[comes]]'' in an 1128 deed, serving the Saxon duke [[Lothair II, Holy Roman Emperor|Lothair of Supplinburg]] and his [[House of Welf|Welf]] successors. His son Conrad was the first descendant to call himself ''Comes de Regenstein'' in 1162, while his brother Siegfried continued to rule as [[County of Blankenburg|Count of Blankenburg]].

After the deposition of the Saxon duke [[Henry the Lion]] in 1180, the Regenstein counts were temporarily arrested by the forces of Emperor [[Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor|Frederick Barbarossa]], but were reconciled with the [[Hohenstaufen]] monarch soon after. After a lengthy feud [[Heimburg Castle]], built about 1170 by King [[Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor|Henry IV]] and soon after devastated during the Saxon Rebellion, was acquired by the Regenstein counts in the early 14th century. The Regenstein-Heimburg branch re-united the Regenstein and Blankenburg estates in 1343, under the rule of the most renowned Count {{ill|Albert II of Regenstein|lt=Albert II|de|Albrecht II. von Regenstein}} (1310–49), who since the 1330s was frequently in dispute with the leaders of the surrounding estates like the Halberstadt bishops and the [[Quedlinburg Abbey|Abbesses of Quedlinburg]]; he was finally assassinated by the henchmen of Bishop [[Albert II of Halberstadt]]. These tales were romanticised in the [[ballad]] ''The Robber Count'' ({{langx|de|Der Raubgraf}}) by [[Gottfried August Bürger]], melodized by [[Johann Philipp Kirnberger]] and the novel of the same name by [[Julius Wolff (1834–1910)|Julius Wolff]].<ref>[[:de:Julius Wolff|Julius Wolff]] {{in lang|de}}</ref>

In the 15th century the comital family finally relocated its seat to [[Blankenburg Castle (Harz)|Blankenburg Castle]]; the Regenstein fortress lapsed and was left to ruin. In order to gain greater independence from the Halberstadt bishops, the counts turned [[Protestant Reformation|Protestant]] in 1539. The last scion of the comital family, Count John Ernest, died in 1599. With Blankenburg, the County of Regenstein fell back to the Prince-Bishopric of Halberstadt. Shortly thereafter Blankenburg and Regenstein were separated: Regenstein remained with the secularised [[Principality of Halberstadt]], while the remaining [[County of Blankenburg]] was annexed and held by the Dukes of [[Principality of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel|Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel]].

==Counts of Regenstein== * Siegfried (-1073), brother of Konrad, Count of Blankenburg-Regenstein * Henry (-1235), son * Siegfried II (-1251), son * Ulric, Count of Regenstein-Heimburg (-1267), brother * Ulric III (1287–1322) * Albert II (1310–1349), son * Albert III (1341–1365), son * John Ernest, Count of Blankenburg and Regenstein (-1599)

==References== {{Reflist}}

{{Lower Saxon Circle}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Regenstein, County Of}} [[Category:Lower Saxon Circle]] [[Category:States and territories established in 1368]] [[Category:States and territories disestablished in 1599]] [[Category:Counties of the Holy Roman Empire]]