Gemen

Coat of arms of Gemen.

Gemen was an immediate, sovereign lordship of the Holy Roman Empire, in the Lower Rhine region. Since Gemen had a vote in the Imperial Diet it was also an Imperial Estate. It was centered on Gemen, a small town and castle in the present municipality of Borken, western North Rhine-Westphalia.

Gemen is first mentioned in 962. In 1282 Gemen becomes a fief of the Counts of Cleves. The Lords of Gemen became extinct in 1492, and Gemen passed to Counts of Schaumburg and Holstein-Pinneberg through the heiress Cordula of Gemen, to form the County of Schaumburg and Gemen.

In 1640, the immediate lordship of Gemen passed for two centuries to the Counts of Limburg Stirum. In a partition in 1644, Gemen passed to the line of Limburg Stirum Gemen, then in 1782, with extinction of Gemen branch of the House of Limburg Stirum, Gemen was inherited by the line of Limburg Stirum Iller-Aichheim.

When Ferdinand IV of Limburg Stirum died at the age of 15 in 1800, the line Limburg-Styrum-Styrum failed to inherit Gemen, which then passed to the barons of Boyneburg-Bömelberg for 6 years, until the mediatisation of 1806.

1640-1644 - Herman Otto I, count of Limburg and Bronckhorst, Sovereign Lord zu Gemen;
1644-1657 - Adolf Ernst, count of Limburg Stirum, Sovereign Lord zu Gemen, second son of the above;
1657-1675 - (Maria) Isabella countess von Vehlen und Meggen zu Raesfeld, wife of Adolf Ernst of Limburg Stirum above, is Regent of Gemen;
1675-1704 - Hermann Otto II, count of Limburg Stirum and Bronckhorst, Sovereign Lord zu Gemen, son of the two above. On 15 September 1700 a decision by the Courts confirmed its succession right.
1704-1743 - Otto Leopold, count of Limburg Stirum and Bronckhorst, Sovereign Lord zu Gemen and Raesfeld, son of the above;
1743-1771 - Friedrich Karl, count of Limburg Stirum and Bronckhorst, Sovereign Lord zu Gemen, son of the above;
1771-1776 - August Philip, Prince-Bishop of Speyer, count of Limburg Stirum and Bronckhorst, Sovereign Lord zu Gemen, brother of the above.
1776-1798 - Karl Josef, count of Limburg Stirum, Sovereign Lord zu Gemen, cousin of the above;
1798-1800 - Ferdinand IV, count of Limburg Stirum zu Illereichen, grandson of the above, was the last Sovereign Lord zu Gemen before it passed to the Barons of Boyneburg-Bömelberg in 1800.

In 1806, Gemen was mediatised to the Princes of Salm-Kyrburg. It passed to France in 1810, then to Prussia in 1814.

Sources

Dr. A.J. Bonke: De takken Gemen en Styrum van het geslacht van Limburg Stirum, Stichting van Limburg Stirum, The Hague, 2007
A. Giraud, M. Huberty, F. and B. Magdelaine: L'Allemagne Dynastique, volume VII

Lower Rhenish–Westphalian Circle (1500–1806) of the Holy Roman Empire

Ecclesiastical

Cambrai (until 1678)
Corvey¹
Liège
Minden²
Münster
Stavelot–Malmedy¹
Osnabrück
Paderborn
Utrecht (until 1548)
Verden (until 1648)

Map of a large region (in white) including all the territory of modern Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium and the Netherlands, plus parts of most neighbouring countries, including most of Northern Italy. Some of the northwest part region is highlighted in color, including Münster, most of the Netherlands and parts of modern Belgium.

The Lower Rhenish–Westphalian Circle (red) within the Holy Roman Empire (white)

Prelates

Secular

Counts
and lords

From 1500	Bentheim Bronkhorst (until 1719) Diepholz East Frisia (until 1667) Horne³ (until 1614) Hoya Lingen³ Lippe Manderscheid (until 1546) Moers (until 1541) Nassau Diez Hadamar Dillenburg (until 1664) Oldenburg (until 1777) Pyrmont Ravensberg³ Reichenstein Rietberg Salm-Reifferscheid Sayn Schaumburg Tecklenburg Virneburg Wied Winneburg and Beilstein Zimerauff^?

From 1792	Anholt Blankenheim and Gerolstein Gemen Gimborn Gronsfeld Hallermund Holzappel Kerpen-Lommersum Myllendonk Reckheim Schleiden Wickrath Wittem

Status uncertain	Delmenhorst Fagnolle Schaumburg Hesse Lippe Spiegelberg Steinfurt

Cities

¹ from 1792 ² until 1792 ³ without seat in Imperial Diet ^? status uncertain

Circles est. 1500: Bavarian, Swabian, Upper Rhenish, Lower Rhenish–Westphalian, Franconian, (Lower) Saxon

Circles est. 1512: Austrian, Burgundian, Upper Saxon, Electoral Rhenish
Unencircled territories

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