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– ARNSTEIN –
Engersgau and Einrich were pagi on the Rhine on either side of the lower Lahn within the old Roman limes. In the late ninth century they were held by a Count Rochar, apparently of an early Konradiner branch domiciled primarily in Swabia. In all likelihood these pagi passed to the Eberhardine Konradiner at Rochar’s death. Counts Rupert (973) and Hugo (977) of Einrich appear to affiliate as sons of a Count Drutwin († 959) and Kunigunde, a sister of Duke Konrad of Alsace, senior representative of the Eberhardine line. In the struggles for the throne in 1002 between Dukes Hermann of Swabia and Henry of Bavaria, Henry undoubtedely replaced the Hessian counts who supported Hermann. After Hermann conceded to Henry, the old counts would not have been restored entirely, because the new monarch needed to save face. In Einrich, the counts of Arnstein seem not to be direct heirs of the Eberhardine Konradiner, but rather Saxon immigrants descending cognatically from the senior Konradiner. The first of this line should be Richmund, although he documents not in Einrich, but in Upper Lahngau in 1018, during the time of Otto of Hammerstein’s suppression. In 1031 Emperor Konrad II placed Einrich under the suzerainty of the archbishop of Trier, which should represent the point of succession, therefore Richmund’s recent death. Count Arnold of Arnstein († 1053/67) disputed the archbishop’s suzerainty after Emperor Konrad’s death, but Emperor Henry III reaffirmed it. Arnold is often perceived as the builder of Arnstein castle on the lower Lahn upstream from the royal palatium of Nassau; yet structural materials date as early as the late tenth century. Most likely the family received a Konradiner strongpoint in 1002 and renamed it. Arnold was followed by three Counts Ludwig, the last of whom transformed Arnstein castle into a monastery and retired there in 1139. In addition to Einrich he is likely to have held (part of) Maienfeld after the death of Count Berthold II of Ham around 1120. Ludwig III had several aunts, some of whose descendants claimed Einrich. The first documented successor is Reginbold of Isenburg. He sold his rights to the counts of Katzenelnbogen and Nassau, who divided the jurisdiction, with the title of count of the pagus of Einrich falling to Katzenelnbogen.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
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