The influential and wealthy counts of Montfort took their name from an ancestral castle named Montfort [de], which was situated close to today's Swiss border near Weiler, in the present-day Austrian state of Vorarlberg.
The counts held the lordships of the County of Feldkirch (until 1390), County of Bregenz (until 1523) and Tettnang (until 1779). They had territories in Upper Swabia and particularly in Vorarlberg, most of which they ruled. Until the 18th century, the counts were a remarkable family of the high nobility, the most important in the region of Lake Constance, but the line eventually became extinct. In a number of places, including Feldkirch, Bregenz and Langenargen, there are still signs of their history.
Upon the death of Hugo II, the majority of the former Bregenz territories would go to his second son, Hugo III (d.1228/1230), who after about 1200 would style himself "Hugo of Montfort". His territories as count included Raetia Curiensis, Tettnang, Bregenz, Feldkirch, Sonnenberg, Werdenberg, and Sargans. The new House of Montfort would adopt the arms of the County Palatine of Tübingen, but the Montfort arms would feature a red gonfalon on a silver shield instead of a gold one.
Hugo's older brother Rudolph I (1160-1219) continued the original line of the counts palatine; nevertheless, five generations later Gottfried II (d.1369) would be forced to sell Tübingen to the County of Württemberg and drop the title of count palatine in favor of the ordinary Count of Tübingen. He did, however, inherit Lichteneck via his wife Clara of Freiburg, and thenceforth his descendants would bear the title Count of Tübingen-Lichteneck. Next to Montfort-Tettang, this line would be the longest-lasting branch of the family, lasting until 1664.
Around 1779, Tettnang was sold to the Austrian House of Habsburg in order to pay debts. Several years later, the line became extinct upon the death of Count Anton IV in 1787. The Habsburgs added the Montfort lands to their Further Austrian possessions.
Hugo I of Montfort founded Feldkirch in the early years of the 13th century, building his castle (called "Schattenburg") on a hill overlooking the town. The town and castle would become the focal point of the Montfort-Feldkirch territories, with Schattenburg taking the place of the original Montfort castle. In 1375, burgrave Rudolph IV of Montfort sold the fiefdom to the HabsburgDuke Leopold III of Austria.
Hugo II of Tübingen (†1182) inherited the County of Bregenz via his wife, Elizabeth of Bregenz. The Montfort-Bregenz branch of the dynasty continued until the middle of the 14th century, when its lands fell to Montfort-Tettnang, which starting in 1354 would be known as Montfort-Tettnang-Bregenz. This house would produce at least one figure of historical significance, the minstrel (Minnesänger) and statesman Hugo of Montfort (1357–1423).
In 1362 Hugo inherited the lands of the counts of Pfannberg via his wife Margaret. Hugo took residence at Pfannberg Castle in 1401, joining the Styrian nobility. The family would sell Pfannberg Castle in 1524 and move their residence to Peggau Castle, renaming themselves Montfort-Bregenz-Beckach (the contemporary form of Peggau).
In 1451, a portion of the Montfort-Bregenz territory was sold to the Habsburgs by Elizabeth of Hochberg, heir of Count William VII (†1422) of Montfort. The rest of the original Bregenz territories would be sold in 1523, though the Styrian branch of the family retained the Montfort-Tettnang lands until the extinction of the dynasty in 1787.
Counts of Montfort
Below, a list of the counts of Montfort,[citation needed] numbered by order of ascension:
(Note: Here the numbering of the counts is the same for all counties, as all were titled Counts of Montfort, despite the different parts of land or particular numbering of the rulers. The counts are numbered by the year of their succession.)
Sons of Hugo I, ruled together until 1230, when Rudolph inherited Werdenberg. Henry became bishop at Chur in 1251. For Rudolph I's descendants see Counts of Werdenberg. After Hugo's death the county was divided.
Son of Hugo II, possibly co-ruled with Ulrich in Bregenz, which was probably the part which retained the main of the original county. As he was already cited as canon at Chur in 1282, he probably left the rule of the county earlier.
Sons of Rudolph III, ruled jointly. Rudolph became, in 1322, Bishop of Constance, and probably had to abdicate form the county. During the co-rulership, the brothers favored the settlement of Jews in Feldkirch.[6] In 1343 his nephews forced Ulrich to abdicate.
Sons of Hugo V, were ruling jointly with their uncle (Ulrich II) and brothers (Berthold and Frederick) since 1310. However, they gained more independence after deposing their uncle in 1343.
Half-brothers, ruled jointly. John and his full brothers, Ulrich (who became Knight Hospitaller) and Henry (who became canon at Augsburg and Strasbourg) left no descendants and were succeeded by his nephews, sons of Hugo XI, their half-brother.
Burmeister, Karl Heinz: Montfort, von (Grafen von Montfort), Familienartikel in: Neue Deutsche Biographie, Bd. 18, S. 51-54
Burmeister, Karl Heinz: Die Grafen von Montfort. Geschichte, Recht, Kultur. Festgabe zum 60. Geburtstag, hrsg. von Alois Niederstätter (= Forschungen zur Geschichte Vorarlbergs; NF 2). Universitätsverlag Konstanz, Konstanz 1996, ISBN3-87940-560-3
Burmeister, Karl Heinz; Kuhn, Elmar L., Moser, Eva u.a.: Die Grafen von Montfort. Geschichte und Kultur. (= Kunst am See; Band 8). Gessler, Friedrichshafen 1982, ISBN3-922137-16-4
References
^Stälin, C. F. (1847) Wirtembergische Geschichte (Stuttgart, Tübingen), Teil II, p. 448.
^This count Henry is officially known as III, albeit the fact that there's no known Henry II in the family tree of the Montforts. In fact he is from the generation that immediately follows the one where Henry I belongs.
^He was already dead by 7 October 1310, according to Vanotti (1845), 12, p. 544.
^Living in a document dated 6 February 1348, but already dead on another of 3 November 1353, according to Vanotti (1845), 19, p. 552 and Vanotti (1845), 20, p. 553.
^His daughter Anna renounced her paternal inheritance in a document dated 6 June 1375, according to Vanotti (1845), Anhang, 94, p. 485.
^Mentioned in a charter dated 23 June 1360, according to Bergmann, Grafen von Montfort (1848), Heft III, XXXII, p. 79.
^Referenced as living in a charter dated 8 April 1362, according to Fink (2016), p. 154.
^They are referred as married by a document dated 16 June 1373, according to Tangl, K. Die Grafen von Pfannberg, Archiv für Kunde österreichischer Geschichts-Quellen, Band XVIII (Vienna, 1857), 230, p. 196.
^They are referred as married by a document dated 1367, according to Vanotti (1845), Anhang, 86, p. 483.
^Referenced as dead in a document of his sons, dated 18 October 1408, according to Vanotti (1845), 34, p. 578.
^Contract of marriage dated 29 September 1387, according to Vanotti (1845), Anhang, 122, p. 488.
^Antoine-Vincent Arnault; Antoine Jay; Étienne de Jouy; Jacques Marquet de Norvins (1821). Biographie nouvelle des contemporains (in French). Paris: Librairie historique. p. 239.
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