Other territories fully or partially under the sovereignty of the Electorate of Cologne

Most subdivisions of the Electorate of Cologne were administered either by appointees of the archbishop, ecclesiastical bodies under his jurisdiction (e.g., various abbeys or the cathederal chapter), or noble families subject to him. Some subdivisions, however, were administered by other countries or were self-governing while remaining under Electorate sovereignty. Others were part of condominia, in which sovereignty and administration was formally shared with another country. The sovereignty over others was a matter of dispute with no clear winner.

 

Foreign administration/self-governing

 

The following subdivisions were associated with Ämter for statistical purposes, but were administered by foreigners:

 

 

The following single-village lordships were self-governing, while remaining under Electorate sovereignty, and were not treated as part of the Electorate for statistical purposes:

 

  • Lordship of Merl (adjacent to Meckenheim)
  • Burgraviate of Rheineck (upstream from Breisig)

 

As the simplified country name for each, I use “Cologne” followed by last part of the administering entity’s name. Thus, in 1700, Herrlichkeit Hackenbroich was in “Cologne-Dyck”, Herrschaft Alpen was in “Cologne-Steinfurt”, and Merl was in “Cologne-Merl”. (When “Cologne” stands alone or as part of a condominium, it refers to the Imperial City. When it is the first element in a hyphenated name, it refers to the Electorate.)

 

Formal condominia

 

Sovereignty and administration were shared with other countries in several subdivisions. The following list shows the simplified country name of each and, when appropriate, the name of the larger subdivision with which each is linked for statistical purposes.

 

 

(The “\” signals that administration was shared. I use “Bonn” instead of “Cologne” because the latter is reserved for the Imperial City of Cologne in condominium names.)

 

Disputed sovereignty

 

There were also a number of areas where sovereignty was under dispute. In general, I assign them simplified country names as if they were condominia. Complicating that, however, is that some of those areas were administered by entities that were not party to the dispute.

 

Two of those disputed territories were adjacent to Amt Rheinberg. Beginning in 1772,  the Duchy of Cleves disputed the Electorate’s sovereignty over the village of Bönninghardt and the surrounding area in the north of Herrlichkeit Issum. The dispute was not settled before the French occupation, but the Electorate laid claim to Seveler Heide (south of Issum) in response. (Seveler Heide had been in the Duchy of Guelders-Geldern, not Cleves, but both were part of the Kingdom of Prussia at the time, so the claim was not unfair to Guelders.) In terms of simplified country names, I place Bönninghardt in “Geldern\Bonn” and Seveler Heide in “Bonn\Cleves” (the order giving preference to the original claimants) after 1772.

 

All of the remaining disputes were between the Electorate and the Duchy of Jülich, as follows (grouped by the Amt they were assigned to for statistical purposes):

 

  • Amt Hardt
    • Herrschaft Antweiler
    • Herrschaften Breitenbenden & Holzheim
      • adm. Schleiden (1559-1773)
      • adm. Arenburg (1773-1794)
    • Herrschaft Firmenich
      • adm. Limburg (1559-1654)
      • adm. Kerpen & Lommersum (1786-1794)
    • Herrschaft Herzheim
    • Herrschaft Glehn
    • Herrschaft Satzvey
  • Amt Hülchrath
    • Herrlichkeit Riehl (adm. Berg subjects)

 

In terms of simplified country names, I assign each to “Bonn\Jülich” unless the area was administered by a third party, in which case I add an element naming the administering entity. Hence, in 1600, Breitenbenden was in “Bonn\Jülich-Schleiden”, Firmenich was in “Bonn\Jülich-Limburg”, and Riehl was in “Bonn\Jülich-Berg”.

 

Master list of countries and subdivisions in the Cologne region