Lower Noble Germany

In German nobility, there was a distinction between higher nobles (Hochadel, mostly sovereign princes and dukes) and lower nobles (Niederadel, mostly nonsovereign lords and barons). By default, counts were considered Niederadel, but some became sovereign and thus were considered Hochadel.

 

The legal distinctions are actually of little importance to me. My motivation in creating a nation of Lower Noble Germany is simply to create a catch-all category in which to place countries that were the only country ruled by a given house. Thus, the counties that I assign to this nation are those in which the county was the only country ruled by its ruling house—even if the county was fully sovereign. In contrast, I always place entities ranked higher than a county (Grafschaft) in a house-specific nation. Similarly, I always place entities ranked lower that a county in Lower Noble Germany. (For German nobility rankings, see https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adelstitel.)

 

The following list will not be complete until the project is done. For the moment, it is just to help me remember what I have placed there.

 

  1. County of Rantzau (1649-1726)
  2. Lordship of Kniphausen (1465-1624), (1667-1806)
  3. Lordship of Schauen (1648-1806)
  4. County of Spiegelberg-Pyrmont (1494-1558)
  5. County of Regenstein-Blankenburg (1162-1599)
  6. County of Holzappel (1643-1656)
  7. Lordship of Anholt (1540-1806)