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The County of Bentheim (''Grafschaft Bentheim'') was a state of the Holy Roman Empire, located in the south-west corner of today's Lower Saxony, Germany. The county's borders corresponded largely to those of the modern administrative district (''Landkreis'') of Grafschaft Bentheim. Geographically, Bentheim is composed largely of fenland, and early settlement was concentrated along the banks of the rivers which pass through the county. Deposits of Bentheim sandstone formed the basis of a profitable export trade to other parts of present-day Germany and the Netherlands. ==History== The county of Bentheim was in existence by c. 1050 AD, although little is known of its history before 1115. In that year, the county passed to Count Otto, of the House of Salm. His heir and daughter, Countess Sophia, married Dirk VI, Count of Holland, and they co-ruled the county until Dirk's death in 1157. Sophia died in 1176, and the title of count passed to her son Otto I. In 1263, Bentheim annexed the County of Tecklenburg, and over time various branches of the counts of Bentheim would annex and purchase various territories in Rheda, Steinfurt, and the Netherlands. In 1277, the County of Bentheim was partitioned into Bentheim-Bentheim (containing the County of Bentheim) and Bentheim-Tecklenburg (containing the County of Tecklenburg). The first County of Bentheim-Bentheim endured until 1530, when its line of counts had become extinct and Bentheim was granted to Arnold II of Bentheim-Steinfurt. In 1544, Arnold officially converted to Lutheranism, beginning a slow process of introducing the Reformation in Bentheim and other territories he ruled. Protestant preachers were introduced into Bentheim during the autumn of 1587. The following year Bentheim officially gained a new Church constitution, which was later introduced in Tecklenburg (1589) and Steinfurt (1591). In 1613, Count Arnold Jobst of Bentheim-Steinfurt created the Higher Church Council to help administer the spiritual matters of Bentheim, as well as establishing the Reformed Church of Bentheim in all three of the counties. When Arnold Jobst died in 1643, the County of Bentheim-Steinfurt was partitioned into Bentheim-Steinfurt and Bentheim-Bentheim, the latter comprising the County of Bentheim. In 1753, the County of Bentheim was seized by the elector of Hanover. "In 1753, trouble within made them (the Counts of Bentheim) take out a mortgage to the King of Hanover and England."〔Swenna Harger & Loren Lemmen, ''The County of Bentheim and Her Emigrants to North America'' (Holland, MI: Swenna Harger, 1994), p. 3.〕 For almost 700 years prior to this, Grafshaft Bentheim was independently ruled by the Counts of Bentheim and that they might have continued thus had it not been for the circumstances of 1753.〔''The Yearbook of History Society of Bentheim'' (1984), p. 135.〕 At the end of the Holy Roman Empire, the Count of Bentheim-Steinfurt and the Count of Bentheim-Bentheim each had one voice in the Assembly of the Imperial Circle of the Lower Rhine-Westphalia.〔Lancizolle, Carl Wilhelm von. ''Uebersicht der deutschen Reichsstandschafts- und Territorial-Verhältnisse : vor dem französischen Revolutionskriege, der seitdem eingetretenen Veränderungen und der gegenwärtigen Bestandtheile des deutschen Bundes und der Bundesstaaten (Berlin : Dümmler, 1830).''〕 As members of the College of the Counts of Westphalia, they were represented in the Council of Princes of the Imperial Diet (''Reichstag''). These representation made the House of Bentheim a member of the German High Nobility. In 1803 the Bentheim-Bentheim branch became extinct. In 1804 the Count of Bentheim-Steinfurt made a bargain with the Government of France. He paid a fraction of the old debt of the Count of Bentheim-Bentheim to Hanover and obtained the possession of the County of Bentheim despite the protest of the Elector of Hanover.〔''The Scots Magazine and Edinburgh Literary Miscellany (Edinburgh)''; vol.LXVI (1804); p.791〕 In July 1806, by the Act of the Confederation of the Rhine, the Grand Duchy of Berg mediatised the Imperial immediate Counties of Steinfurt and Bentheim that belonged to the Count of Bentheim-Steinfurt. In 1808, the Grand Duchy of Berg mediatised the Lordship (''Herrschaft'') of Rheda 〔Hans-Joachim, Böckenholt. ''Schloss und Herrschaft Rheda (1979)'', Band 1; p.38, 40.〕 and the County of Hohenlimburg, the independent possessions of the Count of Bentheim-Tecklenburg. Bentheim was annexed by France in 1810 with the Kingdom of Holland and many northwest German regions. The Congress of Vienna (1814-1815) put Steinfurt and Rheda under overlordship of Prussia, and Bentheim under overlordship of Hanover. In 1817, the King of Prussia granted the Counts of Bentheim-Steinfurt and Bentheim-Tecklenburg the title of Prince. Since 1854, the Princes of Bentheim-Steinfurt and Bentheim-Tecklenburg were hereditary members of the House of Lords of Prussia.〔'' Almanach de Gotha, Bentheim.''〕 Today, the still existing branches of the House of Bentheim are the princes of Bentheim-Steinfurt with their seat at Steinfurt Castle (also still owners of the ancestral seat Burg Bentheim) and the princes of Bentheim-Tecklenburg-Rheda with their seat at Rheda Castle (also still owners of Hohenlimburg Castle). File:Burg Bentheim, Junge Touristen vor dem Pulverturm.jpg|Burg Bentheim File:Schloss.Burgsteinfurt.jpg|Steinfurt Castle File:Rheda Schloss.jpg|Rheda Castle File:Schloss Hohenlimburg - Deutsches Kaltwalzmuseum 05 ies.jpg|Hohenlimburg Castle 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「County of Bentheim」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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