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The Counts of Werdenberg-Vaduz

© James Foster Robinson

The old province of Lower Raetia, in the Duchy of Swabia, was at first under the rule of the counts of Monfort. Around 1200 AD, Hugo of Monfort inherited the family lands, which included the neighboring counties of Werdenberg, Sargans and Feldkirch as well as most of present day Liechtenstein.

If there ever was a ruler who personified the movie cliché “Robber Baron”, it was Count Hugo! From his stronghold in Feldkirch, just across the north border of Liechtenstein in Austria, he terrorized the countryside. He robbed passing merchants and travelers and sacked monasteries. His wild ways and avarice frightened his neighbors whom he held in servitude to his whims. For many years he robbed both the rich and the poor with a thought to his eventual reckoning. Then, when an old man, he decided to hedge his bets by repenting just a little. Did he repent his evil ways? Did he give his fortune to the poor? No, Hugo built a hospital in Feldkirch.

It was around this time that a number of peasant families from the Wallis, fleeing religious persecution in southern Switzerland, settled in the Triesenberg area.

In the 13th century the lands now comprising the County of Schellenberg was given to the Knights of Schellenberg by the German Emperor of the House of Hohenstaufen. They guarded the approach to the passes of the Alps that were the lines of communication between the Emperor’s Swabian and Italian possessions. Later the Lords of Schellenberg transferred their allegiance to the Habsburg emperors. Through skillful service, the Schellenburgers obtained wealth and power. For nearly a hundred years they were among the favorites at the Imperial court. However, by 1317, their circumstance had deteriorated and they sold the County of Schellenberg for debts to the Counts of Werdenberg. Then the Monfort family split into two different lines of descent – the Monforts and the Werdenbergs. For the next hundred years various descendants of Hugo ruled the land. In its turn, the Werdenberg part of the family further sub-divided into different branches. In 1342, the vast family estates were divided between two brothers. One, named Hartmann of Werdenberg-Sargans, inherited the County of Vaduz, which had just been created as part of the partitioning. Taking up residence in Vaduz Castle, he called himself Count of Vaduz.

In 1379 Count Heinrich of Werdenberg-Vaduz received jurisdiction from the Emperor, King Wenzel. Then in 1396, King Wenzel made the son of Count Heinrich estates a Reichsler or Fief