The Lahngau was the
The western boundary of the Lahngau was near present-day
The exact demarcation of the boundary between Oberlahngau and Niederlahngau has not survived. According to some historians, the approximate boundary is presumed to have been the watershed between the Solmsbach and the
The
The population centers of the Lahngau developed from places established at
At the time of its first historical mention, the area of the Lahngau lay in the settlement area of a
An important role in the management of the Lahngau was taken by the monasteries and original parishes. At the beginning of Conradine rule in the Lahngau, the only existing monastery was that of St. Lubentius in Dietkirchen, which was probably founded as early as the 6th century. The first mention of this monastery was only in 841 as a “monasterium” (hermitage). In 845 Count Gebhard founded the
The Conradines achieved the peak of their power when
In the conflict between Eberhard III of Franconia, as Conrad’s successor as Count in the Oberlahngau, and King
The Niederlahngau was held by the Conradines until the second half of the 10th century. The last mention of a Conradine count was in 966. The Niederlahngau went over to the Countship of Diez. The extensive Conradine allodial lands in the Niederlahngau came, probably through familial relationships, to the Counts of (Alt-) Leiningen. After the extinction of this house in 1220, it was distributed among the related dynasties of Nassau, Runkel/Westerburg, Isenburg/Limburg, and Virneburg.
The following are attested as counts of the undivided Lahngau:
Other possible rulers of the Lahngau referenced to are:
The following are attested to as Count in the Niederlahngau:[6]
The main sources of the history of the Lahngau are copies made in the High Middle Ages of older documents. There is always the question whether these documents were based on original sources or produced as counterfeits. If they were based on original manuscripts, some of which would have been 500 years old, it is often unclear whether they were reproduced literally or only paraphrased. The persons named in the documents may not always be clearly identifiable. Place names are often in unusual forms and do not always correspond to the same names today. Complete overviews of property ownership for this area only exist from the 12th century, so the opportunity to draw inferences is limited. Archaeological finds that are available for review are often random finds, for example in the context of modern construction. Many suspected archaeological sites have not been systematically investigated. For these reasons, some important questions about the history of the Lahngau remain unsettled.
For example, the Lahngau may originally have belonged not to the Conradines but to the
The assignment to Weilburg to the Upper or Lower Lahngau is also controversial. Since the Conradine family line of Conrad the Elder is identified as Counts in Weilburg, the assignment has a crucial role in the history of the Oberlahngau.
The development of the church organization in the Lahngau is also not exactly known. Some historians, for example, doubt that Dietkirchen could have been the starting point of Christianization in the Archdiocese of Trier, since the Archdeaconate there would only be established by the Archdiocese after the decline of Conradine rule.[7]
Finally, relationship between the Conradines and the Counts of Diez can be neither proven nor disproved. The origin of the House of Diez is unknown. The extensive allodial property of the Counts of Diez in Wormsgau[8] does not speak against a Conradine descent, since the Wormsgau also belonged to the Conradine sphere of influence.
{{cite book}}