Burgraviate of Nuremberg

The Burgraviate of Nuremberg () was a state of the Holy Roman Empire from the early 12th to the late 15th centuries. As a burgraviate, it was a county based around the town of Nuremberg; the burgraviate soon lost power over the city, which became independent from 1219. Eventually, the burgraviate was partitioned in twain, to form Brandenburg-Ansbach and Brandenburg-Bayreuth.

History

Nuremberg was probably founded around the turn of the 11th century, according to the first documentary mention of the city in 1050, as the location of an Imperial castle between the East Franks and the Bavarian March of the Nordgau. (Political and Social Development of the Imperial City of Nuremberg), Historisches Lexikon Bayerns From 1050 to 1571, the city expanded and rose dramatically in importance due to its location on key trade routes. King Conrad III established the burgraviate and the first administration and courts over the surrounding Imperial territories. The first burgraves were from the Austrian House of Raab but, with the extinction of their male line around 1190, the burgraviate was inherited by the last count's son-in-law, of the House of Hohenzollern. From the late 12th century to the Interregnum (1254–73), however, the power of the burgraves diminished as the Staufen emperors transferred most non-military powers to a castellan, with the city administration and the municipal courts handed over to an Imperial...
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