County of Isenburg-Büdingen

Origins

The house of Isenburg held lands in the Wetterau and around Büdingen from the 13th century. A division of the family's possessions in 1517 created the Büdingen line alongside the Birstein branch, and further partitions followed in the 17th century.

Rule and society

The counts ruled a hilly, wooded territory from Büdingen's walled town and castle. They adopted the Reformation and later Calvinism. Witch trials in the 16th and 17th centuries were severe. In 1712 Count Ernst Casimir issued an edict of tolerance that drew Inspirationists, Moravian Brethren and other dissenters to the Ronneburg and Marienborn.

Decline and legacy

In 1806 the county was mediatised and placed under the Principality of Isenburg, and in 1816 it passed to the Grand Duchy of Hesse. The princes of Ysenburg-Büdingen still own Büdingen castle.