county · Germany and Central Europe
County of Lingen
Origins
Lingen on the Ems belonged to the lands of the County of Tecklenburg until a division of the family's territory in the late 15th century made it a separate county under a junior line. Little is known of its earliest years as a separate county.
Rule and society
Count Konrad of Tecklenburg-Lingen joined the Schmalkaldic League and introduced Lutheranism; after its defeat Emperor Charles V confiscated Lingen in 1548 and gave it to Maximilian of Egmond-Buren, whose heiress married William of Orange. Lingen then changed hands between Spain and the house of Orange during the Eighty Years' War, and the Oranges founded a Calvinist academy there in 1697.
Decline and legacy
When William III of England, also prince of Orange, died in 1702, Lingen passed to his Prussian heir Frederick I and became part of the Kingdom of Prussia. It belonged to Hanover from 1815 to 1866 and is now in Lower Saxony.
Lineage
On the connections map
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- County of Lingen was part of Holy Roman Empire1493 CE – 1702 CE
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Cite this page
- APA
- The Epoch Institute. (2026). County of Lingen. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/county-of-lingen
- MLA
- “County of Lingen.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/county-of-lingen. Accessed .
- Chicago
- The Epoch Institute. “County of Lingen.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/county-of-lingen.
- Harvard
- The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘County of Lingen’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/county-of-lingen (Accessed: ).
Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻