Sayn

County of Sayn Grafschaft Sayn
State of the Holy Roman Empire
← the 11th century–1605 →
Coat of arms
Sayn ca. 1450
Capital	Sayn (German)
Government	Principality
Historical era	Middle Ages
- Established	before 1139 the 11th century
- To Counts of Sponheim	1247
- Partitioned into S-Sayn     and S-Vallendar	1294
- Partitioned into S-Sayn,     S-Berlebrug and     S-Wittgenstein	1605
- S-Wittgenstein partitioned into     S-W-Sayn-Altenkirchen     and S-W-Hachenburg	1648
Today part of	Germany

Sayn was a mediæval German County located in the Rhineland-Palatinate and North Rhine-Westphalia. There were two Counties of Sayn: the first County emerged in 1139. It became closely associated with the County of Sponheim early in its existence. Count Henry II was notable for being accused of satanic orgies by the Church's German Grand Inquisitor, Conrad von Marburg, in 1233. Henry was acquitted by an assembly of bishops in Mainz, but Conrad refused to accept the verdict and left Mainz. It is unknown whether it was Henry's Knights which killed Conrad on his return to Thuringia, but investigation was foregone due to the cruelty of Conrad, despite Pope Gregory ordering his murderers to be punished. With the death of Henry in 1246, the County passed to the Counts of Sponheim-Eberstein and thence to Sponheim-Sayn in 1261.

The second County of Sayn emerged as a partition of Sponheim-Sayn in 1283 (the other partition being Sayn-Homburg). It was notable for its numerous co-reigns, and it endured until 1608 when it was inherited by the Counts of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn. A lack of clear heirs of William III of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn led to the temporary annexation of the comital territories by the Archbishop of Cologne until the succession was decided. In 1648 following the Thirty Years' War, the County was divided between Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn-Altenkirchen and Sayn-Wittgenstein-Hachenburg.

Counts of Sayn (1139–1246)

• Eberhard I (1139–76)
• Henry I/II (1176–1203) with…
• Eberhard II (1176–1202) with…
• Henry II/III (1202–46)
• Godfrey II/III, Count of Sponheim (Regent, 1181–1220)
• John I, Count of Sponheim-Starkenburg (Regent, 1226–1246)

Counts of Sayn (1283–1608)

• John I (1283–1324)
• John II (1324–59)
• John III (1359–1403)
• Gerard I (1403–19)
• Theodore (1419–52)
• Gerard II (1452–93)
• Gerard III (1493–1506) with…
• Sebastian I (1493–98) with…
• John IV (1498–1529)
• John V (1529–60) with…
• Sebastian II (1529–73) with…
• Adolph (1560–68) with…
• Henry IV (1560–1606) with…
• Herman (1560–71)
• Anna Elizabeth (1606–08)

See also

• Sayn-Homburg
• Sayn-Wittgenstein
• Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg
• Sayn-Wittgenstein-Hachenburg
• Sayn-Wittgenstein-Hohenstein
• Sayn-Wittgenstein-Karlsburg
• Sayn-Wittgenstein-Ludwigsburg
• Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn
• Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn-Altenkirchen
• Sayn-Wittgenstein-Vallendar
• Sponheim-Sayn

Coordinates: 50°26′18″N 7°34′35″E / 50.43833°N 7.57639°E / 50.43833; 7.57639