Government Principality Limes established AD 85 Today part of Germany Capital Tübingen | Historical era Middle Ages Preceded by Succeeded by Founded 1007 | |
The County Palatine of Tübingen was a state of the Holy Roman Empire in the medieval period.
In 1007, Hugo I Tübingen was invested with the royal estates of Holzgerlingen and the Imperial forest at Schönbuch. The city of Tübingen first appears in official records in 1191, and the local castle, Hohentübingen, has records going back to 1078 when it was besieged by Henry IV, king of Germany.
From 1146, Count Hugo V (1125–52) was promoted to count palatine, as Hugo I. The concept of a county palatine was no longer connected to the traditional task of supervising a royal palace, but became a kind of supervisory role, representing the king within the tribal duchies, being second only to the duke within the duchy of Swabia. This was accompanied by rights of justice, hunting, customs and mints, as can be seen from coins minted in Tübingen since 1185.
Hugo II (1153–82) gained Bregenz and other property in Raetia, Tettnang and Sigmaringen by marriage and, in 1171, founded Marchtal Abbey; his second son founded the Montfort dynasty, as Hugo I, Count of Montfort (d. 1230). In 1183, his first son, Rudolph I founded Bebenhausen Abbey. In 1264, Gießen, acquired with the county of Gleiberg by Rudolph I's marriage, was sold to the landgrave of Hesse.
By 1231, Tübingen was a civitas indicating recognition of civil liberties and a court system. Its name ends with the familiar suffix -ingen, indicating it was originally settled by the Alemanic tribes. In 1262, an Augustinian monastery was established by Pope Alexander IV in Tübingen, in 1272, a Franciscan monastery followed. The latter existed until Duke Ulrich of Würtemmberg disestablished it in 1535 in course of the Protestant Reformation, which the Duchy of Württemberg followed. In 1300, a Latin school (today's Uhland-Gymnasium) was founded.
In 1342, the county palatine was sold to Ulrich III, Count of Württemberg and incorporated into the County of Württemberg and has since been part of the Duchy of Württemberg (1495–1806), the Kingdom of Württemberg (1806–1918), the Free People's State of Württemberg (1918–1945) and Baden-Württemberg (since 1952).