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234 GERMANY, [Oettingen.
fourteenth century, the counts of Oettingen obtained a part of Lower-
Aljace, zwA from thence ftylcd themfeh'es Landgraves thereof} but, in
the year 1359, they fold the fief which they held of the bifhop oi Strafzturg,
to him ; and the remainder of the fiefs which they held of the Empire
they bequeathed to the Emperor Charles IV. and to their vaflals the
family of huhtenbcrg. Of the barons of Fkckenjlein they are perpetual
paramounts, on account of eleven villages lying along the Rhine, as Ihall
be fljewn below in §. 4. Count Frederick IV. who pofTefTed the whole
couiUy of Oettingen and died in the year 1429, left three fons, who divided
the county in fuch a manner among themfelves that each obtained
one third thereof JVillinm refided at Oettingen, Ulrich at Flochberg, and
"John at Wallerflein. The two laft foon became extind, whence their
ihare of courfe fell to the line of William, which was founded by his fon
Wolfgang and Levois the Elder his coufin. His oldefi: fon, Leioii the Toimger^
was the founder of the Oettingen-Oettingen or Lutheran line, and the third fon,
Frederick, oi i\\t Oettinge?i-Wallerßein, or Catholic line. The male-iffue of
the former, which was firfl raifed to the rank of Prince in the year 1674,
and pofTefTed one xi of the country, failed in 173 1; the latter, which
pofTefTed five twelfths of it, was founded by William the Elder, fon to Frederick,
whofe three fons were the founders of the three collateral-lines ;
•viz. I. William the llimger, was founder of the Spelberg-Wne, of which
WnQ Francis Albert, with his defcendants, was raifed, in the year 1734, to
the rank of Prince, and introduced the right of primogeniturefliip into his
own family -, but his fon. Count "John Aloyßiis, by virtue of a decree
pafTed in the year 1739, by the Aulic council, and an agreement confequent
thereupon, obtained One third of the Oettingeji-Oettingen eftate. 2. Wolfgang,
founder of the //^rt/Zfr/Zmi line, from whofe coufin PZ»////», the prefent
count of Oettingen- Wallerflein is defcended ; and from him, by virtue of
the will o'i Albert Erneß, the lafl Prince of Oettingen, Couni Antony Clm-les
inherited his country, ceding it to his eldeft fon John Frederick, to whom
his brother. Count Philip Charles, fucceeded both in that and alfo in the
county of Waller/kin. 3. Ernefl the Elder, founder of the Balder line,
which indeed in his fon was fubdivided into thofe of Balder and Katzenßein ;
the former whereof failing in the year 1687, its fhare of the county fell to
the latter, which alfo obtained one third of the Oettingen-Oettingen edite.
§.4. In the year 1495, the counts of Oettingen entered into a family
compadl among themfelves, which was confirmed by the Emperor Maximilian,
and in which, among other things, it was ftipulated, that a count
might difpofe of the property and profits of his fliare in the eflate to an
alien,
but the fovereignty and regalia fliould remain in the Oettingen family,
as alfo that they fhould hold in common the regalia, minage, grant of fiefs,
jurifdidion, mintage, \m^o^ and friedfchatz, or the treafure of peace, as it
is called, and likewife that the eldeft reigning count, when he aftually
refides