Editing Imperial County of Reuss (section)

=== The House of the ''Vogts'' (Bailiffs) ===

[[File:Plauen Scheibler101.jpg|thumb|upright|Coat-of-arms of the ''Vogts'' of Gera (1370), since the mid 15th century also of the ''Vogts'' of Plauen and the Lords Reuss of Plauen]]
The position of ''vogt'' soon became hereditary. While the dominions of Heinrich von Gleissberg included the towns [[Gera]] and [[Weida, Thuringia|Weida]], his grandson Henry II the Rich (d. before 1209) also acquired [[Plauen]]. When his three sons divided their inheritance, three independent areas emerged, ruled by the branches of the bailiffs of Weida-Ronneburg, Plauen-Gera and Greiz-Reichenbach. The bailiffs, initially unfree nobles ''([[Ministerialis]])'', quickly rose to the rank of lords. After the division, the official title ''Vogt'' was carried on by all branches and passed on like a hereditary imperial fiefdom. When the bailiffs negotiated a treaty with [[Henry III, Margrave of Meissen]] in 1254, they acted as equal partners. In 1329 Emperor [[Ludwig the Bavarian]] confirmed the bailiffs a rank equal to [[Prince of the Holy Roman Empire|Princes of the Holy Roman Empire]], albeit without the title itself, they continued to use the designation ''Vogt''.

In the 12th and 13th centuries, the bailiffs of Weida gradually became independent of the Quedlinburg Abbey on the lands they administered. Their area included what is generally understood today as Vogtland. Over time the dominions of the bailiffs extended beyond the Vogtland into the [[Western Ore Mountains]], with areas extending into what is now the [[Czech Republic]].

The Weida branch was extinct in 1535, the branch of Greiz-Reichenbach was soon inherited by the branch of Plauen-Gera which then divided into Plauen (elder and younger line) and Gera-Schleiz-Lobenstein (extinct in 1550). The elder Plauen line of the vogts was extinct in 1380, the founder of the younger Plauen line was Henry (d. about 1300), who on account of his stay in Eastern European regions and his marriage with a granddaughter of King [[Daniel of Galicia]] received the surname of "''der Reusse''" ([[Ruthenus]], a term for the [[Kievan Rus']]), whence the name later passed to his country.<ref name=Catholic/> His descendants were styled ''Lords Reuss of Plauen, Greiz and Gera''. The House of Reuss is thus descended from the vogts of Plauen from whom they inherited the cities and lordships of Gera, Greiz, [[Schleiz]] and [[Bad Lobenstein|Lobenstein]]. However, in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries the vogts had lost the greater part of their possessions, most of which fell to the [[Electorate of Saxony]], including Weida in 1427 and Plauen in 1482.

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Album der Schlösser und Rittergüter im Königreiche Sachsen V 129.jpg|[[Plauen]] city and castle (1859)
Osterburg Weida.jpg|[[Osterburg (Weida)|Osterburg Castle]] at Weida
Gera, Thüringen - Schloss Osterstein (Zeno Ansichtskarten).jpg|Osterstein Castle at Gera (until 1918 state capital of the Principality of Reuss Younger Line) 
Greiz Schlösser Unteres und Oberes Schloss oberhalb der Weißen Elster Foto 2009 Wolfgang Pehlemann Wiesbaden IMG 0796.jpg|[[Greiz]] with Upper and Lower Castle (until 1918 state capital of the Principality of Reuss Elder Line)
</gallery>