Editing Imperial County of Reuss (section)

===House of Reuss===

[[File:Wappen Deutsches Reich - Fürstentum Reuß jüngere Linie.png|thumb|upright|Coat-of-arms of the princely House of Reuss (younger line)]]
In 1306 the Plauen branch of the vogts was subdivided into an elder line (at Plauen) that died out around 1380, and a younger line (at [[Greiz]] and [[Reichenbach im Vogtland|Reichenbach]]), called ''Reuss''. In 1564 the latter was subdivided into three branches, the [[Principality of Reuss Elder Line|Elder]] (extinct in 1927), the Middle (extinct in 1616), and the [[Principality of Reuss Younger Line|Younger]] (of which the ruling line became extinct in 1945) and a side line, split off in 1692, Reuss-[[Bad Köstritz|Köstritz]], which had been raised to (however non-ruling) princes in 1806, still exists with about 30 male relatives, all named ''Heinrich'', as the last surviving branch of the family, with the senior of this branch, the Prince Reuss-Köstritz, as head of the entire house, hence now ''The Fürst Reuss'', while the others hold the agnatic title of prince.

In 1673 the Lords Reuss were raised to [[Imperial Count]]s and (depending on the line) from 1778 (1790 or 1802) to [[Prince of the Holy Roman Empire|Imperial Princes]]. The dynasty ruled divided areas in various lines and sub-lines; around 1700 there were ten Reussian counties of both main branches. The lords, counts and princes were never styled ''of'' Reuss, but rather count or ''prince Reuss'', as Reuss was originally not the name of a town or castle, but rather a personal designation for the founder of the branch that indicated his foreign connection through marriage (''Reussen'' is in fact an older German term for ''Russians''), and the family is still referred to today in the plural as ''die Reussen''.

On account of the close relations of Reuss with the neighbouring Saxon states, Lutheranism speedily gained a foothold in Reuss. The rulers joined the [[Schmalkaldic League]] against the German emperor, and forfeited their possessions, but afterwards recovered them.<ref name=Catholic/>