Lordship, (from ca. 1482/1531) County of Diepholz Herrschaft / Grafschaft Diepholz | |||||||||
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| ca. 1070/1085–1585 | |||||||||
 Coat of arms
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| Status | Lordship | ||||||||
| Capital | Diepholz | ||||||||
| Common languages | West Low German | ||||||||
| Government | Noble Lordship, later County | ||||||||
| Historical era | Middle Ages | ||||||||
• Folcred cited as noble landowner in Barnstorf | ca. 890/990 | ||||||||
• Allod of the Noble Lords of Diepholz starts to consolidate into a united fiefdom | ca. 1070/1085 | ||||||||
• Cono I and Wilhelm de Thefholte (of Diepholz) first cited, ruled over allodial goods around Drebber and Diepholz | ca. 1160 | ||||||||
• Konrad V inherits patrimony of the Lords of Blankena and acquires the Vicecomitat of Sudholte | 1285-1291 | ||||||||
• Johann III grants town rights to Diepholz | 1380 | ||||||||
• Rudolf VIII abdicates his allodial sovereignty over Diepholz to Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg | 1510-1517 | ||||||||
• Friedrich I introduces the Protestant Reformation into Diepholz | 1528 | ||||||||
• County of Diepholz absorbed by Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg | 1585 | ||||||||
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The County of Diepholz (West Low German: Deefholt), that was first known as the Lordship of Diepholz, was a territory in the Holy Roman Empire in the Lower-Rhenish-Westphalian Circle. It was ruled by the Noble Lords, later Counts, of Diepholz from the late tenth century until 1585, when it was mostly incorporated into the Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg.