County of Bentheim

County of Bentheim
Grafschaft Bentheim
State of the Holy Roman Empire
c. 1050–1806
Coat of arms
The County of Bentheim around 1350
Capital		Bad Bentheim
Languages		West Low German
Government		Principality
Historical era		Middle Ages, Early modern period
•	Bentheim Castle     mentioned	c. 1050
•	Partitioned into     Bentheim-Bentheim and     Bentheim-Tecklenburg	1277
•	Split off     Bentheim-Steinfurt	1454
•	Split off     B.-Tecklenburg-Rheda	1606
•	Annexed by Prussia and     Berg	1806
Preceded by Succeeded by Duchy of Saxony Kingdom of Prussia Berg (state)

Coat of arms

The County of Bentheim (Grafschaft Bentheim, Low German Benthem) was a state of the Holy Roman Empire, located in the south-west corner of today's Lower Saxony, Germany. The county's borders corresponded largely to those of the modern administrative district (Landkreis) of Grafschaft Bentheim.

Geographically, Bentheim is composed largely of fenland, and early settlement was concentrated along the banks of the rivers which pass through the county. Deposits of Bentheim sandstone formed the basis of a profitable export trade to other parts of present-day Germany and the Netherlands.

The county of Bentheim was in existence by c. 1050 AD, although little is known of its history before 1115. In that year, the county passed to Count Otto, of the House of Salm. His heir and daughter, Countess Sophia, married Dirk VI, Count of Holland, and they co-ruled the county until Dirk's death in 1157. Sophia died in 1176, and the title of count passed to her son Otto I. In 1263, Bentheim annexed the County of Tecklenburg, and over time various branches of the counts of Bentheim would annex and purchase various territories in Rheda, Steinfurt, and the Netherlands. In 1277, the County of Bentheim was partitioned into Bentheim-Bentheim (containing the County of Bentheim) and Bentheim-Tecklenburg (containing the County of Tecklenburg).