List of medieval sovereigns in the area of today's Lower Saxony
At the end of the tribal duchy of Saxony , the Guelph Heinrich the Lion succeeded in bringing large areas of what is now Lower Saxony under his control. But on the edge of this area, and especially after its fall, numerous small sovereigns were able to assert themselves for several centuries. In addition to the corresponding members of the Lower Rhine-Westphalian Imperial Circle, these were the following territorial lords:
spiritual territories
- Archbishopric Bremen
- Archdiocese of Mainz
- Hildesheim Monastery
- Hochstift Minden
- Osnabrück Monastery
- Verden Monastery
- Niederstift Munster
worldly territories
- Noblemen of Assel
- Noblemen of equals
- Noblemen of Gittelde
- Noblemen of Hohenbüchen
- Lords of Homburg
- Noblemen of Katlenburg
- Noblemen of Scharzfeld
- Noblemen of Winzenburg
- Noblemen of Wrisberg
- Everstein (noble family)
- Counts of Spiegelberg
- Dannenberg County
- County Dassel
- County of Delmenhorst
- County of Diepholz
- County Hoya
- Northeim County
- County of Oldenburg
- County of East Friesland
- Schaumburg County
- County of Wernigerode
- County Wölpe
- Woldenberg County
- Hardenberg (noble family)
- Reign of Jever
- Hohnstein (noble family)
- Land Hadeln
- Plessen
- Imperial city of Goslar
- Rosdorf (noble family)
With the exception of the Hildesheim bishopric, all territorial claims in the Guelph Duchy of Braunschweig-Lüneburg or in the Lower Saxon Empire were ultimately absorbed , unless they were already merged with one another.
After the Reformation , the ecclesiastical territories were due to the Augsburg Religious Peace Catholic, so there still a Catholic majority has retained (eg district Cloppenburg , Hildesheim , Untereichsfeld ).