ABSTRACT
The territory of Lippe was self-governing from the later twelfth century until the twentieth century. Its existence was due to the remarkable longevity of one dynasty. The first Edelherren or Barons and Lords of Lippe appear in the 1120s but the history of the dynasty and its holdings of lands and jurisdictions really begins with the activities of Bernhard II, who ruled from 1168 to 1196. Bernhard II was just one of some 150 other heads of local noble families, or Edelfreie, who saw a chance to carve out a territory for themselves during the general contest between Emperor and Papacy. Bernhard's territory was probably formed out of pickings which he got on the destruction of the duchy of Saxony, after the humiliation of his one-time master, Henry the Lion, in 1180. 1
