Sophia of Formbach

Sophia of Formbach (also Sophia of Vormbach) (c. 1050/5 – after 1088), was the daughter of Meginhard IV of Formbach. She was countess of Salm through her marriage to Hermann of Salm, who was also elected German anti-king from 1081 to 1088.

Sophia of Formbach
Born	c. 1050/5
Died	after 1088
Spouse(s)	Hermann of Salm
Issue	Otto I, Count of Salm Hermann II of Salm
Father	Meginhard IV of Formbach
Mother	Mathilde von Reinhausen

Life

Sophia was the daughter of Meginhard IV of Formbach and Matilda of Reinhausen, a daughter of Count Elli.^[1] Sophia married Hermann of Salm. The couple were closely related and there were attempts to separate them on these grounds.^[2] Hermann died in 1088. It is sometimes said that Sophia married for a second time around 1092 to Stephan II, Count of Sponheim, although this is not certain.^[3]

Sophia, like the rest of her natal dynasty (the Formbachs), was a patron of Göttweig Abbey.^[4]

Children

With her first husband, Hermann, Sophia had the following children:

• Otto I, Count of Salm
• Hermann II of Salm (1087–1135)
• Dietrich of Salm (fl. 1095)

If she married Stephan II of Sponheim, then Sophia was also the mother of:

• Meginhard I, Count of Sponheim
• Jutta (1090-1136), founder of the female convent at the abbey of Disibodenberg^[5]
• Hugh of Sponheim, archbishop of Cologne (1137)

References

• E. Hlawitschka, 'Die 'Verwandtenehe' des Gegenkönigs Hermann von Salm und seiner Frau Sophie. Ein Beitrag zu den Familienbeziehungen der rheinischen Ezzonen/Hezeliniden und des Grafenhauses von Formbach/Vormbach,' in: Schriftenreihe zur bayerischen Landesgeschichte, Band 140, (Verlag C.H. Beck München 2002)
• J. Mötsch, ‘Genealogie der Grafen von Sponheim,’ Jahrbuch für westdeutsche Landesgeschichte 13 (1987), 63-179.