The county was created in 1342, after the subdivision of the
County of Werdenberg. In 1396 it was granted the
imperial immediacy (). After the
line of succession of the Counts of Vaduz expired in 1416 with the death of Hartmann IV, the territory was passed to the Barons of Brandis, who were relatives of the last Count of Vaduz. The Barons of Brandis ruled until 1507, when the county was sold to the related Counts of
Sulz, who acquired the northern and bordering
Lordship of Schellenberg. In 1613 both territories, while remaining distinct, were sold to the counts of
Hohenems (see
Hohenems family). (1650–1686), for undue appropriation and excessive
witch-hunt, was deprived of his dominions in 1684 by the Emperor
Leopold I. The emperor assigned Ferdinand Karl's former possessions to his younger brother, Count (1653–1730). To pay his debts and recover Hohenems itself, Jakob Hannibal was forced to sell the Lordship (in 1699), and the County (in 1712), to
Hans-Adam I, Prince of Liechtenstein. With these territories, in 1719 the prince gained from the Holy Roman Emperor
Charles VI the right to found a single state, the present
Principality of Liechtenstein. ==See also==