The Lords of Myllendonk are first mentioned in 1166 as belonging to one of the most important lines in the
Lower Rhine. The Dukes of
Guelders gained overlordship of the territory in 1268, and overlordship passed to the Archbishopric of Cologne in 1279. The line was annexed to the
Pesch Myllendonk family in 1263, and in c. 1350 passed to the House of
Mirlaer which renamed itself to
Myllendonk-Mirlaer. Myllendonk was eventually inherited by
Johann Jakob, Count of Bronckhorst and Anholt, the Dukes of
Croÿ in 1682, the Countess of
Berlepsch in 1694, and through the female inheritance to the Counts of
Ostein in 1700. Myllendonk was also raised to the
Bench of Counts of Westphalia in 1700 as an
immediate Imperial Estate. The Counts of Ostein ruled Myllendonk until 1794 when the
French conquered the
German territory on the western side of the
Rhine River. The Counts of Ostein were compensated with the secularised
Abbacy of Buchau in 1803. Myllendonk itself remained French until the
Congress of Vienna awarded the territory to
Prussia in 1814. The following year the Lordship was abolished and the territory was annexed into the newly created
Province of Rhineland. ==References==