John II, Count of Ziegenhain

After the early death of his elder brother Engelbert III in 1401, he succeeded as Count of Ziegenhain and Nidda.

In 1420 John II gave his allodial property in the Counties of Ziegenhain and Nidda to Emperor Sigismund.

However, his weakening of his relationship with Fulda also increased the appetite of Hesse and Mainz, who were interested in his possessions, considering that he had no male heir.

Landgrave Louis I of Hesse decisively won the Mainz-Hesse War of 1427 with a victory against Mainz' commander Gottfried of Leiningen in the Battle on the Großenenglise Plateau near Fritzlar on July 23 and against Archbishop Conrad III himself at Fulda on August 10, Louis established his territorial supremacy in Upper and Lower Hesse.

Instead, John II concluded a defensive alliance with Hesse on 29 June 1428, that made Ziegenhain virtually a Hessian dependency.

Despite treaties between John II and Landgrave Louis I of Hesse that had been confirmed several times between 1437 and 1450, a long and bitter dispute about his inheritance broke out after his death.

After several armed conflicts and court cases, Hesse won, but only after Landgrave William II had paid the Counts of Hohenlohe 9000 guilders in compensation.