The abbey of noble canonesses founded by Empress Richardis, wife of Charles the Fat, in the 880s at the mouth of the Andlau valley in Alsace, is lady of its small town and valley.
Its abbess is attested as a princess of the Empire only in 1288; in 1200 it is a small abbey-lordship among the Staufen lands of Alsace.
Who holds it
- Name
- Hedwig I (Hedwige)
- Title
- Abbess of Andlau
- Since
- 1179
- Confidence
- high
Abbess 1179-1214, between Haïska (1170-1179) and Adelaide II (1214-1234). Nothing further on her was found in the sources consulted.
What it holds
- Andlau: the abbey and its small town and valley
How it was acquired
Founded by Empress Richardis (about 880) with imperial endowments.
How things stand that morning
Hedwig holds the abbey and its valley in peace under Staufen protection.
Wealth
Vineyards at the foot of the Vosges; the abbey's rents.
Threats
- Its own vassals and advocates
Advocates and rivals
The Staufen, who dominate Alsace; the abbey's own knightly vassals; the bishop of Strasbourg.
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: The abbesses and the 1288 princely style are attested; the lordship's limits in 1200 are not.
On the map: Drawn as the modern commune of Andlau.
Primary sources for Empire
Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.
- Annals of Marbach (compiled to 1238, the section on 1198 to 1210 written in the early 13th century). Alsatian annals on the Staufen side of the Upper Rhine. Read online
- Annals of Reiner of Saint James, Liège, Reiner of Liège (1197 to 1230, kept year by year). Contemporary annals kept inside Liège. Read online
- Chronicle of Burchard of Ursberg, Burchard of Ursberg (about 1229 to 1230, reworked by Conrad of Lichtenau). Written a generation later by a fierce partisan of the Staufen and a critic of Innocent III. Read online
- Chronicle of Otto of St Blasien, Otto of St Blasien (about 1209 to 1210). A Swabian continuation of Otto of Freising written from the Staufen side. Read online
- Chronicle of Reinhardsbrunn; Chronicle of St Peter's, Erfurt (Erfurt chronicle in the 13th century; Reinhardsbrunn compilation about 1340 to 1349 from older annals). The two Thuringian chronicles. Read online
- Chronicle of the Slavs, by Arnold of Lübeck, Arnold of Lübeck (about 1209 to 1210). Arnold continues Helmold and writes from Lübeck, close to Danish, Welf and Baltic affairs. Read online
- Royal Chronicle of Cologne (in stages from about 1175 to about 1250; the section on 1198 to 1220 written soon after the events). The fullest German narrative of the throne war from the Welf and Cologne side. Read online
- Chronicle of Hainaut, Gislebert of Mons (about 1195 to 1196). Ends in 1195, so it has no 1200 entries, but it is the indispensable background for Flanders and Hainaut: the career of Count Baldwin V of Hainaut (VIII of Flanders), his union of the two counties, the settlement with Philip over Artois, the rights, castles, fiefs and vassals of Hainaut listed by a man who ran its chancery, and the youth of Baldwin IX, who held both counties in 1200. Read online
8 more in the sources library for The Rhineland, the Low Countries and the Swiss Lands.
Sources and studies
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.