Bamberg

Who holds it

Name

Timo (Thiemo, of Heroldsbach)

Title

Bishop of Bamberg

Since

elected 7 August 1196; consecrated winter 1196-1197 by Celestine III

Confidence

high

Of the Heroldsbach family; cathedral provost of Bamberg before his election. He stood by Philip even when Innocent III favoured Otto. He petitioned for the canonisation of Empress Kunigunde, Henry II's widow and co-founder of the see, which is before the pope on 1 January. He dies at Bamberg on 15 or 25 October 1201.

What it holds

• The Franconian core: Henry II's royal estates in the Rangau, Volkfeld and Radenzgau, the Radenzgau with its old centre Forchheim; the later districts include Kronach, Höchstadt, Pottenstein, Vilseck and Hallstadt (their status in 1200 is not individually pinned)
• Villach in Carinthia: the bishop's since 1007, market rights 1060, the bridge over the Drava on the road to Italy; a town by 1240 at the latest
• Feldkirchen and Tarvis (Tarvisio), with the Canal valley pass road to Friuli
• Wolfsberg and the upper Lavant valley: probably from 1007; castle first named in 1178; the market was laid out only about 1220-1230
• Griffen in the lower Lavant country
• Kirchdorf an der Krems in Upper Austria (held from the 11th century) and the Pyhrn pass road, where Bishop Otto II founded a pilgrims' hospital at Spital am Pyhrn in 1190

How it was acquired

Founded by Henry II in 1007 after he broke Count Henry of Schweinfurt (1003), from royal estates; the Carinthian and Austrian lands were royal gifts from 1007 onward and stayed with Bamberg until Maria Theresa bought them in 1759.

How things stand that morning

Timo holds the see and its Alpine lands and is Philip's man; Rome is hearing his plea for Kunigunde.

Wealth

Alpine transit: Villach's bridge and the tolls of the Canal valley and Pyhrn roads on the Venice trade; Franconian estates; the Lavant valley's mines (not pinned for 1200).

Threats

• The Carinthian dukes
• Andechs ambitions within the see

Advocates and rivals

The counts of Andechs-Meranien are the great vassal house of the see: Bishop Otto II (1177-1196) was one of them and Ekbert (1203-1237) will be another. In Carinthia the Spanheim dukes resent the Bamberg enclaves. Who holds the cathedral advocacy in 1200 is not pinned.

What the year holds

What happened next, if nothing in play changes it. Each event carries what it depends on and what would stop it.

1. 29 March 1200 (the German Wikipedia's date; often given as 3 April 1200)Innocent III canonises Empress Kunigunde at Timo's request.Depends on: The curia completing the process. Stopped by: Papal anger at Bamberg's Staufen loyalty, which did not in fact stop it.

Places of note

• Spital am Pyhrn: Pilgrims' hospital founded 1190 by Bishop Otto II on the Pyhrn road
• Wolfsberg castle: Bamberg castle over the Lavant, first named 1178

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: Timo and the Alpine lands are well attested (Wikipedia on Timo, Villach, Wolfsberg, Spital am Pyhrn and the Hochstift). The 1200 status of each Franconian district is not pinned; the Carinthian list follows the bishopric's holdings 1007-1759.

On the map: Austrian and Italian parts follow modern municipal boundaries, which roughly match the old lordships but are larger in places. Arnoldstein, a Bamberg abbey of 1106, is not drawn.