The bishop of Chur is the great lord of Rhaetia's passes.
Otto I gave his predecessors royal rights in Chur and the Bergell with control of the Septimer road (958-960); the bishops later bought the Upper Engadine from the counts of Gamertingen (1137-1139). The city of Chur is the bishop's town. The advocacy of the see appears to have been in Staufen hands since the Pfullendorf inheritance passed to Barbarossa about 1170 (general accounts, not verified here), which would make the Staufen king the bishop's protector in 1200.
The bishop's claims in the Vinschgau and the Lower Engadine run up against the lords of Tarasp and Matsch.
Who holds it
- Name
- Reinher da Torre
- Title
- Bishop of Chur
- Since
- 1194 (presumably; HLS)
- Confidence
- medium
Son of Alcherio and brother of Guido da Torre; whether he belongs to the Milanese della Torre is not confirmed. HLS has him bishop presumably from 1194 until his death on 9 November 1209; en.wikipedia's list instead puts an Arnold I von Matsch in 1194-1200 and Reinher from 1200, so the holder on 1 January 1200 is not fully settled. Reinher served as a papal arbiter, consecrated altars at Marienberg in the Vinschgau in 1201 and settled its quarrel with the parish of Burgeis, and bought the castle of Steinsberg in the Lower Engadine from Albert of Frickingen (date not pinned).
In 1209 he handed the advocacy of the see to Otto IV at Augsburg in return for exemption from imperial service.
What it holds
- Chur: the episcopal city and its court (the Hof)
- The Bergell and the Septimer road with its tolls (royal grants of 958-960)
- The Upper Engadine, bought from the counts of Gamertingen (1137-1139) [from general accounts; not verified in a source this session]
- Rights and vassals in the Vinschgau and the Lower Engadine, contested with the lords of Tarasp and Matsch; Steinsberg castle (bought by Reinher, date not pinned)
How it was acquired
Royal grants of Otto I (958-960) and later kings; purchase of the Gamertingen rights in the Upper Engadine (1137-1139). The princely rank of the bishop is usually dated to about 1170 [not verified here].
How things stand that morning
The bishop holds Chur and the pass valleys; the Staufen hold the advocacy. Who exactly is bishop on 1 January (Reinher, or an Arnold of Matsch until some point in 1200) is not settled.
Wealth
Tolls on the Septimer and Julier roads between Swabia and Lombardy; the market of Chur; alpine pasture.
Threats
- Noble advocates and vassals turning offices into hereditary lordships
- The see's dependence on the Staufen as advocates in a contested reign
Advocates and rivals
The advocacy (Vogtei) of the see: in Staufen hands from about 1170 [general accounts], given by Reinher to Otto IV in 1209. The lords of Matsch (advocates of Marienberg and the bishop's vassals in the Vinschgau), the lords of Tarasp, the barons of Sax-Misox and Vaz; the bishop of Como over the southern valleys.
Places of note
- Bishop's court at Chur: The Hof, the bishop's fortified precinct above the town
- Septimer pass: Pass road from the Oberhalbstein to the Bergell, controlled by the bishop
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: The holder rests on the HLS article on Reinher, which conflicts with the en.wikipedia list. The HLS article on the bishopric could not be read (the fetch proxy refused it), so the holdings rest on en.wikipedia and general accounts.
On the map: Chur, the Bergell and the Upper Engadine are drawn as held; the bishop's rights in the Domleschg, the Oberhalbstein, the Vinschgau, the Lower Engadine and the Muenstertal are real but not mapped, because the share of the bishop as against his noble vassals in 1200 is not pinned.
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.