A Benedictine royal abbey on the Jagst, founded in 764.
Its lordship rests on the great forest of the Virngrund, made a royal ban forest in its favour by Henry II in 1024. The abbot is first called a prince of the Empire in 1215; in 1200 he rules his forest through a ring of ministerial families.
Who holds it
- Title
- Abbot of Ellwangen
- Since
- not pinned
- Confidence
- low
The sources consulted do not name the abbot for 1200.
What it holds
- Ellwangen and the Virngrund forest: royal ban forest of 1024, probably the abbey's since Carolingian times
- Ministerial families named after Ellwangen, Pfahlheim, Röhlingen, Rotenbach, Schwabsberg and Westhausen
How it was acquired
Founded 764; forest ban 1024; first called a prince in 1215.
How things stand that morning
Quiet.
Wealth
Forest and estates.
Advocates and rivals
Not pinned for 1200 in the sources consulted.
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: From the Höfe und Residenzen handbook only.
On the map: The forest lordship is drawn from the communes around Ellwangen.
Primary sources for Staufen
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
- Annals of Jarloch (Gerlach), abbot of Milevsko, Jarloch of Milevsko (about 1200 to 1220). The last Bohemian narrative before 1200, continuing Vincentius of Prague. Read online
23 more in the sources library for The Rhineland, the Low Countries and the Swiss Lands.
Sources and studies
- Ellwangen, Äbte von (Höfe und Residenzen im spätmittelalterlichen Reich)
- Fürstpropstei Ellwangen (de.wikipedia)
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.