An old imperial abbey on the Iller with an immunity reaching back to 853.
Its advocacy passed from the Welfs to the Staufen in 1191, so Philip is its protector. The abbot is lord of the town and of an area of immunity on both sides of the river. He will receive it as a county from Frederick II in 1213.
Who holds it
- Title
- Abbot of Kempten
- Since
- not pinned
- Confidence
- low
The sources consulted do not name the abbot for 1200.
What it holds
- Kempten: the abbey town, where abbot and townsmen will quarrel for centuries
- An immunity area on both sides of the Iller, granted in 853 and extended by colonisation through the abbey's ministerials; received as a county in 1213
How it was acquired
Immunity of 853; county rights from Frederick II in 1213; the Staufen renounced the advocacy in 1218.
How things stand that morning
The abbey is under Philip's advocacy; its lordship is the immunity, not yet a county.
Wealth
Estates and the town market in the Allgäu.
Threats
- Staufen advocates treating the abbey as their own
Advocates and rivals
The Staufen hold the advocacy since 1191 (from the Welf inheritance of Welf VI); the townsmen of Kempten.
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: Structure from the Höfe und Residenzen handbook and the English Wikipedia; the abbot is not pinned.
On the map: The immunity is drawn from the communes around Kempten; its 1200 edge 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.