The abbey of Inden, founded by Louis the Pious and called Kornelimünster after the relics of St Cornelius, lies just south-east of Aachen.
Under the Ottonians it became an imperial abbey with full immunity (948), free election of its abbot (974) and its own market and mint (985), and its abbot ranks as a prince of the Empire. Its small country, the later 'Münsterländchen', lies between Limburg and Jülich; the counts of Jülich are its protecting advocates.
Who holds it
- Title
- Abbot of Kornelimünster
- Since
- not pinned
- Confidence
- low
The abbot on 1 January 1200 is not pinned. The list has Rudolf (1135-1155), then Werner (no dates), then Florenz I (1212-1215).
What it holds
- Kornelimünster: the abbey, its market and mint, and the small country around it between Limburg and Jülich
How it was acquired
Foundation by Louis the Pious (814-817); imperial immunity 948, free election 974, market and mint 985.
How things stand that morning
A small abbey-lordship in the Welf heartland around Aachen; its abbot in 1200 is not pinned.
Wealth
Pilgrims to the relics of St Cornelius; the abbey's market and mint.
Threats
- The counts of Jülich
- War around Aachen
Advocates and rivals
The counts of Jülich (protecting advocates), the dukes of Limburg, and the royal city of Aachen.
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: The Ottonian privileges and advocacy are attested; the abbot in 1200 is not.
On the map: Drawn as a 5 km territory around the abbey.
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.