Münster

Who holds it

Name

Hermann II of Katzenelnbogen

Title

Bishop of Münster

Since

1174 (named by Barbarossa after Bishop Ludwig of Wippra died on 26 December 1173)

Confidence

high

Of the counts of Katzenelnbogen on the Lahn; Barbarossa's choice for Münster and a member of the emperor's inner circle on the Third Crusade (1189-1192). A founder of towns: he gave Coesfeld its town law in 1197 (confirmed by the emperor that August) and raised Warendorf to a town between 1197 and 1201. He will lay down his office and die in 1203 as a simple monk of the Cistercian abbey of Marienfeld, where he is buried.

His stance in the throne war is not pinned in the sources consulted.

What it holds

• Münster: the bishop's city around the cathedral and its walled immunity
• Coesfeld: given town law by Hermann in 1197, with market, mint, taxes, its own court, elected magistrates and the right to wall itself, and freed from the claims of Varlar abbey
• Warendorf: being made a town between 1197 and 1201, the bishop's market on the Ems
• Rights from the broken duchy of Saxony granted to the bishop in the 12th century (extent not pinned)
• The bishop's manors, courts and ministerial castles across the Münsterland (not pinned place by place)

How it was acquired

The bishops' temporal power grew from royal immunities and from rights taken over after the fall of the Saxon duchy in 1180. The Niederstift (Vechta, the Emsland) is bought from the counts of Ravensberg only in 1252.

How things stand that morning

Hermann holds the city and his new towns. He is old and close to retiring to the cloister; his successor will have to deal with Cologne's ducal claims and the Tecklenburg advocates.

Wealth

Markets and the bishop's mint at Münster and Coesfeld; the grain and cattle of the Münsterland; the Ems crossing at Warendorf.

Threats

• The Tecklenburg advocates
• Cologne's ducal claims over Westphalia
• A contested succession when Hermann retires

Advocates and rivals

The counts of Tecklenburg, long the see's advocates; the archbishop of Cologne, who as duke of Westphalia claims rights the bishop does not accept; the counts of Cleves and Gelre and the lords of Horstmar and Steinfurt on the edges; the abbey of Varlar.

Places of note

• Marienfeld Abbey: Cistercian abbey where Hermann ends his days as a monk
• Varlar Abbey: Premonstratensian house whose claims on Coesfeld the 1197 charter ended

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: The bishop and his town charters are well attested; the shape of his lordship in 1200 is not, so only the city and the two new towns are drawn. The allegiance follows the campaign notes (Welf-leaning or wavering, thin).

On the map: Only the city and the two new towns are drawn. The bishop's manors, courts and vassal castles across the Münsterland were real but cannot be placed for 1200.