Pfaefers, above the Rhine at the mouth of the Tamina gorge, is an old imperial abbey with free election (840, confirmed by Otto I in 950).
Its small lordship covers Pfaefers, Ragaz, Valens, Vaettis and the Tamina valley. Some of its imperial and papal charters were later found to be seventeenth-century forgeries, so its early privileges must be read with care. In 1208 Otto IV will give its advocacy to the barons of Sax.
Who holds it
- Title
- Abbot of Pfaefers
- Since
- Not pinned
- Confidence
- low
de.wikipedia names Konrad von Zwiefalten as abbot from 1206 to 1217; his predecessor in 1200 is not pinned.
What it holds
- Pfaefers, Ragaz, Valens, Vaettis and the Tamina valley: the abbey's lordship
How it was acquired
Free election from Lothar (840), confirmed by Otto I (950).
How things stand that morning
Held by the abbey.
Wealth
Pasture and farms; tolls on the Rhine valley road below.
Threats
- Noble advocates; the bishops of Chur
Advocates and rivals
Advocates not pinned for 1200 (the barons of Sax from 1208); the bishop of Chur next door.
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: Based on de.wikipedia, which itself warns of forged charters; abbot not pinned.
On the map: Drawn as the modern municipalities of Pfaefers (which includes Valens and Vaettis) and Bad Ragaz.
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.