The noble women's abbey of Saeckingen, on its Rhine island below Basel, owns the whole valley of Glarus, acquired by the mid-eighth century, and governs it through its Meier (steward).
Its town grew on the island under the abbey. The advocacy was the prize: Barbarossa had given it to Ulrich of Lenzburg, and after the Lenzburgs died out in 1173 it passed to the Staufen and the Habsburgs. The sources disagree on the details: de.wikipedia has Otto of Burgundy, Barbarossa's son, as advocate after 1173 and the Habsburgs from 1181; en.wikipedia has Barbarossa granting the abbey's imperial advocacy to Count Albert III of Habsburg in 1173.
If Otto holds the advocacy over Glarus, his murder on 13 January 1200 reopens it.
Who holds it
- Title
- Abbess of Saeckingen
- Since
- Not pinned
- Confidence
- low
No abbess for 1200 is named in the sources read.
What it holds
- Glarus: the whole valley, the abbey's lordship governed through its Meier
- Saeckingen: the Rhine island town round the abbey
How it was acquired
Early medieval grants; the Glarus valley by the mid-eighth century in recent research.
How things stand that morning
Held by the abbey through stewards; the advocacy is in Staufen or Habsburg hands.
Wealth
Cattle, cheese and pasture of Glarus; Rhine traffic at Saeckingen.
Threats
- The advocates' growing hold on Glarus
- The death of Count Otto of Burgundy (13 January 1200) if he is advocate
Advocates and rivals
Advocates: the Lenzburg counts until 1173; then Otto of Burgundy (Staufen) and/or the Habsburgs (the sources disagree). The abbess becomes a princess of the Empire only in 1307.
What the year holds
What happened next, if nothing in play changes it. Each event carries what it depends on and what would stop it.
- 13 January 1200Count Otto of Burgundy is murdered at Besancon; if he holds the advocacy of Glarus it passes to new hands (the successor is not pinned).Depends on: Otto's murder as in the notes and de.wikipedia's account of the advocacy. Stopped by: Play that prevents the murder.
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: Two encyclopedias disagree on the advocacy after 1173; the abbess is not pinned.
On the map: Glarus is drawn as the modern canton, which closely matches the medieval land; parts of the lower valley (Kerenzen, the Linth plain) may have belonged to other lords.
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
- Damenstift Saeckingen (de.wikipedia)
- Saeckingen Abbey (en.wikipedia)
- Geschichte des Kantons Glarus (de.wikipedia)
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.