Speyer

Who holds it

Name

Otto of Henneberg

Title

Bishop of Speyer

Since

1190

Confidence

high

Of the Franconian counts of Henneberg (an earlier Henneberg, Günther, was bishop 1146-1161). Old and near death on 1 January 1200: he dies on 3 March 1200. His successor will be Konrad of Scharfenberg (1200-1224), who will also hold Metz from 1212.

What it holds

• Speyer: the city lordship, limited by the citizens' privileges (1111, 1182) and their council of twelve (1193, confirmed by Philip in January 1198); the cathedral with the tombs of the Salian emperors
• Bruchsal: the royal palace and estate given by Henry III to Bishop Konrad I in 1056 (named a town only in 1248), with the forest country around it (the extent of the Lusshardt forest rights in 1200 not pinned)
• Estates of the church on both banks of the Rhine (Deidesheim, Udenheim and others; not pinned for 1200)

How it was acquired

Royal grants of the Salian age, above all Bruchsal (1056). The city's liberties were granted by the emperors over the bishop's head (1111, 1182, 1193).

How things stand that morning

Otto holds Bruchsal and what remains of his city lordship; the citizens run their own council. The see is solidly Staufen.

Wealth

The Rhine crossing and market of Speyer; the cathedral, royal burial church of the Salians; vineyards of the Haardt; the Bruchsal estate.

Threats

• Otto's death and a new election
• The citizens' growing self-government

Advocates and rivals

The citizens of Speyer, protected by imperial privilege; the Staufen, who are the great power of the region; the counts of Leiningen and the counts palatine.

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.

1. 3 March 1200Bishop Otto of Henneberg dies; Konrad of Scharfenberg is elected (bishop 1200-1224).Depends on: Otto's natural death; Staufen influence on the chapter. Stopped by: Nothing likely for the death; a Welf or papal intervention could contest the election.

Places of note

• Speyer cathedral: Burial church of the Salian emperors

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: The bishops, Bruchsal and the city's privileges are attested. The bishop's other estates are not placed for 1200.

On the map: Only the city and Bruchsal are drawn; the later prince-bishopric's scattered villages on both banks are not placed for 1200.

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.