Prince-bishops · Other imperial lands · as at first light, 1 January 1200

Strasbourg

The bishop of Strasbourg is lord of one of the great cities of the Upper Rhine, with mint (974) and city jurisdiction (982) from the Ottonian kings, and of old church lands in three clusters: the Bruche valley west of the city (Molsheim, Mutzig), the Upper Mundat around Rouffach in Upper Alsace, and the Ettenheim march across the Rhine in the Ortenau.

A real territory is built only between 1223 and 1260, and the city is lost to its citizens at Hausbergen in 1262. In 1199 Philip of Swabia took the city from the Welf-leaning bishop.

Who holds it

Name
Konrad of Hühnenburg (Konrad II)
Title
Bishop of Strasbourg
Since
1190
Confidence
high

campaign notes: Otto's man in 1198 until Philip crushed the Welf party on the Upper Rhine. The German encyclopedia's account of the see says its chapter had won the right to elect the bishop and the see then stood on the papal side against the Staufen, and that Philip of Swabia took the city of Strasbourg in 1199 for that reason. On 1 January 1200 Konrad is therefore a beaten Welf partisan whose city is under Staufen control.

He dies in 1202.

What it holds

  • Strasbourg: the city lordship, with the mint (from 974) and jurisdiction in the city (from 982); the cathedral
  • The Bruche valley west of the city: Molsheim and Mutzig, part of the church's oldest lands (Merovingian gifts, notably by Dagobert I)
  • The Upper Mundat around Rouffach (with Soultz) in Upper Alsace, another of the oldest holdings
  • The Ettenheim march in the Ortenau, on the right bank of the Rhine
  • Lands in the Breisgau, which grow about 1200 through Count Bertold of Nimburg's crusade donation (whether before or after 1 January 1200 is not pinned)

How it was acquired

Merovingian gifts around the city and in the Bruche valley, at Rouffach and in the Ettenheim march; Ottonian grants of the mint (974) and city jurisdiction (982). The territorial lordship is built mainly under Berthold of Teck and Heinrich of Stahleck (1223-1260).

How things stand that morning

The city is in Philip's hands since 1199 and the bishop has had to come to terms. The church's lands are intact but its lord is a defeated man.

Wealth

Strasbourg's Rhine trade and market; the episcopal mint; Alsatian wine around Molsheim and Rouffach; the Ortenau's fields and forests.

Threats

  • The Staufen garrison in his city
  • The citizens of Strasbourg, who will win their freedom in 1262
  • Habsburg and Ferrette pressure on the Upper Mundat

Advocates and rivals

The Staufen, dukes of Swabia and lords of the Alsatian royal lands (Haguenau, Sélestat, Colmar), who took the city in 1199; the citizens of Strasbourg; the counts of Habsburg and Ferrette in Upper Alsace; the Zähringer across the Rhine.

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. About 1200 (not pinned)Count Bertold of Nimburg gives his Breisgau lands to the church of Strasbourg as a crusade donation.Depends on: The count taking the cross and settling his affairs. Stopped by: His heirs or the Zähringer contesting the gift.

Places of note

  • Strasbourg cathedral: Seat of the bishop
  • Hausbergen: Where the citizens defeat the bishop in 1262 (later history)

Where the sources disagree

  • GM ruling 10 asks whether Strasbourg is Welf or Staufen in 1200. The German encyclopedia account of the see says Philip of Swabia took the city in 1199 because the see stood with the pope against the Staufen (the campaign notes put Philip's crushing of the Upper Rhine Welf party in the summer of 1198). We have set the allegiance to STAUFEN, as submission under force; the campaign may prefer to keep Konrad a secret Welf. Source: https://dewiki.de/Lexikon/Hochstift_Stra%C3%9Fburg

Evidence: The early holdings and the 1199 capture are attested in one encyclopedia article; the exact limits of the clusters in 1200 are not. Saverne, the Haut-Barr, Benfeld, Dachstein and the Oberkirch lands are later or not pinned and are left off.

On the map: French places are drawn as whole communes; the Ettenheim march as a town territory. The clusters were larger than drawn but their 1200 limits are not pinned.

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.

8 more in the sources library for The Rhineland, the Low Countries and the Swiss Lands.

Sources and studies

  1. Hochstift Straßburg (dewiki.de, mirror of de.wikipedia)

Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.