St Ludger's abbey of Werden on the Ruhr is building, at the start of the 13th century, a small lordship of its own between Kettwig and Heisingen and the villages now in southern Essen, while its abbot also heads St Ludgeri at Helmstedt far to the east.
Its advocates, first the counts of Berg and then their Isenberg kin, are the danger. Abbot Heribert of Büren is Otto IV's man.
Who holds it
- Name
- Heribert II of Büren
- Title
- Abbot of Werden (and of St Ludgeri, Helmstedt)
- Since
- 1197
- Confidence
- high
Abbot 1197-1226 (died 23 July 1226). He played a part in the throne war on the Welf side and was given privileges by Otto IV; Henry (VII) will call a Werden abbot a prince. Werden's abbots are also heads of St Ludgeri at Helmstedt.
What it holds
- Werden abbey and its small lordship on the Ruhr between Kettwig and Heisingen, with Bredeney and Heidhausen (forming by the early 13th century)
- St Ludgeri at Helmstedt, the abbey's eastern daughter house, under the same abbot
- Scattered estates in the Rhineland, Westphalia and Frisia
How it was acquired
Founded by St Ludger about 800; immunity and royal protection from the Carolingians.
How things stand that morning
Heribert holds the abbey and its lordship under the Isenberg advocates and backs Otto.
Wealth
Rents from scattered estates; the Ruhr crossing at Werden; the pilgrims of St Ludger.
Threats
- The advocates of the Berg-Isenberg house
- The abbess of Essen and the counts of the region
Advocates and rivals
The counts of Berg held the advocacy from about 1003, then the Isenberg branch of the Altena house (Archbishop Adolf's kin); after the murder of Archbishop Engelbert in 1225 it goes to the counts of the Mark. The abbey of Essen next door.
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: The abbot, the advocates and the small lordship are attested (the lordship as forming by the early 13th century).
On the map: Werden's lordship is drawn as a 5 km territory; Helmstedt only as the abbey and its town.
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.