Barons and castellans · Duchy of Brabant · as at first light, 1 January 1200

Aarschot

A lordship on the Demer between Leuven and the Kempen, with a castle and a small town, held of the duke.

Who he is

Title
Lord of Aarschot
Since
Not pinned
Born
Not pinned
Family
A Brabant free-lord house on the Demer; the names of its heads around 1200 were not found in the sources used.
Confidence
low

No source found for 1200.

Overlord

The duke of Brabant

What it holds

  • Aarschot castle and town on the Demer

Allies and rivals

The duke of Brabant; neighbours Diest and the Berthouts.

How things stand that morning

A vassal lordship of Brabant; holder not pinned.

Wealth

Demer valley; a market.

Military

Castle.

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: Existence of the lordship only.

On the map: The modern commune stands for the lordship.

Primary sources for Brabant

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 Reiner of Saint James, Liège, Reiner of Liège (1197 to 1230, kept year by year). Contemporary annals kept inside Liège. 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 Alberic of Trois-Fontaines, Alberic of Trois-Fontaines (about 1227 to 1241, at the Cistercian abbey of Trois-Fontaines in Champagne). The widest net of any Latin chronicle for 1200, compiled from dozens of sources, many now lost. 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
  • Dialogue on Miracles, Caesarius of Heisterbach (about 1219 to 1223). Not a chronicle but a Cistercian's book of exempla, full of stories about Cologne, the Rhineland and the Low Countries around 1200: the throne war, usurers, heretics, crusade preachers, knights and townsmen, monks and recruits at Heisterbach, founded in 1189. Read online

Sources and studies

  1. Henry I, Duke of Brabant (en.wikipedia)

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