Arnstein

Who he is

Name

Walter III, or his sons Gebhard and Walter IV: not pinned

Title

Lord of Arnstein (the family begins to call itself count at the end of the 12th century)

Since

not pinned

Born

Walter III about 1150

Family

Walter III married Gertrud, a granddaughter of Albert the Bear (so the Arnsteins are cousins of Bernhard and of the margraves). Sons: Gebhard (ancestor of the counts of Lindow-Ruppin), Walter IV (ancestor of the counts of Barby), Wichmann (later a Dominican).

Confidence

low

de.wikipedia (Arnstein (Adelsgeschlecht)) gives Walter III about 1150 to about 1196; fmg.ac (Saxon nobility) has a charter of his of 1194 and records him as living after 1199. The generations are muddled.

Overlord

Fiefs from Magdeburg, Quedlinburg abbey (they are its sub-advocates) and the counts of Mansfeld; allods round Arnstein.

What it holds

• Arnstein castle
• Lands round Mühlingen
• Sub-advocacy of Quedlinburg abbey
• Fiefs from Magdeburg and from the counts of Mansfeld

How it was acquired

Inherited and by marriage.

Allies and rivals

Kin of the Ascanians.

How things stand that morning

Hold Arnstein; side not pinned (likely with their Ascanian kin). The ADB says most of the great men of Saxony gathered round Philip at Magdeburg at Christmas 1199; whether this house was among them is not pinned.

Wealth

Rents and fiefs.

Military

Arnstein castle. No figures.

Where the sources disagree

• de.wikipedia has Walter III dying about 1196; fmg.ac records him living after 1199. Who heads the family on 1 January 1200 is not pinned.

Evidence: Muddled generations.

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.