The count's uncle, an old crusader of about 55, rules the castle of Bentheim on its sandstone ridge and the lands along the Vechte (Nordhorn, Neuenhaus, Emlichheim, Uelsen, Schüttorf) between Twente, the Emsland and the bishop of Münster's country.
He is the senior man of the house of Holland, has been burgrave of Utrecht, and was the mediator who settled William's revolt.
Who he is
- Name
- Otto I of Bentheim (Otto of Holland)
- Title
- Count (lord) of Bentheim
- Since
- 1166 (lord of Nordhorn, Neuenhaus, Emlichheim and other lands); called count of Bentheim from 1171
- Born
- About 1145
- Family
- Son of Count Dirk VI of Holland and Sophia of Rheineck, heiress of Bentheim; brother of Count Floris III, of Bishop Baldwin of Utrecht (died 1196) and of Dirk, bishop-elect (died 1197); uncle of Dirk VII and William. Married first Alverada of Cuijk (called of Cuyk-Arnsberg) and secondly Alveradis of Cappenberg (dates not pinned). Children: Ekbert, Baldwin (count from 1209) and Gertrud.
- Confidence
- medium
Went on Frederick I's crusade with his brother Floris III. Close to Henry the Lion in the 1170s and 1180s. Recorded also as burgrave of Utrecht and as lord of Gorinchem until he sold it (dates not pinned). Fought for his brother Bishop Baldwin against the Groningers and Drents and was beaten near Rolde. Dies about 1208.
Overlord
The king; any fief tie to the bishop of Utrecht is not pinned
What it holds
- The castle of Bentheim
- Nordhorn, Neuenhaus, Emlichheim and other lands on the Vechte (from 1166)
- Schüttorf, the oldest town of the later county (named 1154 as the counts' possession)
- The burgraviate of Utrecht (recorded; dates not pinned)
How it was acquired
Through his mother Sophia of Rheineck after 1148.
Allies and rivals
Kin of Holland and of Utrecht's late bishops; enemy of the castellans of Coevorden and the Groningers; neighbour of Münster and Tecklenburg. In 1203 he takes William's side.
How things stand that morning
Holds Bentheim and the Vechte lands. Which king he backs is not pinned.
Wealth
The Bentheim sandstone, tolls on the Vechte road, farms of the Vechte valley.
Military
Castle of Bentheim. Crusader of 1189-1190. No numbers are recorded.
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.
- 1203Takes William's side in the Holland successionDepends on: Dirk VII's death
- About 1208Dies; Baldwin succeeds (1209)Depends on: Natural course
Places of note
- Castle of Bentheim: Seat
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: German Wikipedia with dated charters; the county is first called a comitatus only in 1228.
On the map: Drawn on the later county's core.
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.