Berg

Who he is

Name

Adolf III

Title

Count of Berg

Since

1189

Born

No later than 1175

Family

Brother Engelbert, cathedral provost of Cologne; cousin of Archbishop Adolf. See Berg.

Confidence

high

de.wikipedia Adolf III. (Berg); Grafschaft Berg

Overlord

The king; Cologne for fiefs and advocacies; the landgrave of Thuringia for Windeck

What it holds

• Burg on the Wupper (residence)
• Bensberg
• Neuenberg near Lindlar (centre of expansion in the 1170s)
• Neu-Windeck on the Sieg, a sub-fief from Henry Raspe of Thuringia since 1174
• Hilden and Haan (1176); lands round Düsseldorf (1186), then a village
• Half of the Saffenberg inheritance on the Ahr (1172)
• Teveren lands held in pledge since 1189
• Advocacies: Deutz (hereditary), Siegburg (since 1138-1139), Gerresheim, St Severin in Cologne, St Cassius in Bonn, and at Kaiserswerth (taken over from the Hardenberg family under Engelbert I)

How it was acquired

Division of 1160-1161 (Engelbert I took the Berg lands, Eberhard the Altena lands, with Werden, Essen and Cappenberg); purchases and pledges of Engelbert I.

Allies and rivals

Cousin and ally of Archbishop Adolf; neighbours the counts of Hückeswagen (claims on Berg pledges), the Sayn lordship of Blankenberg on the Sieg, the Altena lands to the east.

How things stand that morning

Held by Adolf III; backs Otto IV (welf).

Wealth

Advocacy courts and dues; Rhine bank and upland iron and forest. No figures.

Military

Burg, Bensberg, Neuenberg, Windeck.

Threats

• The Hückeswagen claims
• War costs shared with the archbishop

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. 1200Stays with his cousin and Otto.Depends on: Adolf of Cologne staying with Otto Stopped by: A family switch to Philip

Places of note

• Burg on the Wupper: Residence
• Bensberg: Count's castle
• Neu-Windeck: Sieg castle, sub-fief from Thuringia

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: Castles and acquisitions are well attested for the twelfth century; the bounds of the county in 1200 are rough.

On the map: Hückeswagen, Blankenberg (Sayn) and Siegburg (the abbey's town) are left out; Deutz and Siegburg advocacies are described on their town records.

Primary sources for Berg

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.

• 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
• 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