Counts · Duchy of Bavaria · as at first light, 1 January 1200

Bogen

The Bogen counts are the great house of the Danube plain below Regensburg and of the Bavarian Forest behind it: lords of the Bogenberg above the river, advocates of Oberaltaich and Prüfening, founders of Windberg, and kin of the Přemyslids.

Albert III married Ludmila of Bohemia about 1184; her dowry was the Künisches Gebirge in the Bohemian Forest and Schüttenhofen (Sušice), Bohemian ground that later went back to Bohemia. He went on crusade in 1186. In 1192 he began a feud against Duke Louis, Count Rapoto II of Kraiburg and Count Henry I of Ortenburg over Bamberg fiefs on the Danube and the burgraviate of Regensburg, which he was said to have taken unlawfully; with help from Bohemia and the Andechs he drove the duke back, but Henry VI ended the war in favour of Louis and the Ortenburgers, and Albert was put under the imperial ban and banished for a time to Apulia.

He began a new castle on the Hohenbogen in 1190 and never finished it. He died on 20 December 1197, leaving young sons, who in 1199 were at feud with Count Henry I of Ortenburg and had to defend their advocacies against the Ortenburgers.

Who he is

Name
Berthold, Albert (IV) and Liutpold, sons of Count Albert III, with their mother Ludmila
Title
Counts of Bogen
Since
20 December 1197, when Albert III died
Born
Albert III was born on 11 July 1165; his sons' births are not pinned. Berthold first acts as count and advocate of Oberaltaich in 1201, Albert IV as count from 1202; Liutpold, a cleric (later provost of the Alte Kapelle in Regensburg), is count from 1209.
Family
Ludmila, Albert III's widow, is a daughter of Duke Frederick (Bedřich) of Bohemia (died 1189), so a cousin of King Ottokar I. She married Albert about 1184 and will marry Duke Louis in October 1204; their son Otto II will inherit the Bogen lands in 1242. Who acted as the boys' guardian in 1198-1200 is not pinned.
Confidence
medium

de.wikipedia (Grafen von Bogen; Ortenburg (Adelsgeschlecht); Heinrich I. (Ortenburg))

Overlord

The duke of Bavaria for the comital rights within the duchy; the king; the bishops of Regensburg, Passau and Bamberg for church fiefs.

What it holds

  • The castle on the Bogenberg above the Danube
  • Comital rights on the north bank of the Danube between Straubing and Deggendorf and in the Bavarian Forest behind it (extent not pinned)
  • The advocacy of Oberaltaich (Albert III by about 1190)
  • The advocacy of Prüfening near Regensburg (Albert III about 1180)
  • Windberg, the family's house of Premonstratensian canons (its formal advocacy is recorded only in 1233)
  • The unfinished castle on the Hohenbogen (begun 1190)
  • Ludmila's dowry in Bohemia: the Künisches Gebirge and Schüttenhofen (Sušice); Bohemian ground, not drawn here

How it was acquired

Old comital house of the Danube plain; Bohemian dowry about 1184.

Allies and rivals

Kin: the Přemyslids (Ottokar I is Ludmila's cousin). Allies in 1192: Bohemia and the Andechs. Rivals: the counts of Ortenburg (feud in 1199), Duke Louis (1192), the bishop of Passau (who holds the Windberg county they will take in 1230).

How things stand that morning

The young counts hold the Bogen lands under their mother; the guardianship is not pinned. The feud with Henry I of Ortenburg is dated to 1199; whether it still runs on 1 January 1200 is not pinned. Their side in the throne war is not attested.

Wealth

The Danube plain, the advocacy revenues of the great abbeys, the forest lands, and the Danube traffic below Regensburg.

Military

The Bogenberg and the castles of the house and its ministeriales; in 1192 the house fought the duke with Bohemian help. No figures.

Threats

  • The Ortenburgers, at feud with them in 1199
  • A minority: the duke and the bishops may encroach on the advocacies

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. 1200-1201Berthold comes of age and acts as count and advocate of Oberaltaich (first recorded 1201).Depends on: His survival and age. Stopped by: Death or a guardian's hold on the house.

Places of note

  • Bogenberg: The counts' castle above the Danube.
  • Oberaltaich abbey: Benedictine house under the counts' advocacy.
  • Windberg abbey: The family's Premonstratensian house.

Where the sources disagree

  • de.wikipedia (Grafen von Bogen) dates the Bogen-Ortenburg fighting over advocacies to 1198; de.wikipedia (Heinrich I. (Ortenburg)) dates the feud with the Bogen to 1199. en.wikipedia (Louis I) dates Albert III's death to 1198; de.wikipedia gives 20 December 1197.

Evidence: Albert III's career is documented; the sons' minority in 1198-1201 and the extent of the comital lands are not.

On the map: The Bogen lordship was a web of comital rights and advocacies; the parts drawn are its centres. The Bohemian dowry lands are not drawn.

Primary sources for Bavaria

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.

Sources and studies

  1. Grafen von Bogen (de.wikipedia)
  2. Heinrich I. (Ortenburg) (de.wikipedia)

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