The great lordship of the old march north of Antwerp, on the Mark and the Brabant Wal: Breda, with Bergen op Zoom and Wouw on the edge of the Scheldt waters.
Bergen op Zoom and Wouw were split off only in 1287-1290 (for Gerard of Wezemaal), so in 1200 they are part of the Breda lordship. Its lords hold of Brabant but sit on the frontier with Holland.
Who he is
- Name
- Henry of Schoten (lord from 1179) or his son Godfrey (amateur genealogies list a Godfrey of Breda living about 1160-1216); the holder on 1 January 1200 is not pinned by a charter
- Title
- Lord of Breda
- Since
- The Schoten line from 1179
- Born
- Not pinned
- Family
- Van Schoten: the lordship passed in 1179 to Henry of Schoten, probably son of Elisabeth, sister of the last two lords of the old line (Kalf).
- Confidence
- low
Kalf, De monumenten in de voormalige baronie van Breda (dbnl).
Overlord
The duke of Brabant (Breda is the southern, Brabant part of the old county of Strijen)
What it holds
- Breda castle and the land on the Mark
- Bergen op Zoom and Wouw
- Zundert (church founded 1116 by a lord of Breda)
- Parts of Baarle (the Baarle enclaves come from deals between the lords of Breda and the dukes)
How it was acquired
Inherited in 1179 by the Schoten line.
Allies and rivals
The duke of Brabant (overlord); Holland across the water.
How things stand that morning
Held by the Schoten line as the duke's vassals; their side in the throne war follows Brabant's, not pinned on direct evidence.
Wealth
Peat, heath, the Mark river and the Scheldt shore at Bergen op Zoom.
Military
Breda castle.
Threats
- Holland and Zeeland across the Scheldt
Places of note
- Wouw: Village and later lordship, part of Breda in 1200
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: Kalf gives the succession of 1179 and the split of 1287-1290 but no lord for 1200; the Godfrey of the genealogies is unverified.
On the map: Approximate; the 1200 bounds of the lordship are not mapped in the sources.
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
- Kalf, De monumenten in de voormalige baronie van Breda (dbnl)
- Baarle-Hertog (en.wikipedia)
- Genealogy listing: Godfried van Breda (about 1185-1227), with his father of the same name
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.