Burgrave of Dohna

Who he is

Name

Henry II

Title

Burgrave of Dohna (castellanus de Donin)

Since

1180 (holds until 1225; his oldest coins are struck about 1200)

Born

not pinned

Family

The Donin; the founder Henry I appears as castellan of Dohna on 30 November 1156.

Confidence

medium

de.wikipedia Burggrafschaft Dohna; the Church map record for the bishop of Meissen

Overlord

The king (the burgraviate was an imperial fief by 1156)

What it holds

• Dohna castle
• The Müglitz valley, Lockwitz and Kaitz
• Thorun castle at Pesterwitz (disputed with the bishop of Meissen from 1201 to 1206)
• Rabenau and Dippoldiswalde to the west (dating not pinned)
• A mint

How it was acquired

Imperial fief by 1156.

Allies and rivals

Rivals: the margrave of Meissen and the bishop of Meissen. Neighbours: Bohemian lords beyond the Erzgebirge.

How things stand that morning

Held by Henry II; side in the throne war not attested.

Wealth

Mint, Elbe and Müglitz valleys.

Military

Dohna and Thorun. No numbers.

Threats

• The margrave of Meissen

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. 1201-1206Quarrel with Bishop Dietrich of Meissen over the castle of Thorun at Pesterwitz, settled by the margrave's arbitration on 31 March 1206 (at Dresden, the first mention of the place). Not 1200.

Places of note

• Dohna castle: Burgraves' castle
• Thorun castle: At Pesterwitz

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: Office and coinage dated in one article; extent is the later medieval one.

On the map: Core only.

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.