The burgrave holds the king's castle office at Nuremberg: his own castle beside the royal palace on the rock, the castle guard, rights in the royal forest and the leading place among the king's men in the district.
Since the change of dynasty in 1191-92 his powers over the town itself have been cut back: the administration and the courts of the town below the castle have passed to the royal Schultheiss. Frederick is an old Staufen loyalist (in their service since 1171). His wife brought the Raabs lands in Austria. In 1199 the counts of Abenberg died out, and the Zollern burgraves are named as their heirs; how and when they took possession is disputed (see the Abenberg record).
Who he is
- Name
- Frederick (Friedrich) we of Nuremberg, Frederick III of Zollern
- Title
- Burgrave of Nuremberg; count of Zollern
- Since
- About 1191-92, when Henry VI enfeoffed him with the burgraviate after the death of Conrad II of Raabs, the last Raabs burgrave, whose heiress he had married
- Born
- about 1139
- Family
- Swabian house of Zollern. Wife: Sophie of Raabs (married 1184; died about 1218), heiress of the Raabs burgraves. Sons: Conrad (born about 1186) and Frederick, who will divide the inheritance in 1218 (Conrad taking the Franconian lands and the burgraviate, Frederick the Swabian county of Zollern); daughter Elisabeth, later wife of Landgrave Gebhard III of Leuchtenberg.
- Confidence
- high
de.wikipedia gives his death as 14 July 1201 (its table says 'about 1200'); en.wikipedia 'after 1 October 1200'. Either way he is alive on 1 January 1200.
Overlord
The king (Philip), from whom the burgraviate is held as a fief.
What it holds
- The burgrave's castle on the castle rock at Nuremberg, and the burgraviate as a royal fief
- Rights in the royal forest round Nuremberg (how far they ran in 1200 is not pinned)
- The county of Zollern and the family lands on the Swabian Alb (swa's ground)
- Raabs and the Raabs lands in Lower Austria through his wife (outside the sheet)
- A claim to the Abenberg inheritance (Abenberg, Cadolzburg), open on 1 January 1200
How it was acquired
Burgraviate granted by Henry VI about 1191-92 after the Raabs line ended; Raabs by marriage (1184).
Allies and rivals
The Staufen kings; the see of Bamberg, which takes back its advocacy and fiefs from the Abenberg inheritance; the royal Schultheiss and the townsmen of Nuremberg, who stand between the burgrave and the town.
How things stand that morning
Frederick holds the burgraviate that winter; his sons are about 13 and younger. He backs Philip (STAUFEN; a Staufen partisan for thirty years; no dated act of 1199 seen, so confidence medium-high).
Wealth
Fees of the burgraviate and the castle, forest rights, the Zollern and Raabs lands.
Military
The burgrave's castle at Nuremberg and the castle guard; Zollern vassals in Swabia. No figures survive.
Threats
- His age (about 60) and young sons
- The king's Schultheiss and the townsmen pressing on the burgrave's rights
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.
- after 1 October 1200 or 14 July 1201Frederick dies; the burgraviate passes to his sons, the younger, Frederick, acting first.Depends on: nature Stopped by: nothing short of play changing his circumstances
Places of note
- Burgrave's castle, Nuremberg: Burgraves' castle beside the royal palace
Where the sources disagree
- Sources differ on his death: de.wikipedia text 14 July 1201, its table 'about 1200'; en.wikipedia 'after 1 October 1200'. None puts it before 1 January 1200.
Evidence: The office and the family are clear; the extent of the burgrave's rights in 1200 and his 1199 movements are not.
On the map: The burgraviate was an office and a set of rights, not a territory; only the castle is drawn. The Abenberg claim is drawn in the Abenberg record.
Primary sources for Staufen
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
- Annals of Jarloch (Gerlach), abbot of Milevsko, Jarloch of Milevsko (about 1200 to 1220). The last Bohemian narrative before 1200, continuing Vincentius of Prague. Read online
23 more in the sources library for The Rhineland, the Low Countries and the Swiss Lands.
Sources and studies
- Friedrich I. (Nürnberg), de.wikipedia
- Frederick I, Burgrave of Nuremberg, en.wikipedia
- Konrad I. (Nürnberg), de.wikipedia
- Geschichte der Stadt Nürnberg, de.wikipedia
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.