The older line of the same stock as the Montefeltro, lords of Carpegna under Monte Carpegna; with the Montefeltro the only local families to bear the title of count, and their allies until the 1240s.
Who he is
- Title
- Counts
- Since
- not pinned
- Confidence
- low
Ugolino di Bonconte, linked to Barbarossa and sent by him to William II of Sicily in 1177, was a relative and perhaps a brother of Montefeltrano. After the counts of Bertinoro died out (1177), Barbarossa invested the Carpegna with jurisdiction over the area (undated). The county is first named on 10 July 1238, with about thirty castles in two groups between Carpegna and San Marino. No head of the family is pinned for 1200.
Overlord
The emperor.
What it holds
- Carpegna and its pieve (rebuilt 1182)
- Castles between Carpegna and San Marino (about thirty by 1238; their number in 1200 not pinned)
How it was acquired
Inherited; imperial investiture under Barbarossa (undated).
Allies and rivals
Allies: the Montefeltro. Neighbours: San Marino, the bishop of Montefeltro, Rimini.
How things stand that morning
Imperial counts in the hills, under no commune.
Wealth
Upland pasture and dues.
Military
Their castles and men.
Threats
- The papal claim to the March
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: Few documents before 1238.
On the map: Only the seat is drawn.
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.
Sources and studies
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.