Counts of Plain

Who he is

Name

Liutold III (about 1175-1219) and his cousin Konrad I (about 1180-1250), holding together

Title

Counts of Plain and of Hardegg, advocates of St Peter's at Salzburg and of Berchtesgaden

Since

Liutold after his father Liupold died in 1193 (styled count of Hardegg in 1198, of Plain in 1203); Konrad after his father Henry I died in 1196 and his elder brother Otto I (count of Plain 1196) died in 1197 (Konrad styled count of Plain in 1197, of Hardegg in 1200, day not pinned)

Born

Liutold about 1175; Konrad about 1180 (both approximate)

Family

Descendants of Werigand, who built the Plainburg about 1100 and founded Höglwörth (1123). Liutold III is the son of Count Liupold (died 1193), who led the Plain men that burned Salzburg for Barbarossa in 1167, and of Ida of Burghausen (alive, died after 1210); his brothers Gebhard and Henry are clerics (later bishop of Passau, 1223, and abbot of Kremsmünster, 1220). Konrad I is the son of Count Henry I (died 1196) and of Agnes of Wittelsbach, sister of Duke Louis I of Bavaria (married 1186 per en.wikipedia; before 1177 per the Plain genealogy), so the duke is his uncle. Liutold's wife Heilwig (of Leuchtenberg?) is uncertain; Konrad's first wife appears only in 1220. A Plain daughter, Sophie, is the second wife of Count Otto of Lebenau.

Confidence

medium

de.wikipedia (Grafen von Plain), which warns that many dates are uncertain; en.wikipedia (Otto I, Duke of Bavaria) for Agnes.

Overlord

Their county rights round Salzburg are held of the duke of Bavaria or the Empire (not pinned); they hold advocacies and fiefs of the archbishop and the Salzburg churches; Hardegg is held under the duke of Austria.

What it holds

• The Plainburg above Großgmain (built about 1100)
• Höglwörth, the canons' house founded by Werigand in 1123, of which they are advocates
• Comital rights in the country west of the Saalach and Salzach round Teisendorf, Ainring and Freilassing (the later Rupertiwinkel), extent not pinned for 1200
• Advocacy of St Peter's abbey in Salzburg (held by Liutold I, died 1164)
• Advocacy of Berchtesgaden (from 1190), of Frauenchiemsee (about 1178) and of Herrenchiemsee
• The county of Hardegg in Lower Austria (from 1187-88): see the Austria file

How it was acquired

Plain from about 1100 (Werigand, named of Plain in 1108); Hardegg by 1187-88 (how, not stated in the source).

Allies and rivals

Kin of the Wittelsbach duke through Agnes; linked by marriage to the counts of Lebenau; Salzburg's advocates but also its burners in 1167; neighbours of the counts of Peilstein at Reichenhall.

How things stand that morning

Liutold and Konrad hold the Plainburg, Höglwörth and their advocacies together. Konrad's mother, the duke's sister, is alive on 1 January and dies on 13 January 1200 (en.wikipedia). No throne-war act of theirs is recorded for 1198-1199.

Wealth

Advocacy dues from rich churches, the county's courts and their estates; the Hardegg lands on the Moravian border.

Military

The Plainburg and their vassals; their men burned Salzburg in 1167 under Liupold. No campaign is pinned for 1199.

Threats

• The archbishops' wish to recover the advocacies
• Division between two young cousins

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. 13 January 1200Agnes of Wittelsbach, Konrad's mother, dies (en.wikipedia; the Plain genealogy says about 1200).Depends on: Nature. Stopped by: Nothing likely.
2. 1200 (day not pinned)Konrad is styled count of Hardegg beside Liutold.Depends on: The cousins' sharing of the inheritance. Stopped by: A partition or a quarrel between them.
3. 8 April 1200 onwardsAdalbert's death puts the Salzburg advocacies in play under a new archbishop who will claw back advocacies (Eberhard II's policy).Depends on: Adalbert's death. Stopped by: Adalbert living.

Places of note

• Höglwörth: Canons' house founded 1123 by Werigand of Plain

Where the sources disagree

• Agnes of Wittelsbach: married 1186 and died 13 January 1200 (en.wikipedia, Otto I of Bavaria) against married before 1177 and died about 1200 (de.wikipedia, Grafen von Plain).
• The Austria file (Hardegg) makes Konrad Liutold's brother and gives Otto's death as 23 August 1197; the de.wikipedia list read here makes Konrad (and Otto) sons of Henry I, so Liutold's cousins. Not settled.

Evidence: The family and its advocacies are documented; the genealogy around 1200 has unresolved points; the territorial extent of their county in 1200 is not pinned and is drawn from the later Rupertiwinkel.

On the map: Drawn from the later Rupertiwinkel south of Laufen; the Plains' rights were courts and advocacies among the archbishop's estates, not a closed block.

Primary sources for Salzburg (Adalbert III)

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 Schäftlarn and the Bavarian annals (12th and 13th centuries). Brief Bavarian annals. Read online
• The Austrian and Salzburg annals (kept in the 12th and 13th centuries, with continuations to the late 13th century). A family of monastic annals from Austria, Styria and Salzburg, printed together. Read online
• Bavarian monuments: the charters of the Bavarian monasteries and bishoprics (charters from the 8th century onward, published 1763 to 1916). The great charter series of Bavaria, arranged by monastery and bishopric. Read online