The Land of Cuijk on the left bank of the Maas south of Nijmegen, round Cuijk and Grave, is a free lordship of an old house that has given Liège its bishop.
Bishop Albert, old, dies in the first days of February 1200, and his see's Staufen leaning dies with him.
Who he is
- Name
- Not pinned: a kinsman of Bishop Albert of Cuyck of Liège
- Title
- Lord of Cuijk
- Since
- Not pinned
- Born
- Not pinned
- Family
- The house of Albert of Cuyck, bishop of Liège since 1194, who dies on 1 or 2 February 1200; Otto of Bentheim's first wife Alverada is said to be of this house. The family held lands and offices round Utrecht in the twelfth century (Blok).
- Confidence
- low
The lord on 1 January 1200 is not pinned.
Overlord
The king (imperial fief); Brabant presses claims
What it holds
- The Land of Cuijk: Cuijk, Grave, Boxmeer, Sint Anthonis and the Maas villages
How it was acquired
Hereditary.
Allies and rivals
Kin of the bishop of Liège; neighbours of Brabant and of the king's Rijk of Nijmegen.
How things stand that morning
Held by its own lords; allegiance not pinned.
Wealth
Maas trade and farms.
Military
Castle at Cuijk (and Grave, not pinned for 1200).
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 or 2 February 1200Bishop Albert of Cuyck of Liège dies; a contested election followsDepends on: Natural course Stopped by: Nothing likely
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: The family's link to Bishop Albert is certain; the lord that winter is not.
On the map: Drawn on the later Land of Cuijk.
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
- P. J. Blok, Geschiedenis van het Nederlandsche volk, deel 1 (DBNL), chapter on about 1160-1320
- Otto I. (Bentheim) (de.wikipedia)
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.