The Dassels hold the county of the Solling, the wooded hills on the right bank of the Upper Weser, and its foreland to the Leine.
The house split into two lines: Adolf I at the castle of Hunnesrück by Dassel, Ludolf II at Nienover. They were Henry the Lion's opponents (Adolf beat him in 1190). Adolf is about to make a northern venture: in 1200 he marries the widow of Count Bernhard II of Ratzeburg and, with Adolf III of Holstein's help, becomes count of Ratzeburg, until the Abodrite princes and the Danes beat him at Waschow (25 May 1200 or 1201).
Whether the marriage falls before or after 1 January 1200 is not pinned. Later (1209) Adolf follows Otto IV to Italy; his side in 1199-1200 is not pinned.
Who he is
- Name
- Adolf I 'the Bold' (about 1155/60-1224) and his brother Ludolf II (died after 1197, by 1210 at latest)
- Title
- Counts of Dassel
- Since
- after the death of their father Ludolf I near Rome in 1167
- Born
- Adolf about 1155-1160
- Family
- Sons of Ludolf I; nephews of Rainald of Dassel, archbishop of Cologne and Barbarossa's chancellor (died 1167). Ludolf II went on the Third Crusade (1189). Adolf married Adelheid of Wassel, widow of Count Bernhard II of Ratzeburg (died 1197), in 1200 (date within the year not pinned).
- Confidence
- medium
de.wikipedia (Grafschaft Dassel).
Overlord
Mixed: Mainz for Hilwartshausen (from 1190) and other fiefs; Cologne for the advocacy of the abbey of Grafschaft (1166-1232); Nienover first enfeoffed by Henry the Lion after 1152 and their main seat after 1180; county rights in the Solling of their own.
What it holds
- Hunnesrück castle (Adolf's line)
- Nienover castle in the Solling (Ludolf's line)
- The county of the Solling and its foreland to the Leine
- Advocacy of the abbey of Grafschaft (Cologne fief)
- The Mainz fief of Hilwartshausen
How it was acquired
County rights round Dassel since 1113-1126.
Allies and rivals
Allies of Adolf III of Holstein in the north; old enemies of Henry the Lion.
How things stand that morning
The brothers hold the county; Adolf may be on the point of taking Ratzeburg (nsw sheet). Side: not pinned. The ADB says most of the great men of Saxony gathered round Philip at Magdeburg at Christmas 1199; whether this house was among them is not pinned.
Wealth
The Solling forest, rents of the Leine foreland.
Military
Hunnesrück and Nienover. No figures.
Threats
- The Danish and Abodrite war if Adolf takes Ratzeburg
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.
- 1200 (date not pinned)Adolf marries Adelheid of Wassel and becomes count of Ratzeburg with Holstein's backing.Depends on: Adolf III of Holstein's support. Stopped by: Danish intervention before the marriage.
- 25 May 1200 or 1201Battle of Waschow: Adolf is beaten by Henry Borwin I and Nicholas I, allies of Canute VI, and loses Ratzeburg.Depends on: Adolf holding Ratzeburg. Stopped by: A Danish-Holstein truce.
Places of note
- Hunnesrück castle: Adolf's seat
- Nienover castle: Ludolf's seat
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: Genealogy and the Ratzeburg episode from de.wikipedia; Waschow's year is disputed (1200 or 1201).
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.