A free family on the rise, named since the 1180s from the castle of Eppstein in the Taunus, earlier from the water castle of Hainhausen in the Rodgau.
Tied to Mainz by service and to Wied by Gottfried's marriage, it has a son in the Mainz chapter who will become the Welf archbishop in late 1200, and from 1200 to 1305 it will give Mainz four archbishops.
Who he is
- Name
- Gottfried I of Eppstein (attested 1189-1220), with his brother Siegfried, provost of St Peter at Mainz; their father Gerhard I, the first to call himself of Eppstein, may still be alive (not pinned)
- Title
- Lord of Eppstein (formerly of Hainhausen)
- Since
- not pinned (the family took Eppstein between 1183 and 1190)
- Born
- Siegfried about 1165; Gottfried not pinned
- Family
- Gottfried I (died 1220 in the Wied article, 1223 in the Residenzen handbook), Gerhard's eldest son, married Isalda of Wied, daughter of Count Dietrich of Wied; her line will bring half of Wied to Eppstein in 1244. Siegfried (born about 1165), Gerhard I's second son, provost of St Gangolf at Mainz (1189), St Martin at Worms (1194) and St Peter at Mainz (1196), will be elected archbishop of Mainz by the Welf minority at Bingen after Conrad's death. The family descends from the lords of Hainhausen in the Rodgau (from 1107-1108).
- Confidence
- medium
de.wikipedia Eppstein (Adelsgeschlecht), Siegfried II. von Eppstein, Grafschaft Wied.
Overlord
Eppstein castle is a Mainz fief: Mainz property by 1122, half given to the see by Henry V in 1124, the whole later granted to the Hainhausen lords (Residenzen handbook). Most other lands are fiefs from the king and from counts (Loon, the counts palatine, Rieneck).
What it holds
- Eppstein castle in the Taunus, a Mainz fief (the family took the name between 1183 and 1190)
- Braubach on the Rhine, Eppstein's at first and lost to Katzenelnbogen in the 13th century (state in 1200 not pinned)
- Hainhausen, the old water castle in the Rodgau
- Fiefs from the king, the counts of Loon, the counts palatine and the counts of Rieneck in the Taunus, the lower Main, the Rodgau, the Wetterau and the Westerwald (detail for 1200 not pinned)
How it was acquired
Hainhausen by descent; Eppstein between 1183 and 1190 (how, not pinned).
Allies and rivals
Allies: Mainz (Siegfried's career; Mainz ministeriales and the Bolanden help raise him in 1200), Wied by marriage, the Bolanden (close marriage and political ties). Rivals: Nassau (Sonnenberg is built against them and Mainz), later Katzenelnbogen.
How things stand that morning
Holds Eppstein and Hainhausen. Their side in the throne war on 1 January 1200 is not pinned; Siegfried's choice of Otto in late 1200 is the likely course, not a January fact.
Wealth
Taunus and Rodgau fiefs; Mainz patronage.
Military
Eppstein and Hainhausen castles.
Threats
- Nassau's Sonnenberg
- Being caught in the Mainz schism if Siegfried is elected
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.
- late 1200, after Conrad's deathSiegfried of Eppstein is elected archbishop at Bingen by the Welf minority, against Lupold of Worms; the family is drawn to Otto's side.Depends on: Conrad's death and a split chapter. Stopped by: Conrad living, or the chapter agreeing on one man.
Places of note
- Eppstein castle: Seat since the 1180s.
- Hainhausen: Old water castle in the Rodgau.
Where the sources disagree
- The assignment makes Siegfried Gottfried's son; de.wikipedia makes him Gerhard I's second son, so Gottfried I is his brother.
Evidence: Siegfried's career is well attested; the family's holdings and the father's death date are not pinned for 1200.
On the map: Only the two castles' districts are drawn; the scattered fiefs are not.
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
- Eppstein (Adelsgeschlecht), de.wikipedia
- Siegfried II. von Eppstein, de.wikipedia
- Grafschaft Wied, de.wikipedia
- Eppstein, Residenzen-Kommission handbook (Grafen und Herren)
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.