Everstein

Who he is

Name

Albert III (attested about 1170-1217), with Konrad II (attested 1200), probably his brother

Title

Count of Everstein

Since

1197 (death of Albert II)

Born

about 1170 or before

Family

Son of Albert II (died 1197) and Richeza, a cousin of Frederick Barbarossa (married 1167). Albert III married Agnes of Wittelsbach, widow of the Wildgrave Gerhard I (date not pinned). His son Konrad III appears from 1217.

Confidence

medium

de.wikipedia (Everstein (Adelsgeschlecht)).

Overlord

The archbishop of Cologne as duke of Westphalia and Engern for part of their lands (Albert III was Philip of Heinsberg's vassal after 1180); the abbey of Fulda for the advocacy of Hameln (not pinned for 1200); allods round Everstein.

What it holds

• Everstein castle
• Polle on the Weser (castle built about 1200)
• Ohsen on the Weser
• Holzminden (later a family seat; status in 1200 not pinned)
• Advocacy of Hameln for the abbey of Fulda (not pinned for 1200)
• Scattered lands towards Volkmarsen, the Diemel and Marsberg

How it was acquired

Inherited; gains after Henry the Lion's fall.

Allies and rivals

Staufen kin; enemies of the Welfs, who finally force the sale of Everstein castle in 1284.

How things stand that morning

Albert III holds the county. Side: likely Staufen by kinship and history; not directly attested for 1200.

Wealth

Weser crossings and tolls, the Solling and the Vogler forests, the Hameln advocacy.

Military

Everstein, Polle, Ohsen. No figures.

Threats

• Welf pressure from the Leine

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: Genealogy fair; allegiance inferred from kinship (confidence low).

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.