Falkenstein

Who he is

Name

not pinned (the last of the old line)

Title

Lord of Falkenstein, royal ministerialis

Since

not pinned

Born

not pinned

Family

Royal ministeriales, not free nobles. Hunfried of Falkenstein, imperial steward (Reichstruchsess) in 1166, married a daughter of Werner II of Bolanden. The old line dies out probably shortly before 1202, and the castle then passes to the Bolanden (Philip III of Bolanden is called 'puer de Falkenstein' in 1206).

Confidence

low

Residenzen-Kommission (Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Goettingen), article 'Falkenstein'

Overlord

The king

What it holds

• Falkenstein castle on the Donnersberg (built before 1135)

How it was acquired

Royal service in the 12th century.

Allies and rivals

Kin of the Bolanden by marriage; neighbours of the Raugraves and the king's lands round Lautern.

How things stand that morning

Held by the last of the old Falkenstein line or already passing to the Bolanden; side not pinned (royal ministeriales, so presumably Philip's).

Wealth

Forest and farms of the Donnersberg.

Military

Falkenstein castle.

Threats

• Extinction of the line

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. By 1202 (not pinned)The old line dies out and Falkenstein passes to the Bolanden; by 1233 a branch of the Bolanden calls itself 'of Falkenstein'.Depends on: No surviving male heir Stopped by: A late heir or a royal reclaiming of the castle

Places of note

• Falkenstein: Castle of the old royal ministeriales

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: Dates of building, the steward of 1166 and the probable extinction only.

On the map: Castle district only.

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.