Fleckenstein

Who he is

Name

not pinned (a grandson of the Gottfried recorded in 1129, styled marshal of Haguenau, belongs to about this generation)

Title

Ministeriales of Fleckenstein

Since

not pinned

Born

not pinned

Family

A family of the king's unfree knights (ministeriales) who rose in Staufen service. Gottfried is recorded in 1129; a grandson bore the title 'marschallus de hagenoa', marshal of Haguenau; Heinrich I was the king's Schultheiss of Haguenau in 1248-1259. Branches of Sulz (Soultz-sous-Forêts) and Rödern appear later; the family became free barons of the Empire only in 1467.

Confidence

low

de.wikipedia Fleckenstein (Adelsgeschlecht)

Overlord

The king, as lord of the palace and Holy Forest of Haguenau, in whose household the family served.

What it holds

• Fleckenstein castle on its rock
• The villages round Lembach in the upper Sauer valley (extent not pinned)
• Office at the Haguenau palace (the marshal's title borne by a grandson of Gottfried)

How it was acquired

In the king's service; the family is recorded from 1129.

Allies and rivals

Part of the network of Staufen ministeriales round Haguenau and the Holy Forest; neighbours the abbey of Weissenburg to the east and the Lorraine house of Bitche to the west.

How things stand that morning

The family holds Fleckenstein for the Staufen; its head that winter is not named in the sources checked.

Wealth

Forest, the castle's villages and the rewards of service at Haguenau.

Military

A strong rock castle; the family serves in the king's household and host. No numbers recorded.

Threats

• A return of the Welf party on the Upper Rhine, broken by Philip in 1198-1199
• Rival claims of the abbey of Weissenburg in the forest

Places of note

• Fleckenstein castle: rock castle above the Sauer valley

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: Only the family's origin and offices are documented in the source checked; the 1200 holder and lands are not.

On the map: A castle district drawn round the rock; the family's lands in 1200 are not documented.

Primary sources for Staufen

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
• Annals of Jarloch (Gerlach), abbot of Milevsko, Jarloch of Milevsko (about 1200 to 1220). The last Bohemian narrative before 1200, continuing Vincentius of Prague. Read online

23 more in the sources library for The Rhineland, the Low Countries and the Swiss Lands.