The water castle of Gießen in the Lahn meadows, founded in 1152 by Count Wilhelm of Gleiberg, who moved his seat there from Gleiberg; the name 'Giezzen' is first recorded in 1197.
Through the Gleiberg heiress Mechthild it belongs to the Swabian count palatine Rudolf of Tübingen, one of Philip's firmest princes, who signed the Speyer protest in person. A settlement grows by the castle; Gießen is first called a town in 1248 and is sold to Hesse in 1264.
Who he is
- Name
- Rudolf I, count palatine of Tübingen (born about 1160, died 17 March 1219), with his wife Mechthild, countess of Gleiberg and heiress of Gießen (married 1181, died 1206)
- Title
- Count palatine of Tübingen, lord of Gießen through his wife
- Since
- 1181, by marriage
- Born
- about 1160
- Family
- Son of Count Palatine Hugo II. Children include Rudolf II, Hugo (about 1185-1216) and Wilhelm (about 1190 to about 1252/1256), who will hold Gießen as count of Asperg-Gießen. His Swabian lands are the swa researcher's.
- Confidence
- high
de.wikipedia Rudolf I. (Tübingen) and Gießen.
Overlord
Allod of the Gleiberg heiress.
What it holds
- Gießen water castle (1152) and its settlement
- The Gleiberg heiress's lands round Gießen (extent not pinned)
How it was acquired
Rudolf's marriage to Mechthild in 1181.
Allies and rivals
Neighbours: the Merenbergers at Gleiberg (the other Gleiberg heirs), the landgrave at Marburg, the royal town of Wetzlar.
How things stand that morning
Held for an absent Swabian lord who backs Philip (Speyer, 28 May 1199).
Wealth
Lahn valley farms and the crossing of the roads north to Marburg and Kassel.
Military
The water castle.
Threats
- The landgrave of Thuringia's Marburg nearby
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.
- 1200No dated event found.
Places of note
- Gießen castle: Founded 1152.
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: Founding, marriage and Speyer signature dated; the extent of the lordship in 1200 is not pinned.
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.
Sources and studies
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.