Grumbach (Rothenfels)

Who he is

Name

Not pinned for 1 January 1200

Title

Lords (dynasts) of Grumbach, holders of Rothenfels

Since

not pinned

Born

not pinned

Family

The Grumbach dynasts, Würzburg vassals; the line ends with the heiress Adelheid of Grumbach, who marries Count Ludwig II of Rieneck in 1243 and brings him Rothenfels

Confidence

low

NDB, Rieneck: in 1243 Ludwig II of Rieneck married Adelheid of Grumbach, heiress of the Grumbach dynasts, and gained the Würzburg fief of Rothenfels, after which his line was often named. That the castle was built about 1148 by Marquard of Grumbach, Frederick I's procurator in Italy, is the usual account of its foundation and is not checked here.

Overlord

The bishop of Würzburg (Rothenfels is a Würzburg fief)

What it holds

• Rothenfels castle over the Main (a Würzburg fief)
• The Main valley villages round it and Spessart forest behind (extent not pinned)

How it was acquired

Würzburg fief; the founding of the castle is usually put about 1148.

Allies and rivals

Overlord: Bishop Conrad of Querfurt of Würzburg, Philip's chancellor. Neighbours: the counts of Rieneck (Rieneck), who will inherit, and the counts of Wertheim (Wertheim).

How things stand that morning

The Grumbach hold Rothenfels of the bishop; no act of theirs in the throne war is recorded.

Wealth

River traffic and timber on the Main; Spessart forest.

Military

A strong river castle; no numbers known.

Threats

• The Rieneck and Mainz pushing into the Spessart

Places of note

• Rothenfels castle: Würzburg fief of the Grumbach lords

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: The Grumbach tenure of Rothenfels is attested through the 1243 marriage; the holder in 1200 and the castle district are not.

On the map: Drawn as a castle district; the Grumbach rights elsewhere are not placed.

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.