Hatzfeld

Who he is

Name

Gottfried of Hatzfeld (witness in 1196; whether he heads the house on 1 January 1200 is not pinned)

Title

Free lord (Edelherr) of Hatzfeld

Since

not pinned

Born

not pinned

Family

A free noble house first named in 1138/39 ("Folpertus de Hepisfelt et frater ejus") among the followers of Landgrave Louis I of Thuringia

Confidence

low

de.wikipedia Hatzfeld (Adelsgeschlecht): free nobles; a fortified farmstead near the later cemetery came first; the castle on a spur over the Eder was begun about the time of Gottfried's witnessing of a gift to Aulisburg in 1196; in 1311 the family offered the castle to Landgrave Otto I of Hesse as a fief.

Overlord

None proven for 1200 (the family followed the Thuringian landgraves in 1138/39)

What it holds

• Hatzfeld: the old fortified farmstead and the new castle over the Eder (begun about 1196)
• Niederhatzfeld with its church of St Cyriacus

How it was acquired

Allodial family land, named from 1138/39.

Allies and rivals

Neighbours: the counts of Battenberg (Battenberg) and Wittgenstein (Wittgenstein), and the landgrave, whose follower the house was in 1138/39.

How things stand that morning

The lords of Hatzfeld hold their castle and valley; their place in the throne war is not recorded.

Wealth

Forest, pasture and the Eder valley road.

Military

One castle, newly built or building.

Threats

• The landgrave and the counts of Battenberg on either side

Places of note

• Hatzfeld castle: Castle over the Eder, begun about 1196

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: Family and castle attested; nothing on their land beyond the castle and village.

On the map: A small castle district; the family's other rights are not known.

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.