Free lords of the Hegau, the country of volcanic cones between the Danube and the Untersee, holding the castle on Hohenhewen and the market village of Engen at its foot, on the road from the upper Danube to Lake Constance and the Rhine at Schaffhausen.
Who he is
- Name
- not pinned (Walter of Hewen, recorded from 1152, was the first to take the name)
- Title
- Free lords of Hewen
- Since
- not pinned
- Born
- not pinned
- Family
- The lords of Engen built the castle on the volcanic cone of Hohenhewen, probably early in the twelfth century and at the latest by 1170, and took its name; the castle is called Hewin in 1189. Later they also hold Neuhewen (the Stettener Schlössle), Hewenegg, Boll, the Tudoburg and Wildenstein in the Danube valley, none dated to 1200.
- Confidence
- low
de.wikipedia Herren von Hewen
Overlord
Free lords; none above the king for their allods.
What it holds
- Hohenhewen castle on its cone
- Engen and the villages at the foot of the cone
- Later castles (Neuhewen, Hewenegg, Boll, Wildenstein) not dated to 1200
How it was acquired
Old lords of Engen; castle named Hewin in 1189.
Allies and rivals
Neighbours: the Veringen heirs at Nellenburg, the counts of Sulz in the Baar, the abbey of Reichenau, the lords of Tengen and the castellans of the other Hegau cones.
How things stand that morning
Hold Hohenhewen and Engen; no part in the throne war recorded.
Wealth
The Engen market and its road, Hegau farms.
Military
One strong cone castle; no numbers.
Threats
- The neighbouring counts' high justice
- Reichenau's claims in the Hegau
Places of note
- Hohenhewen castle: castle on the volcanic cone
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: Origin and castle dates from de.wikipedia; no lord or holdings named for 1200.
On the map: A small castle district.
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.