A small comital line of the Frickgau, seated at the Alt-Homberg castle above Wittnau (built about 1100), cousins of the Thierstein counts.
It dies out with Werner III in 1223 and passes to the Frohburgs.
Who he is
- Name
- A Werner of Homberg (the line ends with Werner III in 1223); who held it on 1 January 1200 is not pinned
- Title
- Count of Homberg
- Since
- not pinned
- Born
- not pinned
- Family
- The Homberg line split from the Thierstein counts in 1149; its heiress carried the inheritance to Hermann IV of Frohburg after 1223.
- Confidence
- low
de.wikipedia Grafen von Thierstein; HLS Frohburg.
Overlord
The king; the bishop of Basel for fiefs.
What it holds
- Alt-Homberg castle above Wittnau
- Lands in the Frickgau and fiefs of the bishop of Basel
How it was acquired
The 1149 division with Thierstein.
Allies and rivals
Thierstein cousins; the Frohburg; Habsburg as count in the Frickgau.
How things stand that morning
Holds Alt-Homberg; allegiance not pinned.
Wealth
Small. No figures.
Military
Alt-Homberg. No numbers.
Threats
- Extinction in the male line (1223).
Places of note
- Alt-Homberg castle: Seat
Where the sources disagree
- HLS Homberg could not be read (fetch error).
Evidence: Only the line's split (1149) and end (1223) are dated in the sources read.
On the map: A castle and its immediate lands 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.