The count's own castles and districts: the county court of the Jülichgau round the town of Jülich, the rock castle of Nideggen above the Rur, and the county of Molbach (Maubach) with its great forest, which came with his wife Alveradis.
The king's town of Düren lies between the two blocks and is not the count's in 1200.
Who he is
- Name
- William II
- Title
- Count of Jülich
- Since
- About 1183 (father William I ruled 1142-1176 by the usual reckoning)
- Born
- Not pinned
- Family
- Wife Alveradis of Molbach; nephew and heir presumptive William of Hengebach. See Jülich.
- Confidence
- high
ADB Wilhelm II.; de.wikipedia Herzogtum Jülich
Overlord
The king; Cologne and the count palatine for some fiefs
What it holds
- Jülich and the county court of the Jülichgau
- Nideggen castle, his residence
- The county of Molbach (Maubach) and the forest county later called the Wehrmeisterei, through his wife
- Bergstein above the Rur (an imperial fief held by the house by 1219; its holding in 1200 not pinned)
- Fiefs of the Cologne church and of the count palatine (enlarged under William I)
How it was acquired
Inheritance from William I; Molbach by marriage to Alveradis, heiress of Albrecht of Molbach.
Allies and rivals
Allied with Archbishop Adolf and Otto IV; kin to the Hengebach line; later rivalry with Cologne over Zülpich.
How things stand that morning
Held by William II; backs Otto IV (welf).
Wealth
Grain of the Jülich plain, Rur mills, the Molbach forest. No figures.
Military
Nideggen, Jülich; the vassals of Molbach. Fought at the siege of Aachen, July 1198.
Threats
- Staufen raids through the Zülpich gap (August 1199)
- No son
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.
- 1200Stays with Otto and Adolf of Cologne.Depends on: Adolf staying with Otto Stopped by: A Staufen offer to Adolf and his allies
Places of note
- Nideggen castle: Residence
- Bergstein: Castle above the Rur, imperial fief of the house by 1219
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: Holdings from the ADB life; district outlines are rough.
On the map: The county court district had no fixed bounds in 1200; the blocks show the core round the two seats.
Primary sources for Jülich
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.
- 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
- Dialogue on Miracles, Caesarius of Heisterbach (about 1219 to 1223). Not a chronicle but a Cistercian's book of exempla, full of stories about Cologne, the Rhineland and the Low Countries around 1200: the throne war, usurers, heretics, crusade preachers, knights and townsmen, monks and recruits at Heisterbach, founded in 1189. Read online
Sources and studies
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.