Counts · Other imperial lands · as at first light, 1 January 1200

Katzenelnbogen

A comital house of the Taunus and the lower Lahn, raised by Staufen favour in the 1130s and close to the courts of Frederick I and Henry VI.

Its core is the castle of Katzenelnbogen (from about 1094) in the Einrich, the upland between the lower Lahn and the Taunus ridge, on land of Bleidenstadt abbey, whose advocates the counts were; the Einrich county was acquired in 1160 jointly with Nassau from Rembold of Isenburg, and Hohenstein castle was built from 1190 on the Bleidenstadt border against the Nassau advocates. Through Hildegard of Henneberg the house also has a footing south of the Main at Groß-Gerau, Dornberg and Zwingenberg, the seed of the later Upper County. The Rhine toll at St Goar (from 1219), Rheinfels (1245) and Darmstadt lie in the future.

The house is Philip's: Bishop Hermann joined Philip's court by February 1199, with his nephew Berthold beside him at Worms.

Who he is

Name
Two counts are active and which of them heads the house that winter is not pinned: Diether (III in the Residenzen handbook; died 1214), founder of the Hohenstein side line, and Berthold (II), son of Berthold I, born before 1183, who will go east on the Fourth Crusade (1202) and become lord of Velestino in the Latin kingdom of Thessalonica
Title
Counts of Katzenelnbogen
Since
not pinned
Born
Berthold before 1183; Diether not pinned
Family
Of the house of Count Heinrich II (died 1160), who married Hildegard of Henneberg (she brought Dornberg, Zwingenberg and Groß-Gerau) and whose kin by marriage, the Stahleck, were King Conrad III's in-laws. Uncles of the generation of 1200: Hermann II, bishop of Münster since 1174 (Frederick I's and Henry VI's envoy, to Constantinople in 1188), and Diether, Henry VI's chancellor (died 1191 on the Italian campaign). Berthold's nephew and heir is the later Count Diether IV (died 1245). The numbering of the Diethers differs between works.
Confidence
medium

Residenzen-Kommission handbook (Katzenelnbogen); en.wikipedia Berthold II von Katzenelnbogen; de.wikipedia Grafschaft Katzenelnbogen.

Overlord

Holds of several lords at once: the castle of Katzenelnbogen of Bleidenstadt abbey, the Einrich county (later listed as a fief of the counts palatine), and other fiefs from Mainz, Worms, Lorsch and the counts palatine (the fief lists are later and not dated to 1200).

What it holds

  • Katzenelnbogen castle (a Bleidenstadt fief) and the county on the Einrich (acquired 1160 jointly with Nassau)
  • The advocacy of Bleidenstadt abbey (Taunusstein)
  • The family abbey of Gronau near Egenroth
  • Hohenstein castle on the Aar, built from 1190 against the Nassau advocates (Diether's line takes its name from it)
  • Rights south of the Main from Hildegard of Henneberg: Groß-Gerau, Dornberg and Zwingenberg (the castles of Zwingenberg and Dornberg are documented only in 1222 and before 1236)
  • The old Kraichgau county of 1138, by 1200 more a set of fiefs than a lordship

How it was acquired

Diether I was advocate of Prüm about 1065-1095; he and his son Heinrich I built Katzenelnbogen as advocates of Bleidenstadt. Comital rank with the Kraichgau county in 1138; the Einrich county in 1160; the Ried lands by Heinrich II's marriage to Hildegard of Henneberg.

Allies and rivals

Kin of Bishop Hermann of Münster; Philip's party. Rivals: the counts of Nassau (Hohenstein faces their advocates), later Eppstein; neighbours Diez and the Mainz Rheingau.

How things stand that morning

Holds the Einrich county and Hohenstein undisturbed. Backs Philip on 1 January 1200 (medium): Berthold sided with Philip and was with his uncle Bishop Hermann at Worms in February 1199 after Hermann joined Philip's court (en.wikipedia), and Hermann assented to the Speyer protest by proxy in May 1199.

Wealth

Upland farms and forest, advocacy dues from Bleidenstadt's lands, the Ried lands south of the Main, fiefs; no Rhine toll yet (St Goar only from 1219).

Military

Katzenelnbogen and Hohenstein castles; vassals and ministeriales not pinned. Berthold will lead men on the Fourth Crusade (1202).

Threats

  • Rivalry with Nassau on the Einrich
  • Taking sides in the coming Mainz schism

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.

  1. 1200No dated event found; Berthold takes the cross later (he joins the Fourth Crusade in 1202, disillusioned by the civil war).

Places of note

  • Katzenelnbogen castle: Seat of the counts, built from about 1094.
  • Hohenstein castle: Built from 1190 on the Aar.

Where the sources disagree

  • Berthold II's death: the Residenzen handbook says 1211, en.wikipedia has him alive in a papal letter of 21 April 1217.

Evidence: The handbook and the Berthold article fix the generation and the Staufen side (February 1199); which count headed the house that winter and the extent of the Ried lands in 1200 are not pinned.

On the map: The Einrich core is drawn as a block; the Ried and Bergstraße rights are drawn only as points round three places; the Kraichgau fiefs and the later Rhine lands are left out.

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.

8 more in the sources library for The Rhineland, the Low Countries and the Swiss Lands.

Sources and studies

  1. Katzenelnbogen, Residenzen-Kommission handbook (Grafen und Herren)
  2. Berthold II von Katzenelnbogen, en.wikipedia
  3. Grafschaft Katzenelnbogen, de.wikipedia

Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.