A castle of the king on the Erft plain west of Cologne, held by a family of imperial ministeriales named from 1143.
It passes to Brabant only in 1284, so it is not a Brabant enclave in 1200. It lay in the path of Philip's raid of August 1199; which king its ministeriales serve that winter is not pinned.
Who he is
- Name
- Not pinned (Garsilius and Nikolaus of Kerpen witness as imperial ministeriales on 1 August 1143; a John of Kerpen is dead by 1276)
- Title
- The king's ministeriales of Kerpen
- Confidence
- low
de.wikipedia Kerpen
Overlord
The king (Kerpen is still called an imperial castle in 1281)
What it holds
- Kerpen castle
How it was acquired
Royal.
Allies and rivals
Neighbours Cologne and Jülich.
How things stand that morning
Imperial castle; allegiance not pinned.
Wealth
Small.
Military
Castle.
Threats
- Raids across the Erft plain
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: Mentions of 1143 and 1276-1284 only.
On the map: Castle and its immediate 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.