Philip is the first king known to have a kitchen master among his court officers, and the first holder, Henry of Rothenburg, comes from the unfree knights who served the Staufen at Rothenburg.
These ministeriales hold the king's castle and town there in practice: the leading families of the town come from them and from the castle's men, and in the next generation they are the castle bailiffs and Schultheissen. They are the men who run Philip's Tauber lands.
Who he is
- Name
- Henry (Heinrich) of Rothenburg
- Title
- Kitchen master (Küchenmeister) of the royal court; royal ministerialis of Rothenburg
- Since
- The office of kitchen master is first found at court under Philip (court handbook); Henry's first dated appearance, and so whether he holds it on 1 January 1200, is not pinned in what we read
- Born
- not pinned
- Family
- A family of royal (Staufen) ministeriales of Rothenburg, the forebears of the imperial kitchen masters of Nortenberg (Nordenberg): by 1227 the castle bailiffs and Schultheissen of Rothenburg seal as 'Küchenmeister von Nortenberg', and in 1240 the imperial kitchen master Lupold I takes the castle of Nordenberg near Windelsbach. The older lords of Nordenberg (Lupold, named 1156) held that castle from the mid 12th century.
- Confidence
- medium
Residenzen-Kommission handbook on Philip's court; de.wikipedia Burg Nordenberg and Rothenburg ob der Tauber.
Overlord
King Philip.
What it holds
- The kitchen master's office at Philip's court
- Service fiefs and offices round Rothenburg (the castle guard; the Schultheiss's office later held by the family)
- Not yet Nordenberg castle, which the family gets in 1240
How it was acquired
Royal service.
Allies and rivals
The other Staufen ministeriales (the Pappenheim marshals, the Waldburg stewards, the Schüpf-Limpurg cupbearers); neighbours the Hohenlohe and the lords of Endsee.
How things stand that morning
In Philip's service (STAUFEN). Which member of the family held which Rothenburg office that winter is not pinned.
Wealth
Court fees and service fiefs.
Military
Rothenburg castle guard; the ministeriales' own knights.
Places of note
- Nordenberg castle: Castle of the older Nordenberg lords (Lupold, 1156); the kitchen masters' seat only from 1240
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: The office is attested under Philip; the persons and dates in 1200 are not.
On the map: Officers of the king's town; their ground is drawn in the king's record and the Rothenburg town record.
Primary sources for Staufen
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
- Annals of Jarloch (Gerlach), abbot of Milevsko, Jarloch of Milevsko (about 1200 to 1220). The last Bohemian narrative before 1200, continuing Vincentius of Prague. Read online
23 more in the sources library for The Rhineland, the Low Countries and the Swiss Lands.
Sources and studies
- Höfe und Residenzen im spätmittelalterlichen Reich, B 1 Philipp (Residenzen-Kommission, Göttingen Academy)
- Burg Nordenberg, de.wikipedia
- Rothenburg ob der Tauber, de.wikipedia
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.