A family of free lords on the Jagst between the Hohenlohe country and the Staufen's Hall, with their castle on a long ridge spur above the river and an older seat at Unterregenbach below.
They are recorded only from 1201 and pass their inheritance to the Hohenlohe in 1253.
Who he is
- Title
- Free lords of Langenburg
- Since
- not pinned (the family is first recorded in 1201)
- Born
- not pinned
- Family
- Free nobles (Edelfreie) who, on a likely but unproven reading, moved their seat from Unterregenbach on the Jagst to the Langenberg ridge before 1200 and took its name. The 'free lords of Langenburg' first appear in 1201; castle and town are first named in a charter of the bishop of Würzburg in 1226. The line dies out in 1253 and the Hohenlohe, probably their kin, take the inheritance.
- Confidence
- low
de.wikipedia Langenburg
Overlord
Free lords; their castle lies in the bishop of Würzburg's diocese and duchy.
What it holds
- Langenburg castle on the ridge spur
- Unterregenbach, the older seat with its manor and tower (on a likely reading)
Allies and rivals
Probably kin of the Hohenlohe; neighbours the Staufen at Hall and Crailsheim's lords, the abbey of Komburg, the bishop of Würzburg.
How things stand that morning
Not pinned: the nearest evidence is the family's first record in 1201.
Wealth
Jagst valley farms.
Military
One castle; no numbers.
Threats
- Hohenlohe and Würzburg pressure
Places of note
- Langenburg castle: castle on the ridge spur
Where the sources disagree
- The OMNIA board has Langenburg as a Hohenlohe stronghold in 1200; de.wikipedia has it held by its own free lords (first recorded 1201) until the Hohenlohe inherit in 1253.
Evidence: First record of the family in 1201; nothing on its lands beyond the castle.
On the map: A small castle district; first record 1201.
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.