Lauenburg

Who he is

Title

castellan for the Welf brothers

Since

not pinned (the Welfs held it before 1199, de.wikipedia Lauenburg/Elbe)

Confidence

low

de.wikipedia Lauenburg/Elbe; ADB Adolf III.

Overlord

the Welf brothers, Otto IV and Count Palatine Henry

What it holds

• Lauenburg castle and the Elbe crossing below it
• probably the surrounding Sadelbande (de.wikipedia Herzogtum Sachsen-Lauenburg says the Sadelbande was always the Saxon dukes' own until 1204; who held it in 1200 is not pinned)

How it was acquired

Built by Bernhard of Saxony in 1181/82; in Welf hands before 1199 (when and how not pinned).

Allies and rivals

Rivals: Adolf III of Holstein, Bernhard of Saxony.

How things stand that morning

Held for the Welfs (low confidence). The dates of Adolf's siege and capture of the castle are not pinned; de.wikipedia's statement that the Danes seized it in 1199 conflicts with the ADB.

Wealth

Elbe crossing and toll (not pinned).

Military

A strong castle on the high bank of the Elbe.

Threats

• Adolf III of Holstein
• Bernhard of Saxony

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. 1200 or 1201 (not pinned)Adolf III takes Lauenburg from the Welf garrison; after his capture (1201) the garrison holds out until Adolf gives it up for his freedom in 1203.Depends on: Adolf's siege succeeding Stopped by: a Welf relief from Lüneburg or a Danish move

Places of note

• Lauenburg castle: Bernhard of Saxony's castle of 1181/82

Where the sources disagree

• de.wikipedia (Lauenburg/Elbe) says the Danes under Canute VI seized Lauenburg in 1199 from the Welfs; the ADB on Adolf III says Lauenburg, 'which he had recently taken', refused to surrender after his capture in 1201. The Danish campaign of 1199 was on the Eider. Not pinned; this record follows the ADB.

Evidence: Conflicting secondary statements; Arnold of Lübeck, book VI, would settle it.

On the map: Drawn as the castle and the land next to it; the Sadelbande's lord in 1200 is not pinned.

Primary sources for Welf

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 Egmond (12th century to about 1205). The house annals of Egmond, the counts of Holland's abbey, and the main native source for Holland around 1200. Read online
• 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
• Annals of Stade, by Albert of Stade, Albert of Stade (about 1240 to 1256). A world chronicle written at Stade in the 1240s from older Stade and Bremen annals. 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

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