Lautern

Who he is

Name

Philip of Swabia

Title

King of the Romans (disputed), through his ministeriales

Since

1198 (Henry VI's heir in the Staufen house lands; elected 8 March 1198)

Born

about 1177

Family

Youngest son of Frederick Barbarossa; the staufen realm record is the swa researcher's

Confidence

medium

de.wikipedia Kaiserslautern and Burg Nanstein

Overlord

None: royal and Staufen land

What it holds

• The palace (Pfalz) of Lautern, built by Barbarossa after 1152, on an older castle of about 1100
• The royal forest (the Reichswald) round Lautern
• Nanstein castle above Landstuhl (first named 1189), seat of a royal ministerialis
• Royal villages and rights of the Reichsland between the Donnersberg and the Westrich (place by place not pinned)

How it was acquired

Royal estate since the Carolingians; built up by Barbarossa from the 1150s.

Allies and rivals

The Bolanden and the other Staufen ministeriales of the region; the counts of Homburg, Veldenz and Zweibruecken on the west.

How things stand that morning

In Staufen hands as far as the sources show; no Welf force reached the western Palatinate in 1198-1199. The royal officers in charge that winter are not pinned.

Wealth

Forest, pasture and royal farms; the palace economy.

Military

The palace of Lautern and Nanstein; royal ministeriales. No numbers known.

Threats

• The count palatine's claims in the region, now dormant

Places of note

• Palace of Lautern: Barbarossa's palace, after 1152
• Nanstein: Royal ministerial castle, named 1189

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: The palace and Nanstein are attested; the officers and the extent of the Reichsland in 1200 are not.

On the map: The Reichsland's limits in 1200 are not documented; the drawing is a core round the palace and Nanstein.

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.