Counts · Other imperial lands · as at first light, 1 January 1200

Leiningen

The counts of Leiningen hold Leiningen castle (later Altleiningen) in the Haardt hills west of Worms, an allod built about 1100-1110, with the family house of Hoeningen.

Count Frederick, a courtier and song-poet, travelled with Barbarossa in 1187, probably went on the Third Crusade, and escorted Richard of England home in 1194. In 1198 he acted for the Welf party in offering the crown to Otto of Brunswick, and in 1199 he and Werner of Bolanden were at feud with Philip's bishop Lupold of Worms; the Cologne annals as read by Boehmer-Ficker and Abel count him among the Welf-friendly lords who called Otto up the Rhine and failed to meet him at Boppard in July 1199. He will make his peace with Philip by 1205, when he is the king's Landvogt in the Speyergau and advocate of Limburg abbey, and will follow Otto to Italy in 1210.

Who he is

Name
Frederick I, also called Emich (Friedrich I. (Emich)); 'the grey Frederick' of the Manesse song manuscript
Title
Count of Leiningen
Since
not pinned (his predecessor Emich III died between 1180 and 1187)
Born
not pinned
Family
Last male of the old house of Leiningen, founders of the canons' house of Hoeningen (about 1120). His sister (Lukard or Liutgard in different sources) is married to Count Simon II of Saarbruecken (a France map record); their son Frederick of Saarbruecken will found the second house of Leiningen about 1212. He dies in 1212 or at the latest 1214.
Confidence
medium

Residenzen-Kommission (Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Goettingen), article 'Leiningen'; de.wikipedia Leiningen (Adelsgeschlecht) and Burg Altleiningen; the Cologne study of 1198-1202 for 1199

Overlord

Allods round Leiningen; fiefs from the bishops of Worms and the Empire

What it holds

  • Leiningen castle (Altleiningen), the allodial family seat, built about 1100-1110
  • The canons' house of Hoeningen, founded about 1120 (family foundation)
  • Fiefs of the bishops of Worms and lands and rights in the Haardt and the Leiningen country west of Worms (place by place not pinned)
  • Not yet: the Landvogtei of the Speyergau and the advocacy of Limburg abbey (1205), the Hardenburg (built 1205-1210 on Limburg land) and Landeck

How it was acquired

House lands of the 12th century; the Speyergau office and the Limburg advocacy only in 1205.

Allies and rivals

Otto IV and the Welf party (1198); Werner of Bolanden, his ally in the 1199 feud; Bishop Lupold of Worms, his opponent; his brother-in-law Simon II of Saarbruecken.

How things stand that morning

Frederick holds Leiningen and leans to Otto: he worked for the Welf election in 1198 and was counted among Otto's would-be allies in July 1199. Winkelmann dates his feud with Lupold as ended by Philip's charter of 13 May 1199, so on 1 January 1200 he may be at peace with his neighbours, but nothing shows him on Philip's side before 1205.

Wealth

Vineyards on the edge of the Haardt; forest; rights in the villages of the Worms country.

Military

Leiningen castle; vassals and allies in the Worms country. No numbers known.

Threats

  • Bishop Lupold of Worms and the Staufen ministeriales all round him
  • Philip, if he treats the Welf leaning as rebellion

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. 1205 (outlook)Frederick becomes the king's Landvogt in the Speyergau and advocate of Limburg abbey, so reconciled with Philip; the Hardenburg is built on Limburg land 1205-1210.Depends on: His reconciliation with Philip Stopped by: A Welf recovery on the Rhine

Places of note

  • Leiningen castle: Family seat
  • Hoeningen: Family canons' house, about 1120

Where the sources disagree

  • Name and numbering: the Cologne study calls him 'Graf Emicho von Leiningen' in 1199; de.wikipedia and the Residenzen-Kommission list him as 'Friedrich I. (Emich)', died 1212 or by 1214. One man, the last of the old line.
  • Not in the campaign notes: a Welf count inside the Staufen Palatinate on 1 January 1200 (medium confidence).

Evidence: His Welf role in 1198 and his offices of 1205 are in the Residenzen-Kommission article; the 1199 feud rests on the Cologne annals with a disputed date.

On the map: Only the castle district is drawn; the Leiningerland as later known is a 13th-century creation.

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.

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

Sources and studies

  1. Leiningen (Residenzen-Kommission, Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Goettingen)
  2. Leiningen (Adelsgeschlecht) (de.wikipedia)
  3. Burg Altleiningen (de.wikipedia)
  4. Study of Archbishop Adolf of Cologne's politics 1198-1202 (University of Duesseldorf digital library), ch. IV and note on the feuds of 1199

Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.