The counts of Mansfeld hold the northern Hassegau on the eastern edge of the Harz from their castle at Mansfeld, with Eisleben (a royal estate district until the end of the 12th century) and, since 1192, Archbishop Wichmann's Seeburg allods as fiefs of Magdeburg.
The count in 1200 and his side are not pinned; their Magdeburg fiefs pull them towards Philip's camp.
Who he is
- Name
- not pinned for 1200; Burchard I, the last male of the older line, died in 1229
- Title
- Count of Mansfeld
- Since
- not pinned
- Born
- not pinned
- Family
- Descendants of Hoyer I (killed at the Welfesholz 1115). Burchard I's heiress Sophia married Burchard of Querfurt, whose line took the name after 1229.
- Confidence
- low
de.wikipedia (Mansfeld (Adelsgeschlecht)).
Overlord
The Empire for the county in the northern Hassegau; Magdeburg for Wichmann's Seeburg allods (to the see in 1192 and lent to the counts); the royal district of Eisleben became a Halberstadt fief only in the 13th century.
What it holds
- Mansfeld castle
- The county in the northern Hassegau
- Eisleben (status in 1200 between royal district and comital lordship, not pinned)
- Seeburg lands as Magdeburg fiefs (since 1192)
How it was acquired
County since 1069 (Henry IV).
Allies and rivals
Neighbours: Querfurt, Arnstein, Bernhard's counties, Magdeburg.
How things stand that morning
Hold the county; side not pinned. The ADB says most of the great men of Saxony gathered round Philip at Magdeburg at Christmas 1199; whether this house was among them is not pinned.
Wealth
Rents of a fertile district. Tradition puts the first copper-slate mining near Hettstedt in 1199 (the legend of the miners Nappian and Neucke); not pinned.
Military
Mansfeld castle. No figures.
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: Family outline only.
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.