Monselice is a fortified hill town south of Padua whose rocca was a castle of the Empire.
The town was a commune by the twelfth century. Who commanded the rocca for the Empire in 1199-1200, and how far Padua or the Este controlled it, is not pinned in the sources checked. Its great imperial period comes later: Frederick II built the keep, made Monselice a special chamber of the Empire in 1239, and Ezzelino III held it.
Who he is
- Name
- Not pinned: no imperial castellan or other holder for 1199-1200 was found
- Title
- The emperor's castle (rocca) with a self-governing rural commune
- Since
- not pinned
- Confidence
- low
it.wikipedia Monselice and Castello di Monselice; cittamurateveneto.it; Treccani Enciclopedia Italiana
Overlord
The Empire (the castle belonged to the imperial fisc); claimed in influence by Padua
What it holds
- The rocca on the hill
- The town and its rural commune
How it was acquired
Imperial fisc since at least the eleventh and twelfth centuries.
Allies and rivals
Between Padua and the Este; Olderico Fontana of Monselice married Speronella Dalesmanini after she left Ezzelino II.
How things stand that morning
Not pinned. Given here as the Empire's ground with low confidence.
Wealth
The road from Padua to Este and the Adige, quarries of the hill, vineyards.
Military
The rocca, one of the strongest places in the Paduan plain.
Threats
- Padua's expansion
- The Este
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: No dated holder found for 1195-1205.
On the map: Status uncertain.
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.