Oberstein

Who he is

Name

Eberhard and Werner de Petra (vom Stein), brothers

Title

Lords of Stein (de Petra)

Since

named together in 1197

Family

The lords of Stein, later called of Oberstein; Eberhard's grandson Eberhard married Juliane, heiress of Wirich of Daun, about 1245

Confidence

medium

de.wikipedia, Oberstein (Adelsgeschlecht)

Overlord

John I, archbishop of Trier, since 1197

What it holds

• Burg Stein (later Bosselstein) on the rock above the Nahe, built shortly before 1200; a Trier fief since 1197
• The older cave castle below it
• The Nahe valley villages round Oberstein and Idar (extent not pinned)

How it was acquired

Family seat; made a fief of Trier in 1197.

Allies and rivals

Neighbours: the Wildgraves at Kirn and the Schmidtburg, the counts of Veldenz on the Glan, the counts of Sponheim.

How things stand that morning

In possession as vassals of Trier since 1197. Their own act in the throne war is not recorded.

Wealth

A Nahe crossing and the valley land below the castles.

Military

Two castles in the cliff above the Nahe; no vassals or numbers recorded.

Threats

• Trier tightening its hold on its new fief
• The Wildgraves and Sponheim pressing into the Hunsrück

Places of note

• Burg Stein (Bosselstein): castle built shortly before 1200, a Trier fief since 1197

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: The 1197 fief and the castle's date are documented; the lordship's extent is not.

On the map: A small block round the castle; the family's rights further out are not pinned.

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.