The Oettingen hold the comital rights in the Ries round Nördlingen as a royal fief, with their castle at Oettingen on the Wörnitz.
Kin of the Staufen, they hold Steinsberg castle in the Kraichgau as Staufen vassals (built about 1200). Nördlingen itself belongs to the bishop of Regensburg, and the Staufen have their own castles at Wallerstein and Flochberg.
Who he is
- Name
- Ludwig II
- Title
- Count of Oettingen (count in the Ries)
- Since
- 1160
- Born
- About 1145 (died 28 June 1225)
- Family
- Son of Ludwig I (count from 1147), a kinsman of the Staufen. Wife Sophia of Lechsgemünd; four children, among them the later counts Ludwig III and Konrad II.
- Confidence
- medium
en.wikipedia (County of Oettingen).
Overlord
The king, of whom the county round Nördlingen is held in fief.
What it holds
- Oettingen castle
- The county (high justice) of the Ries round Nördlingen
- Steinsberg castle in the Kraichgau (as Staufen vassals; built about 1200, not pinned whether standing)
How it was acquired
Inheritance; the county as a royal fief.
Allies and rivals
The Lechsgemünd counts (his wife's house); the bishop of Regensburg at Nördlingen; the Staufen castles in the Ries.
How things stand that morning
Holds the Ries county on 1 January 1200. Throne war: Staufen (kinship and vassalage), medium confidence; no 1199-1200 charter seen.
Wealth
The fertile Ries basin.
Military
Oettingen castle; vassals of the Ries.
Places of note
- Steinsberg castle: Oettingen castle in the Kraichgau, held of the Staufen.
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: Count's dates from en.wikipedia; no charter of the winter.
On the map: Only the castle district is drawn as theirs; the Ries county overlaps the Staufen castles and the Regensburg market of Nördlingen.
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.
Sources and studies
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.