Oldenburg

Who he is

Name

Moritz (Mauritius) I

Title

count of Oldenburg

Since

not pinned (his father Christian I died 1167/68; his brother Christian was murdered at Bergedorf in 1192)

Born

not pinned

Family

son of Count Christian I and Kunigunde (alive 1194/98); married Salome of Wickrath. Children: Christian (III), Otto (I) (still a small child in 1209), Hedwig, Salome, Kunigunde, Oda; which were born by 1 January 1200 is not pinned. Dead by 1209.

Confidence

medium

FMG Oldenburg

Overlord

none resident: vassals of Henry the Lion until 1180, independent since

What it holds

• Oldenburg castle and its settlement
• the Ammerland (Rastede, Westerstede, Zwischenahn)
• lands south-east toward Ganderkesee and Hude
• claims over Rüstringen and the Stedinger marsh

How it was acquired

Inherited; independent since 1180.

Allies and rivals

Ally of Archbishop Hartwig II (Dithmarschen campaigns of 1187-88). Rivals: the Stedingers, the Frisians of Rüstringen. Kin: the Wildeshausen counts and their uncle Gerhard, bishop of Osnabrück.

How things stand that morning

Moritz holds Oldenburg and the Ammerland. Which king he backs is not pinned.

Wealth

Land, the Hunte crossing, marsh rents.

Military

Oldenburg castle; vassals of the Ammerland. Lost Lichtenberg and Linen to the Stedingers (1187).

Threats

• the Stedingers
• the archbishop of Bremen in the Weser marshes

Places of note

• Oldenburg castle: the counts' seat
• Rastede abbey: the counts' family monastery and burial place

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: FMG cites a charter of 1194/98 naming him count and one of 1209 calling him dead.

On the map: Rough block; the counts' rights east of the Hunte toward the Weser are 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.