Free lords above the Alsatian wine plain north of Colmar, holding the three castles on the spur over Ribeauvillé (Rappoltsweiler): Hohrappoltstein, Girsberg and the Ulrichsburg, with the upper town at their feet, and the castle of Hohnack in the Orbey valley behind.
The old line ended in 1156 and its lands passed by marriage to the Swabian house of Urslingen, whose sons now call themselves of Rappoltstein. They hold the road from the plain into the Vosges valleys toward Lorraine and some of the best vineyards in Alsace.
Who he is
- Name
- Egenolf (II) and Anselm (I), brothers, of the house of Urslingen
- Title
- Lords of Rappoltstein (Ribeaupierre)
- Since
- 1193, both (the family table gives Egenolf II 1193-1221 and Anselm I 1193-1236)
- Born
- not pinned
- Family
- The older house of Rappoltstein ended with Emma, daughter of Adalbert II, who died in 1156; she had married Egenolf of Urslingen, a Swabian free lord, and their line took over: Egenolf I (1156-1188), Ulrich I (1188-1193), then the brothers. The sons use the name of Rappoltstein in the family table from 1193, though the first charters with it are of 1219. The Urslingen are also the house of Conrad of Urslingen, Henry VI's duke of Spoleto, driven out of Spoleto by Innocent III in 1198; his exact kinship to the brothers is not pinned here.
- Confidence
- medium
de.wikipedia Rappoltstein (Adelsgeschlecht)
Overlord
The bishop of Basel, of whom the lordship was held in fief: Basel received the territory in 1084, lost it in 1114 and had it restored by Frederick I in 1162. That Basel was still the lord in 1200 is inferred from this history, not stated.
What it holds
- Hohrappoltstein (Haut-Ribeaupierre), the oldest castle, held in shared fief
- Girsberg (the 'Stein') and the Ulrichsburg (Saint-Ulrich), with the upper town of Ribeauvillé
- Hohnack castle and the Orbey valley (listed by the family table without a date; not pinned for 1200)
- Rights at Kaysersberg, which Anselm and his nephew Ulrich sold to King Henry (VII) in 1227
- Vineyards round Ribeauvillé and Hunawihr
How it was acquired
By the marriage of Emma of Rappoltstein (died 1156) to Egenolf of Urslingen; the fief restored to the bishop of Basel by Frederick I in 1162.
Allies and rivals
Neighbours: the Staufen towns and castles of the plain (Sélestat, Colmar), the counts of Horburg at Riquewihr, the bishop of Strasbourg's Upper Mundat to the south, the duke of Lorraine beyond the crest. Kin of Conrad of Urslingen, the Staufen duke of Spoleto.
How things stand that morning
The brothers hold the castles and the town of Ribeauvillé. No act of theirs in the throne war is recorded; their overlord at Basel and their Urslingen kin are Philip's men.
Wealth
Wine from the slopes above Ribeauvillé and Hunawihr, the town market, tolls on the valley road into the Vosges.
Military
Three castles on one spur and Hohnack in the valley behind, with their own knights and ministeriales. No numbers recorded.
Threats
- The bishop of Basel's rights as feudal lord
- The crown's appetite for the castles of the plain edge, shown by its purchase of Kaysersberg in 1227
Places of note
- Hohrappoltstein, Girsberg and Saint-Ulrich castles: the three castles on the spur above the town
Where the sources disagree
- The OMNIA board describes Rappoltstein as held by a family of imperial ministerials. de.wikipedia makes them free lords of the Urslingen line holding a fief of the bishop of Basel.
Evidence: The family table and the fief's history come from de.wikipedia; the extent of the lordship in 1200 is not documented there.
On the map: The core round Ribeauvillé is secure; the Orbey valley is drawn from a castle the sources list without a date.
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.