The Valkhof, Barbarossa's fortified palace above the Waal, with the town below it and the king's lands round it (the Rijk of Nijmegen with the Ooij polder and the Ketelwald, the forest called the Reichswald, toward Cleves), is the king's own place in the Low Countries.
Who held it for which king on 1 January 1200 is not pinned: the Lower Rhine round it is Otto IV's country, but Guelders next door is Staufen.
Who he is
- Name
- Not pinned: the burgrave that winter and which king he obeys are not pinned
- Title
- The king, through his burgrave of Nijmegen
- Confidence
- low
Frederick I rebuilt the Valkhof as a fortified palace from 1155 and Henry VI, born here in 1165, was charged in 1189 with finishing it. Nothing in the sources consulted shows Otto IV or Philip holding or visiting Nijmegen in 1198-1199. Frederick II gives the town rights in 1230, and William of Holland pledges the Rijk to Guelders in 1247.
Overlord
The king
What it holds
- The Valkhof palace and its chapels
- The town of Nijmegen
- The Rijk of Nijmegen: the Ooij, Groesbeek and the villages round the town
- Royal rights in the Ketelwald (Reichswald), shared on the Cleves side (not pinned)
How it was acquired
Royal since Carolingian times.
Allies and rivals
Coveted by Guelders and Cleves.
How things stand that morning
A king's palace whose master that winter is not pinned.
Wealth
Waal tolls and the town's market.
Military
The Valkhof. No numbers are recorded.
Places of note
- Valkhof: Barbarossa's palace, building inscription of 1155
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: No evidence for 1198-1200 found.
On the map: Rough.
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.