Runkel

Who he is

Name

Siegfried (III) of Runkel (attested 1191 and 1221)

Title

Lord of Runkel

Since

not pinned

Born

not pinned

Family

Of the free lords of Runkel (Siegfried I witnessed the grant of Nassau castle to the Laurenburgers on 1 April 1159). Siegfried III married a countess of Leiningen and through her gained Westerburg and the advocacy of St Severus at Gemünden; the marriage date is not pinned, and the lordship of Westerburg is first documented in 1209. His sister Mechtild married a Rheingraf (Emicho).

Confidence

medium

de.wikipedia Runkel (Adelsgeschlecht) and Herrschaft Westerburg.

What it holds

• Runkel castle on the Lahn
• Westerburg castle and lordship in the Westerwald, with the advocacy of St Severus at Gemünden (by the Leiningen marriage; documented from 1209)

How it was acquired

Runkel by descent; Westerburg by marriage.

Allies and rivals

Kin of the Leiningen counts and the Rheingrafen; neighbours of Diez, Limburg and Nassau.

How things stand that morning

Holds Runkel; Westerburg possibly already. Allegiance not pinned.

Wealth

Small Lahn lordship; Westerwald lands.

Military

Runkel castle; Westerburg.

Threats

• The narrowness of the Runkel estate

What the year holds

What happened next, if nothing in play changes it. Each event carries what it depends on and what would stop it.

1. 1200No dated event found.

Places of note

• Runkel castle: Seat.
• Westerburg castle: First named 1192.

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: Attestations only (1191, 1221); the Westerburg marriage is undated.

On the map: Westerburg is drawn as Runkel's with that caveat.

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.