The county on the middle Saar, round the castle of Saarbrucken, after the division of Simon I's lands (Zweibrucken going to the younger son Henry).
Its count is tied by marriage to Leiningen, and by his brother's marriage to the house of Lorraine.
Who he is
- Name
- Simon II
- Title
- Count of Saarbrucken
- Since
- 1182 or 1183, on his father Simon I's death
- Born
- not pinned
- Family
- Son of Count Simon I and Mechtild (perhaps of Sponheim). Wife: Liutgard of Leiningen, daughter of Count Emich III. Children include Simon III, Frederick (later founder of the younger Leiningen line), Henry (later bishop of Worms). His younger brother Henry holds the new county of Zweibrucken and is married to Hedwig, daughter of Ferry of Bitche.
- Confidence
- high
de.wikipedia Simon II. (Saarbrucken)
Overlord
The bishop of Metz for the castle of Saarbrucken (an old Metz fief); the emperor.
What it holds
- Saarbrucken castle and its county on the middle Saar
How it was acquired
Inherited in 1182/83 at the division with Zweibrucken.
Allies and rivals
Kin: Zweibrucken, Leiningen, Ferry of Bitche (through his brother). Overlord: the bishop of Metz.
How things stand that morning
Simon II holds Saarbrucken; his brother Henry holds Zweibrucken to the east. Side in the throne war not pinned.
Wealth
Saar crossings and river trade, forests, rents. No figures.
Military
Castle of Saarbrucken. No numbers.
Threats
- Not pinned.
Places of note
- Castle of Saarbrucken: Seat
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: Holder and family attested; extent of the county not mapped in the source.
On the map: Rough extent round Saarbrucken; the 1200 bounds are not pinned.
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.