Schleiden

Who he is

Name

Not pinned: the line of Konrad, younger son of Gerard II of Blankenheim and Schleiden

Title

Lord (Edelherr) of Schleiden

Since

not pinned

Born

not pinned

Family

An Eifel house descended from the lords of Alsdorf. Gerard II held Blankenheim and Schleiden; his sons divided them, Gerard III taking Blankenheim and Konrad Schleiden. An Eppo 'de Scleydo' calls himself lord of Schleiden in 1104.

Confidence

low

de.wikipedia 'Herrschaft Schleiden' (its early generations are undated and partly garbled).

Overlord

None pinned for 1200: the counts of Luxembourg become lords of the fief only in 1271, and the Jülich fief relations are undated.

What it holds

• Schleiden castle on the Olef
• The villages of the upper Olef and Urft round Schleiden, Gemünd, Kall and Hellenthal (bounds not pinned)
• Rights disputed with the abbey of Steinfeld

How it was acquired

By the twelfth-century division between the sons of Gerard II of Blankenheim and Schleiden.

Allies and rivals

Kin of the lords of Blankenheim. Rivals: the canons of Steinfeld. Neighbours: the lords of Reifferscheid and Hengebach and the count of Jülich.

How things stand that morning

Held by the Schleiden line; no holder's name or act is pinned for 1199-1200, and no side in the throne war is recorded.

Wealth

Forest, upland pasture and the dues of a poor upland; iron and lead are worked in the Eifel valleys round it.

Military

One castle and Eifel vassals; no recorded campaign in 1198-1199.

Threats

• Steinfeld's lawsuits
• The reach of the count of Jülich into the northern Eifel

Places of note

• Schleiden castle: The lords' castle on the Olef

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: One family article with undated early generations; the castle's first mention is given as 1121 or 1198.

On the map: The lordship's 1200 bounds are not recorded; the block follows the upper Olef and Urft valleys.

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.