Sponheim

Who he is

Name

Gottfried III (Godfrey) and Albert, brothers sharing the inheritance

Title

Counts of Sponheim

Since

not pinned: six brothers are recorded in 1184; Simon died at Adrianople on Barbarossa's crusade in 1189

Born

not pinned

Family

Of the Rhenish branch of the Spanheimers, descended from Count Meginhard (about 1124-1140), whose marriage to Mechtild of Moersberg brought Kreuznach and Dill. In 1184 six brothers are recorded; Simon went with Barbarossa to Italy in 1184 and died at Adrianople in 1189; Albert belongs to Henry VI's close circle and goes on the Fourth Crusade in 1201, and his line dies out early in the 13th century; Gottfried III reunites the whole inheritance before he dies on the Fifth Crusade (took the cross 1218, never returned). Gottfried's wife Adelheid comes of the house of Sayn (marriage date not pinned); their sons Johann I, Heinrich and Simon I belong to the next generation.

Confidence

medium

Residenzen-Kommission (Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Goettingen), article 'Sponheim'; de.wikipedia Grafschaft Sponheim and Bad Kreuznach; NDB on Count Palatine Henry for the Maifeld pledge

Overlord

Holds of several lords at once: Kreuznach of the bishop of Speyer; Starkenburg under the overlordship of the archbishop of Trier (acquired by John I, date not pinned); the Maifeld county as a pledge from the count palatine; allods round Sponheim and Dill

What it holds

• Sponheim: the family castle and the advocacy of the family abbey of Sponheim
• Kreuznach: the place and the wooden Nahe bridge, held of the bishop of Speyer since the Moersberg inheritance (Meginhard issued a charter there in 1127 and laid out a new settlement south of the bridge); first called a town (oppidum) in 1203; the Kauzenburg above it is built only from 1206, against a ban by Philip
• Dill in the Hunsrueck: castle from the Moersberg inheritance, before 1125
• Starkenburg above Enkirch on the Moselle: built about 1197; its overlordship was acquired by Archbishop John I of Trier (date not pinned)
• The county on the Maifeld: pledged by Count Palatine Henry in 1197/98 (NDB), so held in pledge on 1 January 1200
• Not yet theirs: Kastellaun (first named, as Sponheim's, in 1226); Allenbach is attested only before 1265

How it was acquired

Kreuznach and Dill through Meginhard's marriage to Mechtild of Moersberg shortly after 1105; Starkenburg built about 1197; the Maifeld county in pledge from the count palatine in 1197/98.

Allies and rivals

Allies: Philip of Swabia; Archbishop John of Trier, their overlord for Starkenburg. Rivals: the count palatine, whose pledge they hold; the Wildgraves and Raugraves, their neighbours on the Nahe; the archbishop of Mainz across the Nahe at Bingen.

How things stand that morning

The brothers Gottfried III and Albert hold Sponheim, Kreuznach, Dill and Starkenburg between them, with the Maifeld county in pledge; which brother holds which part is not pinned. The house backs Philip (de.wikipedia: the Sponheimers sided with the Staufen in the double election); the date and form of that choice are not pinned.

Wealth

The Nahe crossing and market at Kreuznach; Moselle wine below Starkenburg; Hunsrueck forest; the dues and justice of the Maifeld county, a rich grain land.

Military

Castles of Sponheim, Dill and Starkenburg; vassals and ministeriales on the Nahe and in the Hunsrueck. No numbers known.

Threats

• The count palatine may redeem the Maifeld pledge
• Philip's ban on the Kreuznach castle (by 1206) shows the king watching the Nahe crossing
• Neighbouring Wildgraves and Raugraves

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. 1201Albert of Sponheim leaves on the Fourth Crusade.Depends on: The crusade preaching of 1199-1201 Stopped by: A family or war emergency
2. 1203Kreuznach is first called a town (oppidum) in a charter.Depends on: Continued growth at the bridge Stopped by: War on the Nahe

Places of note

• Sponheim castle and abbey: Family seat and abbey
• Kreuznach bridge: Nahe crossing held of Speyer
• Dill: Hunsrueck castle
• Starkenburg: New castle above the Moselle, about 1197

Where the sources disagree

• The generations around 1200 are muddled: de.wikipedia counts two or three Gottfrieds in the later 12th century. The Residenzen-Kommission records six brothers in 1184 and says Gottfried united the whole estate before his death, so the county is shared on 1 January 1200 (Gottfried III and Albert); which brother holds which castle is not pinned.
• The Kauzenburg above Kreuznach: 'shortly before 1205' in the Residenzen-Kommission and the de.wikipedia county article; '1206-1230, against a ban by Philip' in the de.wikipedia town article. Either way it is not standing on 1 January 1200.

Evidence: Holdings and the Staufen choice from de.wikipedia; the Maifeld pledge from NDB; the count's identity that winter is not pinned to a charter.

On the map: The county is drawn as castle districts; Sponheim fiefs and rents between them are not placed. The Maifeld is drawn as a pledged jurisdiction over ground where Trier holds much of the land.

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.