Stumpenhusen (Hoya)

Who he is

Name

the brothers Henry (died 1205) and Burchard (died 1231)

Title

counts of Stumpenhusen

Since

the family are free lords attested from 1091 and counts from 1181 (de.wikipedia Grafschaft Hoya)

Born

not pinned

Family

A Burchard of Stumpenhusen is dean of Bremen cathedral by 1207 and Valdemar II's anti-archbishop in 1208 (en.wikipedia Prince-Archbishopric of Bremen); whether he is this brother is not pinned.

Confidence

medium

de.wikipedia Grafschaft Hoya

Overlord

none resident; their region lies in the dioceses of Minden and Verden

What it holds

• Stumpenhusen near Wietzen
• lands and rights on the middle Weser between Nienburg and Hoya
• the newcomer's castle at Hoya is not theirs (not pinned whether it stands already in 1200)

How it was acquired

Inherited.

Allies and rivals

Neighbours: the counts of Wölpe (possibly of the same stock), the bishop of Verden, the counts of Roden-Wunstorf, the bishop of Minden.

How things stand that morning

The Stumpenhusen brothers hold their lands; the future Hoya house is a minor lord at Hoya. Allegiance not pinned (the Hoya man is in Hartwig's following in 1202).

Wealth

Weser land and crossings.

Threats

• the Hoya newcomer

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. 1202 (after this year)The brothers sell their goods, seal, arms and title to Henry, son of the Frisian, the first count of Hoya.Depends on: their lack of heirs or need of money

Places of note

• Stumpenhusen: the family seat near Wietzen
• Hoya: island castle of the newcomer's house, late 12th century

Where the sources disagree

• The assignment asks for Hoya only if the county exists that winter: it does not (first count of Hoya 1202, de.wikipedia).

Evidence: Short account in de.wikipedia from the Hoya literature.

On the map: Rough block between Nienburg and Hoya; their real holdings are not mapped in the sources.

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.